1. This is a summary of a report written as a masters assignment for a Learning and
Development Management course.For the full paper please email eqt@btinternet.com
EQualityat
work
REPORT 1
Investing in People & The Learning Organisation
It is becoming increasingly
important that people’s
professional development aligns
with core business objectives to
improve organisational
performance. Therefore, there is
a need to identify the learning
needs and the development
activities that enhance people’s
performance and integrate these
into the main business strategy.
In order to explain more
clearly the central themes of new
equalities legislation, core
purpose and culture change, this
report explores the relationship
between the learning
organisation concept and the
Investors in People indicators. It
should provide the reader with
ideas about the changes needed
and a way of achieving them
within the current organisational
activity. It will help define the
role of the facilitator as a
strategic partner in business
development.
Everyone can make a
positive contribution to their
organisation, by improving their
own and their teams
performance, therefore
enhancing people’s learning
experience can increase shared
effectiveness in reaching
organisational objectives.
Investment in people’s
development needs to benefit all
members of the organisation
equally. Only by providing a
suitable range of learning
opportunities at all levels can
shared capacity grow to reach
joint goals effectively.
CONTENTS
Defining the learning organisation 3
Culture change 4
Leadership and Equality 5
Career Management 6
Learning and empowerment 7
Findings 8
References 9
Everyone can make a positive contribution to their
organisation, by improving their own and their teams
performance.

2. Social change presents a
challenge to all
organisations, as they strive
to respond to ongoing
community demands by
continuously improving their
understanding of clients
needs in order to reach their
own business objectives.
The complexity of factors
affecting organisational
culture can often feel
confusing to professionals
trying to reach a variety of
goals while coping with the
tension caused by their
complexity. Learning activity,
such as training or research,
can facilitate an easier
response to change by
helping people adapt their
more practice effectively,
while different strategies for
improvement may also
contribute to key business
objectives.
Learning is important at
all levels, and people’s
career development should
ideally provide with them
with the skills needed to
contribute to organisation,
but also their own
development particularly in
times of high workforce
mobility.
This report aims to cover
the following points in order
to help explain key aspects of
learning:
•Illustrate the concept of
‘the learning organisation’
using the Investors in People
framework and indicators.
•Identify key ideas useful
in developing learning
opportunities more equally
across the workforce.
THE AIM
The aim of this document
is to clarify the increasingly
strategic role of training
managers and external
providers, and identify key
themes in legislation and
guidance that describe the
concept of the learning
organisation. These ideas will
help individuals identify the
key levers that impact most
on culture and those strategic
activities that will enhance the
achievement of core purpose.
Findings have been
summarised and grouped
under the following headings:
•Culture Change.
•Strategic and leadership
capacity.
•Learning and
empowerment.
•Career management.
•Evaluation and
Contribution to business .
EQuality at Work - 2
Introduction

3. In all organisations, there is
a need for continual
transformation as community
needs change and business
objectives adapt in response.
Ideally, business plans should
align with the vision laid out in
legislation and guidance, as
improving organisational
performance will be easier if it is
also improves internal culture
and has a positive impact on
wider social concerns.
Therefore, complying to the
guidance is not enough, a
commitment to developing
practice that is ethical is needed
to insure core purpose also
improves communities..
The increase in the rate of
change has required a very
different approach to learning.
Today every job requires an
increasing level of specification
due to the growing complexity
of knowledge required to do
them effectively. This has made
‘learning to learn’ a central
teaching problem of our time to
which understanding learning as
a personal experience is a key.
Involving the learner in
understanding learning is
critical, as they need to be able
to identify their own goals and
be capable of managing their
own development activities.
Through learning we become able
to do something we were never able to
do. Through learning we re-perceive
the world and our relationship to it.
Through learning we extend out
capacity to create, to be part of the
generative process of life. (Senge,
2009 Pg. 13)
With regard to culture,
institutional design has a role: it
needs to be decentralised, team-
based and organic in structure,
as these are preferable to
hierarchical, formalised
structures. Design fosters the
teamwork, which facilitates
relationships, the social element
that helps people learn and
improves their performance.
Here the learning
organisation is defined as one
that not only facilitates the
learning of all its participants
but, importantly, ‘continuously
transforms itself’, reaching the
alignment between personal
career progression and
organisational development.
The role of culture has
become better understood in
facilitating learning. It is one
that enables the orchestrated
movement that integrates the
different elements of team
learning to reach the
organisation’s objectives.
The concept of a learning
organisation is useful to
describe its character:
A “learning organisation” -
an organisation that is
continually expanding its
capacity to create its future.
(Senge 2006:15)
The principles underpinning
Investors in People standards is
useful to explain the
underpinning strategy:
Plan – develop strategies to
improve the performance of the
organisation.
Do – take action to improve
the performance of the
organisation.
Review – measure the
impact on the performance of
the organisation.
In turn the indicators can be
used as a benchmarking tool for
assessing how successful the
organisation is in achieving a
culture of continuous
development.
EQuality at Work - 3
Defining the Learning organisation

