The Learning Organization - 2019 Edition

Peter Senge first introduced the concept of the ‘learning organization’ in his 1990 book, "The Fifth Discipline." A learning organization continuously encourages its people to learn. In a learning organization, new ideas and collective ambitions are constantly fostered, and this is how goals are achieved. The learning organization is flexible and capable of responding to change.

According to Senge, the learning organization consists of 5 disciplines. What can we learn from these disciplines in 2019?

Change as a constant factor

Not only the learning organization but also the changing organization is more relevant than ever. Rapid developments, hand in hand with digitalization, make it difficult to accurately predict the future. This is precisely why personal and professional learning remains so important. After all, change is a constant factor for the foreseeable future.

The 5 disciplines of a learning organization address this:

• Shared vision: a vision created through interaction with employees;
• Systems thinking: a focus on the bigger picture rather than just the individual;
• Mental models: flexibility of the organization and the employee to adapt to changing models;
• Team learning: an optimal match between personal competence and shared vision;
• Personal mastery: a clear vision of a goal and the insight into how to achieve it.

Proactive versus reactive learning

The five disciplines have one thing in common: they require proactivity instead of reactivity. Not only the employees but also the organization must continue to learn (proactively). An organization can learn a great deal from its employees.

That is why it is important in a learning organization for the organization to be aware of the expectations and needs of its colleagues. This ensures that what you design is actually well-received in the workplace. This requires a constant feedback loop between the employee, HR, and the organization.

Employee experience design

In his book "The Employee Experience Advantage," Jacob Morgan calls this employee experience design. This is the alignment between the expectations, needs, and requirements of the employee and the organizational design of those expectations, needs, and requirements. In the ideal scenario, the needs of the employees match the design of the organization. In other words: an organization designs something, and the employees receive it in the intended way.

Know your employees

A positive career experience and a learning organization cannot exist if an organization does not know its employees well. According to Morgan, this does not just mean assembling a team to focus on big data and people analytics, but also having a group of people (or managers) who connect with employees on an individual and human level. This goes beyond ensuring that an employee has the necessary tools (computer, phone, workspace) to get to work.

Know what your team dreams about and what keeps them up at night, both personally and professionally.

For example, take into account personal and important moments such as the birth of a child or buying a house. Professionally, you might think of working on a major project or an important deadline. It is important to keep in mind that it is not just the environment that changes. Employees and their needs, expectations, and requirements change along with it.

Learning with e-learning

Personal contact and connection are therefore very important. In addition, it is good to respond to the expectations, requirements, and needs of staff in a digital way as well. E-learning is a solution for organizations that want to respond to the changing environment. On one hand, it ensures that employees can learn in an accessible way. On the other hand, it ensures that the organization can easily request feedback from the (learning) employees. E-learning is not just a way to offer training; it is also a way to invest in where the needs within the organization truly lie.

Read more in our blog about the 7 fantastic benefits of e-learning

Learning and leadership

Met de mogelijkheden die deze nieuwe manier van leren biedt, is de verantwoordelijkheid van de lerende organisatie verdeeld over de hele organisatie. Dat vraagt om een goede balans tussen autonomie en autoriteit. De organisatie is verantwoordelijk voor het autoriseren en mogelijk maken van leren, of dit nu is door middel van e-learning, offline learning of blended learning. De medewerker is verantwoordelijk over zijn eigen leerproces, en het communiceren van zijn behoeften en verwachtingen. 

Leren is niet meer iets wat je zo’n 4 of 5 jaar doet tijdens je studententijd. Leren evolueert naar een activiteit voor een leven lang. Of het nu een verdieping in je vakgebied is, of juist in een heel andere branche.

Pluvo helpt jou om te (blijven) leren

Wij helpen jou graag om een lerende organisatie te blijven of te worden. Pluvo maakt e-learning mogelijk voor iedereen. Of je nou een trainer met kleine trainingsgroepen of een grote organisatie bent. Een specifieke training wilt maken of een centrale leerplek wilt voor je medewerkers: met Pluvo maak je binnen een paar klikken een training die bij jouw organisatie past. Start gratis en ontdek zelf de voordelen!

Bron: the employee experience advantage, Jacob Morgan en the fifth discipline, Peter Senge