Stimulating the innovation potential of ‘routine’ workers through workplace learning

Abstract

Governments worldwide seek to upgrade the ‘basic skills’ of employees deemed to have low literacy and numeracy, in order to enable their greater productivity and participation in workplace practices. A longitudinal investigation of such interventions in the United Kingdom has examined the effects on employees and on organizations of engaging in basic skills programmes offered in and through the workplace. ‘Tracking’ of employees in selected organizational contexts has highlighted ways in which interplay between formal and informal workplace learning can help to create the environments for employees in lower grade jobs to use and expand their skills. This workplace learning is a precondition, a stimulus and an essential ingredient for participation in employee-driven innovation, as workers engage with others to vary, and eventually to change, work practices.

Les gouvernements de par le monde tentent de redévelopper les compétences de base des travailleurs dont les capacités de lecture, d’écriture et de calcul sont limitées et ce dans le but de leur permettre d’être plus productifs et de mieux participer aux pratiques spécifiques de leur lieu de travail. Une étude longitudinale de suivi de ces efforts au Royaume-Uni a examiné les effets, sur les travailleurs et les entreprises, de leur engagement dans des programmes comprenant des compétences de base proposés via et sur le lieu de travail. Suivre le parcours des travailleurs dans certains contextes organisationnels a permis de mettre en lumière la façon dont l’interaction entre l’apprentissage formel et informel en milieu professionnel peut contribuer à créer un environnement favorable pour les travailleurs occupant des emplois de catégorie inférieure afin d’utiliser et développer leurs compétences. Cet apprentissage sur le lieu de travail est une condition préalable, un stimulant et un ingrédient essentiel à l’implication des travailleurs à l’innovation participative, dans la mesure où les travailleurs s’engagent avec d’autres collègues à faire évoluer, voire à modifier, les pratiques de travail.

Weltweit sind Regierungen bestrebt, die ‘‘Grundkompetenzen’’ von Arbeitnehmern mit schwachen Lese-, Schreib- und Rechenfähigkeiten zu verbessern, um ihre Produktivität und ihre Teilnahme am betrieblichen Geschehen zu erhöhen. In Großbritannien wurde zur Untersuchung von Maßnahmen in diesem Bereich eine Längsschnittstudie durchgeführt, die sich mit den Auswirkungen der Teilnahme an betrieblichen Programmen zum Erwerb von Grundkompetenzen auf Mitarbeiter und Organisationen befasste. Durch Nachfragen bei Beschäftigten in ausgewählten Organisationskontexten konnte herausgestellt werden, wie das Zusammenwirken von formalem und informellem Lernen am Arbeitsplatz ein Umfeld schaffen kann, das Beschäftigten in geringer qualifizierten Tätigkeiten ermöglicht, ihre Kompetenzen zu verbessern. Dieser Lernprozess am Arbeitsplatz ist eine Bedingung, ein Anreiz und ein wichtiger Bestandteil für die Teilnahme an mitarbeitergestützter Innovation, da Arbeitnehmer mit anderen kooperieren, um Arbeitspraktiken zu variieren und letztendlich zu verändern.

Keywords

Adult learning skills utilization work environments formal-informal learning employee development innovative practice workplace learning literacy routine work

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