Developing A Learning Contract For Organizational Effectiveness And Managing Diverse Workplace Situations

What is a learning contract?

A learning contract is an agreement which clearly states the responsibilities of an individual employee who is involved in the learning procedure before it happens (McMurtrie et al., 2014). This learning contract not only elucidates the expectations from the employee, but also ensures that the signatories are committed towards accomplishing the learning goals. Before signing any learning contract the employees should achieve the line manager’s support along with agreeing with the studying program which the employee is wishing to complete. Furthermore, the employee can be treated depending on their outcome of the learning contract. It can also be highlighted as a major part of the employee appraisal in future or for a change according to the business requirements or individual development review (Kok & Ligthart, 2014). Therefore, this report develops a learning contract for using in the workplace settings which can also be adequately effective for improving the organizational effectiveness and managing the diverse workplace situations.

There might be several reasons for developing a learning contract for the employee within the organizational environment but the final goal; of any learning contract refers to the improvement of the business environment in some aspects (Huber & Spinler, 2014). The other goals of the learning contract are:

• Identifying and clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the employee within their level of service.
• Specifying the primary commitments that are required for all the stakeholders involved n thee achievement of the organizational standards such as communication skills, teamwork skills, design skills etc.
• Managing the diversity and promoting individual as well as group success
• Identifying the special requirements.

The concept of learning contact is mostly considered as an influential tool for assessing and redesigning the education for management. It should be noted that the educators within the working environment should implement practical activities for enhancing the organizational effectiveness. The learning contract can be always utilized as a diagnostic tool in the workplace. It can be used for training a set of employees who have been introduced in the organizational environment recently (Knapp et al., 2017). The learning contracts are mostly designed for helping the employees to develop the common expectations about the business procedure, purpose of the business procedure and the outcomes from any learning experiences. It can also be referred as the document of strategic planning. Such strategic learning documents are mostly done for long range goals, however sometimes these learning contracts are done for training opportunities as well. The contract itself involves the procedures that enhance the organizational effectiveness. Through this learning contract the management can convey their expectations from the employees; therefore they can work aligning to such expectations in the future. There are different key areas of the organizational effectiveness such as organizational design, leadership development, talent management and the organizational structure (Katz et al., 2017). Through the learning contract, the management is capable of evaluating between the specific areas and improves them. It also improves the quality of work as it helps the workers to make effectual strategies for their further work. The learning contract also helps the employees to align their quality of work with the expectations of the organization as well. Therefore eventually the organizational effectiveness improves. This learning contract also helps improving the group effectiveness through bringing new innovative ideas and concepts into the organization.

Importance of achieving line manager’s support before signing a learning contract

Diversity is a continuous evolving idea as this term can be applied at both the contextual and individual level and it can also be defined through different social constructs. Within an organizational culture, managing diversity has been a challenge for the managers, especially in this global business atmosphere. The learning contracts tend to increase the overall performance of all the underperforming employees and it also creates a sense of unity amongst the employees. Blaschke & Hase (2015) has indicated that the usage of learning contract has expanded with the course of time and now not only within the higher education genre, it is also being utilized within the organizational setting for promoting the success of employees. The learning contract is also used in the in the organizational setting for managing risks, reducing employee and customer complaints and preventing any kind of litigation (Stephenson & Yorke, 2013). The learning contracts define the expectations and outcomes of the learning clearly. In addition to that these can also serve as a major diagnostic tool that allows the management of any organization to assess the individual progress of their employees. As opined by Miller-Foster et al. (2015) the learning contracts can also be used for retaining employees as it can work as an intervention for the employees who are having trouble in coping within the diverse situation. Therefore it can also be exercised as a significant tool that promotes responsibility for all the employees. An effectual learning contract is also helpful for promoting the motivation of employees; therefore it can align the expectations of the organization with the outcomes of their performances. As the learning contract can serve as an effectual tool for sharing the power in a responsible way and promotes improved outcomes of employee performances, it can also enhance the satisfaction of the employees. Therefore, it is very much useful for empowering the employees in a diverse situation and builds their responsibility towards the organization which can further promote success for the employees.

Conclusion

Several organizations have been successfully implemented the learning contracts for enhancing the success within the employees. These learning contracts will build a sense of unity amongst the employees that will help them dealing with the diversity issues. It will also promote the success amongst them and improve their expertise in the business world.

References

Blaschke, L. M., & Hase, S. (2015). Heutagogy, technology, and lifelong learning for professional and part-time learners. In Transformative perspectives and processes in higher education(pp. 75-94). Springer International Publishing.

Fedeli, M., Giampaolo, M., & Coryell, J. E. (2013). The use of learning contracts in an Italian university setting. Adult Learning, 24(3), 104-111.

Haghani, F., & Ziaeirad, M. (2016). Benefits, Limitations and Administrative Methods of Learning Contracts in Nursing Clinical Education: A Narrative Review. Iranian Journal of Medical Education, 16, 341-355.

Huber, S., & Spinler, S. (2014). Pricing of Full?Service Repair Contracts with Learning, Optimized Maintenance, and Information Asymmetry. Decision Sciences, 45(4), 791-815.

Katz, A., Carnes, M., Gutierrez, B., Savoy, J., Samuel, C., Filut, A., & Pribbenow, C. M. (2017). Fair Play: A Study of Scientific Workforce Trainers’ Experience Playing an Educational Video Game about Racial Bias. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 16(2), n2.

Knapp, K. M., Wright, C., Clarke, H., McAnulla, S. J., & Nightingale, J. M. (2017). The academic radiography workforce: age profile, succession planning and academic development. Radiography, 23, S48-S52.

Kok, R. A., & Ligthart, P. E. (2014). Differentiating major and incremental new product development: The effects of functional and numerical workforce flexibility. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 31(S1), 30-42.

McMurtrie, L. J., Cameron, M., OLuanaigh, P., & Osborne, Y. T. (2014). Keeping our nursing and midwifery workforce: Factors that support non-practising clinicians to return to practice. Nurse education today, 34(5), 761-765.

Miller-Foster, M., Foster, D., Thoron, A., & Barrick, K. (2015). A Case Study in Do-It-Yourself Projects: Utilizing Learning Contracts to Facilitate Global Learning in Agriculture 1. NACTA Journal, 59(4), 343.

Motschnig-Pitrik, R., & Standl, B. (2013). Person-centered technology enhanced learning: Dimensions of added value. Computers in human behavior, 29(2), 401-409.

Ramli, A., Joseph, L., & Lee, S. W. (2013). Learning pathways during clinical placement of physiotherapy students: a Malaysian experience of using learning contracts and reflective diaries. Journal of educational evaluation for health professions, 10.

Stephenson, J., & Yorke, M. (Eds.). (2013). Capability and quality in higher education. Routledge.