Managers as workplace learning facilitators

Abstract

This exploratory, interview-based study (n = 29) elicits activities carried out by managers in support of employees’ learning and surfaces similarities and differences in the ways these activities are perceived by novice, experienced and mid-career workers. Analysis suggests that managers provide a wide variety of types of learning support, ranging from hands-on support on operational issues, structuring individual development programmes and advice on learning opportunities, to coaching, career advice, counselling and being a role model. The perceptions of novice, experienced and mid-career professionals are compared and contrasted, tentative patterns identified and a typology of managers’ learning facilitation activities proposed. The results suggest that to enable managers to facilitate workplace learning effectively, a broader range of competences and skills should be considered when training managers.