4. People’s learning is central
to defining purpose, identifying
objectives, determining strategy
and achieving goals. Learning
helps people understand that
what they learn in the short term
will add to their capacity to
respond to ongoing change in
the long term.
As the first Investors in
People (IiP) indicator states: ‘A
strategy for improving the
performance of the organisation
is clearly defined and
understood’. If workplace
culture does not value learning
then enabling the change
required to make this a reality
becomes part of strategic goals.
This will moves the role of
Learning and Development to a
leadership level, and it requires
an ability for system thinking.
Put differently, systems
thinking views the organisation
as an integrated task-orientated
structure characterised by a
small core centre and alliances
that is unified and co-ordinated.
Learning activity can facilitate
greater integration as it takes
place across institutional
boundaries and carries
responsibility for the
communication of values and
vision.
Learning activity is planned
to achieve the organisation’s
objectives (IiP Indicator 2), as
The Lamb inquiry highlights:
“There needs to be a strategic
approach to the development
and deployment of staff with the
right skills.” (Pg. 4)
Enhancing learning
opportunities of every individual
needs to be part of the
organisations’ core purpose and
therefore the place of learning
within the structure of
management will impact on
professional development,
otherwise difficulties created by
hierarchy and organisation
design can push people to look
for jobs elsewhere. As research
shows evidence links exist
between effective people
management practices and
business success.
Management strategies
need to be designed to
maximise potential (IiP Indicator
3), people at all levels are
involved in activities and
encouraged to contribute ideas
to improve their own and other
people’s performance.
Increasing volumes of
regulations govern employment
matters, and these have an
impact on the strategies
developed to create an
increasingly inclusive
environment. As guidance
highlights there is a need to
enable better learning
partnerships between all
stakeholders to promote
diversity, increase collaboration
and respond to need through
innovation.
Activities that deliver on
organisational purpose can also
enhance learning where the
opportunity is taken to share
what is learned across all levels
of the business. Developing
ways of working that support
full participation and fairer
access to learning opportunities
is important to all organisations,
culture change can be used
effectively to create movement
in a shared direction.
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Culture Change

5. It is important to view
leadership as a capacity
that can be learnt. Not a
grade or title, but an ability
to communicate knowledge
and skills in ways that are
clearly defined and behave
in ways that shows that
capabilities to manage are
achieved through
development.
The responsibility for
finding learning
opportunities is agreed and
understood (IiP Indicator
4). Learning function has to
support this different
approach to leadership,
moving away from one of
control, to one less top-
down which requires more
responsibility in innovation
at all levels and where
people can give examples
of how they have been
enabled to create changes
to improve team
performance.
We can all develop
these leadership qualities if
only we get exposure to
appropriate career
experiences and training in
the relevant skills.
Moreover, these leadership
qualities can be learned
and applied at every level
of the organisation.
The Equity Report
highlights the need for
leadership development at
all levels: “Holistic
government in particular
places cannot be imposed
top-down from a distance.
If frameworks for co-
operation are to be
effective, they need to be
more than lists of externally
imposed priorities... Joined-
up working must create
room for personal initiative
and creativity.” (pg. 32)
The importance of
adapting to context, by
developing collaborative
approaches across
departments and
organisations and with the
need to gain a deep
understanding of the
external environment as
the key internal features.
However this necessitates a
great deal of autonomy,
which in some cases will
mean people need to learn
the self-direction that comes
with empowerment (IiP
indicator 5).
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Leadership and Equality

