The Impact of Continuous Learning and Development on Organisation Competitiveness

This research evaluates the relevance of continuous professional learning and development in maintaining organisational competitiveness.

Annette Gavin
The Impact of Continuous learning and
Development on Organisation
Competitiveness.
Does Learning and Development Increase
Organisation Competitiveness?
Research Methods RMET 6053
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................2
1.1 Research Aim...............................................................................................................................4
1.1.1 Research Objectives......................................................................................................4
2. Research Rationale................................................................................................................4
2.1 Research Question.................................................................................................................4
3. Literature review............................................................................................................................5
4. Research Methodology.......................................................................................................................9
4. Conclusion....................................................................................................................................11
5.0 References..................................................................................................................................12
6.0 Appendix......................................................................................................................................13
Appendix 1 Gantt Chart..................................................................................................................13
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1. CHAPTER PNE: Introduction
Background to Research
The business environment is constantly changing, and research shows that human
resource management (HRM) function plays an important role in developing the
workforce and maintaining a competitive advantage. According to Davies and Preston
(2002), companies that provide continuous professional development (CPD)
programmes for employees can impact their employees positively and strengthen
their interest to work in the company (Gibson, et al., 2010). CPD is the term used to
describe the learning activities that professionals engage in as part of their
organisational roles. Organisations develop CPD programmes in order to enhance
the skills and expertise of the employees. Rossi (2015), in a study on IT staff,
describes CPD as a good investment for organisations. The motivational level of the
employees is increased when they get involved in such programmes as they develop
a perception in their minds that this development will serve them in the future. With
the help of CPD, they can easily apply for the higher jobs within the company as well
as in other companies in the industry (Shaw & Green, 1999).
The role of HR is to develop and support business strategy in the organisation to
achieve the business goals and to gain a competitive advantage. Also, human
resources management constitutes a vital role in strategic management, formulating
the decision-making process, recognising the problem, coaching, and development
plus employee’s incentives (Rasim, 2008).
Therefore, it is imperative for an organisation to have a solid human resources
management team which will embark on the employee's development and training.
The quality of an organisation’s CPD offerings can enhance the positivity of the staff,
and this will result in the improvement of employee's productivity and growth in the
workforce (Ichniowski, et al., 1995). Analysed the business environment as
developing companies that encourage the employee to adjust and grow continually
with the organisation will give a competitive edge to staff retention (Lengnick-Hall, et
al., 2009).
The organisation focus remains on the learning, training and making people fit for the
organisation and its profile. The major aim of the learning organisation is to make
people fully adaptive to the company and its changing nature and environment. The
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focus in organisational learning should be on the individual skills and capacities
rather than existing company image and its policy (Aguinis & Kraiger, 2009).
It is evident that the learning organisation aims for the continuous learning of its
adaptation and mainly change. For the small business, the creation of culture and its
learning in continuous training develops the change that system organisation adapts
throughout its system. Viewing the learning organisation as root for the change leads
to the change in the organisation (Opfer & Pedder, 2010).
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1.1 Research Aim
This research will evaluate the relevance of continuous professional learning and
development in maintaining organisational competitiveness.
1.1.1 Research Objectives.
 To investigate the different types CPLD implemented in the various
organisation.
 To understand the role of CPLD in driving employee motivation, productivity,
job satisfaction, retention and performance.
 To evaluate how these factors, contribute or not to organisations’ competitive advantage.
2. Research Rationale and Personal Rational
Continuous professional learning is the process of tracking and documenting the skills,
knowledge and experience that an individual can gain both formally and informally while working,
beyond any initial training. It's a record of what a person has experienced, learn and then applied in
their practical life. The world of continuing professional development (CPD) is changing, driven by
digital enablement and the changing demands of employers and workers alike. Demand is now
generated in part by careerist professionals who see CPD as an extra way to gain advantage in a
competitive jobs market, while other trends are turning CPD into a means of validating citizens’
expectations of public sector practitioner standards.
2.1 Research Question
Does continuous professional learning and development increase an organization’s
competitive advantage?
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CHAPTER TWO: Literature Review
Introduction
Secondary data is best utilized through the development of literature that analyses, recounts and
critiques the researches and information noted by other researchers on the topic
Filipe (2014) explains that continuous professional development is the process of
tracking and recording the skills of employees and developing a program which can
assist them to perform their business duties with higher capabilities and expertise.
