Bank advisors working with contradiction: meeting the demands of control through reflective learning

Abstract

Design, methodology, approach: Empirical data from a case study of a Bank comprising 40 qualitative interviews, eight two-day focus groups and attendance at 35 learning activities.Grounded theory was used to understand how the organisational strategy and the understanding of employees about learning activities at work were consistent or contradictory.Additionally we analysed 2284 registered learning activities recorded by Bank employees on a Balanced Scorecard. Findings:The top-down strategy for learning -"Best Customer Practice" -recording information about and accounting for learning, when combined with a new institutional demand for authorization and training -has a controlling function that contradicts the organisation's own rhetoric about promoting reflective learning among the employees.