Training in the Workplace: Critical Perspectives on Learning at Work

Lynda Holyoak (University of Central Lancashire, UK)

Leadership & Organization Development Journal

ISSN: 0143-7739

Article publication date: 1 November 2003

299

Keywords

Citation

Holyoak, L. (2003), "Training in the Workplace: Critical Perspectives on Learning at Work", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 24 No. 7, pp. 420-421. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730310498659

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited


Training in the Workplace is part of the “Management, work and organisations” series, which is designed for post‐graduate students and human resource professionals. This volume fulfils that requirement well, so, although it does give some background on the topics for those who are unfamiliar with them, the tone of the chapters is critical and analytic. At the same time, the style is generally engaging and even those chapters on topics you might not be particularly interested in, do draw you into the debate being presented. A deliberate choice (as indicated in the preface) has been made for this to be an edited book rather than the work of a single author, which, when I read the statement, made me groan inwardly. However, by the end of the book I was convinced that the choice had mostly been a wise one: there was little of the patchiness of quality that mars some edited books, and there was a sense of coherence that some other books lack.

Training in the Workplace has 14 chapters. As might be expected, the first is an introduction to the scope of the book via the description of five challenges that face those who research this topic. These five challenges determine the underpinning (first challenge) and the content (remaining four) of the book. All five are about challenging simplistic ideas regarding training and learning in the workplace. Chapters two, three and four explore training strategies, the reconciliation of individual and organisational needs in training and the link between performance management and training. All take the stance that the picture that is commonly painted is inaccurate, and that the situation is far from perfect. The next three chapters look at the effects on training of the modernisation of working practices, though it is argued that progress has not been that great in this area. There are three chapters devoted to the implications of workplace learning on industrial relations, with very mixed feelings in evidence. The book continues with three chapters on how learning is achieved in the workplace and finishes with a chapter on the evaluation of training interventions.

For an edited book, the style was very consistent (many authors acknowledged Helen Rainbird’s help in preparing their chapters, so it looks like a strong editorial influence is operating here). Although some might argue that it could become repetitive, a good, reader‐friendly structure to the individual chapters was something I was pleased to see. I also enjoyed reading the chapter on work placements for young people as my eldest daughter is currently spending about two weeks away from school to try out green‐keeping at the local golf course (hopefully as well as learning skills that will prepare her for work in general, she will find out enough to keep my lawn looking good for years to come). On the down side, There is some repetition of material as a result of its being dealt with by different authors, but not so much that it seriously detracts from the overall quality, and those who were dipping in and out might not notice it at all. It is also a shame that some of the initiatives on workplace learning referred to in the text have already been abandoned (e.g. individual learning accounts): a shame for those who stood to benefit from the scheme itself, and for the book in the sense that it is so quickly out of date. However, that is a relatively minor detail and on the whole this was an interesting and enjoyable book.

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