Continuous Development - The Way Ahead

by Mr. Paul Gauci B.A.(Hons.) M.Ed.(Sheff) MCIPD MIM

Introduction

It is now generally acknowledged that education and training is a continuing and lifelong process.  It is also increasingly clear that education can take many forms, not all them traditional. No longer can a person’s development be associated exclusively with the period of learning which occurs during our primary, secondary or possibly tertiary education.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the professions.

The pace of scientific, technological, social and economic change is now so rapid and intense that an initial period of professional or occupational training can only provide the foundations of knowledge, skills and attitudes on which further development must take place if professionals, particularly managers, are to remain current and competent.

From Self Development to Continuous Development 

Over the past fifteen years, self-development has moved from being a fringe pursuit, to a position in the mainstream of management and business development.  According to Pedler (1990) the growth (actually a re-emergence) of self-development is attributed to a response to the limitations of systematic and analytical training.

Faced with complexity, variety and change, systematic training can be far too prescriptive and trainer centred.  Moreover, with regards to management development, quite often when managers are thought to need a particular skill they are speedily dispatched on the appropriate course, with the result that as their careers progress, they assemble an impressive list of ‘attended’ courses.  In many companies, training and development is still regarded in these terms.  

The problem is that the skills needed by today’s and tomorrow’s managers are so broad ranging that “picking off” skills is no longer enough.  Managers have to be more selective and focused when it comes to development.  Indeed, there is a growing trend of managers who are realising that developing managerial skills and techniques is not simply the responsibility of the organisation. Managers too have a role to play in being proactive and identifying areas in which they need to develop - examining their strengths and weaknesses to develop the skills necessary for the future.  Rather than having their development mapped out for them, effective managers are managing it for themselves.  

The self development philosophy therefore underlines the notion that the individual takes responsibility for learning and choosing the methods and place, to pursue goal-oriented learning activities, whether on-the-job (tasks themselves are highly effective instruments for development) or off-the-job.  Self development also means that individuals must be motivated - feeling strongly about developing, growing and taking action.

It is suggested that the process of self-development enables the attainment of an ability “to learn how to learn” (Megginson and Pedler, 1992), “a continuing openness to experience” (Rogers, 1969), and to utilise this “learning edge” (Wick and Leon, 1993) to increase change management skills: flexibility and adaptability. 

Furthermore, encouraging and empowering subordinates to take charge of their own learning can motivate managers to increase their willingness to continue their own development. Wick and Leon claim that: 

“In companies across the country, the ability to learn is becoming a condition for employment, one that requires every successful manager’s deliberate attention and commitment”.

(Wick and Leon, 1993, p.4) 

Indeed, schools of thought from Scientific Management through Human Relations and Organisational Psychology, particularly the latter, have emphasised the generalised and changing nature of managerial work.  Yet, as self-development is a less visible and tangible process than training there are various constraints: 

“Self development presupposes an enormous amount of commitment and motivation on the part of the self-developer.  To succeed they need help and support from the organisation within which they are developing”.

(Critten, 1993, p.127) 

Besides, as some might argue, why should managers develop themselves when their company offers little in the way of support or rewards?  The creation of the right sort of climate for self-development is very important - repressive climates in organisations will block the individual’s development (Temporal, 1981).  Moreover, self-development activities may be more orientated towards the individual’s requirements rather than the organisation’s needs.  This is quite often an area of debate with some organisations e.g., Ford’s (UK) Employee Assistance and Development Programme (EADP) scheme providing special funding for any type of adult learning programmes, whilst other organisations restrict the learning only to the relating to its needs and budgeted training expenditure. 

Megginson and Pedler, promoters of the self development movement, argue: 

“But who is the organisation and what are its needs?....in these new days of skills shortages, to what extent do senior managers have the power to define in what direction you and I should develop? Self-development...recognises the increasing power of the ‘knowledge worker’ who may have a personal or professional career loyalty first and an organisational loyalty second”.

(Megginson and Pedler, 1992, p.4) 

Perhaps it is when self developers seek a ‘trade-off’ - pursuing learning paths which benefit themselves and the organisation, that this can truly result in a feeling of mutual benefit, fostering a climate of continuous development as a route to effective work and organisational performance. 

Continuous Development:  The Challenge

The philosophy of ‘continuous development’ (CD) referred to in Europe as ‘permanent education’ also poses a major challenge to traditional practices - acknowledging that self-directed learning has become a pre-requisite for individual and organisational development.

The traditional philosophy of training seems to be given place to the continuous development concept and that there is a growing recognition that more effective training is often achieved when less emphasis is placed on formal instruction and trainees are given responsibility for their own learning.  Flexible learning, open access learning centres, or computer-based training are excellent examples.

“CD philosophy as it has emerged is essentially a commentary on how business and management has naturally evolved...particularly over the last dozen years: from stability to dynamism, from descriptions to objectives, from systemisation to creativity, from management command to participative decision, from teaching to learning.  To summarise, from training alongside work to learning within it.”

(Wood, 1988, p.17)

For example, the aim of the Continuing Professional Development process promulgated by the UK Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) is to enable individuals themselves to identify learning opportunities and to decide how best to exploit them.  Continuing Professional Development means constantly updating our professional knowledge throughout our working life.  This requires self direction, self management and responsiveness to the development opportunities offered by our real work experience.   

Indeed, professionals have long recognised that traditional professional education and training cannot fully meet the needs of individuals or organisations in a rapidly changing world.  Studying for the award of a professional qualification at the beginning of a career provides a valuable base.  It cannot, however, do more than ensure the acquisition of expertise which is relevant at the time the qualification is obtained.  Our professional development is a unique and personal journey. 

