Learning on the Job is Ineffective - Essay Sample

Introduction

Learning on the job is the process of acquiring skills in the course of work based on scheduled training by an organization (Alipour et al., 2009). Despite the mostly held perspective that training on the job is beneficial to the organization and the employee, learning on the job is ineffective, and its perceived benefits are surpassed by the shortcomings of learning on the job (Orser, 2001, p. 18). This paper will argue on the reasons why learning on the job is ineffective and undesirable for both the organization and the employee.

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Production Disruption

Training is meant to increase an organization production and increase the skills of the employees. However, learning on the job results in low productivity because it interrupts the production process which results in financial losses for the organization (De Kok, 2002). Employees cannot be able to learn and at the same time deliver their functions in an organization (Zwick, 2002). As such, on the job learning is undesirable because interrupted production reduces the organization financial outcome and also can result in the disruption of the supply chain which could make the organization lose out its marketing share to the competing organizations because the consumer needs remain the same (Rothwell et al., 2004).

Production Errors

Organizations that use low experienced employee with the premise of training them on the course of production negatively affects the quality of the goods produced by the inexperienced learning employees (Wilkie, 2013). On job training/learning becomes undesirable because it can result in production errors which can lead to defective final products that will negatively affect the organization reputation in the market (Metcalfe, 2017). Endangering an organization product reputation through learning on the job is undesirable because it can cause an organization to lose its competitive advantage and also incur financial losses due to defective products that are returned by consumers (Singer and Edmondson, 2008). Therefore, learning on the job becomes more costly as a result of the lost revenue due to the low capacity production and the high number of defective products produced by new, inexperienced employees.

Accidents and Disturbance of the Existing Workers

In some organizations such as manufacturing and service, learning on the job can significantly affect the organization due to the involuntary accidents that are caused by the disturbance of the ongoing organization activities (Cooke and Rohleder, 2006). Some tasks require concentration, and the learning on the job approach create an unwanted disturbance on the existing employees which makes it undesirable as a training approach (Wood, 2004). Accidents due to the inconvenience and commotion caused by the training exercise during the normal working hours can lead to equipment damage or injuries amongst the employee in the workstation where the training is taking place (Saks et al., 2010).

A Mismatch between the Employee Desires and the Organization Needs

During the learning on the job which is initiated by the employer, the employee can seem disinterested which can reduce the organization objectives on the training. Learning is best and more functional if the employee initiates it and the employee is willing to learn (Porter, 2013). Therefore, learning on the job can be costly and fail to create the desired result by the organization due to the disinterest of the employee to learn or the indifference in the learning approach.

Conclusion

In conclusion, learning on the job is undesirable because of the potential errors that could lead to equipment damage, injuries on the trainees and also can affect the production process and the quality of the products. Undesired learning which does not have a mutual benefit to the organization and the employee leads to demotivation which further affects an organization production process. Employees can compete for learning opportunities in an organization especially those tied with a promotion which leads to hostility and competition between employees that discourage teamwork and reduces employee's productivity.

References

Alipour, M., Salehi, M. and Shahnavaz, A., 2009. A study of on the job training effectiveness: Empirical evidence of Iran. International Journal of Business and Management, 4(11), p.63.

Cooke, D.L. and Rohleder, T.R., 2006. Learning from incidents: from normal accidents to high reliability. System Dynamics Review, 22(3), pp.213-239.

De Kok, J., 2002. The impact of firm-provided training on production: testing for firm-size effects. International Small Business Journal, 20(3), pp.271-295.

Metcalfe, J., 2017. Learning from errors. Annual review of psychology, 68, pp.465-489.

Orser, N.A., 2001. AN ON-THE-JOB TRAINING SYSTEM AT ALIAS PCB TECHNOLOGIES (Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Stout).

Porter, T.J., 2013. Employees' responses to the mismatch between organizations' espoused values and basic assumptions about organizational culture.

Rothwell, William J., and H. C. Kazanas. 2004. Improving On-the-Job Training How to Establish and Operate a Comprehensive OJT Program. New York: Wiley.

Saks, Alan M., Robert R. Haccoun, Monica Belcourt, and Monica Belcourt. 2010. Managing performance through training and development. Toronto: Nelson Education.

Singer, S.J. and Edmondson, A.C., 2008. When learning and performance are at odds: Confronting the tension. In Learning and performance matter (pp. 33-60).

Wilkie, B.J., 2013. An assessment of a just-in-time training intervention in a manufacturing organization.

Wood, S., 2004. Fully On-the-Job Training: Experiences and Steps Ahead. National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

Zwick, T., 2002. Continuous training and firm productivity in Germany (No. 02-50). ZEW Discussion Papers.