Building a Learning Organization @ Your Library

By Jacquie Sewell, Student, Library and Information Science Program, Wayne State University, aj6330@wayne.edu.

In 1990, Peter Senge broke new ground in management theory with his book, The Fifth Discipline. Weaving together wisdom from the sciences, philosophy, business and spirituality, Senge proposed a new world order where successful organizations are those that foster not competition, blind obedience, or segregated brain power, but true learning at every level for every member. This philosophy runs contrary to management styles long entrenched in our country which, according to W. Edwards Deming, have "destroyed our people" because they do not acknowledge that "people are born with intrinsic motivation, self-esteem, dignity, curiosity to learn, joy in learning" (Deming as cited by Senge and Goran, 2001, ¶ 1).

Anthropologist Edward Hall further expounded on our innate desire to learn: "Humans are learning organisms par excellence. The drive to learn is as strong as the sexual drive -- it begins earlier and lasts longer" (as cited by Senge and Goran, 2001, ¶ 1).

David Garvin, in his work to transform Senge's theory into reality, defines a learning organization as "an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights" (1993, p.80). That sounds like a definition for a library. Libraries exist because of the human need to learn, explore and grow. We recognize those needs in our patrons. In light of Senge's seminal work, shouldn't we ensure that we recognize and meet those needs in our employees as well; that our libraries become learning organizations in every sense of the word?

Learning organizations do not happen overnight and they do not happen in elitist environments. Everyone, from the volunteers, to the director, to the members of the board must be involved and actively engaged in creating the new reality. Creating a learning organization at your public library will take time and effort. The staff needs to be brought on board, convinced that this is not just a new "management flavor of the month". Once their trust is won, their buy-in is assured. For in a learning organization, employees will have a sense of the whole. They will see beyond their niche (I shelve books), and have a commitment to the whole organization. They will share ownership of the vision and the mission statement, and will go the extra mile to ensure patrons receive the best service possible.

One of the first steps the Multnomah Public Library in Portland, Oregon took in becoming a learning organization was to hire a Learning Systems Manager at the senior management level. This position was created "to provide a 'choreographer' to help direct the many already existing training activities toward the accomplishment of broader organizational initiatives, to help identify and fill in any missing pieces in the system's infrastructure, to reallocate resources as needed, and to help pace and prioritize the many training opportunities available to staff" (Kinney, 2000, Management section, ¶ 1). Far from being the commandant, the Learning Systems Manager was a facilitator, the coxswain who kept the information flowing, the energy high, and the boat on course.

Hiring

Perhaps the real starting point in building a learning organization begins at hiring. Hal Rosenbluth, CEO of Rosenbluth International, has translated the theories of learning organizations into practices that have helped him build an international travel agency generating more than six billion dollars each year. His first tenet in hiring is to "look for nice people"(Rosenbluth, 2002, p.28). In addition to being nice, it is important to find people who have not lost that intrinsic motivation and desire to learn that Deming described. So from this point, a learning organization needs to evaluate its hiring practices and refine them to include ways to measure, or at least discern a person's character and curiosity level.

Orientation

In practical terms, orientation is the next step in creating a learning organization because it is the next step in the hiring process - or it should be. Too many libraries ignore or skimp on this important opportunity to "introduce a person to the organizational culture and develop skills that are immediately put into practice" (Cetwinski, 2000, ¶ 7). Done correctly, orientation can be the beginning of building what Senge calls "shared vision" (1990, p. 13).

Done incorrectly, orientation can be the beginning of a termination. Thomas Cetwinski with the University of Georgia Libraries claims good orientation is a key factor in employee retention. Through his experience in conducting exit interviews, he found "staff leaving within the first two years of employment identify orientation training as a negative experience" (¶ 7).

New employee orientation should be well-thought out, creative and, dare I say, fun. As Rosenbluth reminds us with his "kindergarten principle": "People retain more when information is presented in a creative, interactive and interesting manner" (2002, p. 70). He suggests that the arrival of new employees be celebrated with a group lunch or tea. Each new employee should be introduced to everyone in the organization with visits to the different departments. Orientation is the perfect place to let employees know that your library is a great place to work, the staff works as a team, and their ideas are welcomed.

