Measures of learning in the workplace

Presage, processes and performance

earning in the workplace is important both for the individual and for the

L organization. For the employee, it helps with their on-the-job knowledge and
abilities, helps them solve any problems that arise, and helps them adapt better
to any changes. For the company, it is important to keep up with an ever-changing
competitive business market, keeping abreast of technological change and
development. Workplace learning involves commitment from the company to create a
culture of learning, within which the employees are the primary units, taking part in
activities and opportunities which reflect and develop actual experience. Increased
learning leads to increased overall performance.
Individuals acquire knowledge and skills through learning; adapt it, reflect on it and
assimilate it based on personal and organizational experiences. Workplace learning
involves the individual and organization working towards a shared developmental goal.
Work and learning are inherently intertwined.
Previous studies have looked at workplace learning in terms of definitions, conditions which
facilitate learning and the effects of learning. There is little previous empirical work on
measurements of workplace learning. Workplace learning measures can provide
information about changes in knowledge or skills as a result of learning, and also what
factors affect learning (individual and environmental). They can help to capture the degree
of learning within the workplace.

A review of workplace learning measures

Park and Young Lee (2018) carried out a review of workplace learning measures. They
studied peer-reviewed empirical articles in six research journals in the field of Human
Resource Development (HRD). To investigate relevant articles, they looked for terms
such as workplace learning, work-related learning, formal/informal learning etc. This led
to a final sample of 22 articles from which 9 measures of workplace learning were
highlighted.
To analyze these measures, a model of workplace learning was used. This had 3
components: presage, process and product:

1. Presage Learner Factors Factors which aid learning for the individual
(motivation, prior knowledge and experience)

Learning Context Factors which the organization and environment

provide to aid learning

(training opportunities, culture, structure within the

company)
2. Process How the learning occurs (formal learning, informal learning, learning
occurring as a “by-product”)

DOI 10.1108/HRMID-04-2019-0094 VOL. 27 NO. 4 2019, pp. 15-18, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 0967-0734 j HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST j PAGE 15
 … workplace learning is a learning process with diverse
activities and approaches that encourage employees to
engage in and share conscious reflection and development
based on actual experiences and knowledge for both
individual and organizational goals in the workplace or in a
work context.

3. Product The outcomes of learning

(knowledge acquired, performance, development)

Measures of workplace learning

The 9 measures of workplace learning identified were:

1. Workplace Adaptation Questionnaire (WAQ)

This measured learning experiences of new employees. It looked at relationships with

co-workers – how employees know who to go to for which information around the
company. It looked at the organizational culture – the inherent rules and values of the
company. Finally, it looked at knowledge and resources needed to do the actual job
and daily tasks.
The WAQ covered elements of Process and Product from the model.

2. Small Business Workplace Learning Survey (SBWLS).

This looked at workplace learning in small and mid-sized businesses. Learning was looked
at in terms of formal learning activities, informal learning activities and activities which were
“incidental” – activities which provided learning even though that was not their primary
intention.
The SBWLS covered elements of Process.

3. Approaches to Work Questionnaire (AWQ)

This looked at employees’ motivations to work, what prompted them to achieve and increase
performance, how they set goals and evaluate their outcomes, and what were their working-
style preferences (e.g. rational and orderly vs. impulsive or less organized)
The AWQ covered elements of Learner Factors (Presage).

4. Workplace Climate Questionnaire (WCQ)

The WCQ looked at the organizational learning environment – what supervision and support
were provided, what expectations there were of the employees, the level of the workload,
and also what choices were available in terms of autonomy and level of freedom in decision-
making.
The WCQ thus covered elements of Learning Context (Presage).

5. Informal Workplace Learning Survey (IWL)

This survey measured informal learning activities, factors preventing learning from
occurring (e.g. lack of time or access to resources) and individual characteristics of
employees which contribute towards learning (e.g. self-motivation, a desire to learn and
interest in the work).

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The IWL covered elements of Learner Factors and Learning Context (Presage) as well as
Process, in looking at activities provided, the organizational learning environment, and
personal characteristics for learning.

6. Learning Opportunities Questionnaire

This questionnaire looked at the opportunities available to employees to learn and develop
at work. It looked at learning throughout an employee’s career.
This questionnaire covered elements of Learning Context (Presage) from the model;
learning opportunities provided by the organizational environment.

7. Self-Regulated Learning in the Workplace Questionnaire (SRLWQ)

This covered a range of behaviors of employees which facilitate workplace learning (e.g.
planning, setting goals, performance, motivation and evaluation).
It covered Learner Factors (Presage) from the model.

8. Workplace Learning Activities (WLA)

This measure looked at a wide range of activities provided for learning, such as working
alone or in a group, training opportunities provided and feedback.
As this measure looked at learning activities, it covered the Process element of the model.

9. Questionnaire on Informal Workplace Learning Outcomes

This questionnaire measured informal outcomes in learning in 3 areas: generic, job-specific

and organizational-level.
As this questionnaire looked at outcomes, it covered the Product element of the model.
In summary, the workplace learning measures fit into the model as follows:
䊏 Presage Learner Factors AWQ

SRLWQ
Learning Context WCQ
Learning Opportunities Questionnaire
IWL partially covered both Learner Factors and Learning Context
䊏 Process SBWLS
WLA
IWL and WAQ partially covered Process
䊏 Product Questionnaire on Informal Workplace Learning Outcomes
WAQ partially covered Product

Practitioners could apply job, group or organizational

features to prepare for interventions to enhance employees’
learning in the workplace.

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 By allowing employees to experience real situations,
practitioners could facilitate and enhance training transfer
and the learning process to produce expected learning
outcomes after the training.

Of the 9 learning measures, 8 were related to Presage or Process; the Questionnaire on

Informal Workplace Learning Outcomes related to Product. This suggests that there
may be a challenge in defining and measuring outcomes of learning – while the
Questionnaire on Informal Workplace Learning Outcomes looks at outcomes of
learning, it does not clarify if these outcomes are specifically related to individual or
organizational performance.
It is important to note that several of the measures had potential issues with reliability/
validity: IWL, Learning Opportunities Questionnaire, AWQ and WCQ. Potential future
research is needed to improve validity of these measures.

Conclusion
Investigating empirical workplace learning measures has implications for
practitioners and researchers. Personal learner factors and environmental learning
environments (Presage) are essential for learning, as is the provision of adequate
and varied learning activities (Process). Organizations need to ensure that
employees are given learning opportunities that relate to real-life work scenarios and
that they are provided with support, feedback and guidance from colleagues and
supervisors within a positive learning culture. If the presage and process are
cultivated, then this provides the opportunity to increase the product of workplace
learning; increased learning leading to increased individual and thus organizational
Keywords: performance.
Workplace learning,
Employee,
Performance, Comment
Training,
Human resource The review is based on ‘Workplace learning measures for human resource development:
development, review and summary’ by Park, S. and Young Lee, J. published in Industrial and Commercial
Learning environment Training.

Reference
Park, S. and Young Lee, J. (2018), “Workplace learning measures for human resource development:
review and summary”, Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 50 Nos 7/8, pp. 420-431.

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