Improving Workplace Learning Cultures in Healthcare Organizations
Dissertation Title: The Effects Of Postsecondary Training On Improving A Workplace Learning Culture Through Reflection – James Courtney, EdD – March 2018
As learning and work continue to intersect, one of the most pressing issues is figuring out how people solve complex workplace problems through learning. Healthcare, like postsecondary education, is an industry experiencing dramatic transformation and far reaching change; and there are significant barriers that stand in the way. The industry is facing challenges ranging from technology implementations, operational process improvements, consumerism, payment reform, and government policy. To remain competitive and relevant in healthcare, organizations must ensure they are removing barriers and resistance.
To solve for these problems and to promote workplace learning as a culture, individual and group reflection has a critical role. When it comes to the idea of reflective leadership and its effect upon the workplace culture, many leaders have had little training as they progressed through their postsecondary education. Even though the research supports team reflection as having a positive impact on learning and performance, there still is a need to understand just how leaders, specifically in a healthcare organization setting, facilitate reflection within teams to cultivate a culture of workplace learning.
This qualitative exploratory study examined the effects of postsecondary education on improving a workplace learning culture through reflection in home medical equipment healthcare organizations. The study examined the postsecondary training leaders received and the perceptions on how that training addressed their organizational learning culture.
The researcher derived that managers and leaders:
- Think positively about workplace learning culture along with the identified components that support a strong culture; 1) learning by doing, 2) navigating through communication, and 3) entrustability.
- Participants also indicated their activities positively influenced the workplace learning culture and learning options for their team.
- Managers and leaders hold positive perceptions on how reflection through 1) goal-based, 2) problem-based, and 3) open reflection; along with reflective leadership contribute to the workplace learning culture at their organization.
- Participants for the most part have positive perceptions of training, but the majority state real-world experiential learning as more influential than courses taught at an institution.
Practical Implications:
- A strong workplace learning culture is essential for organizational agility and transformation.
Home medical equipment businesses that expect to remain competitive should encourage learning as part of their workplace culture. Corporations that integrate a Workplace Learning Initiative and adapt the learning components and reflective leadership discussed in this research could see an improvement in company performance, happier customers, a committed workforce that focuses on results, increased organizational agility, heightened ability to deal with change, and employees that are more collaborative and open.
- Real-world experiential training is essential for developing reflective leaders.
Organizations that understand the perceptions their leaders hold on the three dimensions of reflection and reflective leadership should draft a Workplace Learning Culture Manifesto to develop leaders through experiential training. Documenting corporate reflective leadership and learning principles via a manifesto can encourage greater employee development and transformation. Cultivating a culture of workplace learning can set the foundation for improving ways in which workplace teams develop, share and store knowledge, improve best practices, and solve complex workplace problems through reflective leadership.
Never Stop Learning 