Critical Analysis of Strengths and Limitations of Workplace Learning

This report delves into the strengths and limitations of workplace learning, using an adult training academy's enrollment team as a case study. It examines various learning methods, including direct and indirect guidance, such as on-the-job training, mentoring, and participation in events like graduation ceremonies. The report highlights how workplace learning enhances both individual skills and organizational efficiency, emphasizing the importance of providing learning opportunities for employees. It critically analyzes the effectiveness of current pedagogies and recommends improvements to foster more effective learning environments. The report discusses the importance of structured learning, curriculum design, and the implementation of practice pedagogies to enhance the learning experience for workers. The analysis covers different types of knowledge acquisition (propositional, procedural, dispositional, and metacognitive) and their application in the workplace, offering insights into how to optimize learning outcomes.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF WORKPLACE LEARNING
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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................3
The comprehensiveness of Description.......................................................................4
Critical Analysis of Strengths and Limitations of Learning Provisions.........................7
Recommendations......................................................................................................10
Conclusions................................................................................................................10
References.................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
This paper shares the strengths and limitations of workplace learning and provides
some insights into how workplace learning can be enhanced. With different
scenarios set for different industries, this paper draws an example from an adult
training academy; particularly the enrolment team. The job roles of an enrolment
officer include providing course information to the marketing team, managing the
online enrolment process, releasing of results, planning of graduation and providing
the course or administrative advice to applicants and students.
The daily tasks of an enrolment officer are considered operational and involve
working mainly with people. Learning includes both direct and indirect guidance.
For example, managing the online enrolment process. Applicants are required to
view the course information via the academy's website and if they are interested to
sign up for the course, they can register via the online application form. The
enrolment officer will proceed to process their application using the system. For new
officers, a buddy will be assigned to help them familiarize themselves with the
system. One to one direct guidance to the new officer on how to look through each
application and ensure the applicants meet with the course requirements before
accepting their application. Many times, the enrolment officer is required to answer
inquiries from new applicants or existing students pertaining to course information or
administrative processes. New officers will be shadowing team members to learn
the knowledge required to answer these inquiries. Such knowledge may include
course-related technical knowledge, interpersonal skills, and communication skills,
etc. New officers will either be kept in the email loop while team members reply to
the email inquiries, or they will sit beside the team members to listen and learn how
phone inquiries are being handled. This is in the form of indirect guidance. Including
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new and existing officers, ad hoc discussions will be conducted to share the newest
type of cases so that everyone will discuss and know how to perform these best
practices.
The annual graduation ceremony is the biggest event for the academy and planning
is done one year in advance. A two-person team is appointed to manage the entire
ceremony of around 2,000 guests for two years. Before the new team is being
tasked to take over the existing, they will be joining the existing team one year before
their appointment to learn everything required to run the successful event. During
this period, they are kept in all email correspondences including proposals to
management and negotiations with vendors. They will observe and learn as much
as possible for their upcoming appointment. They will still be able to seek assistance
from their predecessors if they hit a roadblock when they are on their own. During
their second year in the team, they will be tasked to guide the upcoming team as
well. Other than learning how to perform a task for the graduation ceremony from
their predecessors, they are now learning how to become a good mentor by guiding
the upcoming team.
Comprehensiveness of Description
Learning in the workplace is critical for an individual as well as for the business and
the process of learning enhances not only the qualitative aspects or behavioral traits
of the persons but also the process efficiency of the organization as well. Since
learning is a both-way approach and requires reciprocation from the environment
and it may be construed that habit of learning and scope for knowledge acquisition
within a workplace may be considered to be performance benchmark for the
organization in terms of the provision for the persons to learn and grow (Trede,
Markauskaite, McEwen & Macfarlane, 2019). In other words, if an organization
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provides sufficient and reasonable scope to its resources for their learning and
subsequent growth, the same may be construed to be a sustainable proposition for
the organization for the long term (Dignath & Büttner, 2018).