Training

Peter Henschel, Executive Director for the Institute for Research on Learning, argues, "In the past we often substituted training for real learning. . . . Asking for more training is definitely not enough - it is not even close - and often obscures what's really needed: lifelong, continuous learning in work and at work" (1999, ¶ 4). But training, especially in technical areas, is critical for continuity and accuracy. Therefore training must be reconstructed to approach real learning in as many ways as possible. Helping employees understand the "whys" of a procedure is part of what Senge calls "systems thinking" (1990, p.15). It enables them to see relationships and gives them tools to trouble-shoot problems that may arise. An employee who knows the desired outcome is more likely to find innovative ways to reach that outcome than one who only knows the steps to accomplish it.

Practice (and the opportunity to fail) also needs to be an integral part of the training process. In a true learning organization, risk-taking is encouraged, and with risks come failure. But without risks, an organization remains static, and eventually, by virtue of the growth and change around them, will decline. Citing a training program developed by PPG, Garvin states, "Education and training programs are powerful tools for transferring knowledge. But for maximum effectiveness, they must be linked explicitly to implementation" (p. 88). While this is most easily done with technical skills, it is just as important with the more theoretical aspects of library training. If an employee attends a workshop on motivating reluctant readers, he must be encouraged to integrate what he learned into his practice and to share with colleagues any successes and failures.

Training and staff development should be protected in the budget. Unfortunately, in many libraries, it is one of the first lines that get cut when the purse strings get pulled. Several librarians responding to a listserv inquiry about in-service opportunities at their library said in-services were a thing of the past, and travel monies had been cut from the budget. A learning organization knows that any investment it makes in learning (in-services, workshops, conferences, etc.) is a cornerstone in their design for a productive, successful future.

Just-in-Time Learning

Cetwinski describes a learning environment as a place with "a commitment to sharing knowledge, where employees not only feel comfortable taking time to assist colleagues when asked, but are expected to do so" (¶ 11). Oftentimes the best training comes "just in time" and usually from a colleague.

At Rosenbluth International, learning is not restricted to the classroom. "In fact," Rosenbluth says, "the walls have been blown off the classroom and learning is happening in every corner of the company, at any given moment, around the world. We certainly provide some core courses, but the just-in-time training that happens each and every day in the field is priceless. The key to it is an environment of openness, trust, and collaboration that makes sharing knowledge the norm" (2002, p. 56).

Connie Bennett, Director of the Silver Falls Library District in Silverton, Oregon, encourages "just-in-time" learning at her library. She calls it capturing the teachable moment which she defines as "the moment when required information is provided to an employee precisely when it is needed to accomplish a job task"(Bennett, 2000, ¶ 2). Benefits from such training, particularly across departments "can enhance respect, build the work team, and improve understanding of the whole organization, in addition to the more direct goals of easing scheduling conflicts and improving public service" (¶ 7). According to Bennett, studies show cooperative learning promotes positive feelings of personal worth and positive attitudes toward the skills being taught. These teaching moments can be capitalized on if an organization "supports effective methods of adult education" (¶ 1).

This kind of training is practically "free", yet for it to happen, the director and supervisory staff need to be open to it and educated in the benefits and the means. Workshops on adult learning styles will help them understand how their employees learn and enable them to provide continuous learning opportunities for all emplyoees. Making staff members aware of these priciples allows them to be more effective in their interactions with colleagues.

Team Building

Peter Henschel identified seven principles of learning. The top two on his list state that learning is fundamentally social and it is integrated into the life of communities (1999, Seven principles section). This translates into creating an environment where colleagues respect and like one another. Where they feel comfortable teaching and learning from one another. This can only be accomplished by providing opportunities for staff members to spend time together at work and socially to get to know one another. That is why company picnics and office parties can be effective tools in building strong organizations.

Another way to bring staff together is through a job rotation program: employees shadow one another for a specified period of time, from several hours to several days. If the circulation librarian works alongside the cataloguing librarian for a day, she gets to know not just what that person does, but who that person is. In addition to building a "team identity", this helps meld individual visions into the shared vision Senge claims is so important for a successful learning organization.

Job rotation is also an excellent way to diffuse information and skills throughout the organization. This is one of the reasons, according to Garvin, that learning organizations transfer skilled employees between divisions and locations (p.87). If Bob in circulation at the downtown branch has come up with a method to streamline checking-in books, send Bob to each of the branches for a day. As he shares his knowledge he will be building relationships with his team-mates.

