Social Learning In The Workplace: How Does It Work?

orking nine to five, what a way to make a living. Barely getting by, it's all taking and no giving," these timeless lines from Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" song resonate with the challenges that countless adult learners encounter in their professional lives. Conventional training approaches often prove monotonous and ineffectual, leaving employees disinterested and less productive. 

On the other hand, every manager desires their employees to learn rapidly and enthusiastically, without a substantial investment of time and money. But what if there existed a means to transform learning into an engaging, cooperative, and successful endeavor? 

Let's explore what social learning is, how social learning works, and how it can substantially boost the effectiveness of acquiring new knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Social Learning Definition

The term 'social learning' refers to the process of learning by observing the actions of others. In the business world, this involves sharing experiences and valuable information and collaborating with colleagues from diverse work backgrounds to gather useful insights. 

This type of learning happens naturally, irrespective of management's intentions, as people working together tend to observe each other and adopt certain practices. However, this process can be enhanced, where learners can be directed in the right direction.

For employees in leadership roles, social learning serves as a valuable tool to address various challenges:

• Facilitating the exchange of experiences among employees by encouraging open expression of opinions and ideas.
• Creating educational content generated by employees, offering valuable informational resources.
• Actively incorporating various aspects of corporate culture.
• Assisting in the smooth onboarding of new company members.
• Providing context for the formal education material.
• Enhancing employee retention and motivating them to achieve higher production outcomes.

So, skillfully organizing social training with contemporary methods plays a pivotal role in enhancing employee skills and elevating their work performance. If you aim to guarantee a well-oiled and efficient team, this approach becomes an indispensable training tool.

Social learning is rooted in the innate mechanisms of human socialization. People aren't just socialized during childhood; this process persists throughout life. Each of us has a natural inclination to pick up the habits, behaviors, and skills of those in our surroundings.

Social Learning Theory in the Workplace 

Social learning is essentially learning by interacting with others in social situations, where observing our progress is a crucial part of the process. This idea stems from social behavior theory, which focuses on learning new things by watching and imitating others. Learning occurs in our minds as we interact with others, even without rewards or punishments.

Albert Bandura, a Canadian-American psychologist, has developed social learning theory in the workplace. He conducted an experiment with a "Bobo doll" where children observed an adult behaving aggressively with a toy. He aimed to determine the children's actions after the adult was rewarded, punished, or ignored for their behavior.

The results showed that children who witnessed the aggressive adult were more likely to act aggressively compared to those who saw a calm adult. This demonstrates that learning from others significantly impacts our actions, not just for children but for everyone.

We are now part of various social networks like school, work, and family. The image below illustrates this perfectly.

💡Note:  One of the social learning examples is social learning research conducted by professors at Queen Mary University of London. To study social learning in bumblebees, researchers created puzzle feeders with two solution options. They developed an open diffusion protocol to track the spread of puzzle-solving skills within bee colonies. Demonstrator bees, trained to perform specific behaviors, were introduced to the colonies, leading to varying levels of success in puzzle-solving. The experiments highlighted the importance of social learning in bees' acquisition of problem-solving skills and demonstrated that the species learning from trained demonstrators were more proficient than those without such guidance.

Benefits of Social Learning in the Workplace

Social learning at work has been actively integrated into advanced training programs for quite some time now, making it one of the most effective approaches for several reasons:

#1. Training Efficiency

When there's a need to address a work-related challenge in the shortest possible time, employees naturally tend to share advice or observe how a more experienced colleague tackles the task. We absorb information most rapidly and reliably when it's immediately applicable. 

After acquiring new knowledge, employees put it into practice, ensuring a strong retention of memory. While we're not talking about large volumes of educational material at once, regular engagement in social learning at work can accumulate a wealth of practical skills over time.

#2. Improved Team Dynamics

Conflicts within a group invariably lead to reduced performance outcomes. Even introverted individuals prefer to be part of a harmonious and cohesive team, working in a friendly atmosphere. 

Strong relationships with colleagues foster a genuine passion for one's job and a commitment to the company's success. Mutual assistance and a clear division of responsibilities help expedite effective task resolution.

#3. Continuous Professional Development

The field of knowledge is ever-evolving, so employees must continuously update their knowledge and enhance their skills, regardless of their extensive experience. Daily learning becomes feasible when it occurs informally and is appealing to employees. Team-based training should be structured to maximize the participation of each member.

#4. On-the-Job Training

For employers, this represents a significant advantage. Formalized training often contemplates prolonged absence from the workplace and substantial financial investments in courses, lectures, and workshops. In contrast, social and collaborative learning in the workplace is cost-effective and convenient, demanding minimal financial resources.