In the instant case, it has been observed that the adult learning academy is the
intended business that the researcher has identified for the purpose of the analysis.
Adults training academy provides services related to job enrollment. In the context of
such an organization, it may be stated that workplace learning may assume different
forms, process and structures in a given scenario (Trede, Markauskaite, McEwen &
Macfarlane, 2019). In this context, the researcher will discuss the different learning
process along with their respective strengths and limitations in the subsequent
sections of the paper in detail.
First of all, it will be identified that the enrollment officer works in a structured
environment and his roles and responsibilities are clearly defined. He needs to
provide different course-related data to the sales and marketing team for subsequent
transmission for the purpose of their marketing and reaching out to intended
customers (Battistutti & Bork, 2017). Once the query of the students or the
candidates starts coming in, the enrolment officer may need to answer those calls or
emails and thereby resolve the candidate’s queries. In this context, it is pertinent to
note that the enrollment officer may need to possess certain skills both in terms of
technical as well as soft skills. If he is, for example, unaware of any course
curriculum, he may not be able to resolve candidate's queries with respect to any
specific course curriculum related nitty-gritty. In the consideration of Trede,
Markauskaite, McEwen & Macfarlane (2019), in addition, it may also be stated that
while communicating with the candidates either over phone calls or in a face to face
session, the officer may need to have an efficient interpersonal skill with pleasing
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and charming personality so that the counseling session is being performed in an
efficient manner and the intended communication is transmitted from the
organization to the prospective customers.
On the other hand, when a junior officer is appointed to support the work of the
senior enrollment officer, his learning curve gradually starts to grow upward when he
conducts the administrative work to provide support to the administrative officer
(Maravilhas & Martins, 2019). The support or functional service provided by him
enables the person to learn the nitty-gritty of the enrollment officer’s role and
responsibility. All the activities an environment officer undertakes in a given scenario
may be undertaken by the junior officer as well in the subsequent period after he
gets promoted to the position of the senior officer. As per Trede, Markauskaite,
McEwen & Macfarlane (2019), in this entire process, senior enrollment officer takes
care of mentoring the junior officer and such mentorship is another crucial learning
point for the part of senior enrollment officer as well. In other words, how to train a
junior officer is being learned by the senior enrollment officer and therefore it may be
stated that the learning happens in a two-way process (Maravilhas & Martins, 2019).
Thirdly, it may also be stated that the annual graduation ceremony is another critical
task for the enrollment officer and his team. When the new batch joins the enrolment
officer may need to provide them guidance, coaching, and counselling to make them
eligible to get promoted in the junior level so that they may get accustomed and
undertake the responsibility which will be delegated to them afterwards (Adetayo,
Samuel, Bulus, Elemure, Ige & Oladapo, 2019). In other words, it may be stated that
graduation ceremony is a challenge for the enrollment officer to train junior person
under him and make them knowledgeable and resourceful for the next year so that in
the next year they may become efficient to handle the entire task basket of
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enrolment officers successfully and train their junior batches to continue the
momentum of the job role (Liu, Liu & Hariyanto 2020, January).
In this context, it may be stated that workplace learning is closely related to job
training or hands-on experience. It has been identified by different researchers that
the learning in a classroom setup cannot be conceived by the people in the way the
learning impacts if the same is being performed or acquired through on job training
or in a working environment. It has been observed that people generally learn while
doing work practically. The knowledge is therefore construed to be more impactful as
compared to the theoretical knowledge as the same enables the person to visualize
the problem scenario, identify the probable solution and implement the same in the
real-world context. Theoretical knowledge does not necessarily provide such an
advantage to the learner to embed such learning within own and apply the same in
the real world (Adetayo, Samuel, Bulus, Elemure, Ige & Oladapo, 2019).