Individual Learning Plans

The Multnomah County Library (MCL) has adopted an individual learning plan model to help build their learning organization. Each employee's individual learning plan includes a "self-assessment tool that allows staff members the opportunity to examine their own training/learning needs and to decide how to integrate this learning into day-to-day responsibilities." According to MCL, "this emphasis on the responsibility of the individual to take charge of their own learning is an important component of the learning organization approach" (Kinney, 2000, Individual learning plans section).

Employees need to be taught to develop specific annual objectives for improving job performance, overcoming professional and personal obstacles, and learning something new, among others. Training programs and conferences would then be selected with these goals in mind. Managers in a learning organization are pro-active in providing information about worthwhile training opportunities and encouraging employees to attend. Evaluating an employee's goals and the progress made toward achieving them is an important part of the annual review process in a learning organization.

A learning library's commitment to the personal growth of its employees will be reflected in the budget. Are there dedicated funds for conference fees, professional memberships, tuition reimbursement, and in-house training programs? Employees should be expected to take advantage of continuing education opportunities and to implement and share the knowledge they have gained from those opportunities. This dovetails with Garvin's profile of a learning organization as one skilled at "learning from the experiences and best practices of others" (p. 81).

In addition to learning from other librarians and experts in the field, Garvin identifies customers as another "fertile source of ideas" (p. 86). Libraries are positioned to garner ideas from patrons quite easily. Patrons are in and out all day. Some become "regulars" and interact with the staff on a personal level. Surveys can be conducted at points of contact. But if your library wants to excel at being a learning organization, it needs to take its quest for ideas outside the library as well. What about the people in your community who aren't coming in? How can the library meet their information needs? How can you find out what those needs are? Partnering with community agencies, schools and businesses and getting involved in community events is an important beginning. If there's a local Chili Cook-off at the riverfront, your library should host a booth.

Encouraging staff members to be personally involved in the community is another important step in bridging the gap between library and non-patron. Staff members should volunteer with local non-profit organizations like literacy coalitions and local schools. These informal methods, combined with regular needs assessments, will provide your library with the insights needed to ensure its continued growth and vitality.

It is also important for librarians to get involved in professional organizations as Margaret Auer, dean of University Libraries at the University of Detroit Mercy, emphasized to a graduate class of library professionals at Wayne State University. According to Auer, being involved in professional library organizations allows you to give back to the profession and "gives you an opportunity to build a network of other library professionals that you can call on when you have an issue or problem you want to think through. Meeting and working with personnel from other libraries also allows you to learn different approaches to working with patrons, how others approach technology or technical issues, how people deal differently with personnel issues, and the list of information you can gather is unlimited." The only cost to the library is support for employees' involvement and time away from the desk to attend meetings.

Creating a library that is truly a learning organization takes leaders with vision - a vision of a library where communication, information, respect, and ideas circulate as freely as the air. It also takes commitment - commitment to the people, the institution and the community. It will cost an organization time and money, but as Cetwinski (2000) says, "The rise in job satisfaction and retention is well worth it. As we acquire new skills and ideas, we become more interested in our work. We raise confidence levels, which prepare us for future responsibilities within the organization. We take ownership in our work and are more likely to feel a loyalty to the organization" (¶ 12). In short, we become the very best librarians we can be.

Bibliography

Bennett, C. J. (2000). Capturing the teachable moment: In-house staff development [electronic version]. OLA Quarterly, 5(4), 2.

Cetwinski, T. (2000). Using training for recruitment and retention [electronic version]. Georgia Library Quarterly, 37(1), 5-10.

Garvin, D. (1993). Building a learning organization. Harvard Business Review, 71(4), 78-92.

Henschel, P. (1999). The manager's core work in the new economy. Retrieved June 19, 2003, from www.fieldbook.com (new material link)

Kinney, J. (2000). The learning systems approach to staff development and training at Multnomah County Library [electronic version]. OLA Quarterly, 5(4), 9-13.

Rosenbluth, H. (2002). The customer comes second: Put your people first and watch 'em kick butt. New York: Harper Collins.

Senge, P. & Goran, C. (2001). Innovating our way to the next industrial revolution [Electronic version]. MIT Sloan Management Review,42(2), 24-30; 32-8.

Senge, P. (1990). The leader's new work: Building learning organizations. MIT Sloan Management Review, 32(1), 7-22.

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