#5. Fulfilling Employee Interests

Training isn't solely advantageous for management. New employees can swiftly adapt to their work environment and integrate into the team. Experienced employees have the opportunity to share their knowledge and gain recognition from junior colleagues. Remote workers can maintain connections with their peers and foster informal relationships.

Social learning not only facilitates effective and prompt employee training but also enhances departmental performance.

Components of Social Learning

Social and collaborative learning in the workplace comprises several key components:

• Self-efficacy. This is a person's belief in their ability to succeed.
• Self-regulation. It's the student's capability to self-discipline and plan their educational activities.
• Observational learning. This involves consciously imitating someone else's actions to acquire new skills.
• Mutual determinism. This concept highlights the close interaction among individuals during collaborative learning.

Critical Factors for Achieving Success in Corporate Social Learning

It is imperative to acknowledge that not all observed behaviors in corporate training result in effective learning. The success of social learning at work depends on a combination of factors related to both the role of the model and the characteristics of the learner. 

Furthermore, adhering to specific prerequisites and steps is vital for ensuring successful social learning in the workplace environment.

The following components play a pivotal role in the process of observational learning and modeling within corporate training:

1. Attention

To enhance the learning experience, maintaining undivided attention is paramount. Distractions can impede the effectiveness of observational learning. However, when the model or the training scenario is engaging or presents a novel perspective, participants are more likely to dedicate their full focus to the learning process.

2. Retention

The ability to retain information is a critical aspect of the corporate learning journey. Various factors can influence retention, but the capacity to recall and apply acquired knowledge later is essential for effective observational learning in a corporate setting.

3. Reproduction

Following careful attention to the model and the retention of information, the next step involves putting the observed behavior into practice. Repeatedly practicing the acquired skills leads to their refinement and the development of competency.

4. Motivation

The success of observational learning in a corporate training context hinges on the learners' motivation to emulate the modeled behavior. Motivation is shaped by reinforcement and consequences, as they play a pivotal role in driving the learning process.

Additionally, the effectiveness of these motivational factors can be equally significant when individuals witness others experiencing positive reinforcement or facing consequences. For instance, if an employee observes a colleague receiving recognition or rewards for punctuality, they may be motivated to arrive a few minutes early for work each day.

How to Foster Social Learning in the Workplace

To cultivate a culture of mutual learning within your team, consider these straightforward strategies:

#1. Encourage teamwork

Make it clear to your employees that they should feel comfortable asking each other for help. Organize work tasks that can be effectively solved through collaboration.

#2. Integrate social learning elements into your online courses

Incorporate aspects of social learning in the workplace into your online employee training. Don't leave learners to navigate educational content in isolation; offer them the chance to engage in discussions with fellow participants. Programs that lack opportunities for employee interaction tend to be less effective.

Here's how to create a sense of community around an educational program:

• Encourage text-based interactions during instructor-led training sessions.
• Enable participants to leave comments on microlearning courses.
• If you incorporate gamification elements, provide employees with the option to personalize their avatars and 'compete' with one another.
• For longer courses, utilize the learning partner tool and assign group projects.

#3. Utilize social tools

Employees will undoubtedly communicate on social networks and instant messengers to discuss work-related matters or colleagues. Harness this resource to foster a culture of learning and sharing within your company.

When selecting a social learning platform, prioritize one that facilitates user communication, including features like chats, private messages, and other forms of interaction to facilitate controlled and productive discussions.

People will discuss work across various platforms, but you can also establish an informal online space for spontaneous communication. Even if people are sharing photos of cats or lasagna recipes, such informal interaction can be beneficial.

#4. Facilitate feedback

To activate productive social learning in the workplace, introduce practices like brainstorming sessions and weekly discussions of work results.

By approaching the development of social learning effectively, you can harness it as an invaluable tool for advanced training.

Conclusion

Instead of a conclusion, we prepared some social learning in the workplace trends:

• Provide employees with the opportunity to ask work-related questions and receive real-time answers.
• Encourage a habit of contributing to problem-solving for everyone, not just the most active individuals. To make this comfortable for all, create a virtual platform for discussions.
• Offer employees the flexibility to learn at their own pace and convenience. Not everyone learns at the same speed, so let them access educational materials when and as often as they need.
• Establish a community of experts, coaches, and mentors, and motivate and reward their efforts.
• Foster a culture of showcasing talents and sharing knowledge and experiences.
• Utilize gamification to encourage active interaction among employees and the exchange of emotions and experiences.

Social learning in the workplace is simple to initiate since it involves creating natural conditions for interaction among employees. It's a natural process of learning, collaborating, working, problem-solving, and modeling through communication and sharing.