Purpose

Although informal learning is an essential source for employees to acquire new knowledge and skills, hybrid work environments might affect the opportunities for informal learning as they restrict employees’ interactions with co-workers and supervisors, thereby creating barriers for learning. However, there is still limited empirical knowledge about informal learning opportunities in hybrid work environments. For example, the question arises of how organizations can facilitate employees’ informal learning in hybrid work environments where social interaction as a prerequisite for informal learning might be restricted. Thus, the first research project within this cluster addresses how leadership behavior impacts employees’ informal learning opportunities in hybrid work environments, which, in turn, might influence employees’ performance. A second research project focuses on how employees’ informal learning opportunities change over time, considering time-lagged relationships with important employee-related outcome variables, such as work engagement.

Approach

The research projects within this cluster contain different methodological approaches (e.g., SEM and GCLM). For example, we collected a multi-wave data from more than 1,500 employees to gain insight into the relationships between leadership behavior, employees’ informal learning opportunities, and relevant employee-related outcome variables.

Keywords

informal learning, leadership, hybrid work, working from home

Involved Persons

Dr. Ellen Weber, Prof. Dr. Marion Büttgen, Felix Mynarek, Dr Timothy Bednall