more acceptable word for it is benchmarking – a disciplined process of
identifying best-practice organizations and analysing the extent to which
what they are doing can be transferred, with suitable modifications, to
one’s own environment.- Transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently throughout the organizationby
seconding people with new expertise, or by education and training
programmes, as long as the latter are linked explicitly with implemen-
tation.
One approach, as advocated by Senge (1990), is to focus on collective
problem solving within an organization. This is achieved using team
learning and a ‘soft systems’ methodology whereby all the possible causes of
a problem are considered in order to define more clearly those that can be
dealt with and those that are insoluble.
A learning organization strategy will be based on the belief that learning is
a continuous process rather than a set of discrete training activities (Sloman,
1999). It will incorporate strategies for organizational learning as described
above and individual learning as discussed below.
INDIVIDUAL LEARNING STRATEGIES
The individual learning strategies of an organization are driven by its
human resource requirements, the latter being expressed in terms of the
sort of skills and behaviours that will be required to achieve business goals.
The starting point should be the approaches adopted to the provision of
learning and development opportunities, bearing in mind the distinction
between learning and development made by Pedler, Boydell and Burgoyne
(1989), who see learning as being concerned with an increase in knowledge
or a higher degree of an existing skill, whereas development is more
towards a different state of being or functioning. Sloman (2003) points out
that:
Interventions and activities which are intended to improve knowledge and skills
will increasingly focus on the learner. Emphasis will shift to the individual
learner (or team). And he or she will be encouraged to take more responsibility
for his or her learning. Efforts will be made to develop a climate which supports
effective and appropriate learning. Such interventions and activities will form
part of an integrated approach to creating competitive advantage through
people in the organization.Learning and development strategy l 181