A Critical Review of Myself as an Effective Agent of Individual and Organizational Learning
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page ……………………………………………………………………… 1
Table of Content ……………………………………………………………… 2
Introduction …………………………………………………………………… 3
Discussion …………………………………………………………………….. 4
Section 1. You as a Learner …………………………………………. 4
Section 2. Individual Learning ……………………………………….. 6
· Motivation ……………………………………………………….. 7
· Time Management ……………………………………………… 7
· Communication …………………………………………………. 8
Section 3. Organizational Learning ………………………………….. 11
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… 15
A Critical Review of Myself as an Effective Agent of Individual and Organizational Learning
Introduction
It can be said that organizational change is one of the critical determinants in organizational success and failure. According to (1994), major change is occurring in most of today’s organizations. Perhaps the space between the new organization design and implementing it into actuality is the whole coverage of organizational change and development. This is what is happening to our organization. People are said to be adaptive to change. It is done through individual and organizational learning. Such learning within our organization is palpable and in progression. In learning, positive skills must be present from the initiators of change so as to successfully implement their intended development. Thus, managers need to have the necessary abilities not only in identifying the segments of the organization that needs change but also on how to effectively introduce such changes within the immediate members of the organization.
In order for an organization to be more competitive in the marketplace, the management must always see to it that they use a management system and strategy that would sustain the capability, strength and competitive position (2000; 2003). One of the most effective management strategies that are irrevocable and proven to be effective is allowing learning to take place within the bounds of the organization and its people. Learning is generally known as a process in which rational individuals acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, beliefs, emotions, and senses (2003). Today, learning is not only focused on knowledge acquisition and development in behavior but also used in social institutions like learning society, learning organization, and even permanent learning itself. In the perspective of Hong Kong health services, it could be claimed that learning serve as the most immediate response to the existing and upcoming trends and changes affecting the traditional operations of the industry. Learning aids the people to develop their skills and capabilities in relation to their individual and organizational performance towards productivity. This is why, learning in HKs public health services sector is important.
Similarly, our organization is not exempted to the current changes that affect its overall functioning. As response, the entire management is currently recognizing the need to adapt with such changes. Individual and organizational development through various programmes, seminars, workshops, trainings, and new innovations are implemented. With this, the whole personnel are able to upgrade their capabilities especially when it comes to the performance of identified responsibilities. The recent changes in the public health sector in HK serve as the underlying mechanism in the development and materialization of management strategies that will be used in the future services and applications.
This paper explores the notion of learning within organizations. Specifically, it provides personal evaluation, analysis, and discussion of individual and organizational learning particularly to the area in which I work. The concepts of motivation, time management and communication are discussed and related to my daily experiences. Using these, answers are expounded, collated, and related according to the principles and theories of organizational management. Sources of data are cited using the Harvard referencing style.
Section 1: You as a learner
I am a senior nurse working in the operating room. Mainly, I have to supervise and give training based on theories and practice for the new comers and junior staff. With my established years in service and considering the numerous experiences that I have in the past, I can say that I am a learner who is armed with the needed concepts to do the jobs at hand. As a learner, I am always exposed to the potential application of my knowledge especially in actual circumstances. Possessing the needed characteristics to facilitate learning and using self-assessment tools, my learning ability is predominantly high and flexible.
The process of learning within this module includes theoretical and experiential learning methods. I am exposed to the theories and concepts present in printed reading materials as well as publicly accessed Internet documents. Also, I am always in the hospital and I consider each day as a new learning experience. I get to practice my craft and at the same time, develop my personality – both professionally and socially. The experiences that I have within the boundaries of the hospital are the materialization of the theoretical and conceptual know-how that I possess. With my daily dealings with other people in the workplace, learning is very potent and in progressive growth. Personal reflection is also dominant in my learning process. At the end of the day, I have this attitude to assess the things that I have completed all throughout the day and tried to check if I did the right thing or otherwise.
My previous experience of learning in the workplace includes my dealing with new staff that possesses roughly new theoretical and conceptual information in relation to the field and its practices. In particular, I learned the new theories and concepts or should I say the development – both existing and emerging, that affected and will affect the nursing practice as a whole. I recognized the role of technological innovations that will change the traditional view of nursing practice. More importantly, I learned that every person must fully develop and upgrade his/her professional and personal abilities that will make him/her a pro in the field of specialization. Among this is ability to manage endless and confusing changes without making the human resources feel overwhelmed and powerless. The following are the key learning points about my own learning:
It includes individual or group that shares common as well as varied interests.
Learning includes experience, function, time management, and communication.
- Changes are to be anticipated and must be recognized.
- Personal and professional development should always be at hand.
Learning is continuous and goes hand in hand with the idea of development.
Technical innovations affect the existing principles and practices of nursing.
Section 2: Individual Learning
In my own experience, I recognized the following concepts as important element of individual learning.
