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…

Employees engage in informal learning to solve a workplace problem and to gain knowledge at the time the need arises without waiting to attend a scheduled training session (Jacobs & Park, 2009; Livingstone, 1999; Schugurensky, 2000; Schurmann & Beausaert, 2016). The definition employed in this study is the self-guided pursuit of knowledge,…

Purpose: This study aims to innovate by investigating the effects of goal orientations on informal learning strategies and whether intrinsic motivation mediates the relation between those two constructs. Design/methodology/approach: To address these aims, the author relied on a quantitative study and on structural equation modeling to evaluate the…

Background: Most workplace learning is informal. However, some employees struggle to execute informal learning strategies effectively because they lack the necessary knowledge or skills or use their knowledge and skills ineffectively or not at all. Objectives: We examined the effects of computer-based micro-learning interventions that provide…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine uncertain situations with potential for learning in care work. While the dominant learning strategy in elderly care is lecture-based education, learning from and during daily care work routines is crucial and suitable. However, little is known about the potential for learning in daily work in elderly care.…

Purpose: In competitive labor markets, promoting employees' learning becomes a key challenge for companies. However, in small German craft companies, employee development is always connected with worries about employee turnover. This study aims to investigate the current informal learning strategies of craft workers and how they use the…

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate whether the formal and informal learning patterns of community health-care nurses changed in the wake of a reform that altered their work by introducing new patient groups, and to explore whether conditions in the new workplaces facilitated or impeded shifts in learning patterns. Design/methodology/approach:…

This article focuses on informal learning and its implications for instructional design and performance improvement. The authors begin by sharing a story of how a novice instructional designer employs informal learning strategies in her professional and personal life. Next, they offer a definition of informal learning that encompasses both…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the formal and informal workplace learning of professional chefs. In particular, it considers chefs' learning strategies and outcomes as well as the barriers to and facilitators of their workplace learning. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology is based on in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured…

Employees' informal learning in the workplace warrants more attention, and such learning could benefit from the latest mobile technologies such as Web 2.0 applications, which have increasingly been utilized and have the potential to enhance learning outcomes. This multiple-case study examined the impact of mobile Web 2.0 applications on…

The study of workplace learning and informal learning are not new to adult education and pedagogy. However, the use of mobile devices as learning tools for informal learning in the workplace is an understudied area. Using theories on informal learning and constructivism as a framework, this paper explores informal learning of registered nurses…

The research sets out to identify the learning processes adopted by older workers in the hospitality and visitor attraction industry in Scotland, with a view to determining how employers may better support their education and training within enterprises. The study was undertaken as part of the ESRC project on "Sustaining the employability of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to document the ways pharmaceutical representatives learn for work and report attributes of (in)formality and other characteristics of ways of learning perceived as effective and frequently used. Design/methodology/approach: A total of agents 20 from 11 pharmaceutical manufacturers across Canada participated…

This qualitative case study was designed to explore whether and how a sample of domestic and international managers use two key adult education concepts--critical reflection and experiential learning--to influence changes in individual employees whom they coach. The study is based on the primary assumption that although managers do not…