Learning Reflections - Essay Example

? Learning Reflections Learning Reflections There were several aspects in the programme that are applicable in organizations for better understanding of organizations’ culture, limitations, and how employees can be better managed by understanding their needs and psychological processing. For me, the programme was beneficial in many ways as it changed my outlook towards the negativity of others and that improved my own personality too. I still remember that when I joined the programme, I had difficulties in understanding others’ perceptions and convincing them over my perception. I had the impression that the group members deny my point due as they did not want me to get supremacy over themselves. With this thought, there were several conflicts in the group each trying to deny other’s outlook. As the programme goes on, I realized that there is a better way of being listened to, and that is by listening first. By learning the learning styles I got to know different physic of people, and realized that everyone cannot be a cognitive learner. The group understood the psychology of each other and that helped in getting along smoothly for the rest of the programme. Conflicts were turned into constructive debates and that turned out in exploring different dimensions over issues of failed leadership, employees’ commitment, organization politics and several other topics. Watson (1878-1958) and Wiener (1894-1964) concept of Behaviourist and Cognitive Psychology introduced the programme helped me to determine the learning process and approach of different people including mine. I perceive myself as a cognitive learner as my decisions and problem solving approach is based more on my mental understanding of the problem based on the collected information (Green, 1997; Mcleod, 2007). My approach is different from few of peers in the ALS, as their decision making ability is more based on their personal and others’ experiences and less on the available facts. It is a very relevant concept in the perspective of organizational behaviour; as the Human Resource Manager (HRM) needs to understand the different psychological approach of employees towards a problem or issue (Euromed Info, 2013). According to my perception, cognitive learning approach is more beneficial in an organization, since in the fast pace of corporate trend change, past knowledge and experiences can become irrelevant and inapplicable. One of my peers believed that the cognitive approach of learning stimulates critical thinking on topics and issues, and its permits greater emphasis on self evaluation and continuous questioning. Another theory that justifies this argument is the E.L. Torndike “Law and Effect theory” (1898). My understanding of this theory is that people are likely to repeat actions which are followed with a positive behaviour like praise, awards or promotion. This can be a limitation for the behaviourist learners as they would not seek for options or solutions which were followed with negative results in the past, but do have the tendency to produce positive results in the current scenario (Roeckelein, 1998). However, the Law and Effect principle is helpful in understanding the motivation behind a behaviour or action. In relation to this principle, I personally feel that every person is working for a certain reward, either it be intrinsic or extrinsic (Yoon & James, 2012). If a person wants to make people do something, he or she has to clear vision of award or achievement to the targeted person. While working in the ALS, I realized that almost all persons like to be heard and appreciated. If a person is criticized and ignored every time, there is a probability that the person quit sharing his or her views. Applying this concept to organizational behaviour, I believe that one reason of turnover of employees is due to the absence or lack of appropriate reinforcement technique. Behaviours can be driven by positive and negative reinforcements (Dalkir, 2005). For example, as an HRM, if I want all senior employees to share their knowledge with the junior employees, then I have to see which reinforcement regime would be better applicable in this scenario and how it can be applied. Since, it can be accurately measured that which employee has shared the maximum knowledge, therefore reinforcement through extrinsic rewards like a bonus or promotion cannot be the option. Therefore, praise or recognition of senior employees can be used as the positive reinforcement for achieving this target (Cowham, 2007). The concept of Pedagogy and Andragogy was also given in the programme. It is debatable that which method of teaching human is more suitable in organizations. My understanding of this topic directs me to the thought that potential and commitment have direct relationship with the level of assigned responsibility and autonomy. As explained by Mills (2007) that the teacher supremacy environment in a school cannot be followed successfully in an organization and employers need to learn this fact. My reflection to the concept of pedagogy and andragogy is that if an employee is made to do just what being told and follow instructions without using his or her critical thinking over those instructions, then the employee would be more obedient rather than creative and passionate. Therefore, the andragogy method of learning is preferred over pedagogy, where learners or employees are given autonomy to think and construct their own solutions to problems (Mills et al., 2007). Initially, a pedagogy approach should be taken to make the learner understand the basic norms and ways in which things work, and then should be given the freedom to take charge of problems and construct their solutions for it. My experience while working in ALS made me understand that the best way to cater (not working people) is to assign them with a responsibility for a task. In this way, they will not be able to hide their indolence behind others’ efforts and it will also help enhance their leadership skills (Paul & Tim, 2006). Another learning of andragogy method as illustrated in the study of Paul and Tim (2006) indicates that one major limitation in pedagogy mode of learning is that it limits the implementation and critical thinking skills of a person. These skills are no doubt essential for any organization to grow and therefore, it is important for employers and managers to boost the critical analysis skills of their employees, and that can be done by following the open-minded or andragogy approach of learning (Roger, 2013). Learning Combination Lock system as defined by Beard & Wilson (2006) helps me in proper picturing of how the implementation of andragogy can be done. It has a strong relation with the workplace culture, which non-verbally defines that whether employees have to act like robots or they are allowed to use their brains and contribute in the think tank of the company. The first thing I would do to promote andragogy is that to strengthen the communication between employees and employers and between inter departments, as with communication barriers ideas cannot be floated(Wilson & Beard, 2003). Many problems and conflicts that occur in the business environment were addressed in the programme and all of those can also be related to problems in everyday’s life. Knowledge management was the term used for addressing the intellectual issues in an organization. Like the case in my ASL, everyone had different fortes and interests, due to which we formed a group with diversified information and skills. In an organization also, there exists several skills and potential in the form of employees which often remain unnoticed due to the overpowering of managers and senior employees’ skills. Several studies also suggest that knowledge management is essential for a company’s success as it creates a knowledge society within the organization, where everyone can contribute in whatever way they can (Rouse, 2013). In this way, the group or the organization does not only have diverse knowledge and potentials, but also each individual will be enriched with this diversity of knowledge. Peter Senge explains this phenomenon in his book “The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.” He explained concepts of ‘shared vision’ and ‘team learning’ by stating that the real success of a group is achieved when each individual in the group has been nourished and educated (Senge, 1990). The fact that, it is not possible to control what and how much a person would learn when been taught. So, I believe that what’s need to be done in this respect is to give enough room to everyone to perceive information on the basis of their knowledge and experience. Then everyone should their understanding to draw a solution or come to a build-up conclusion and not a made-up conclusion (Dalkir, 2005). It is more effective than forcing someone to a definite solution. So as I said earlier, in order to be listened to, listening other’s perception and views are very important factors. People can only be made to think as one desire, if that person is also ready to think from people’s point of view. I have always heard of people in the organization and groups that have orthodox mentality and do not support change. On the other hand, some people are promoters of change and do not like following the traditional way of working. However, what I learnt in this programme is that there is always a force behind the attitude that hinders or accepts change or any other activity (Miner, 2007). As explained in Lewin- Force Field Analysis that when a person is opposing a thing there is a force behind that opposition, which can be of experience, fear or benefit. These forces need to be identified, to know the reason behind an attitude or behaviour. Reviewing these forces will help in focusing on how to address and change these forces to change the attitude of people. When we are afraid of taking a new task or challenge, we list down the fears we have. Then we analyze all fears and see if their adversity can be greater than the end benefits, and how fears can be catered. This practice helped a lot in overcoming our fright and take challenges more optimistically (CMC, 2013). List of References CMC, 2013. Force Field Analysis - Kurt Lewin. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 15 March 2013]. Cowham, C., 2007. The Critical Role of HR Management Functions. Research Report. Sheffield: University of Sheffield University of Sheffield. Dalkir, K., 2005. Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice. Montreal: Sage Publications. Euromed Info, 2013. Behavioral, cognitive, humanist approaches. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 14 March 2013]. Green, C., 1997. Introduction to:"Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it.” [Online] York University Available at: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/intro.htm [Accessed 14 March 2013]. Mcleod, S., 2007. Cognitive Psychology. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 15 March 2013]. Mills, A., Mills, J., Forshaw, C. & Bratton, J., 2007. Organizational Behaviour in a Global Context. New York: Broadview Press. Miner, J., 2007. Organizational Behavior 4: From Theory to Practice. New York: M.E. Sharpe Inc. Paul, S. & Tim, P., 2006. It's Called Andragogy. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5(1), pp.113-22. Roeckelein, J., 1998. Dictionary of Theories, Laws, and Concepts in Psychology. New York: Green Wood Publishing. Roger, 2013. Moving From Pedagogy to Andragogy. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 15 March 2013]. Rouse, M., 2013. Knowledge Management (KM). [Online] Available at: http://searchdomino.techtarget.com/definition/knowledge-management [Accessed 15 March 2013]. Senge, P., 1990. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Currency and Doubleday. Wilson, J. & Beard, C., 2003. The Learning Combination Lock: An Experimental Approach to Learning Design. Journal of European Industrial Training, 27(3/4), pp.88-97. Yoon, C. & James, P., 2012. Intrinsic Motivation and Employee Attitudes: Role of Managerial Trustworthiness, Goal Directedness, and Extrinsic Reward Expectancy. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 32(4), pp.382-406. Read More