In the field of business management, a self-learning organization is a company that promotes the development of its employees and is constantly being transformed. The concept was created thanks to the work and research of Peter Senge and his colleagues.
Self-learning organizations develop as a result of the pressures faced by modern companies and allow them to remain competitive in the business environment.
Specifications
There are many definitions of a self-learning organization, as well as its typology. Peter Senge said in an interview that this concept refers to a group of people working together to enhance their capabilities and achieve the results that they really need. Senge popularized the concept of self-learning organizations in his book, Fifth Discipline. In his work, he proposed the following.
Systemic thinking
The concept of a self-learning organization evolved from a set of works called collective intelligence. This is exactly the foundation that allows people to study business as a limited object.
Educational organizations use this method of thinking when evaluating their company and have information systems that measure the effectiveness of the enterprise as a whole and its various components. The systemic mind claims that all characteristics must be immediately apparent in the organization so that it is learnable. If some of these principles are missing, then the company will not achieve its goal.
Nevertheless, O'Keefe believes that the characteristics of a learning organization are factors that are gradually acquired rather than developed simultaneously.
Personal skill
This is the name of a personās commitment to the learning process. There is a competitive advantage for the organization - a workforce that can learn faster than employees of other companies.
Learning is considered more than just getting information. This expands the possibilities of being more productive by learning to apply all the skills in work in the most valuable way. Personal mastery is also manifested in the spiritual sense, such as clarification of concentration, personal vision and the ability to objectively interpret reality.
Individual training is acquired through staff training, development and continuous self-improvement. However, education cannot be imposed on a person who is immune to him. Studies show that most of the on-the-job training is secondary and not a product of formal development. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the culture in which personal mastery is practiced in everyday life.
The concept of a self-learning organization has been described as a process of individual development. That is, it should have mechanisms for individual education, which are then transferred to organizational training. Personal mastery makes possible many positive results, such as self-efficacy, motivation, a sense of responsibility, determination, patience and focus on relevant issues, as well as a balance between work and personal life.
Mental models
These are the assumptions and generalizations that are important to individuals and organizations. Personal mental models describe what people may or may not discover. Due to sample surveillance, they are able to limit employee supervision.
To become a self-learning organization, these models must be precisely defined. People tend to stick to theories. The same thing happens in the organization, as a rule, they have āmemoriesā that preserve certain behavior, norms and values. When creating a learning environment, it is important to replace confrontational relationships with an open culture that fosters research and trust.
To achieve this goal, a self-learning organization needs mechanisms to define and evaluate action theories. Unwanted values āāshould be discarded in a process called ālearningā.
Van and Ahmed call this āthree-cycle training.ā For organizations, problems arise when mental models develop below the level of awareness. Therefore, it is important to study business issues and actively question current practices before they become integrated into new projects.
Shared vision
The development of this principle of self-learning organization is important for motivating staff to learn, as it creates a common identity that provides focus and energy for education. The most successful visions are based on the individual principles of employees at all levels of the organization. Thus, the creation of a common point of view can be hindered by traditional structures, where all this is imposed from above.
Training organizations typically have flat, decentralized corporate structures. A shared vision often is to succeed against a competitor. However, Senge in the "Self-Learning Organization" states that these are temporary goals. And he suggests that there should be long-term principles inherent in the company.
Lack of a clearly defined goal can negatively affect the organization. The application of the practice of shared vision creates an appropriate environment for developing trust through communication and cooperation within the organization. As a result, the shared vision built encourages participants to share their own experience and opinions, thereby enhancing the results of the organizational lesson.
Team training
The advantage of collective, or joint, development is that staff grows faster, and the organizationās ability to solve problems improves through access to knowledge and experience. Training organizations have structures that facilitate group learning with features such as border crossing and openness.
At team meetings, participants can learn from each other better, concentrating on listening, avoiding breaks, showing interest and reacting. As a result of the practice of a self-learning organization, people should not hide or ignore their differences. So they enrich their collective understanding.
Team training at its best:
- the ability to think insightfully on complex issues;
- ability to take innovative, coordinated actions;
- the ability to create a network that allows other teams to do the same.
The team focuses on conveying both calm and explicit information through the group and creating an environment in which creativity can flourish. The team learns to think together.
Team training is the process of adaptation and development of the ability to create the results that its participants really want. Collective education requires people to engage in dialogue and discussion, so team members must develop open communication with a common sense and understanding.
One of the hallmarks of a self-learning organization is that it has excellent knowledge management structures that allow you to create, acquire, distribute and implement them in your company. Team education requires discipline and routine. Collective development is just one element of the learning cycle. For the circle to close, it must include all five principles that are mentioned above.
