The Relationship between Learning Culture and Organisational Performance

The word learning has been a subject to every sphere of life. There are various aspects that are intensely intertwined with the learning practice (Awadh & Alyahya, 2013). However, learning culture is strictly associated with the organisational business activities. It can be argued that the learning culture is a practice that every organisation follows with the purpose to encourage both individual and organisation by enhancing their skills and knowledge regarding a specific subject or in a broader sense associated with the organisational values and systems (Büschgens, Bausch & Balkin, 2013).

As a matter of fact, both the learning practice and the learning culture are active and participative process that respects individual abilities and organisational objectives. Henceforth, the aim of the essay is to develop an understanding regarding the impact of learning culture on individual and organisational performance. In this regard, the purpose and different attributes of the learning culture are also incorporated into the discussion so that it will portray a better reflection of the process of learning culture.

            According to Sung and Choi (2014) learning culture is used in order to develop organisational performances. As a matter of fact, it is imperative for the corporate organisations to implement learning culture inside the workplace to retain their sustainability in the high competitive market. The efficiency of the learning culture is associated with the values and objectives of the company and help to improve the organisational activities in a constructive way. In this regard, the relationship between the organisation and innovation is very important that paves the way for the organization to continue its operations.

In fact, innovation and learning culture are closely related to each other and both possess the same attitude of increasing the organisational output in terms of workplace environment or product and services. In his words, Dong et al. (2017) argues that it is the role of the organisations to endorse the strategic value of learning culture with the purpose to enhance the ability of the human resources. In this regard, there are several types of measures that the organisation can introduce in order to implement an effective learning culture. Measures like the training practices or induction sessions are very popular in this context.

            As far as the purpose and disciplines of the learning culture is concerned Peter Senge had advocated five principles on which the learning culture can be developed (Manuti et al., 2015). The five disciplines are as follows;

The Five Principles of the Learning Culture

Firstly, the personal capacity building is considered to be an important aspect on which the company can be entrusted. It is associated with encouraging the employees individually or in a group and providing them the clear objectives and vision of the organisation. As a result of that the employees will be able to set their goals and plan to execute accordingly.Secondly, changing the way of thinking is very essential in order to make the learning culture program a success. Innovative thought process and alternative method of doing the task is associated with this change in thinking.

Thirdly, the shared vision encompasses the role of collective commitment of the employees as a whole and facilitates the process of building team spirit and understanding. As a result of that the organisation can achieve its goal effectively.Fourthly, developing intelligence and the ability to do a work accurately is also an interesting aspect that can be provided by the learning culture prevalent in an organisation. It can be argued that workplace diversity is a common feature of recent corporate business houses. In fact, the learning culture creates opportunities for the employees who are not so skilled or talented to do some jobs.

Finally, the shared knowledge helps to portray a big picture for the future sustainability of a corporate organisation. The help of the interrelationship and interdependence between the organisation and the employees will deliver a better understanding regarding the strength and weakness of the company. As a result of that, the company can assess its ability and can set a vision as per the strength and ability.

            Based on the discipline of the learning culture, it can be argued that the role of the learning culture is beneficial not only for the strategic development of the organisation rather it has a deep impact on the individual progress as well. Therefore, the impact of the learning culture on individual development can be identified as innovation, knowledge sharing, problem solving, effective communication with the community, greater efficiency.

            In this context, the learning culture provides innovativeness and enhancing knowledge skill of an individual in terms of employees or others. As a matter of fact, encouragement and brainstorming are the key features of learning culture that are responsible to facilitate a proactive nature in an individual mind. Therefore, the person is able to enrich his or her thinking abilities and try to change the course of thinking towards creativity and innovation. Moreover, the knowledge sharing feature stapled in the learning culture. On the basis of this, every employee in an organisation are able to get the opportunity of improving themselves equally (Dong et al., 2017).

Impact of Learning Culture on Individual Development

In addition to this, the learning culture also beneficial to enhance problem solving skills of an individual. Conversation and communication among the employees are relevant in this aspect. Besides this, according to Burke and Noumair (2015) the learning culture boosts the confidence of an employee and fosters a better communication to strengthen the community. Furthermore, the development of the efficiency is considered to be another aspect that the learning outcome is responsible to enhance (Manuti et al., 2015). A collaborative mind-set with a better understanding to deal with the problems and setting plan to resolve the issues are also coupled with the learning culture. In fact, increasing the team bond and cooperation with other team members are also important aspects that the learning culture is emphasised upon to build up individual ability.

