Learning climate and work group skills in care work

Abstract

Purpose -The overall aim of the present study was to investigate the learning climate and work group skills perceived by managers and their subordinates in the municipal elderly care, prior to a development project. The specific research questions were: Are managers' and their subordinates' perceptions of the learning climate related? and Does the manager's assessment of the work group skills correlate with the work group's perception of the learning climate? Design/methodology/approach -A total of 12 managers and 130 of their subordinates were selected, and answered a questionnaire. The subordinates belonged to work groups with five to 19 care assistants working in elderly care. The majority of the participants were women (92 per cent). The mean age was 43 years old, range 20-63. Findings -Results suggest that the perception of the learning climate has a correspondence between the organisational levels (managers and their subordinates) and that there is a correspondence between managers' ratings of work group skills, in particular skills for effectively managing change, and the work groups' perception of their learning climate, in particular decision autonomy and developmental and collaborative potentials.Research implications/limitations -The manager sample was small and from one single organisation. Practical implications -The relations between the learning climate and the assessment of staff skills are important to the actions taken in order to facilitate workplace learning and development.Originality/value -This study contrasted the managers' assessment of skills with their work groups' perceptions of learning climate, which is quite unusual in learning climate studies.

Live long and propser : Health-promoting conditions at work

“…The relationship between social capital at work and innovative learning climate is not investigated in the present papers, but they are likely to be mutually related; social support and opportunities for developing work processes are both part of the learning climate at work (Westerberg & Hauer, 2009). Trust and cooperation is necessary in order to feel that it is safe to express ideas and try out new ways of working, and to collectively shape an understanding of the joint work activity (Wenger, 2000).…”

“…Discussing problems with others in order to solve them has previously been found to reduce negative affect and fatigue (Daniels et al, 2009;, and good social capital at work may give access to social support, informational as well as emotional, which buffers the negative effect of demands (Magnusson Hansson et al, 2008;. Social support is also important for learning skills and increasing the use of knowledge (Westerberg & Hauer, 2009). The learning of skills at work can be supported by participation in communities of practices and informal connections between individuals, by sharing knowledge and experiences, and learning from others (Wenger, 2000).…”

“…A climate where new thinking and trying out new ideas is encouraged, is important in order to support innovative learning. The learning climate can be defined as the space for learning in an organisation, as perceived by individuals, which enables or hinders them from taking advantage of structural conditions and learning (Westerberg & Hauer, 2009). The extent to which work encourages employees to take initiative, and explore innovative approaches and suggestions for improvement, has been found to increase workrelated flow (Salanova et al, 2006) and employee well-being (Tafvelin, Armelius & Westerberg, 2011).…”

“…Authority over decision-making at work is associated with motivation (Wielenga-Meijer, Taris, Kompier & Wigboldus, 2010) and supports learning and use of skills over time (Westerberg & Hauer, 2009).…”

“…By being able to use one's skills and make autonomous decisions concerning how to carry out work tasks, it is possible for the individual to master demands without loss of control, and also to learn new skills (Karasek & Theorell, 1990;Ellström, 2001;Westerberg & Hauer, 2009). Learning of new skills strengthens the individual's ability to act, to engage in future challenging situations with a higher degree of skill, to be absorbed and motivated, and to enjoy work (Paper IV).…”