6. Past research highlights
the need for all employees to
be engaged in work that
develops their potential, as
their contribution to
organisation objectives is
equally important irrespective
of role.
This means inequality
need addressing to create
fairer opportunities for
progression and this often
requires questioning the
‘norms and policies’ within
organisations. Teaching
practice, therefore, seeks to
develop people through a
personalised programme,
where people can take
control of their learning
process (IiP indicator 6).
Learning strategies are
understood as deliberate
plans of action to reach
specific goals, within which
intrinsic motivation allows
personal control and
responsibility of learning .
This means equipping
learners with the skills to plan
direction and enhance their
own leaning experience
learning self-managed
activity. The importance of
Continuous Professional
Development in career
management to reach the
alignment between personal
and organisations growth.
Developing the capabilities of
people can be seen as
developing value to
employers, and developing
personal life purpose and
mission.
The direct implication of
this approach is that people
will need to take
responsibility, and be
reflective about their current
practice so that they can
identify ways of developing
their own understanding
further.
Fay (1987) views
reflection as a critical process
moving three stages of
enlightenment, empowerment
and emancipation towards
overcoming the forces that
constrain practitioners from
realising desirable practice.
Each level represents a
level of learning:
Enlightenment
(understanding)
Understanding why things have
come to be as they are in terms of
frustrating self’s realisation of desirable
practice.
Empowerment
Creating the necessary conditions
within self whereby action to realise
desirable practice can be undertaken.
Emancipation
(transformation)
A stable shift in practice congruent
with the realisation of desirable
practice
(Johns 2004, pg. 8)
The time for reflection that
CPD allows may not lead
people in doing anything
different - instead it may
enable them to view what
they do in a different way. In
terms of skill development,
experience and practice, the
need for CPD is even more
critical in the present
economy because security no
longer lies in the job or
organisation but in the skills,
knowledge and experience
that we have within
ourselves.
As the IiP Indicator 8
suggests, making CPD
opportunities possible
requires is both an act of
public recognition and a
respect for individual
learning.
Learning and Empowerment
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7. Managers need to be able to ensure
that people’s learning needs are met
through appropriate activities so that
they develop effectively (IiP indicator
7).The skills for future success as coming
from developing a learning capacity
that unlocks people’s knowledge and
creativity enabling continuous
improvement and innovation. This
vertical transfer, where one subject area
acts as a basis for another, helps people
develop their own capacity to adapt
between and within jobs.
Strategies for promoting learning,
therefore, need a range sufficient to
satisfy the learning needs of everyone in
order to create the choice that allows
personal control over career
management.
Intervention is also required to
promote learning at all levels, and will
no longer simply be left to the good
intentions of managers who feel well
disposed to take people issues seriously
(Pg. 7). Reid et al (2004) state that
when managing learning, practitioners
may need to decide whether to
intervene through direct training
intervention, workshop or conference,
or create wider ranging learning
opportunities within working activity in
order to increase the natural learning
process indirectly in working practice.
Creating opportunities for reflection
within working practice for example:
“Newman (1994) commented that
to view the world from a different
perspective requires a paradigm shift
which incorporates the old paradigm
and transforms it. In transcending our
own boundaries … we have to move
beyond these boundaries and embrace
new ideas and new language.” (Johns
2004)
As relationships support an
interactive process, people learn about
each other and modify their behaviour
accordingly by imitating others, the
latter will have a better impact on both
culture and personal growth. Therefore
increasingly, professionals will need to
act as change agents in targeting
specific aspects of organisational culture
in order to equip their authority for the
challenges ahead (Reid et al 2004: Pg.
11). Added to which, practitioners will
need to understand the business and its
challenges and be able to translate
business strategies into their human
resource implications (Pg. 15).
“Research recognised the need to
develop high-level political influencing
skills: the ability to make things happen
by understanding the informal system,
and bring about change without formal
authority. Strategic thinking is needed at
all levels, so that people can understand
the implications of change and work in
partnership with the organisation to
deliver strategic solutions” (Holbeche
1999). Reid et al (2004) “Off-the-job
learning/training requires reinforcement
at the workplace: the attitude of the
superior and the culture of the
organisation are both powerful
influences in determining whether
learning is likely to be transferred to the
working situation… Other observers
have suggested that cultural variations
explain the differences in organisations’
ability to innovate.” (Pg. 80)
EQuality at work - 7
Career Management

