Learning Organizations- A Tool For The Next Level

Contributed By Ayemere Ogudo

In today’s knowledge economy, it is imperative that organizations and their members find ways to acquire, share, and apply new knowledge; a notion that is highly characteristic of a learning organization.

Processing of Information In Learning Organizations

The sponge is unlike any other kitchen tool. It can adapt and transform to any shape needed for maximum functionality and efficiency. Because of this adaptability, the sponge can soak up a great deal of fluid. Just think about your kitchen sponge; it’s likely that you’ve had spills around the house, and you’ve reached for that handy sponge because you knew that it would suck up any type of liquid. You might be asking yourself: what does the sponge have to do with management?

Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase ‘to absorb information like a sponge’. Much like the sponge, the learning organization goes through the same process of absorption and adaptation to reach maximum functionality and efficiency, but instead of fluid, the learning organization processes information and knowledge.

Characteristics of The Learning Organization

The learning organization symbolizes a company where its members are constantly learning from everything that they do. Experience, from both successes and failures, is used to improve the company’s performance and to reach organizational benefits.

New knowledge is continuously acquired, shared, and applied among organizational members in decision making and work processes.

All members take an active role in identifying and resolving work-related issues so that the individual and organizational goals can be accomplished.

In the learning organization, people are able to create the results they truly desire through personal expansion of creativity, appreciation for new ways of thinking, collaborative efforts, and shared vision.

Disciplines that projects the characteristics of a learning organization include the following ( According to Senge):

• Personal mastery of the individual worker who must have personal professional development goals in which to focus energy, and the organization must recognize and nurture these goals.
• Mental models refer to the generalization and assumption we use to make sense of the world and how we react to it.
• Building a shared vision implies that the organization and its members have a shared vision; that is, the organization consciously blends individual aspirations with company goals.
• Team learning stresses the importance of collaboration, shared dialogue and decision making, and mutual accountability in work groups.
• Systems thinking, this integrates the previous four, acknowledges that organizations are complex systems made of interrelationships. That is, marketing depends on finance, finance depends on IT, IT depends on research and development, these interrelationships must be carefully examined and understood to uncover opportunities, problems, and possibilities within them.

Benefits Of Becoming A Learning Organization

• Superiority over your competitors because of the ability to absorb information and adaptability to reach maximum functionality and efficiency.
• Information is communicated freely, and it is assumed that everyone ‘needs to know’. Such an inclusive culture promotes a sense of ownership and appreciation among all employees, regardless of their position within the organization.
• Staff retention is high due to the promotion of innovation as members are encouraged to improve their personal skills and qualities so that they can continue to learn and develop alongside the organization.
• The team learning aspect allows members to learn a variety of skills, making it possible for employees to perform and appreciate the roles and tasks of others; it also promotes improved social interaction and interpersonal skills in employees.
• Promotes a sense of ownership and appreciation among all employees

While it might seem logical for all organizations to become learning organizations, it is a complicated process. Becoming and maintaining a learning organization status requires a great deal of dedication, commitment, education, time, energy, and other resources.

We hope that METS can adopt this model effectively to move the company to the next level.

11/07/2014 04:54:00 PM