This combination encourages organizations to move towards a more interconnected way of thinking. The company should become more like a community in which employees can feel a commitment to a common idea.
What principles are characteristic for a self-learning organization
Companies do not turn organically into educational institutions. There are certain factors that motivate them to change. As organizations grow, they lose their ability to learn, as company structures and individual thinking become rigid. When problems arise, the proposed solutions are often short-term and reappear in the future.
To remain competitive, many organizations restructured and fewer people became members of the company. This means that those who remain must work more efficiently. But in fact, in order to create a competitive advantage, companies must learn faster than their competitors and develop a culture of responding to customer needs.
Chris Argiris determined that organizations need to maintain knowledge of new products and processes. And also to understand what is happening in the external environment, and create creative solutions using the knowledge and skills of all company employees. This requires collaboration between individuals and groups, free and reliable communication, and a culture of trust.
Positive sides
One of the main advantages that a training organization offers is a competitive feature. It can be based on various strategies obtained through collective learning.
One way to gain a competitive advantage is strategic flexibility. A constant influx of new experience and knowledge keeps the organization dynamic and ready for change. In an ever-changing institutional environment, this can be a key factor in gaining an advantage.
Better organization management, investment and operations can also be beneficial for a learning company.
The next competitive advantage of the company can be obtained due to lower prices and better product quality. Through organizational learning, new strategies for managing costs and differentiations are possible.
Other benefits of a learning organization:
- maintaining the level of innovation and maintaining competitiveness;
- increased efficiency;
- knowledge to better connect resources with customer needs;
- improving the quality of results at all levels;
- proofreading corporate image by focusing on people;
- an increase in the pace of change in the organization;
- fostering a sense of community in the organization;
- faster adoption of long-term decisions;
- improved knowledge sharing.
Barriers
Even in a company with a self-learning organization, problems can slow down the development process or cause its regression. Most of them arise due to the fact that the company does not fully cover all the necessary aspects. Once these problems can be identified, you can begin to work to fix them.
It is difficult for some organizations to accept personal mastery because, as a concept, it is intangible, and the benefits are not quantified. Self-development can even be seen as a threat to the enterprise. And this is not just a theory, the problem is quite real, as P. Senge points out in āSelf-Learning Organizationā. He writes that if people are not involved in the overall development, self-mastery can be used to advance their own personal visions. In some organizations, the lack of a culture of education can be an obstacle to learning. An environment should be created in which people can exchange knowledge without being devalued or ignored. The self-learning organization model must fully agree with the elimination of traditional hierarchical structures.
Resistance to development can arise in an organization if there is not enough participation at the individual level. This is often found with people who feel threatened by change or believe that they have something to lose. They most likely have closed thinking and do not want to interact with mental models. If training is not carried out consistently throughout the organization, development can be considered elitist and limited to an older level. In this case, education will not be seen as a shared vision. If education is compulsory, then it can be considered as a form of control, and not as a personal development. Education and the desire for self-mastery should be an individual choice, so compulsory classes will not work.
In addition, as Peter Senge wrote, a self-learning organization, if it is large in size, can be an obstacle to internal knowledge sharing. When the number of employees exceeds 150, collective development sharply decreases due to the higher complexity of the formal organizational structure, weaker relationships between employees, lower trust and less effective communication.
Thus, as the size of the organizational unit increases, the effectiveness of internal knowledge flows decreases sharply.
Based on their research of efforts to reform the Swiss postal service, Matthias Finger and Silvia Bűrgin Brand provide a useful list of more important shortcomings in the concept of organizing training. They conclude that it is not possible to transform a bureaucratic organization with training initiatives alone. They believe that changes could be made less threatening and more acceptable to participants.
Problems converting to a training organization
The book āDance of Changesā states that there are many reasons why an organization has problems turning itself into a training company.
Firstly, the company does not have enough time. Employees and management may have other problems that take precedence over attempts to change the culture of their organization. The team may not be able to set aside time if the institution does not provide appropriate assistance. In order for a company to change, it needs to know the steps necessary to solve the problems it faces. As a solution, you may need a mentor or trainer who is well versed in the concept of organizing training.
In addition, the change may not correspond to the needs of the company. Time should be spent on topical issues of the organization and its everyday issues. To deal with this challenge, a strategy must be built competently. The organization must determine what its problems are before embarking on a transformation. Training should remain connected to business results so that it is easier for employees to connect training with everyday issues. These problems are highlighted on the basis of examples of self-learning organizations from different countries.