Key Insights into What Makes Public Organizations Learn from Training Programs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18291/njwls.129052Keywords:
Health, Working Environment & Wellbeing, Learning & Competencies, Identity, Meaning & Culture, Innovation & Productivity, Organization & ManagementAbstract
Public organizations often operate in rigid environments with standardized procedures that are not conducive to learning, yet it is crucial that they continuously improve at solving their societal tasks in a satisfactory way. There is a lack of knowledge about what factors are important for learning to occur in public organizations. Based on a questionnaire, this study looks at how different factors condition the way in which employees perceive standardized training programs in public organizations. The study demonstrates how a training program was perceived by two different professional groups, one being more accustomed to and accepting of standardized procedures than the other. The results show that the child welfare services had a more positive attitude toward the program than did the family counseling services. Employees working in an environment that is positive to employee feedback also perceived the program as more relevant, important and useful. Employees working in an environment that prioritized competence development perceived the program to be better organized and implemented and to be relevant to their work tasks. The article argues that these factors contribute positively to organizational learning and stresses the importance for leaders to develop an environment that is positive to employee feedback.
Author Biography
Kristin Reichborn-Kjennerud, Oslo Metropolitan University
PhD, Work Research Institute, Oslo
References
Althauser, K. (2015). Job-embedded professional development: Its impact on teacher self-efficacy and student performance, Teacher Development 19(2): 210–225. DOI: 10.1080/13664530.2015.1011346
Betts, J., & Holden, R. (2003). Organisational learning in a public sector organisation: A case study in muddled thinking, Journal of Workplace Learning 15(6): 345–348. DOI: 10.1108/13665620310488575
Bloor, G., & Dawson, P. (1994). Understanding professional culture in organizational context, Organization Studies 15(2): 275–295.
Bufetat. (2017). Spisskompetansemiljøene i Bufetat - modell, roller og ansvar. Unpublished internal document, Barne-, ungdoms-, og familieetaten.
Chang, M. M. (2005). Applying self-regulated learning strategies in a web-based
instruction—an investigation of motivation perception, Computer Assisted Language
Learning 18(3): 217–230.
Colquitt, J. A., LePine, J. A., & Noe, R. A. (2000). Toward an integrative theory of training motivation: A meta-analytic path analysis of 20 years of research, Journal of Applied Psychology 85(5): 678–707. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.85.5.678
DuFour, R., & Marzano, R. J. (2011). Leaders of learning: How district, school, and classroom leaders improve student achievement, Bloomington Indiana: Solution Tree Press.
Elkjær, B. (2001). The learning organization: an undelivered promise, Management Learning 32(4): 437–452.
Enehaug, H. (2014). Læring i omstillingenes tid: Et teoretisk innspill om arbeidsmiljø og organisasjonslæring [Teaching in times of organizational change: A theoretical contribution on working environment and organizational learning], Tidsskrift for Arbejdsliv 16(4): 69–84. DOI: 10.7146/tfa.v16i4.108978
Engeström, Y. (2015). Learning by expanding, New York: Cambridge University Press
Fernandez, S., & Rainey, H. G. (2006). Managing successful organizational change in the public sector, Public Administration Review 66(2): 168–176. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00570.x
Fuller, A., & Unwin, L. (2011). Workplace learning and the organization. In M. Malloch, L. Cairns, K. Evans & B. N. O’Connor (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Workplace Learning (pp. 46–59), London: Sage.
