Literature Review

I commented on Heather's literature review in Group 3 - Experiential Learning

Social Cognitive Learning

Desiree M. Soptelean

Ball State University

Literature Review

EDAC 634

Professor Bo Chang

Social Cognitive Learning

Social cognitive learning is a broad topic that reaches into many other areas of adult learning.  As defined in the 2007 textbook Learning in Adulthood by Merriam, Cafarella, and Baumgartner, social cognitive learning theory combines elements from behaviorist and cognitivist orientations with the explicit assumption that people learn from observing others. Merriam, et al. go on to say that in observing others people acquire knowledge, rules, skills, strategies, beliefs, and attitudes. These characteristics allow social cognitive theory to be used widely in the field of workplace training and development, which is a quickly growing area as the workforce becomes more educated than ever before and employers must compete to attract and retain the best and brightest employees.

For this literature review I chose to investigate the area of social cognitive learning that reaches into the areas of training and development, employee socialization, and on the job training. I have personally experienced newcomer job training several times, and my experiences have been both positive and negative. While I’ve had both types of experiences, it is always the negative experiences that stand out to me, so I chose to explore further why beginning a new job may be difficult, and what can the employer and employee do to improve the process.

General Themes

Theme 1: First experiences for newcomers in an organization set expectations and perceptions of the job and organization.

            The first days and week of a new job are often a whirlwind of activity, new faces, and new information to learn. The newcomer to the job is not only learning a new skillset or set of information, but also new processes, new coworkers, new names, a new building, and the list goes on. In a 2003 article, De Vos, Buyens, and Schalk state their findings indicate it is highly important for organizations to give careful attention to the initial experiences by new hires. They state the active communication about expectations held by both the employee and employer will positively effect the relationship between employee and the organization.

            In Bandura’s 2001 article, Social Cognitive Theory of Mass Communication, the statement is made that human behavior may be explained in terms of unidirectional causation, meaning “behavior is controlled either by environmental influences or by internal dispositions.” Because behavior is not strictly governed by one or the other shaping force, all aspects must be considered in the early encounters an individual has within an organization. Bandura states that “In this transactional view of self and society, personal factors in the form of cognitive, affective, and biological events, behavioral patterns, and environmental events all operate as interacting determinants that influence each other bidirectionally.” He also states that a defining characteristic of humans is their plasticity in adapting, which in my opinion, is something that should be equally kept in mind by employers when considering introducing newcomers to an organization.

            However, this careful attention to detail to the first days of a new job is not always given by all employers. Many newcomers reported in a 2015 article by Korte, Brunhaver, and Sheppard that they learned largely through trial and error and the informality of their initial experiences left them with the feeling that their time was wasted, as they were not always sure of the correct way of doing things. In this same article by Korte, et al, managers reported that they favored a more informal, “experiential” training. Clearly there is a disconnect somewhere between managers and employees about what effective training techniques look like. In addition to a lack of formality, newcomers also reported dissatisfaction with an initial general orientation, as they did not yet possess the context to retain information.

Theme 2: Organizational socialization is a process by which overall work load may be improved.

            Organizational socialization is a process that is constantly occurring within an organization, and in this specific context, within a workplace. In the orientation process, socialization is often thought of as only affecting the newcomer to the organization, but it involves established agents just as much. Korte, et al posit that learning is not the only objective of socialization, but socialization is the context in which newcomers and established employees interact. A key ingredient to socialization, or what may also be referred to as collective agency, is people’s shared belief in their collective power to produce desired results (Bandura, 2001a). The overall performance by a social group involves transactional dynamics between members, and thus creates shared responsibility, and ultimately success, by group members instead of a single person. In this instance, creating a social environment where newcomers and seasoned employees share social responsibility will allow for more genuine, valuable interactions.

Lin (2010) states that in a work environment it may not be possible to reduce a work load beyond a certain point, and this is where socialization is effective. Social capital, as it is also referred to by Lin, is important because people count on other people (social networks) in times of stress, sharing joy, crisis, and in sharing the job load. Without this human element in the workplace, some especially taxing workplaces may not be able to retain employees.

Theme 3: Individual differences of newcomers in an organization effect likelihood of engaging in organizationally committed behaviors.

            In a Bandura’s 2001 article, Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective, he comments on self-regulation, stating, “The rapid pace of informational, social, and technological change is placing a premium on personal efficacy for self-development and self-renewal throughout the life course.” The work world is experiencing a fast pace of change, and knowledge and technical skills quickly become outdated. Bandura states that not only does the worker needs to engage in behaviors to remain engaged in the organization they are a part of, but collective agentic adaptability applies to the organizational level and workforce levels.    

In studying human behavior, every person is completely different and will behave differently from coworkers when placed into the work environment. Researchers Tang, Lie, Oh, and Weitz list in their 2013 article three self initiated employee socialization tactics in which each person will respond differently: observation, inquiry, and networking. Each person will possess a different orientation toward each area and thus perform differently. The most proactive newcomer listed by Tang, et al is associated with responding highly in all three areas.