            As far as the organisations are concerned, it can be argued that the learning culture has a deep rooted impact on the organisational development. There are some benefits that the organisations get by implementing the learning culture. In this regard, the first benefit can be identified as increase in productivity. Due to the enhancement in the training and skills of the employees, it is obvious for the company to increase its product in a rapid pace (Campbell, 2018). As a result of this, the profit of the organisation is also increased in a rapid pace. Moreover, based on the research done by Chang and Lin (2015).

it can be argued that the learning culture is entitled to decrease the employee turnover because the employees get better environment to use their abilities and skills. In fact, the learning culture fosters a better workplace environment where every individuals respect the thinking and creativity of the others. Therefore, the employees feel comfortable to nourish and nurture their innovative skills and creativity for the benefit of the organisation (Hussein et al., 2016). However, an important trend in business is to increase profit in a continuous basis.

There should be no relaxation for the companies related to maximize their profits. The learning culture provides the exact service by setting an example for the employees to reach the top. In addition to this, building leadership quality is also an essential feature of the learning culture. It can be stated that the learning culture puts strong emphasis on the skill development of the people. In this context, leaders are responsible to guide the employees towards achieving goals and objectives. Moreover, shaping the culture of adaptation, creativity, capacity and calibre are also related to the introduction of learning culture in an organisation.

Impact of Learning Culture on Organisational Development

            In the Australian corporate business sectors learning culture is a popular strategy for the companies to increase their productivity and generate more profit for the company. For an instance, the Woolworths Company is highly dependent on the learning culture because the company follows a practice of innovation that is intensely interlinked with the creativity of the employees. According to Methner, Hamann and Nilsson (2015) Woolworths follows the practice of systematic engagement with an emphasis on the sustainable innovation.

Therefore, it requires proper training and skills of the employees and the company conducts a number of training sessions with the employees in every departments. In fact, the agro food industry in Australia facilitates the knowledge transfer model with the formal, non-formal and informal types of learning (Australia, 2015). Moreover, the agro industry in Australia is going to make its market orientation more effective and therefore intends to incorporate the learning culture on a more profound basis.

            Based on this understanding, it can be argued that the role of the learning culture is very important in terms of build-up both the proficiency of individuals and the company as well. The essay tries to point out the purpose of the learning culture and its effectiveness in developing a better operational framework for the business organisations in Australia. However, the discussion reflects that learning culture is not a new phenomenon in the Australian business industry and giant companies like Woolworths are effectively included this strategic method in their operation so that it will deliver more skill and creativity in the organisational activity. Therefore, it can be concluded that the promotion and development of learning culture is highly important for a business organisation in order to not only maximize their profit but also set up a better organisational structure that will be beneficial to enhance the creativity of the employees and ensure sustainability to the organisational framework.

Reference                                                                             

Australia, A.S., 2015. Contemporary business strategies and learning models in the agrifood industry.

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Büschgens, T., Bausch, A. & Balkin, D.B., 2013. Organizational culture and innovation: A meta?analytic review. Journal of product innovation management, 30(4), pp.763-781.

Campbell, D., 2018. Learning Consultation: A systemic framework. Routledge.

Chang, C.L.H. & Lin, T.C., 2015. The role of organizational culture in the knowledge management process. Journal of Knowledge management, 19(3), pp.433-455.

Dong, Y., Bartol, K.M., Zhang, Z.X. & Li, C., 2017. Enhancing employee creativity via individual skill development and team knowledge sharing: Influences of dual?focused transformational leadership. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(3), pp.439-458.

Hussein, N., Omar, S., Noordin, F., & Ishak, N. A. (2016). Learning organization culture, organizational performance and organizational innovativeness in a public institution of higher education in Malaysia: A preliminary study. Procedia Economics and Finance, 37, 512-519.

Manuti, A., Pastore, S., Scardigno, A.F., Giancaspro, M.L. & Morciano, D., 2015. Formal and informal learning in the workplace: a research review. International journal of training and development, 19(1), pp.1-17.

Methner, N., Hamann, R. & Nilsson, W., 2015. The Evolution of a Sustainability Leader: The Development of Strategic and Boundary Spanning Organizational Innovation Capabilities in Woolworths. In The Business of Social and Environmental Innovation (pp. 87-104). Springer, Cham.

Sung, S.Y. & Choi, J.N., 2014. Do organizations spend wisely on employees? Effects of training and development investments on learning and innovation in organizations. Journal of organizational behavior, 35(3), pp.393-412.