While there is certainly a need for formal training, I believe there is a benefit to self-directed learning… though the key for its success lies in the motivation of the employees and the support they receive from supervisors.
So what is self-directed learning? Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting defines self-directed learning (or self-directed training) in this article:
“Self-directed training includes the learner initiating the learning, making the decisions about what training and development experiences will occur, and how. The learner selects and carries out their own learning goals, objectives, methods and means to verifying that the goals were met.”
So what kind of skills, support, and evaluation is necessary to ensure the success of self-directed learning in the workplace? There are many different opinions on the topic, but here’s what I think:
ONE: Employees must be motivated.
- If an employee is not motivated to learn and does not possess the skill of self-reflection, they will most likely not have much to gain from self-directed learning.
- The nature of self-directed learning means that the employee has a lot of control over when and what they learn, therefore they must be able to recognize what skills or knowledge is needed.
- After the employee determines the skills/knowledge needed, they need to be able to find the path to those skills/knowledge. What activities can help them attain the skills? To build their knowledge, they must have the proper tools.
TWO: Supervisors must support self-directed learning.
- Like many other training techniques, self-directed learning is a process. The objectives and lessons learned evolve over time, and when one objective is researched, it may lead to other objectives/experiences for the learner. A supervisor must respect and support this process.
- The support of supervisors comes in many different forms, but I think the biggest way supervisors support self-directed learning is by enabling the employee to seek out knowledge in the ways that suit the employees preferred learning style. Does the employee learn best in a social setting like conferences or association meetings? Would the employee benefit more from a solitary hands-on approach such as research? The supervisors must support the employees preferred method of learning.
THREE: There must be a way of evaluating self-directed learning.
- The employee, supervisors, and employer must decide upon an acceptable mode of evaluating the skills and knowledge learned. This may seem counter-intuitive considering the learner-centric focus of self-directed learning, but I believe that evaluation is necessary.
- Though the supervisors/employer must be involved in the evaluation, ultimately it is the employee’s responsibility to self-evaluate to determine whether the appropriate level of knowledge/skills has been reached.
To my readers: Do you feel that self-directed learning is an acceptable training method? If you, as an employee, were expected to integrate self-directed learning into your daily routine at work, what methods would you use?
Web resource of note: While thinking of a topic for my U-blog assignment, I came across a website with a concept I found interesting: The Free Management Library. I recommend checking it out. Its purpose, from the “About Library” section:
“The Library provides easy-to-access, clutter-free, comprehensive resources regarding the leadership and management of yourself, other individuals, groups and organizations. Content is relevant to the vast majority of people, whether they are in large or small for-profit or nonprofit organizations. Over the past 10 years, the Library has grown to be one of the world's largest well-organized collections of these types of resources.”
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