Learning at transition for
new and experienced staff
Anoush Margaryan (with Colin Milligan and Allison
Littlejohn)
Caledonian Academy, Glasgow Caledonian
University
•
Competences in defining and solving novel problems, for which no
knowledge base exists
•
Interdisciplinarity
•
Understanding and using technology with focus on general principles
rather than specifics
•
‘Crew change’: capturing, sharing, reusing and transferring knowledge
dynamically
•
Increased ‘time to competence’: need to bring new staff up to speed
quickly
•
Project-based work: collaboration and teamwork, criss-crossing
geographic, disciplinary and cultural boundaries
RQ1. What are the learning experiences
of novice and experienced staff
undergoing transition?
RQ2. What are the organisational
socialisation experiences of novice and
experienced staff?
collective-individual
formal-informal
sequential-random
fixed-variable
serial-disjunctive
investiture-divestiture
initial skills and
knowledge
task mastery
expectations
role clarity
prior experience
work group
integration
motivation
Role
Adjustment
Organisational socialisation tactics are
less effective for more experienced
workers
Semi-structured interviews (n=29):
novices (≤3 y)=8
experienced (≥11 y)=12
midcareer (4-10 y)=9
Inductive analysis of emergent categories
Experienced staff (n=12):
‘veterans’ (no recent role change)=1
‘movers’ (changed role within company)=8
‘expert hires’ (recruited externally)=3
multidisciplinary project teams
job rotation (every 4 years for experienced
staff, more frequently for novices)
young professional programme
(courses, coaching and mentoring, job
rotation, PDP, graduate network)
“… you move around and you are able to define what
you really want to do and what your gaps in areas of
development should be. So …after a year you should
be in a very good position to identify what you should
be doing from now on”. (N3).
“The networking aspect is part of the whole [company]
culture and it is also in my [performance review] to
build different networks and engage with people. I
have got a mentor and I have got involved in [my
discipline’s] Graduate Network.” (N1).
“I had done [role] and done [role], I had done literally every
kind of [role] … what I needed was to move into a different
area, you get reinvigorated because you are learning
something new” (E12).
“I moved into [this part of the company] a couple of years
ago now. It was the first time I had ever worked in [this part
of the company]. There is this assumption that because you
have been in [the company] you know everything you need
to know about getting a network and getting connected.
Well, moving from one [part of the company] to another …
is equivalent in the external world to changing company
[but] the whole onboarding process of getting you
connected and getting you a network just doesn’t happen”
(E12).
“I am trying to leverage my own knowledge and
experience regarding my [discipline] … because I
have a large network [outside the company]. I am also
a member of the board of [national professional
network] and I share this knowledge …” (E8).
“[in] my last role one of the things I did was network
across the [domain] industry in the [my country]. I don’t
feel that has been taken advantage of” (E10).
“Because I have little experience of [this discipline]
within [this company] … I would look for someone who
has more experience than me. I would call him for a
lunch and say ‘okay I have this negotiation and I am
thinking about doing this kind of approach, what do
you think, … Then I weigh the approach I imagined
and the approach the coach tells to me about and … I
make a hybrid from the two experiences, mine and my
coach’s.” (E9).
Recognise that transition represents a period
of adjustment, and build in explicit activities
(and time) for experienced newcomers to
devote to managing this transition,
transferring and refining their existing skills
and practices to new contexts
The domains of workplace learning and
organisational socialisation exist in relative
isolation, but the practices being investigated
overlap considerably.
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