According to research conducted by Sexton (2017), the individual who works in the
IT industry is required to keep up to date concerning the latest technologies. There
are a diverse range of products and services which are provided to the customers of
the company, and if the IT department of the company does not update their skills
and expertise, then the company fail badly to satisfy the needs and demands of the
customers. To remain effective in their role they have to play special consideration to
information technology by knowing the trends and changes in the technology
(Olakulehin, 2007). The IT professional when keeping them updated when they
become able to fulfil all the needs and demands of customers of the company.
Moreover, their performance of the duty is also improved which enables them to
grow in the company as well as in industry in the future (Anvari, 2007).
According to Burton (2017) the companies which make the investment in CPD
enhances the expertise of employees which in return decreases the expenses and
costs of the companies. The more competent and capable employees of the
company work with higher efficiency and productivity and do not find difficulty in
dealing with the pertaining problems. In the special issues, the companies also do
not have to hire the external specialist to deal with the issues or to perform the
specific task. In this way, the cost of hiring experts is also reduced. As the
productivity and efficiency of the employees are increased, they tend to work more in
the limited time which transforms the goals of the company into reality and assists
the company to achieve the corporate objective. The highly productive companies
save cost and become more profitable as compared to competitors. The cost-saving
leads towards achieving a competitive advantage in the long run (Steadfast, 2017).
The companies make the HR strategy which deals with the management of the
employees of the company. The effective strategy of the company assists the
management of the company in satisfying their employees and provoking them to
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work with high devotion and motivation. As per research conducted by Nereida the
highly motivated employees of the company work harder and leads towards the
development and growth of the company. The higher satisfaction develops, the
higher the motivation to work in the company in the long run. The continuous
professional development also increases the level of motivation in the employees.
The employees of the company who get involved in the CPD programs initiated by
management are satisfied to a greater extent as they perceive that they will grow
easily in future due to developed skills and expertise (Nereida, 2013).
The human resource strategy of the company is developed to manage the
employees of the company. The employees of the company want the HR strategy in
their favour concerning pay scales, promotion plans, reward schemes, development
of skills and expertise as well as other non-monetary rewards (Priya & Eshwar,
2014). The companies which develop human resources policies and strategy to
motivate the employees and retain them for a longer period of time give special
consideration to all these factors of motivation (Marinucci, et al., 2013). The highly
motivated employees’ works in the best interest of the company and perform their
duties with full devotion and productivity.
The training and development are an important and appreciable approach which can
be used by the company to motivate their employees. The training and development
are incorporated within the organisation with the help of a continuous professional
development program (Khan, et al., 2011). As the skills are increased when they find
a way to deal with the issues of the work. In some situations, the employees get
stuck specifically at the time when the new technology or new approaches to work
are introduced within an entity. The training and development resolve these issues.
The companies which align their HR strategy with CPD motivates their employees
highly as their satisfaction level towards the job is increased. The companies can
motivate their employees by increasing the pay and finding out the method to
motivate the employees. The continuous professional development also finds out the
way to know the issues with which the employees suffer and train them. The HR
strategy is also developed in this regard which aligns with CPD and both leads
towards the betterment of the company. In the HR strategies, the issues are also
identified which are faced by the employees of the company and these issues are
resolved with the help of continuous professional development. The issues faced in
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doing the daily activities of a business can be easily resolved by CPD which is
beneficial for the employees of the company as well as for the entity.
As CIPD, the expert body for HR and individual’s advancement, advises in its paper
about the advantages of CPD, being given preparing and improvement openings
empowers representatives to create on existing aptitudes and learn new ones,
helping them accomplish their vocation objectives. As CIPD composes, CPD enables
representatives, "To adapt emphatically to change by always refreshing your
aptitudes set." By creating and adapting new aptitudes, being presented to proceed
with advancement in the work environment will enable people to enhance their
execution at work, which means they are in a superior position for advancement, all
the more difficult duties and conceivably a compensation rise. Knowing they are
being resourced through preparing and seeing the self-improvement increases of
such preparing, including winning a more noteworthy range of abilities and
enhancing execution, will unavoidably make more noteworthy occupation fulfilment.