Motivation. The definition of motivation varies. This is a basic example why the term ‘motivation’ is filled with complexities. (1998, 168) stated that it is “the willingness to exert high levels of effort toward organizational goals, conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need”. On the other hand, (1997) define motivation as “the set of processes that arouse, direct and maintain human behavior toward attaining some goal”. This definition includes three key essential aspects: arousal, direction and maintaining. Arousal is to do with the drive/energy behind people’s actions such as their interests to do the things or they do it just want making a good impression on others or to feel successful at what they do. Direction means the choices people make to meet the person’s goal. Maintaining behavior could keep people persisting at attempting to meet their goal hence to satisfy the need that stimulated behavior in the first place. When a person is effectively motivated, constant learning is not far at hand.
Time Management. Long-term work objectives are: guaranteed productivity and customer relations, sustainable competitive advantage when it comes to technologies involved in the operations, and also employee development. On the other hand, short-term goals include the application of theoretical and experiential learning as well as continuous learning within the workplace. My priorities are the long-term goals but I never forget my short-term goals because they are my stepping stones towards the attainment of my bigger goals. In managing my time and achieving objectives, I always see to it that I maintain a schedule which indicates the lists of activities to be done with particular allocation of time. All activities to be done are directed to the achievement of the desired goal. However, there are times wherein constraints are present. Among this are unpredictable changes brought about by lack of resources (e.g. financial or human resources) and the flexibility of the plan itself.
Communication. Communication plays its role in the direction, coordination, and control of tasks and activities (2001; 2002). It deals with the what, when, and how of the process. Consequently, communication serves as the pathway through which suggestions and insights that would generate change and new ideas. It also keeps and preserves values and relationships necessary to keep the system of the organization collectively. The poor effects of communication in the workplace can result to internal conflicts and poor organizational productivity. When difficulties in communications occur, there are immediate effects in the operations of the team. For instance, in dealing with instructions from clients or upper management authorities, when a member of the team commit a miscommunication mistake, the effects are not just confined to the internal but also to external operations of the whole team. It may destroy customer as well as employee relationship. Among the common and observable barriers of communication are ineffective listening skills, inconsistent verbal or nonverbal messages, resistance to change, individual bias, time limitations, distractions, personal assumptions as well as demographical differences in race, culture, age, and religion (2002;1996). Among the methods to be applied in overcoming these barriers include the presence of standard communication procedures such as centralized communication lines and sources, booklets and handouts to be distributed among members. Also, the existence of quarterly trainings and team building experiences changes the communication strategies, methods or procedures. To ensure effective communication within the workplace, there is a need to increase the knowledge and understanding of team members in terms of verbal, non-verbal, and symbolic communication concepts and new changes. Listening must also be developed. It must be done actively rather than passively. In relation to conflict, communication focuses on what is right rather than who is right. Most importantly, there is a need to maintain constant open and two-way communication process. Team members are motivated to work if there is democracy within the working environment and its people involved (2002; 2000; 1996).
Meanwhile, my experiences of learning affect others learning by means of adapting the knowledge that I gained and applying it to their own individual consumption and application. In the same manner, my learning style affects the way I use theories with others by means of communal knowledge that we both know what we are talking about. Because we are in the same track or level of understanding, we are able to do the job with common objective and expected outcome. My role in mentoring and coaching are different in several ways. First, in mentoring I act mainly as a counselor. This means providing advice on different areas such as development opportunities and career paths (2001). (1994) stated that mentoring provides more than just additional knowledge as it also allow the employee to master a particular learning sector. Mentors typically have a wider experience in the company, and this empowers them to assign persons under them into tasks that help their development. Thus, an important element in the mentoring relationship is the establishment of mutual respect between the person and the mentor.
In relation to coaching, I am more of a tutor. I observe an individual’s work and actions, and along the process provide comments regarding execution skills which may be lacking. It is important that in the coaching relationship, the coach has to have opportunities to observe the work of the person and be open to feedbacks. For instance, my experience in task management in the hospital, coaching and mentoring are often done in order to cope up with the changes brought about by new innovations (knowledge or technology) as well as the rising need to provide key workers with support in response to a change of role. These situations often inspire me to implement my expertise in coaching or mentoring. Coaching and mentoring are also closely linked with task management initiatives in order to help the workers adapt to changes in a method consistent with their personal values and goals (2000; 2000). As coaching and mentoring when implemented effectively has the capability to enhance motivation and productivity and minimize staff turnover as workers feel valued and aware of both small and large changes within the organization (2005; 2003; 1994). This role is critically provided by coaches or mentors. Coaching is able to maintain a balance between fulfilling management goals and objectives while at the same time taking into consideration the development needs of individual workers. It is practically a two-way relationship with both the company and the workers obtaining significant benefits. Thus, the manager definitely involves his/her self in the said processes in order to gain the desired outcomes.
Section 3: Organizational Learning
According to (1999), organizational learning is associated with the transfer of managerial knowledge from subsidiaries to the parent company. It can also be the case that the transfer is from one overseas affiliate to another. In addition, organizational learning is believed to be part of the core competencies that will allow multinational companies to adapt and succeed in international operations (1995). This suggests that organizational learning is important in order for organizations to have better understanding to the underpinnings of the market that they have decided to penetrate as well as the culture of the industry that they decided to operate into.