8. People need to be able to explain and
quantify how development strategies have
improved the performance of the
organisations, therefore measuring impact
on performance is important to inform
future planning and justify investment (IiP
Indicator 9). In theory investing in
people’s learning makes common sense,
but the positive difference it makes to
reaching objectives more effectively needs
proof.
Measuring the impact of change first
requires an understanding of current
culture as well as an appreciation of
positive tension required to get to a
proposed vision. This means managers can
quantify the level of investment and how it
has improved the performance of the
organisations in order to justify the
investment.
The following model is useful to
evaluate the effectiveness of strategies
discussed above:
Level 1: Reaction of learners to content
and methods. (people can describe how
the activity is experienced and how it may
impact on their performance)
Level 2: learning attained during the
training period. (people can describe how
they can apply it to their role)
Level 3: job behaviour in the work
environment. (people can describe how
learning has improved their performance)
Level 4: effect on the learner’s
department. (people can describe how
learning will improve meeting team
objectives)
Level 5: has the training affected the
ultimate well-being of the organisation, for
example, profitability or survival? (people
can describe how learning will improve
the performance of the organisation)
(Reid 2004 pg. 201)
Evaluation and contribution
EQuality at work - 8

9. Findings:
Literature suggests that
the concept of the
learning organisation
could be a useful concept
for those involved in
creating culture change as
it places learning within
strategic activity.
The key findings suggests
that ‘Learning to learn’
has become is important
for personal growth and
organisational
development, and
underpin the key features
of the levers that enable
objectives to be met in
response to community
needs. These
organisations share the
following characteristics:
•A public commitment to
the learning of every
individual; (people across
children’s services are
participating in learning
activity)
•Creating a learning
partnership with all
stakeholders; (different
departments and
community groups are
sharing learning
opportunities)
•Centring all
management processes on
the enhancement of human
potential; (strategic
dialogue includes inquiry
and reflection)
•Operating in a culture
of continuous
improvement, development
and growth. (informal
conversations share
learning experience and
describe changes in
attitude)
(West-Burnham and
O’Sullivan, 1998:46)
Unfortunately, despite
increasing opportunity to
enhance human capital,
the creation of social
capital has not received
equal recognition. Yet
social capital is a key
lever, increasing
opportunities for working
relationships is where
difference can be made
as it will enable people to
learn together and apply
their shared experience to
improve performance.
Despite training
intervention, the
relationships that support
team learning across the
organisation are not
always valued or
developed through policy.
And the learning dilemma
remains that “we learn
best from experience but
we never really
experience the
consequences of many of
our most important
decisions”. System
thinking is seeing through
the detail complexity to
the underlying structures
generating change,
“what we most need are
ways to know what is
important, and what is
not” in order to identify
the key areas in which
new understanding can
bring about change most
effectively (pp 125).
Implications for partners
EQuality at work - 9