            In Korte’s 2007 article, the newcomer is also tasked with 4 tasks to be mastered when beginning a job: mastering job tasks, clarifying the role, integrating into the workgroup, and assimilating into the organization’s culture. These are the basic steps to be fulfilled no matter what type of training and orientation process takes place, and because of this, they may be completed in any number of ways. A final thought of Korte in this article was that informal learning is the most pervasive type of learning in an organization. I interpreted this to mean that newcomers and seasoned employees alike should be aware of their own learning style in order to be successful.

Implications

            One element of social cognitive learning theory that arose across my research is the idea that human behavior can be influenced by almost any factor and remains malleable across situations. Humans are adaptable, and so even if a person has initially failed at a task, after some time of practice and study, he or she may later be able to master the task. Conversely, the world of technology is so quickly changing that even if a person has mastered one skillset, that does not mean that that ability will translate to the next skillset that is necessary in his or her organizational field. When this happens, the individual must self-regulate and take on the responsibility of learning the new skillset.

Another overreaching theme throughout my reading is the disconnect between what employees think is good training and what employers think is good training. Many times throughout the literature it was suggested that discussion be used to explore the expectations held by both parties, so each knows where the other stands. I think beyond this though communication is a key factor in a successful job training. In training employees, I look for those who have questions, who look for something that they do not know, but desire to know. Even just asking what questions a newcomer has allows them to see that you are open to questions, and you are available to talk to in the future, even if they do not need to talk to you at that moment.

            The importance of social capital is another theme that arose several times throughout the literature. It is not an area that can be quantified or measured, but researchers give credence to the power of having a support system of people that a person feels they belong with. Like many of the other points made throughout this review, I can attest that having a social network of people you can trust, not only with your work, but with your stress, joy, and other emotions can make the difference between a mediocre workplace and a great workplace.

Reflection

Highlights

I think the most unique part of my project has been all of the practical experiences I possess that I have been able to link to my research. I have worked in companies that have utilized both the good and bad types of training styles that I have discussed here, and that has been a huge help in informing my opinion and guiding the direction of my research. I also look forward to being able to apply these principles practically in the future, if not as a professional administering training then at least as a new hire in a future position.

Process

The process of completing this assignment has been very long. I started out very interested in the topic and excited to begin research, but then became extremely busy with my full time job, and did not feel as connected to the topic after a while. However, once I was able to come back and connect my own experiences, both and good and bad, to the topic of social cognitive learning, I began to form a plan for the direction I wanted to take the literature review. The biggest problem for me in completing this assignment was being able to concentrate to read the articles. I have been having trouble concentrating for any length of time to do just about anything recently, so this was definitely a struggle. I would recommend to others who are writing a literature review in the future to begin the reading a long time before they plan to begin writing, because not all articles are equally as easy to read and understand.

Tables

Table 1. Summary of the literature review

Main Themes in Literature	Application of Main Themes in Literature
THEME 1: First experiences for newcomers in an organization set expectations and perceptions of the job and organization.	·             Human behavior is is controlled by either environmental influences or by internal disposition. ·             General orientations have been reported to be unhelpful because newcomers to an organization have no context of the information they are given. ·             Newcomers report a desire for more formal training in the early days ·             Organizations need to pay attention to newcomers first experiences, especially in regards to active communication
THEME 2: Organizational socialization is a process by which overall work load may be improved.	·             Socialization is not only about newcomers, but also involves seasoned employees ·             Key ingredient to socialization (or collective agency) is people’s shared belief in their collective power to produce desired results ·             It may not be possible to reduce load, but social capital may help ease abnormal cognitive load
THEME 3: Individual differences of newcomers in an organization effect likelihood of engaging in organizationally committed behaviors.	·             The rapid pace of informational, social, and technological change is placing a premium on personal efficacy for self-development and self-renewal. ·             Three self initiated employee socialization tactics: observation, inquiry, networking. Each employee will be oriented differently toward each area. ·             Four tasks to be mastered by newcomers: mastering job tasks, clarifying role, integrating into work group, assimilate into organizational culture. ·             Informal learning is the most pervasive type of learning in organizations – important to be aware of learning type.

References

Bandura, A. (2001a). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1.

Bandura, A. (2001b). Social cognitive theory of mass communication. Media Psychology, 3, 3 (265-299).

De Vos, A., Buyens, D., & Schalk, R. (2003). Psychological contract development during organizational socialization: Adaptation to reality and the role of reciprocity. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24, 537-559.

Korte, R. (2007). The socialization of newcomers into organizations: Integrating learning and social exchange processes. University of Minnesota.

Korte, R., Brunhaver, S., & Sheppard, S. (2015). (Mis)Interpretations of organizational socialization: The expectations and experiences of newcomers and managers. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 26, 185-208.

Lin, C. (2010). Understanding negative impacts of perceived cognitive load on job learning effectiveness: A social capital solution. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 52, 627-642.

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in Adulthood. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Tang, C., Liu Y., Oh, H., & Weitz, B. (2014). Socialization tactics of new retail employees: A pathway to organizational commitment. Journal of Retailing, 90, 62-73.