Industrial workers participation in workplace learning

Abstract

This article concerns the participation of a group of industrial workers in different learning activities at the workplace in connection with an organizational change. The aim of the study is: (a) to describe and analyse the employees’ patterns of participation in learning activities both in terms of their attitudes to and their actual participation in learning activities, and (b) to understand individual differences with respect to observed patterns of participation. Participation is understood in motivational terms, where motivation is viewed as a result of interactions between individual-related factors and factors connected to work characteristics, the design of the learning activities, the organizational change processes that were undertaken, and factors in the external environment. The concept of motivation is discussed in terms of three alternative theories/models: expectancyvalence theory, job characteristics theory and contextual-situational theory. The study is based on a case study within a department of a traditional manufacturing company. The empirical material consists mainly of interviews with the industrial workers. In addition, data have been collected through informal study visits at the workplace as well as through documentary analysis and informant interviews. As a result of the analysis of data, it was possible to distinguish between three groups of workers characterized by qualitatively different patterns of participation. These three patterns were called: “the dedicated group”, “the reluctant group” and “the insecure group”. The “dedicated” group saw no obstacles in participating in learning activities. They also had their own personal motives for participation and they were mainly positive to the goals of the company and the organizational changes initiatives. The “reluctant” group did not consider it important to engage in learning activities and they expressed little or no interest in participation in the organizational change process. The “insecure” group showed little confidence in their ability and had limited experience of previous learning activities. The design of the learning activities was especially important to this group. The results are interpreted and discussed in relation to the three motivational theories and their implications for understanding the workers’ participation patterns. As a possible overall interpretation of the results, it is suggested that the individuals categorized as belonging to the “dedicated” group had entered what could be described as positive development spirals. In contrast, the “insecure” and the “reluctant” groups seems to have entered more negative development spirals.