ASSIGNMENT COVER PAGE

Course Code HRM 556

Course Title Strategic Human Resource Management

Discuss learning and development philosophy. Explain the
Assignment Topic
steps of developing a learning culture in an organization.

Exam’s Name Final Examination

Student’s ID 2102140435

Student’s Name Istiaqur rahman chowdhury

Semester’s Name and Fall 2021

Year
Course Teacher’s Samir Bhadra
Name and Designation
Department’s Name Business Administration

Date of Submission December 15, 2021

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֍INTRODUCTION:

What is learning & development : Learning and development is a systematic process to

enhance an employee‟s skills, knowledge, and competency, resulting in better performance in
a work setting. Specifically, learning is concerned with the acquisition of knowledge, skills,
and attitudes. Development is the broadening and deepening of knowledge in line with one‟s
development goals. The goal of learning and development is to develop or change the
behavior of individuals or groups for the better, sharing knowledge and insights that enable
them to do their work better, or cultivate attitudes that help them perform better.
Learning, training, and development are often used interchangeably. However, there are
subtle differences between these concepts, which are shown in the table below.

Concept Description
Learning The acquisition of knowledge, skills, or attitudes through experience,
study, or teaching. Training, development, and education all involve
learning.
Training Training is aimed at teaching immediately applicable knowledge, skills,
and attitudes to be used in a specific job. Training may focus on
delivering better performance in the current role or to overcome future
changes.
Development Development is aimed at the long term. It revolves around the broadening
or deepening of knowledge. This has to fit within one‟s personal
development goals and the (future) goals of the organization.
Development usually happens voluntarily.
Education Education is a more formal way to broaden one‟s knowledge. Education
is often non-specific and applicable for a long time and is especially
relevant when a person has little experience in a certain area.

Learning and development strategies:

According to Dave Ulrich, the most important thing HR can give an employer is a company
that wins in the marketplace. The question is, what are the learning and development
strategies that help to do this?

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 Figure 1 : Learning design

A useful model that guides a learning and development strategy is created by van Gelder and
colleagues (ENG). Its original name translates to „Pedagogical Analysis‟. The model starts
with the organizational starting situation and prior knowledge based on which learning goals
and objectives are defined. This information is used as input for the subject matter, teaching
methods, and learning methods and activities. These lead to a certain result, which is
monitored and evaluated. Based on this evaluation, the goals and objectives are updated.

Based on this model, we identify four phases required to create an effective learning and
development process.

1. An analysis of training needs (starting situation)

2. Specification of learning objectives
3. Design of training content and method
4. Monitoring and evaluation

An effective learning and development strategy relies on a process in which one continually
moves through these four phases which are as follows :

Phase 1. Analysis of training needs: The first step is an analysis of the starting situations
and prior knowledge to identify training needs. We don‟t want employees to learn for the
sake of learning. Otherwise, we would be happy to send them on a pottery course. Instead, we
want employees to acquire new knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are relevant for their
(future) function. This way learning is a way to create new business capabilities.

Figure 2 : Value chain of learning

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In other words, learning is a means to an end – it has a goal. Example goals could be the
development of digital capabilities in an analog firm that needs to transform, building
analytical capabilities to create more business value through analytics, or simply making sure
that everyone gets their mandatory certification in time so they can continue to do their work.

Identifying the learning goal requires you to analyze where the organization wants to go and
what skills are missing to get there. This happens in three parts.

1. Organizational analysis: In this phase, the short and long-term goals of the organization
are analyzed. The goal is to define the training needs that will help the company realize
its business goals. These goals need to align with the organizational climate in order to be
effective in the long term. For example, an assertiveness training in a very hierarchical
organization with a culture in which personal initiative is not appreciated may not be
effective – it may even be counter-productive!
2. Function, task, or competency analysis: Besides the identified organizational need, it is
important to look at a function or task level. What are the competencies and skills
required to be successful in one‟s job? The goal here is to identify the most important
knowledge, skills, and attitudes for employees to be successful in their jobs, and to
identify which of these are the easiest to learn.
3. Personal analysis. In this analysis: job performance is evaluated. Current competencies
and knowledge, performance, and skill levels are identified. The key source for this
analysis is oftentimes the employee‟s performance evaluation. The outcome of the
analysis serves as input for the definition of the training needs.
Using these three analyses, training goals can be specified. However, it is important to
ensure there is sponsorship and support within the organization for the initiative.
Sometimes, gaining support is easy, especially if there is an urgent organizational need
for learning and development. This makes building support easy. Other times you will
have to put a lot more effort into specifying the case for learning in order to free up
budget and ensure that employees get time off for learning. Using these three analyses,
training goals can be specified. However, it is important to ensure there is sponsorship
and support within the organization for the initiative. Sometimes, gaining support is easy,
especially if there is an urgent organizational need for learning and development. This
makes building support easy. Other times you will have to put a lot more effort into

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 specifying the case for learning in order to free up budget and ensure that employees get
time off for learning.