10. Implications:
For organisations employing consultants this has implications in terms
of outsourcing and the external practitioners role and contribution to the
business. Partnership in strategy development seems to contribute most
to the development of change in organisational culture as outlined
above. There are certain benefits of working with consultants,
specifically those working across agencies and within other
organisations. In terms of knowledge: specialisms allow a depth of
understanding that is not always available in-house due to the daily
immersion in the subject and having to apply it across different
organisations. Consultants may be in a position to gain a good
perspective on system thinking, and can compare practice which may
be useful in tackling the variation that exists between organisations and
different organisations across communities.
References:
Gardner H (1993) Multiple Intelligences, The Theory in Practice Basic
Books
Harrison, R, (2009) Learning and Development, London: CIPD
Holbeche, L. (1999) Aligning Human Resources and Business Strategy,
Butterworth-Heinemann
Johns, C. (2004) Becoming a reflective practitioner. Blackwell
Publishing:Oxford
Megginson, D. and Whitaker, V. (2003) Continuing Professional
Development London:CIPD
Pedlar, M, Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T. (1997) The Learning Company: A
Strategy for Sustainable Development (second edition), Maidenhead:
McGraw-Hill
Reid, M. Barrington, H. Brown, M (2004) Human Resource Development,
Beyond training intervention, London:CIPD
Robinson K (2009) The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes
Everything, Allen Lane
Senge, P. (2006)The Fifth Discipline, The art & practice of the learning
organisation, London:Random House
Taylor, S. (2002) People Resourcing, London: CIPD
West-Burnham, J. & Coates, M. (2005) Personalizing Learning,
Transforming Education for Every Child, Network Educational Press
West-Burnham, J. and O’Sullivan, F. (1999) Leadership and Professional
Development in Schools, Throwbridge:Times Press
Whittington, R. (2001)What is Strategy - and does it matter?
EQuality at work - 10

11. Related Programmes
Equalities
Changing organisational
culture - from compliance to
commitment.
Overview:
To help participants get a
clearer understanding of their
role in achieving fairer
outcomes in line with the
vision proposed in the new
equalities bill. This
programme will help
participant understand the
strategic implications for
organisational core purpose,
and help embed the
understanding that ethical
practice is ongoing and
therefore moves beyond the
compliance approach laid out
in present legislation. It will
help staff become
increasingly proactive in the
area of inclusive practice
using area knowledge
specific to the district and
more effective in their use of
internal resources.
Participants will be offered
opportunities to refresh their
understanding of legislation
by examining the key theories
underpinning new research
and theory. They will have
the opportunity to reflect on
changes in their own practice
and develop new strategies
that aim for positive impact
on marginalised groups.
Equality –
Equity, Values, and Inclusive
Practice.
Overview
This programme helps
participants gain an
understanding of shared
leadership that enables
individuals to achieve change
by responding effectively to
inequality. Underpinned by
the Equality Bill agenda this
workshop aims to create
personal motivation by
supporting people’s
understanding of the vision
and commitment needed to
achieve ethical practice at
operational levels. This
programme is specifically
designed to bring equality
issues to life, the approach is
non-didactic and tackles
practice based scenarios.
The format is one of
facilitation, where
participants are invited to
come up with solutions, whilst
being guided by a robust
framework of questions. It will
enable participants to create
an action plan to tackle
discrimination within their
roles at work. To increase
knowledge and expertise by
understanding good practice
and use this to challenge the
prejudice that leads to
discrimination.
Equalities – Impact
Assessment and Service
Delivery
From consultation to
participation - Plan, Do,
Review
Overview:
The use of the equality
impact assessment framework
has been daunting for many,
so we have simplified the
initial process to help get
participants started. We
hope that those involved in
this programme will feel
empowered to enable
change, by increasing their
understanding of the learning
cycle underpinning Action
Research. Through simple
steps this session exemplifies
the process through activities
such as: identifying barriers
to be tackled and sharing the
development of strategies to
enhance participation.
Ultimately, participants will
gain an understanding of
policies as dynamic tools to
enable communities to create
their own change.
© L M Chapman - EQuality Training - 2010. For more information on any aspect please do get in touch
with us. www.equalitytraining.co.uk 01484 530 321, 0773 792 5573,