As CIPD, the master body for HR and people progression prompts in its paper about
the benefits of CPD, being given planning and change openings engage agents in
making o
n existing aptitudes and learning new ones, helping them achieve their livelihood
goals. As CIPD makes, CPD empowers delegates, "To adjust determinedly to
change by continually reviving your aptitudes set." (Luke, 2016). Knowing they are
being placed assets into through planning and seeing the self-change increments of
such getting ready, including winning an essential scope of capacities and improving
execution, will unavoidably make more important occupation fulfilment. High levels of
staff turnover can be devastating for a business. It is inside each organisation's
enthusiasm to hold tight to their most esteemed individuals from staff. Offering CPD
can be a viable method to support confidence in the working environment and in this
way guarantee prized people are more averse to search for work somewhere else, in
this manner enhancing degrees of consistency.
According to literature, the human resource policies, HR strategies as well as other
training program are considered essential for the companies. The companies which
align the continuous professional development with the HR strategies motivate the
employees to a greater extent, and their satisfaction level is also increased. The
training and development and continuous development for the employees also
enhance the productivity of employees at workplaces. The cost and other expenses
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of the company are with the help of continuous professional development as the
productivity and efficiency of employees are increased significantly. The HR
strategies for motivation are used by the management of the company in which the
pay scale and promotional objectives are provided to employees. The companies
which initiate such programs within their entities also get assurance to achieve a
competitive advantage in the industry.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
This section explains the research strategy and system of the study for this thesis.
Particularly, this section highlights the exploration logic, methodology, system and
information accumulation systems. Research philosophy is a situated of an
organized set of rules or exercises to support in producing substantial and solid
exploration results (Mingers, 2001, p.242). The exploration process has adaptability
taking after the recommendation of Saunders et al. (2003) which is an onion model
(figure 1).
Figure 1 - The research process ‘onion’ (Saunders et al., 2003)
This research will adopt a systematic review of the literature on continuous
professional development in order to understand its role in improving competitive
advantage. The stages of this systematic review will begin with the defining of the
research questions.
The research questions for this study are:
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a What is continuous professional development and how it is linked to
organisational performance?
b Does continuous professional development enhance the motivation
level of employees?
c How can continuous professional learning and development be used to
enhance an organization’s competitive advantage?
In order to address these research questions, a search for relevant data will be
carried out using the online library resource, Athens. The results for the different
searches will be refined to focus on the variables in the research objectives. The
literature will be analysed into categories and themes in order to establish common
patterns or results for CPD in organisations.
The Impact of Continuous learning and Development on
Organisation Competitiveness.
In an ever-increasing globalised and competitive society, the importance of Continuing
Professional Development cannot be overstated. The world’s industries are forever evolving,
which creates exciting opportunities but which also comes with challenges. CPD enables an
individual to regularly apply attention to important areas of development and takes appropriate
action to diminish any shortfalls in knowledge. Equally, an individual must see continuing
professional development as a way to remain competitive with their rivalries and as an
opportunity to differentiate themselves at moments where this may be required, such as in job
interviews or in tenders for new work and business acquisition. As more people become
professionally qualified with similar qualifications, CPD becomes more important as a means
of separating yourself from the pack.
Providing CPD recognized learning benefits to the organization through recognition
and increased brand perception. Internal use of continuing professional development aspires
and promotes a healthy learning culture for organization, leading to a more fulfilled workforce
and retaining valuable staff.
Many organizations have staff with CPD obligations as members of
professional bodies. In circumstances where internal CPD training resources are low,
organizations use outsourced CPD training providers to meet staff requirements.
Ethical values are the set of established principles governing righteous
behavior. This also assures that the company maintains a good business reputation. Majority
of the managers are concerned about developing public relation which will encourage and
promote a set of appropriate ethical values for staff within the company which to be
undertaken by the company while doing business with the customers.
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Chapter 4: Conclusion
It can be concluded that the research work will enable the companies to know how
continuous professional development can help the companies to achieve competitive
advantage in the long run. The research conducted can also be used by different
researchers to conduct further research work. The research work was done using
secondary research and a case study, and it will be assured that the research work
did comply with all the ethics of research work.
This research is aimed at ensuring that developing organizations must develop a
culture of competitiveness and continuous growth and improvement through
developing their staff continuous training and development. Learning organizations
have been demonstrated to facilitate adaptability and to enhance further
understanding of shareholder in the business environments. In the next chapter of
my research, the literature collected through secondary and primary data collection
tools and classified as literature review is analysed along with different models and
theories that will be used to aid the analysis.
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6.0 Appendix
6.1 Appendix 1 Gantt Chart
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