Phase 2. Specification of learning objectives: The training needs need to be translated into
learning objectives. These objectives serve as the starting point for the design of the
training‟s content and method.
According to Lievens (2011), a training objective consists of three elements.

1. The ability to realize specific objectives. For example, “as an HR business partner, I
need to be able to identify a manager‟s strategic people needs”.

2. The conditions required for effective behavior. For example, “during the 30-minute
check-in with managers, I need to be able to identify their strategic people needs and
be able to summarize these to them to check if I identified these needs correctly”.

3. A specific and measurable training goal. For example, “after every check-in with a
manager I have a double-checked the top 3 of this manager‟s strategic priorities”.

This way training goals become highly specific and measurable. This helps to create an
effective learning and development intervention aimed at improving these skills. A learning
intervention can have multiple learning objectives. Another example objective for this training
could be that the HR business partner is able to relate each of the manager’s strategic
objectives to HR policies that can assist the manager. Because these objectives are closely
related, they can be part of a single training that will make the business partner a lot more
successful in their role.

Phase 3. Design of the training material and method:

In this phase, the teaching material and learning method are determined. This is

where the choices about the training material, teaching method, and learning

activities are made. This is often done together with an external trainer or training

provider, and ideally also with involvement from the trainee.

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In addition to learning methods, techniques, pacing, setting, and many more factors

are determined. Training can be trainer-centered or trainee-centered. Trainer-

centered methods include seminars, presentations, lectures, keynotes, and lessons.

Trainee-centered methods are more interactive and include case studies, role-

playing, self-directed lessons, on-the-job training, simulation, games, and so on.

Effective training usually includes a mix of methods.

Phase 4. Monitoring and evaluation: The last phase of the learning process is monitoring
and evaluation. In this phase, the learning objectives are evaluated and learning effectiveness
is assessed. A very useful model for evaluating learning effectiveness is Bloom‟s taxonomy,
which we will explain later in this article. In addition, student evaluations are collected and
reviewed and improvements are made for future learning interventions. When the training is
seen as effective, it should result in a change in behavior. This means that the starting
situation and knowledge in the organization will be changed for the next learning design.

What is a learning culture: A learning culture is a work environment where the employees
share a communal mindset of growth. In workplaces with strong learning cultures, all
members of staff feel eager to apply new lessons to their processes, share their knowledge
with their team members and continually seek ways to develop their skills. Learning cultures
are often a concept that employers, managers and supervisors continually nurture and
emphasize in order to encourage professional growth and development within their
organization.

Why is a learning culture important: Developing a learning culture in workplace is

important because it offers several benefits that contribute to the success of the organization,
including:

a. Increased efficiency: When employees continually seek new and innovative ways to
complete their tasks, organization may benefit from an increased efficiency rate.
b. Increased productivity: When employees form efficient processes, their rates of
productivity are likely to increase as well. Increased efficiency and productivity can
lead to increased sales and profit margins.

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 c. Decreased employee turnover: If employees feel their work environment fosters
growth and provides opportunities for professional development and advancement,
they may be more likely to continue their employment for longer periods of time.
Decreased employee turnover can help save the organization valuable resources and
costly recruitment efforts.
d. Enhanced quality: By developing new processes and enhancing skills, employees
may be able to produce higher quality work. In addition to increased production rates,
enhanced quality of deliverables can maximize profits.
e. Leadership development: Work environments with emphasized learning cultures
may foster more opportunities for internal promotion and leadership. Placing long-
term or experienced employees in leadership roles can ensure that company practices
and culture remain consistent.

֍ Steps of developing a learning culture in an organization:

Below is a list of ways to develop a learning culture in the workplace-

1. Begin with leadership: Before developing a learning culture among all employees, the
leaders of an organization should prepare to lead by example. Fostering a learning culture
among even the most senior members of an organization, including c-suite executives and
upper management, can encourage team members at every level to continually learn, develop
their skills and ultimately contribute to the success of the organization. Before discussing a
learning culture with the organization as a whole, need to be sure that all upper-level
managers and executives understand the benefits of a learning culture and are willing to lead
by example.

