Dr. Allan Beck
TO: The Chief Executive Officer ABC Company
FROM: Human Resource Officer, ABC Company
DATE: July 24, 2019
SUBJECT: Challenges to organizational learning and request for continuation of research
Following the research on challenges that derail effective organizational learning, several issues emerged that require your attention and timely interventions. The degree to which interdepartmental knowledge transfer is effective is low. There is minimal information transfer and sharing of knowledge among departments. This can be attributed to conflict of interests and low communication and cooperation across departments due to cultural differences in the departments. Furthermore, department leaders have not made enough effort to encourage knowledge transfer, and effective communication and coordination among members of their departments.
The main barriers within the organization’s culture that impact on the learning process include: low levels of exemplary leadership, and interdepartmental cultural conflicts, and poor communication skills. Leaders of the organization’s departments have not been actively encouraging cross-departmental learning and knowledge transfer. Consequently, different departments have different cultures in which knowledge transfer is not encouraged, which has significantly impacted on cross-departmental knowledge transfer. Moreover, most employees lack good communication skills needed for effective organizational learning. Besides, the
cultures that are encouraged in departments is individual or personal learning in which people put more emphasis on personal professional growth and development rather than overall organizational learning.
The selected organizational learning mechanism is the offline/external organizational learning. This approach involves identification and contracting professionals who can oversee the organizational learning process in a centralized external environment on a full-time basis (Lipshitz, Friedman & Popper, 2007). The learning environment of the approach consists of different units that act as companywide knowledge repositories and dissemination centers. The significance of the offline/external approach is that it enables the organization to minimize the duration of time for the whole program. Besides, it is more comprehensive and enables employees to have a neutral mindset during the learning process since the professionals who will oversee the program are not from ABC Company thus there will be minimal or no biases on the side of the employees.
In order for the management to raise trust in order to establish psychological safety, the management ought to cultivate a positive and respectful communication habits and channels. When employees are addressed with respect and dignity, they are more likely to have confidence in their work and to feel respected than if addressed rudely (Liu et al., 2016). Employees should also be encouraged to freely communicate their ideas and make creative suggestions since doing so will indicate high confidence that the management have in them. Another strategy that can create psychological safety is to establish rules through which employees should engage amongst themselves and with other stakeholders (Liu et al., 2016). Creation of clear engagement rules based on high esteem, trust, and objectivity will ensure that employees engage with each other in constructive ways that encourage cooperation and respect. In view of these reasons, I am requesting for more time to continue with the research to further look for more solutions to the issues.
References
Liu, W., Zhang, P., Liao, J., Hao, P., & Mao, J. (2016). Abusive supervision and employee creativity: The mediating role of psychological safety and organizational identification. Management Decision, 54(1), 130-147.
Lipshitz, R., Friedman, V. J., Popper, M. (2007). Demystifying organizational learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.