Abstract
Organisations are changing rapidly due to the multitude of environmental factors and pressures with which they are faced. In order for them to remain current and competitive they need to constantly learning and adapting to these changes. Having learning entrenched into the culture of the organisation would ensure that it is always ready for change and that it is also able to move toward the state of a learning organisation. The Standard Bank of South Africa’s Retail Bank branch network was perceived as not having an adequate learning culture, as displayed by an apparent lack of focus and responsibility being taken for learning by employees.
A literature review was conducted to better understand a number of fundamental concepts such as learning, culture and organisational learning, as well as the nature and meaning of what a learning culture is. The literature review was also used to identify key elements within organisations, which could be considered vital for the creation of a successful learning culture. It was these elements against which the SBSA Retail Bank branch network was to be measured against, during the course of an empirical study, to determine the nature and extent of their existing learning culture.
The empirical study made use of a quantitative descriptive research design, due to the large numbers of SBSA employees involved, who were widely dispersed across the country. Two electronic questionnaires were placed on the SBSA Intranet site for one week, to cater for both managerial and non-managerial responses, and a response rate of 95% was achieved for both groups.
The research data was given to Statkon, (Rand Afrikaans University’s statistical consultation department) for analysis. The results of this survey indicated that the Branch network do in fact have an established learning culture, however this needed to be further developed and improved to ensure a greater alignment to the elements identified in the literature review.
Incorporating the recommendations that are proposed will assist this development and improvement of the existing learning culture further, as will by taking note of the learning culture strategy and implementation suggestions put forward. Further investigation will still be required for some of the learning culture aspects, to better understand their nature and situation, as well as their possible impact. Suggestions are also identified for possible further research, some of which relate to researching the finer relationships and trends within the SBSA Retail Bank branch network, such as demographic factors and the development of a comprehensive learning culture strategy. All of this is necessary to ensure the creating and sustaining of a learning culture that will support and facilitate the development of a learning organisation.
Hannelize Jacobs