Irina A. Lokhtina and Pierre Faller
Fast-changing global environment, hybrid and virtual work, today’s workplace is confronted to an unprecedented level of complexity. This conceptual paper aims to explore ways to…
Abstract
Purpose
Fast-changing global environment, hybrid and virtual work, today’s workplace is confronted to an unprecedented level of complexity. This conceptual paper aims to explore ways to re-think and adapt informal workplace learning to those recent changes and important dimensions to consider when designing successful learning strategies in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
To let emerge interesting tensions and explore new ways to approach informal workplace learning, the authors first look at recent trends in the workplace environment, then go back to some key concepts and ideas from the literature on informal learning. The authors then present two real-life cases they experimented with as scholar-practitioners that demonstrate the importance of a relational learning environment that encompasses virtuality, adaptive challenges and vertical development.
Findings
The new environment calls for new ways to think about informal workplace learning and how to support it. More than ever, organisations should support a culture that promotes collaboration and interactions across areas of expertise, a key condition for finding solutions to complex problems. In this complex environment, where there is no one right solution, organisations will need to rely on leaders who can become role models and show others how to overcome the silo mentality, engage into collaborative reflections, generate alternatives, experiment and learn quickly from what does or does not work.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature about workplace learning. It extends the understanding of some benefits that informal workplace learning provides to employees in an attempt to become agile practitioners as the work environment quickly changes and becomes more complex.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
This paper identified that informal workplace learning can help organizations to perform better during times of uncertainty and to deal with complexity within the environment.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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Avant‐propos sous les auspices de l'Institut international de Coopération intellectuelle, paraissait en 1934 le t. I, consacré à l'Europe, du Guide international des Archives. Le…
Abstract
Avant‐propos sous les auspices de l'Institut international de Coopération intellectuelle, paraissait en 1934 le t. I, consacré à l'Europe, du Guide international des Archives. Le questionnaire envoyé à tous les États européens comportait sous les points 4 et 6 les questions suivantes: ‘Existe‐t‐il un guide général pour les diverses catégories d'Archives ou des guides particuliers pour l'une ou l'autre d'entre elles?’ et ‘Existe‐t‐il des catalogues imprimés, des publications tant officielles que privées, susceptibles de constituer un instrument complet de référence pour tout ou partie importante des fonds d'archives?’ Les réponses des divers pays à ces questions, malgré leur caractère très inégal, ont fait du Guide international un bon instrument d'information générale sur les Archives. Malheureusement les circonstances ont empêché la publication du volume consacré aux États non européens, tandis que le temps qui s'écoulait tendait à rendre périmés les renseignements fournis sur les Archives européennes.
This article is based on a small‐scale study into a tai chi class for older people at risk of falling. The aims of the research were first, to explore what benefits the class…
Abstract
This article is based on a small‐scale study into a tai chi class for older people at risk of falling. The aims of the research were first, to explore what benefits the class members felt they derived from practising tai chi and second, and more specifically, whether or not the class members actually practised tai chi at home. The study was based on two broad assumptions. The first being that the practice of tai chi has benefits for older people at risk of falling. The second assumption being that, such benefits that might result from tai chi, increase with more frequent practice. The latter assumption prompted the desire to investigate whether the class members practised tai chi at home. It was hoped that if it was discovered that class members derived benefits from tai chi, and were, for whatever reason, prevented from practising at home, that some solutions could be found in order to facilitate further practice.The research revealed, somewhat surprisingly, that the members did not believe that tai chi had necessarily reduced their risk of falling. However, notwithstanding this, their commitment to tai chi was very strong. The findings suggest that tai chi had a symbolic value for this predominantly middle‐class group. It allowed them to ‘buy into’ a third age lifestyle, despite increasing intimations of entering the fourth age. The members used tai chi, not only to improve balance and fitness, but also as a means of achieving a positive self‐image. It was therefore an age‐resisting strategy that operated on both a physical and symbolic level.