2. Develop a mindset of growth: An effective way to create a strong learning culture is to

develop a communal mindset of growth. To do this, focus on emphasizing intrinsic
motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation formed from personal gain and interests.
Skill development, career advancement and success in the workplace can be great intrinsic
motivators that help team develop a mindset of growth. Need to consider pairing the team
members with positions and tasks that align with their skills, talents and experience levels to
maximize their potential for success. The more successfully they feel they complete their

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individual tasks, the more likely they may be to strive toward communal professional growth
and development.

3. Hire intelligently: It's important to hire intelligently in order to contribute to learning

culture. When recruiting new employees, need to be sure to consider individuals who express
an interest in learning, challenging themselves and developing their skills. Candidates who
feel they are experts in their field may not be as willing to strive for continued learning in the
workplace. Have to try best to make hiring decisions that will contribute to development of a
learning culture by looking for curious individuals with an eagerness to improve.

4. Emphasize "how" not "what": When discussing lessons in the workplace, it may be
beneficial to emphasize how the lesson applies to future processes instead of simply focusing
on what your employees learned. This can help foster a sense of continued development and
provide opportunities to improve in the future.
For example, a team went over budget on a recent project and the client is unhappy about the
expense. Instead of simply emphasizing the importance of staying on budget because of client
satisfaction, it may be more conducive to a learning culture to emphasize how the team could
have stayed on budget or how they could have more accurately aligned client expectations.
Then, discuss strategies for both of these items for future projects.

5. Encourage questions : To foster a healthy learning culture, it's essential to encourage a

team to ask questions. By doing so may have to show them the organization value their
education and input into business operations. To encourage questions, consider holding
regular meetings to discuss current company events, changes in policy or upcoming projects,
and encourage your team to inquire about details and specifics. Doing this in a group setting
is a great way to communicate the importance of shared knowledge and informed questions
in the workplace.

6. Support risk-taking: A great way to learn important lessons is to take risks and analyze
the outcome. Without some level of risk in the workplace, organization may lose
opportunities for growth and development. Whenever possible and without hurting business
operations, organization must consider allowing the team to take measured risks. This can
encourage independent thinking and instill a sense of confidence to try new techniques or
strategies, which may result in innovation and improved processes. Tolerating and

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encouraging risk-tasking, even when it results in a mistake, can help the team feel
comfortable pursuing new ideas.

7. Be humble: Showing and encouraging humility is an important part of developing a

learning culture. As a manager, it's important to show the team humility when the manager
has made a mistake or misjudgment. This can help employees feel more comfortable
approaching the manager with mistakes or uncertainties. When employees feel more
comfortable discussing these things, manager may be able to find solutions or discuss
methods of future improvement together. There must to be sure to communicate honestly
about the mistakes of a manager to show his team the value of humility in a learning
culture.

8. Focus on teams, not individuals: An integral part of a healthy learning culture is the
sharing of knowledge between individuals and teams. It's important to focus on developing
teamwork and unity in order to align goals and encourage all employees to work together to
achieve communal skill development. Whenever possible, encourage all employees to work
together. This could include team members of the same department or within different
departments across the organization.

9. Create manageable units: It's important to keep the teams within the organization small
and manageable. The larger and more complex teams become, the harder it may be for
members to communicate and learn from one another. Smaller teams may foster more
opportunities for personal connection and skill sharing, which could result in greater learning
potential. It should be considered keeping the teams as small as possible for business
operations in order to maximize opportunities for learning and knowledge sharing.

9. Create manageable units : It's important to keep the teams within the organization small
and manageable. The larger and more complex teams become, the harder it may be for
members to communicate and learn from one another. Smaller teams may foster more
opportunities for personal connection and skill sharing, which could result in greater learning
potential. Consider keeping your teams as small as possible for business operations in order
to maximize opportunities for learning and knowledge sharing.

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10. Develop routines : In order to promote consistent learning, routines can be a useful tool
in the workplace. Have to consider creating daily routines for the employees that focus on
learning, like a morning checklist of small, achievable learning goals to complete during the
day. These types of consistent routines can be a powerful way to foster the learning culture
through daily lessons and real-time progress reporting.

11. Reward performance : Rewarding performance is an important part of any workplace,

but it's especially useful when developing a learning culture. Have to be sure to reward
employees for their performance when it specifically aligns with the learning goals as an
organization. Common rewards for outstanding performance include public praise, bonuses,
promotions, gift cards, additional days off and employee of the month awards.

֍CONCLUSION : Every organization should hit the right balance. Employees must not
feel belittled or unworthy. A good workplace learning culture also means fostering positive
learning behavior. A learning culture supports people to design their own career paths,
allowing them to establish feelings of connectedness and engage in meaningful work.
Leaders understand that effective learning is immersive and contextual. Moreover it is a
mutual benefited project for employees as well as for the organization to achieve the ultimate
goal.