Investigating the Influence of Work Motivation and Workplace Climate on Approaches to Learning at Work

• In Event: Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: Assessment, Portfolios, and Motivation in Workplace Learning

Abstract

Although learning and development have a crucial contribution to the competitiveness of professional organizations, little is known about “how” employees learn and what influences this learning. The present study investigates the influence of work motivation, perceived workload and choice-independence on employees’ approaches to learning at work. Participants in this study were 358 employees. Results show that employees who are autonomously motivated towards their work and perceive a high degree of choice-independence adopt more of the deep approaches to learning. In addition, perceived workload relates positively to a deep approach. The interaction of choice-independence and workload relates negatively to a deep approach to learning. A surface-disorganized approach to learning was negatively related to autonomous motivation and positively to perceived workload.

Authors

• Eva Kyndt, University of Antwerp

• Filip J.R.C. Dochy, University of Leuven

• Milica Dedic, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven