Purpose – This paper aims to further our understanding of policy–practice gaps in organizations from an organizational learning perspective. The authors conceptualize and analyze policy–practice gaps in terms of what they label the dual challenge of organizational learning, i.e. the organizational tasks of both adapting ongoing practices to prescribed policy demands and adapting the policy itself to the needs of practice. Specifically, the authors address how this dual challenge can be understood in terms of organizational learning and how an organization can be managed to successfully resolve the dual learning challenge and, thereby, bridge policy–practice gaps in organizations. 

Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on existing literature to explore the gap between policy and practice. Through a synthesis of theories and an illustrative practical example, this paper highlights key conceptual underpinnings. 

Findings – In the analysis of the dual challenge of organizational learning, this study provides a conceptual framework that emphasizes the important role of tensions and contradictions between policy and practice and their role as drivers of organizational learning. To bridge policy–practice gaps in organizations, this paper proposes five key principles that aim to resolve the dual challenge and accommodate both deployment and discovery in organizations. 

Research limitations/implications – Because this is a conceptual study, empirical research is called for to explore further and test the findings and conclusions of the study. Several avenues of possible future research are proposed. 

Originality/value – This paper primarily contributes by introducing and elaborating on a conceptual framework that offers novel perspectives on the dual challenges of facilitating both discovery and deployment processes within organizations. 

Det du nu läser är en guide tänkt att användas som ett stöd och en vägledning för att stödja och förbättra facklig partssamverkan i arbetsplatsers förnyelse och arbetsmiljöarbete vid snabba förändringar i verksamheter. Den syftar till att stödja ledare och medarbetare i att skapa förändringsberedskap och hållbar utveckling i organisationer när omständigheter snabbt förändras.

Guiden bygger på resultat från flera forskningsprojekt som studerat möjligheter och utmaningar när organisationer utmanas av kriser och snabb utvecklingstakt.

En viktig del av guiden är att belysa hur partssamverkan förändras under krissituationer, baserat på konkreta exempel från COVID-19 pandemin. Detta är särskilt viktigt eftersom oväntade situationer såsom kriser stör normala arbetssätt och rutiner. Nya problem uppstår och det ställs nya krav på arbetet och förutsättningar förändras på arbetsplatser. Samtidigt uppstår nya situationer som skapar potential för lärande och förnyelseförmåga.

Guiden innehåller scenarier som illustrerar förändrade förutsättningar och kan användas som ett dialogverktyg med diskussionsfrågor på arbetsplatser för att förbereda sig för oväntade situationer.

Guiden vänder sig i första hand till ledare och medarbetare som arbetar partsgemensamt med verksamhetsutveckling, förbättringsarbete och arbetsmiljöarbete.

Guiden kan ses som en palett av scenarier med utmaningar och angreppssätt som underlag för diskussion i syfte att ta fram egna, skräddarsydda arbetssätt. Använd den som inspiration och hjälpmedel för att utveckla det egna lokala förbättringsarbetet.

This chapter explores sustainable human resources management (HRM) as a vital tool for achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8. Sustainable HRM encompasses practices that enable organisations to simultaneously achieve economic, environmental, and social goals. This approach highlights employees as key stakeholders in driving organisational sustainability, prioritising well-being, ethical decision-making, and the development of skills that align with sustainable business strategies. Given that the prerequisites for sustainable HRM implementation vary across geographic locations, we drew upon the cases of three developing nations: Kenya, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Despite their economic and cultural differences, these three countries all have organisations that implement sustainable HRM practices. However, large portions of their economies still fall under the informal sector, where impoverished conditions are prevalent. To put SDG 8 into practice on a broad scale in these countries is a daunting task. However, improved education and employees who can vote with their feet may encourage employers to enhance their HRM practices in a more sustainable manner to retain a motivated and competent workforce.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Organizations are in a state of continual evolution, driven by the relentless shifts in their external environments. Numerous theories have been proposed to understand the essential skills and capabilities for successful organizational change. Yet, there remains a gap in capturing a holistic view necessary to fully comprehend the dynamics of competence in today’s rapidly changing landscape.

OBJECTIVE: This research aims to explore and consolidate the concept of 'competence' in the context of organizational change processes. 

METHODS: Employing an integrative literature review approach, a total of 3,230 studies were screened. Out of these, 32 studies were selected based on strict relevance and quality criteria, providing a robust foundation for the analysis.

RESULTS: The findings reveal a multi-layered nature of organizational change, highlighting that the nature and prerequisites of change vary significantly across different organizational levels. By applying a competence lens, we discern how required competence during change are not uniform but rather vary depending on whether they are applied in an operational or strategic context. This demonstrates a nuanced, level-dependent variability in change competence across the organizational hierarchy. 

CONCLUSION: We conceptualize 'change competence' as a dual-faceted construct. It encompasses both the capacity to leverage existing organizational competence and the adeptness to develop new competence, thereby meeting the evolving demands imposed by both internal and external drivers of change. This comprehensive understanding paves the way for more effective strategies in managing organizational change.

Global labor market shifts have spurred the need for innovations and adaptations in workplace norms. This evolution demands a workforce with technical and soft skills to meet sustainability and industry advancements. The paper aims to elucidate the complex challenges related to the ambition to develop a socially sustainable, competitive, and green industry subjected to an accelerating pace of change. It outlines the findings of a Delphi study conducted in Sweden, which integrated workshops, interviews, and surveys with experts from various sectors to identify 14 key challenges. These challenges were synthesized into five themes: innovative competence supply management practices, resilient organizations and production systems, analytics for improvement and learning, socially sustainable work, and green transformation practices. The study provides a set of propositions within these themes, offering a strategic roadmap for future research to foster the growth of industries that are socially responsible, competitive, and committed to environmental sustainability. A practical implication of the study is the recognition of the larger competence ecosystem of which industrial companies are a part. This community must work together to create the knowledge needed to manage the shift to a green, sustainable, and digital working life.

Resilient performance is a crucial characteristic of complex socio-technical systems, enabling them to sustain essential functionality during changing or stressful conditions. Resilience Engineering (RE), a sub-field of safety research, focuses on this perspective of resilience. RE emphasises its “cornerstone model”, presenting the REsystem goals of “anticipating, monitoring, responding and learning”. The cornerstone of learning remains fragmented and undertheorized in the existing literature. This paper aims to enrich RE research and its practical implications by developing a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the role of learning from resilient performance. To achieve this aim, a scoping literature review was conducted to assess how learning is conceptualised in the RE literature and the theoretical foundations on which previous work rests. The main findings show that RE researchers view learning as the process of understanding the system, sharing knowledge, and re-designing system properties. The application of established learning theories is limited. This paper contributes to research by proposing an organisational process for the RE cornerstone of learning, paving the way for deeper discussions in future studies about learning from resilient performance within complex sociotechnical systems. 

Human Resources (HR) has emerged as a critical target for digital automation, aiming to reduce costs, improve quality, and expedite repetitive processes within organizations. Several literature reviews have explored this topic, yielding mixed results depending on factors related to the specific national and organizational context. They have highlighted issues such as lack of competence, safety and ethical dilemmas, and bias in decision-making processes. However, despite HR being predominantly female dominated, few studies have examined the gendered implications of digital automation in this field. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the gendered implications of digital automation in recruitment processes and work practices within HR. Drawing upon gender theory, we will conduct a critical literature review based on existing reviews to reevaluate current knowledge. The findings suggest that while digital automation can enhance administrative efficiency in recruitment processes, it does not significantly impact the gender balance of the workforce. However, the findings also indicate that digital automation will likely transform the occupational role into a more masculinized way of working. This transformation is characterized by social distancing, technological rationality, and reliance on self-service systems. In conclusion, digital automation is poised to reshape the HR occupation into what we term "screen-level HR," comprising a predominantly female workforce engaged in masculine coded work practices.

Recent societal challenges highlight the importance of learning in organizations. Nurturing employee learning requires leaders who prioritize learning-oriented leadership. While many studies have used qualitative methods to study how this leadership is performed in daily work, there have been no previous attempts to synthesise this body of research. This paper presents a framework based on a review of 38 qualitative papers on how leaders facilitate workplace learning. The frameworkidentifies two elements of leadership: direct leadership behaviors, which involve supporting, educating, making demands, and role modelling, and indirect leadership behaviors, which facilitate learning through building a learning climate, influencing work organization, freeing up resources for learning, and encouraging knowledge dissemination. The review finds that situational factors shape learning-oriented leadership, and that this leadership involves the deployment of activities located on a planned-spontaneous continuum to facilitate learning. Longitudinal studies across professional groups and contexts will deepen our understanding of this concept.

Research on employee learning in small businesses has focused on participation in formal training. These studies find that employees get less access to training than employees in large businesses. Such studies appear to equate training with learning and convey the impression that small businesses are workplaces that provide restrictive learning environments. However, research that concentrates on a single mode of knowledge and skills acquisition overlooks much, if not most, learning. This is because most learning in workplaces takes place outside of formal training. The chapter explores the role of the owner-manager as an enabler of learning and how small business settings pose challenges for the owner-manager’s role enactment. It outlines opportunities for future research, implications for policy and practice, and the implications of contemporary developments.