In my organizational setting, it could be stated that it is indeed a learning organization. Learning organization is rooted on the principle that a successful organization must be able to continuously adapt and learn as it consistently operates, to have the ability to respond to the emerging changes and new trends in its immediate environment, and for the purposes of growth (2004; 2000; 1990). According to (1993) and (1998), the learning organization is an institution that learns powerfully and collectively, continually transforming itself to better manage and use knowledge for corporate success, empowering people within and outside the organization to learn as they work and to utilize technology to maximize learning and production. The conceptual foundations of learning organization are firmly based on systems theory ( 1990) and its practical application to managing a business has evolved out of strategic planning and strategic management (1985; 1994), which have recognized that organizational learning is the underlying source of strategic change (1988; 1993).
Organizational learning includes the idea of change management and continuous improvement (2002). Organizations are neither the rational, harmonious entities celebrated in managerial theory nor the arenas of apocalyptic group conflict projected by ( 1980). (1996) believe that modern organizations, like the hospital in which I belong, passed by the guild structures and they grew larger, skills become increasingly fragmented and specialized as positions become more functionally differentiated. Organizational change is part of and a result of struggles between contradictory forces, also change management practice is related with endeavoring to manage their competing demands. To fully understand why and how to change organizations due to new market trends, it is elementary and necessary to know their present structures, management and behaviors. This is possible through studying the overall conditions of the organization.
The given systems of ideas or organizational theories are crucial to change management in two respects (1993). First, they provide models of how organization should be structured and managed. Second, they provide guidelines for judging and prescribing the behavior and effectiveness of individuals and groups within an organization. It is clear that in many organizations, there is no clear understanding of the theories. Change cannot hope to be fully successful under circumstances ( 1996). The Model of Continuous Improvement may help organizations to have sufficient knowledge on the factors that are directly involved in the process
It is said that organizational change is one of the critical determinants in organizational success and failure (1998). Further, Appelbaum and colleagues stated that the focus of successful organizations is on customers and their needs, which includes investing in ways to improve sales and provide superior service to clients, and they do not forget that their customers and their customers’ needs underlie their organization’s existence. In addition, adapting factors crucial to the success of certain missions and the implementation of solutions to problems are common traits of a successful organization (1998). The lack of such initiatives can throw an organization into confusion, being stuck in traditional practices that cannot solve or handle the current problems faced. Thus, the lack of such factors stresses the need for a strategic organizational change. It is basically a flexible strategic planning process as opposed to a static form. Thus, to fully cope up with the emerging changes in the globalised public health sector, organizations including the hospital in which I belong, are advised to continuously study the potential areas that need improvements or alterations. In doing so, the organization is not left behind in terms of emerging market trends that are innovative and technology-based in applications.
In application to my department, learning is always exercise through the daily practice of knowledge and expertise and at the same time reinforced by the new technologies available to improve the service. The recognition of change initiates the learning among the staff. If there are new policies released, practices and even technologies, there is a need to adapt and learn such. The ideas of learning organization is applied in the ward though the development of new skills, policies or rules, and performance appraisal. The theories and concepts are needed to be practiced and applied in daily encounters with co-employees as well as clients. Examples of how these theories are put into practice includes hands-on demonstration, interactive discussion, monthly seminar-workshop, seasonal leadership training, and other activities directed to the employee professional and personal development. Just recently, there was a learning forum about the latest health policy in HK. All staffs are informed about the facts and information especially the ones that have immediate effect in the nursing role. Also, a demonstration was done using a new instrument. Although, my department is not directly related, my staff including me had the chance to keep ourselves updated and knowledgeable with the basics of such instrument. Lastly, daily coaching and mentoring is done among the staff of my department.
Conclusion
With all the learning capabilities that I have as well as the theories and concepts put into practice, I can say that I am a satisfactory and effective change agent. (1999) points out that there are strong resistances to change. People are afraid of the unknown. But with my constant motivation, I effectively apply the intended changes in a manner that will not bother or negatively affect the performance of my staff. The key learning points for me and my staff is the ability to welcome new information, knowledge or idea in relation to our nursing role; potentiality to apply and adapt them in performance to our duties; eagerness to learn constantly and continuously for professional and personal development; and use them to address changes occurring as changes are considered to be critical success factor for the organization and not something that is to be worry about. Learning will be used to improve care in the future by using it as the main agent for change adaptation and superior service. By possessing the needed abilities as a product of learning, rendering services to all the people is at its maximum superior level.
Based on the discussions above, it is found out that the concept of learning can serve as strategy that the management can take to build-up its competitive edge. The ability of a business to stay in significant period of time in the industry where it belongs is one measure of its success. This means that being able to survive is a necessity and survival translates to the ability of a business to compete. This is done through learning – may it be individual or organizational in nature.
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