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Workplace learning in the digital economy: Contrasting evidence from supermarkets and software engineering

Work Futures in the Digital Economy Symposium

Chilworth Manor, Southampton 22–23 March, 2012

Professor Alison Fuller Email: a.fuller@soton.ac.uk

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What do workers do?

“…Millions of people go to work each day to do things that almost no one but themselves understands but which large numbers of people believe they know enough about to set policy, offer advice, or redesign” (Stephen Barley)

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Key questions

What do people do and learn in the digital economy, why and how?

How do changes in the mode of production lead to changes in the nature of work and learning ?

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Workplaces in the digital economy

Evidence from contrasting digital environments in supermarkets and software engineering

Supermarkets: digital technology changes the way the work gets done, changes the nature of the occupation, changes the nature of the workplace as a learning environment.

Software engineering firm: wouldn’t exist without digital technology, has enabled new occupation and organisation to emerge, work organisation and workplace as a teaching & learning environment stem from founders’ understandings about the nature of expertise and how it can be developed

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Learning as Work Research (Felstead et al. 2009) Research in 12 private and public sectors (20+

workplaces)

121 interviews with managers, 248 workers

Work ‘shadowing’ activities e.g. working alongside interviewees in a sandwich making assembly line, participating in fitness classes run by interviewees, observing health visitors undertaking their work

Photographs, learning logs, collection of workplace (learning) artefacts, analysis of in-house surveys

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Context: Working as Learning Framework

Productive systems

Work organization

Workplace Learning environments

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Supermarket

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Computerisation of Stock Ordering and Replenishment

Innovations in electronic technology allow integration of ordering and replenishment

This ‘begs for and facilitates more centralised management’ (Kinsey & Ashman 2000: 86)

Stores increasingly viewed as transmitters of customer demand through the supply chain – downgrading the occupational and organisational role of store staff

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Symbol Gun

“these little guns are controlling

…we’re putting all the

Information in …which takes

it to the computers…without

these we wouldn’t know what

our stock levels were and

We’d be in a bit of a mess”

(store manager)

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Control and Discretion

Dept manager responsibility to ensure physical and computer stock levels match

Can lead to tension between local knowledge and centrally determined stock levels

More discretion = more risk but potentially better results

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Scope for Discretion?

Little scope in relation to ‘ambient’ goods (tins, dried products with long shelf life)

More scope in relation to fresh produce (short shelf/fridge life - risk of high waste)

Designated staff can adjust ‘fresh’ using symbol gun

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Outperforming the system with local knowledge

“what you had is grocery where they can’t amend very much, but on dairy [fresh] you can amend everything…And the system, I don’t know why, but it tends to order too much and you just know from knowledge yourself, you sort of look at it, you get a sort of record in your head.” (dairy and meat dept manager)

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Consequences for Learning

Increasing Head Office control reduces discretion and opportunities for learning, but…

Symbol gun permits local intervention and resistance as well as top-down control – depending on approach of store manager

Devices are integral features of the workplace learning environment and resources for teaching and learning

Evidence of ‘job-crafting’

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Software Engineering company

Cutting-edge ‘privately held’ company, designs, sells and supports digital communications applications and infrastructure

Employee benefit trust (annual performance-based profit share)

Interviewed engineers, directors and other staff, plus observed work and recruitment process

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Software Engineers

Identity as ‘intelligent person’ fostered by company strategies and culture

Recruitment of academic high fliers, company brochure

Interview process, listening to other recent recruits

Creating the working conditions to support technical excellence and creativity

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Attributes

“Well you’ve got to be clever enough technically to do it, to have a technical problem solving set of skills. Determination to carry on in the face of this going wrong…And confidence. Yeah, I guess that’s very strongly attached to determination isn’t it…belief in one’s own ability…but I knew when I’d need help the help was there (recently employed software engineer)

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Being part of ‘intelligent community’

“The kind of people we have, this will sound arrogant and elitist, but they’re sort of a long way above the average you might encounter. If you go on a “how to program course”, the people working on that course generally would be of a lot lower ability than the people here.” (Software engineer, the company)

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Software engineers

Work in small teams – managers regarded as teachers and mentors

Transparent review system linked to profit share

Engineers exhibited high levels of trust and confidence in their employment prospects and status

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Work organised to support teaching and learning Allocated to small project teams – 6-12 months

Team rotation to foster innovation, interest & learning

Production process (design, testing, writing code) provides every day opportunities for teaching and learning

Explicit integration of staff development within the work process and management function

How can business based on this model grow?

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Apprenticeship model of learning

“So I was given to a guy who was an experienced techie …and I worked with him on supporting a major customer. Actually, I think it gave me a very good start in the company because it put me immediately in a position where I was very much in at the deep end…And I had one guy who was clear expert to guide me through it…” (Software engineer, the company)

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DT as a tool, DT as the occupation

Supermarket – DT allowed lower value to be placed on worker knowledge and expertise than ‘system’s’ – lack of understanding of what workers (can) do, didn’t prevent (some) below the radar discretion, learning and ‘job crafting’

Software engineers – detailed understanding of the occupation shaped the way work was organised, prioritised the importance of teaching and learning and underpinned the employment relationship.

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Conclusions

Changing modes of production change the way work can be done, the nature of occupations and organisations with implications for learning

Digital economy can give rise to expansive and restrictive workplace learning environments

Supermarket chain and software engineering firm reflect very different productive systems within the digital economy.

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References

Felstead, A., Fuller, A., Jewson, N. and Unwin, L. (2009) Improving Working as Learning, London: Routledge

Fuller, A., Kakavelakis, K., Unwin, L., Felstead, A., Jewson, N. and (2009) ‘Learning, Knowing and Controlling ‘the stock’: the changing nature of employee discretion in a supermarket chain', Journal of Education and Work, 33:5, 743 - 759

Fuller, A. and Unwin, L. (2004) Expansive Learning Environments: Integrating Organisational and Personal Development, in H. Rainbird, A. Fuller and A. Munro (eds) Workplace Learning in Context, London: Routledge

Kinsey, J., and S. Ashman. 2000. Information technology in the retail food industry. Technology in Society 22, no. 1: 83–96.

Wrzesniewski, A. and Dutton, J. (2001) Crafting a Job: Revisioning Employees as Active Crafters of their Work,The Academy of Management Review, 26:2 179-201