Also, it may be stated that engagement in a given task is a cognitive approach where
learning is involved to a significant extent. The direct guidance under the supervision
for monitoring of senior may render a valuable experience or learning to the learner;
whereas, the indirect guidance such as observation for imitation by the junior
performer may also be considered to be a learning process.
Critical Analysis of Strengths and Limitations of Learning Provisions
The significance of workplace learning has been considerably high in the process of
shaping up the learning curve of an individual. The process of knowledge acquisition
may take several forms. Propositional knowledge is related to factual data,
information, and knowledge. The propositional knowledge deals with the facts,
concepts, information and the level of knowledge is much more at a basic level
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where the declaration is being understood which comprises facts and assertions
(Mikkonen, Pylväs, Rintala, Nokelainen & Postareff, 2017).
Procedural knowledge is related to know-how. The procedural knowledge depicts the
know-how where the people understand the routine and non-routine tasks and the
essence of the same by differentiating them. Since non-routine activity requires the
thinking process to be more streamlined and problem-solving skills to be more
developed, the application of procedural knowledge assumes its importance therein
(Mikkonen, Pylväs, Rintala, Nokelainen & Postareff, 2017).
The dispositions relate to the policies and principles whereas, the metacognitive
denotes the highest degree and form of knowledge. Disposition comprises of
attitude, values, and identity and determines whether a particular person values a
particular form of knowledge to secure the same. The disposition is not separate
from a cognitive structure and likely to be influenced by external factors such as
societal and cultural determinants through an individual’s background, experience,
and history (Hutzschenreuter, Kleindienst, Guenther & Hammes, 2016).
Workplace learning has several strengths and inherent limitations within it. It has
been observed that everyday participation in routine work or the standardized tasks
may provide the learner with an opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge into
the practical area, generate the solution to the given task and thereby attempt to
achieve those solutions in a sustainable manner. It is needless to mention that such
initiative is unorganized one and that helps the learner to secure the solution through
the achievement of workplace goals as well (Dochy, Smet, Govaerts & Kyndt, 2018).
It may also be observed that with the passage of time, the learner conceptualizes the
goals and sub-goals in deeper context with the rich association, linkage and
relationship establishment with other areas of knowledge. Hence, the acquisition of
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explicit knowledge and transformation from tacit to an explicit one is dependent upon
a lot of social as well as cultural considerations in a given scenario.
Also, the association with other experts may provide the learner indirect guidance in
the form of observation on imitation enabling them to seek the goals (Bridges, Lee,
Griffiths & Frankland, 2019). The experts generally provide guidance in proximity and
the learner needs to practice the knowledge construction out of those inherent
components of such complex tasks to achieve the goal which provides a cognitive
approach towards a problem-solving scenario.
On the other hand, researchers have also argued that the learning outcome may
associate with several inherent limitations as well which may act as a barrier to
achieve the pre-set goals (Koehler & Sturm, 2018). For example, the development
and construction of inefficient knowledge may act as a deterrent to the knowledge
acquisition process. The knowledge constructed in the workplace may not be
conceived to be the appropriate knowledge, all the time. For example, the individual
conceptualizing the racial mindset and inculcating sexist behavior in the workplace
may be considered to be inappropriate knowledge that does not add value to his
learning curve (Ramanathan, 2019).
Besides, the reluctance shown by the experts or non-cooperation by the seniors may
act as an impediment to the knowledge development process. It has often been
argued that beginners should be allowed to take the challenge of disruptive learning
by making them introduce to the critical and non-structured problem scenarios.
Otherwise, the process of knowledge construction will be restricted (Siadaty,
Gašević & Hatala, 2016).
As per the consideration of Adetayo, Samuel, Bulus, Elemure, Ige & Oladapo (2019),
access is another issue that may become relevant in the scenario of workplace
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learning. It has also been observed that access to an expert is not available or the
access is restricted and therefore on account of lack of instructions, authenticity, and
guidance, workplace learning may not be feasible. For example, it may be stated that
the trade person may show his reluctance to show the solution to the given task to
another trade person on the fear that the same will jeopardize his interest ( Tobiano,
Murphy, Grealish, Hervey, Aitken & Marshall, 2019).