Holton, E. F., & Baldwin, T. T. (2003). Improving learning transfer in organizations, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Jarvie, W., & Stewart, J. (2018). Conceptualizing learning in the public sector: The importance of context, International Journal of Public Sector Management 31(1): 14–30. DOI: 10.1108/ijpsm-08-2016-0137
Kessler, S. A., Horton, K. D., Gottlieb, N. H., & Atwood, R. (2012). Workplace learning for the public good: Implementation of a standardized, competency‐based curriculum in Texas WIC, Journal of Workplace Learning 24(4): 270–285. DOI: 10.1108/13665621211223388
Lundkvist, A. H., & Gustavsson, M. (2018). Learning conditions for continuous improvement in a public service organization, Journal of Workplace Learning 30(8): 578–591. DOI: 10.1108/JWL-03-2018-0049
LaPalombara, J. (2003). Power and politics in organization: Public and private sector
comparisons. In M. Dierkes, A. B. Antel, J. Child & I. Nonaka (Eds.), Handbook of
Organizational Learning and Knowledge (pp. 557–581), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mathieu, J. E., Martineau, J. W., & Tannenbaum, S. I. (1993). Individual and situational
influences on the development of self‐efficacy: Implications for training
effectiveness, Personnel Psychology 46(1): 125–147. DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.1993.tb00870.x
Meyers, L. S., Gamst, G., & Guarino, A. J. (2006). Applied multivariate research: Design and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nygaard, C., & Bramming, P. (2008). Learning-centred public management education,
International Journal of Public Sector Management 21(4): 400–416. DOI: 10.1108/09513550810880269
Patel, A. (1994). Quality assurance (BS 5750) in social services departments, International
Journal of Public Sector Management 7(2): 26–32. DOI: 10.1108/09526869410055802
Rebelo, T. M., & Gomes, A. D. (2011). Conditioning factors of an organizational learning
culture, Journal of Workplace Learning 23(3): 173–194. DOI: 10.1108/13665621111117215
Reichborn-Kjennerud, K. (2013). Political accountability and performance audit: The case
of the auditor general in Norway, Public Administration 91(3): 680–695. DOI: 10.1111/padm.12025
Reichborn-Kjennerud, K. (2014). Performance audit and the importance of the public debate, Evaluation 20(3): 368–385. DOI: 10.1177/1356389014539869
Reichborn-Kjennerud, K., & Johnsen, Å. (2018). Performance audits and supreme audit institutions’ impact on public administration: The case of the office of the auditor general in Norway, Administration & Society 50(10): 1422–1446. DOI: 10.1177/0095399715623315
Reichborn-Kjennerud, K., & Vabo, S. I. (2017). Performance audit as a contributor to change and improvement in public administration, Evaluation 23(1): 6–23.
DOI: 10.1177/1356389016683871
Reichborn-Kjennerud, K., & Vrangbæk, K. (2016). Hvordan kan forvaltningsrevisjon bidra til organisasjonslæring?: En komparativ studie av Norges og Danmarks riksrevisjoner innenfor arbeids-og helsefeltet [How does performance audit contribute to organizational learning?: A comparative study of the Norwegian and Danish Supreme Audit Institutions in the work and health sectors]. Nordiske organisasjonsstudier
Reeves, T. (1996). Rogue learning on the company reservation, The Learning Organization
(2): 20–29. DOI: 10.1108/09696479610113774
Revans, R. W. (1980). Action learning: New techniques for management, London: Blond and
Briggs.
Rowley, J. (2014). Designing and using research questionnaires, Management Research Review 37(3): 308–330. DOI: 10.1108/MRR-02-2013-0027
Sahinidis, A. G., & Bouris, J. (2008). Employee perceived training effectiveness relationship to employee attitudes, Journal of European Industrial Training 32(1): 63–76. DOI: 10.1108/03090590810846575
Scaduto, A., Lindsay, D., & Chiaburu, D. S. (2008). Leader influences on training effectiveness: Motivation and outcome expectation processes, International Journal of Training and Development 12(3): 158–170. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2419.2008.00303.x
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization, London: Random House Business.
Smith, K. D., & Taylor, W. G. (2000). The learning organisation ideal in civil service organisations: Deriving a measure, The Learning Organization 7(4): 194–206.
DOI: 10.1108/09696470010342270
Sitzmann, T., & Weinhardt, J. M. (2018). Training engagement theory: A multilevel perspective on the effectiveness of work-related training, Journal of Management 44(2): 732–756. DOI: 10.1177/0149206315574596
van Bockel, J., & Noordegraaf, M. (2006). Identifying identities: Performance‐driven, but professional public managers, International Journal of Public Sector Management 19(6): 585–597. DOI: 10.1108/09513550610685998
Wæraas, A., Byrkjeflot, H., & Angell, S. I. (Eds.). (2011). Substans og framtreden: Omdømmehåndtering i offentlig sektor, Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Yeo, R. K. (2007). Organizational learning in representative Singapore public organizations, International Journal of Public Sector Management 20(5): 345–365. DOI: 10.1108/09513550710772486
Zumrah, A. R. (2015). How to enhance the impact of training on service quality? Journal of Workplace Learning 27(7): 514–529. DOI: 10.1108/JWL-06-2014-0048
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Author and Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Copyright Holder of this Journal is the authors and the Journal. Normally the journal use the CC-BY NC-ND 4.0 licence.
Exceptions to the license terms may be granted
If you want to use content in the Journal in another way then described by this license, you must contact the licensor and ask for permission. Contact Bo Carstens at bo.carstens@gmail.com. Exceptions are always given for specific purposes and specific content only.
Sherpa/Romeo
The Journal is listed as a blue journal in Sherpa/Romeo, meaning that the author can archive post-print ((ie final draft post-refereeing) and author can archive publisher's version/PDF.
Copyright of others
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere.
Archives policy
All published material is archived at Roskilde University Library, Denmark, and transmitted to the Danish Royal Library in conformity with the Danish rules of legal deposit.
Plagiarism screening
We do not screen articles for plagiarism. It is the responsibility of the authors to make sure they do not plagiate.