Qualification studies will still have an important role to play but as part of a wider learning and development process.  This process needs to be ‘owned’ by the individual utilising a much wider range of learning opportunities than formal, off-the-job training.  Continuous Development is not self development (although it may include self development).  Rather, it is self-directed learning which is evident when a ‘focused’ approach by organisations is adopted towards employee development as suggested by the Ashridge Management Research Group (1988).  

Following a literature review and a study of leading-edge UK companies, this research group presented findings in an important report: “Management for the Future” distinguishing between three approaches:

Figure   The Ashridge Model ‘Management for the Future’

(Source: Osterweil, 1992, p.31)

The report gave insight into the attitudes of organisations towards training and development suggesting a move from a ‘fragmented’ approach, where human resource development interventions are seen as peripheral activities via a more systematic or ‘formalised’ approach, towards the ‘focused’ end of the spectrum, where development  is seen as a  continuous learning process, linked to individual and organisational goals.

Why Continuous Development?

Few organisations can afford the volume of off-the-job training which would be needed to keep all their staff completely up to date on all aspects of their current and potential work activities.  Much more is involved than just updated a body of knowledge.  The development of personal competence and skills is of equal importance.

People differ significantly in the ways in which they learn best.  It is difficult for formal training, which handles people in groups, to address these individual differences in learning styles. Besides, a large proportion of effective learning takes place within the work environment.  We all learn by doing, by our successes and mistakes.  Development should be continuous in the sense that the professional should always be actively seeking improved performance.

Traditional training tended to treat the trainee as the passive recipient of material delivered by the trainer.  The concept is now being reversed by encouraging people to take responsibility for their own learning and development.  The trainer or rather, the learning facilitator, now provides support to the active learner with development being owned and managed by the individual learner.  Learning objectives should be clear and wherever possible should serve organisational needs as well as individual goals.

“Training does not necessarily equal learning.  Training is something that can be done unto others but learning is something individuals have to choose for themselves.”

(Chapman, 1992, p.18)

The growing awareness of the potential of continuous development  is to some extent, prompted by companies committing themselves to ideas such as empowerment.  There is also growing interest in the entire idea of management competencies - the skills which managers will require to manage in the future, particularly flexibility and adaptability.  When they are actually given the time, resources and support to look at their own development, managers can quickly become excited, realising that there are opportunities rather than obstacles.  For many it is an entirely new experience.

Continuous development is an active process involving the individual in decisions about growth and change.  It is concerned with attainable realities - the difference between what the individual currently does and how and what he or she can realistically achieve.  It focuses on an attainable and viable role in which the job offers increased challenge, demands and ultimate satisfaction and rewards.

Continuous development opportunities arise from formal structured learning, such as courses and conferences, but they can also arise from informal unplanned opportunities, self directed learning and other professional activities as for example, networking, project management, and work groups.  Regular investment of time in learning should be seen as an essential part of professional life, not as an optional extra. More importantly, whilst these experiences can be very valuable, they need to be recognised by individuals and organisations, if learning outcomes are to serve for further development opportunities and organisational action plans.  In this manner, simultaneous improvement in the performance of employees and organisations can be achieved effectively.

Towards a Learning Organisation 

Any organisation committed to future success must become a learning organisation.  To compete and survive today commands continuous improvement. But any organisation is only as good as its people and continuous improvement in business is all about the development of people and therefore creating a learning culture. 

Indeed, if continuous development is to be seen as a viable way of improving performance and effectiveness in an organisation there needs to exist a culture in which it is valued and encouraged. Organisational barriers to learning as, for example, lack of information and access; lack of coaching and support; lack of real value for learning and lack of reward and recognition need to be removed.  Learning organisations are those best skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge and at modifying behaviour to reflect new knowledge and insights.

 “Organisations learn only through individuals who learn.  Individual learning does not guarantee organisational learning.  But without it no organisational learning occurs.”

(Senge, 1990, p.139) 

References to learning organisations appear in the work of Garratt (1990), who looks at organisational development and learning, specifically at senior manager level in large organisations.  A narrower view is given by Schein (1977) and Burgoyne (1988), who discuss implications for career planning.

Kolb’s (1974) work relating to the concept of the ‘learning cycle’ - whose key  stages are experience; reflection on that experience; analysis of learning points arising from it and the testing of implications of concepts in new situations - also has links with the learning organisation.  Truly, the philosophies of a learning organisation necessitates that members not only develop learning abilities as individuals and work and learn as teams but also having the sort of climate and processes that an organisation to learn.  This concept has emerged as an important objective for training managers and has gained wide experience as an expression of the desired or ideal state for human resource development in the organisation.  It is apparent that the idea of the ‘learning organisation’ has strong links and even goes beyond the third stage - the focused approach of the Ashridge Model.

Mayo (1995) asserts that to be better at individual, team and organisational levels, learning needs to  be the key to competitiveness and the achievement of organisational strategy.  In this regard the ‘learning organisation’ may be viewed as  “a journey not a destination” with the whole organisation becoming a vehicle for the learning and growth of people.  This is the ideal supportive climate which can enable an organisation harness the full brainpower and experience available to it, in order to evolve continually for the benefit of all its stakeholders.  Indeed, it is now widely accepted that a real source of competitive advantage lies within the ability of both individuals and organisations to learn and share knowledge - constantly expanding on its capacity to create its future. 

As Senge (1990) quoting Arie De Geus of Royal Dutch/Shell asserts:

 “The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.”

(Senge 1990, p.4)

References and Bibliography 

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