Recommendations
Research shows that the workplace learning enables the people to learn from work
and therefore its importance in real-life field cannot be undermined. However, there
have been number of limiting factors that may restrict an individual learning in
workplace and some of these factors relate to the undesirable knowledge, access
issues, reluctance or non-cooperation by the experts and lack of instructional media
or knowledge etc.
It may be acknowledged that all these limitations are addressable and therefore
proper remedial measures may need to be undertaken by the learners or the
organization in order to maintain the learning momentum. The paper has suggested
some developmental measures of conceptual knowledge that may be restarted here.
The concept of curriculum in the workplace learning scenario needs to be devised in
such a manner that the same focus more on learning rather than teaching. Learning
should be encouraged as it is a both-way approach. Researcher argue that teaching,
when compared to the learning, is more of a preaching by nature and therefore the
same denotes the one-way activity which may not be grasped by the recipient, at
times. Therefore, it may be wise for the experts to inculcate the learning by
encouraging the learners for shadowing etc. The indirect guidance like observation,
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imitation etc. may add value immense value to the learner’s learning curve and the
same provide an insight into the cognitive framework of the learners subsequently.
Also, the authenticity of activities and access to instructional media may significantly
affect workplace learning and therefore it may be concluded that a model curriculum
should focus on the learners’ engagement in various activities and deriving solutions
therefrom (Siadaty, Gašević & Hatala, 2016). As stated earlier, the limiting factors
are addressable and management should take precautionary measures or remedies
to identify the issues around learning and provide solution to the same through an
efficient planning and workable strategy set.
In addition, it may also be recommended that since learning is a concept that is more
associated with the participation in goal-directed activity, the same becomes
important from a workplace perspective as well (Kyndt, Vermeire & Cabus, 2016).
The organizational goal may need to be well consumed and digested by the learners
and the same may be performed through strategically devised training and efficient
learning curriculum. The individual goal and organizational goal may need to be
synced in order to provide the best learning experience to the learners. In the opinion
of Trede, Markauskaite, McEwen & Macfarlane (2019), as a result, the individual will
be able to relate the learning from an organizational point of view which, in turn, will
add value to his skill-set, as required within the dynamic and ever-changing
organizational horizon.
As per Adetayo, Samuel, Bulus, Elemure, Ige & Oladapo (2019), if these factors are
discounted and marginalized, then the full potential of workplace learning may be
achieved by both the recipient as well as the organization in fruitful way.
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Conclusions
On the basis of the aforesaid discussions and analysis, the researcher may have
reached to a concluding statement that may underscore the fact that the learning
curriculum development is a complex challenging and yet significantly important task
for the purpose of workplace learning. it may be stated that the process of
developing the learning curriculum may have two different components namely
activities and guidance (Tobiano, Murphy, Grealish, Hervey, Aitken & Marshall,
2019). Under the activity segment, access to the process, product, instructional
media, experts, etc. may become relevant and the aim of the activity may revolve
around a transformation from tacit to explicit knowledge. In the opinion of Adetayo,
Samuel, Bulus, Elemure, Ige & Oladapo (2019), on the other hand, guidance may be
of two different types namely close guidance and distant guidance. In a closely
guided scenario, proximity is relevant and the proximal guidance is rendered by the
experts; whereas, in distant guidance scenarios, shadowing and supervising may
become the process of delivering the knowledge. In this case, other workers,
different activities and external environments may play a major role in devising an
individual knowledge base. It may, therefore, be finally concluded that a well-
designed workplace learning curriculum supported by efficient monitoring,
supervision and controlling of the same may significantly affect the learning process
of an individual in a workplace scenario for long-term in most optimum way (Adetayo,
Samuel, Bulus, Elemure, Ige & Oladapo, 2019).
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