How Independent HR Professionals Manage Their Learning

My research identified that the learning strategies of independent HR professionals involved six distinct approaches, many of which fall into the category of informal learning.

Learning With And From Other Professionals Through Specific Work Assignments

Many of these individuals reported how working alongside other professionals was an important source of learning for them. Opportunities for learning in this way occurred either by direct collaboration with others in their network, or through their work as an Associate.

Some explained how, having worked mainly on their own for a number of years, they reached a point where they actively sought work that involved working closely with other professionals. One individual, for example, became an Associate Trainer for a public sector organisation where the training is delivered purely through Associates rather than in-house trainers. A key factor in taking up this Associate role was to minimize the effects of social isolation that he was beginning to experience, having worked largely on his own since becoming self-employed. However, he discovered that this work arrangement had benefits for his development too.

In this particular Associate arrangement trainers worked in pairs; an arrangement that provided opportunities for him to enhance his knowledge and skills as a trainer. This arose through the review process that he and fellow trainers conducted at the end of training programmes. In addition to reviewing the training programme to meet the formal evaluation process (as specified by the client), the trainers often allocate time to reviewing their own contribution and learning. As he explained, this work arrangement provides him with an incredible amount of learning, none of it formal, but instead facilitated by the informal personal contract between himself and fellow professionals through the giving and receiving of feedback.

Learning By Observing Other Professionals At Work

The process of learning by observing ‘experts in action’, often referred to as the apprenticeship model in the knowledge management literature (see Bird, 1994), is an approach that several of these independents adopted as a valuable learning model. One individual, for example, developed the skills needed to work as a career counsellor by adopting what she described as the ‘sitting next to Nellie approach’. The learning process involved working alongside an experienced counsellor in a firm of careers counsellors, learning first hand from this ‘subject expert’ (who in this case was also one of her clients).

However, in her case the ‘sitting next to Nellie’ approach had mutual benefits for both parties. She was able to build the knowledge needed to develop a new area of business. The client benefited too, as she was able to introduce the client to tools and techniques, developed in her earlier HR career. This again was part of the ‘contracting’.

Where it wasn’t possible to learn directly through observing other professionals at work some of these individuals learnt through setting up a peer-coaching relationship, thus getting others to help them with the process of critical reflection.

Learning With And From Other Professionals Through Networking

Several of the independents that participated in the research reported that one way in which they build their Knowledge Assets in a cost-effective way is through participating in a learning set. The learning set model, similar to Revan’s Action Learning Model, involves a group of people contracting with other set members to provide support and challenge for each other’s personal development. Participation in a learning set helps individuals prioritise their learning needs, review the progress being made, as well as gain support and challenge from others in the set on how to address the issues encountered with their learning plan. One individual described the benefits of participating in this learning process as ‘ It helps me focus more and prioritise things [to do with learning] . . . having something arranged makes me more conscious of the things I said I was going to work on. It acts as a kick, so I actually get something done.’

Another individual reported several benefits for him of this particular learning approach. First, listening to others in the set talking about their learning experiences helps him think more objectively about his own development, particularly the gaps that he needs to consider addressing. Second, it helps him take a longerterm view of his career, and what his future learning needs might be; something that he finds difficult to do on his own.

However, in order to participate in this particular learning approach, individuals recognised that they needed to have built up the right contacts in their networks. They referred to the importance of having relationships based on trust, as being an important enabler for this type of learning.

Learning Through ‘Explicit’ Knowledge-Generating Activities

A number of individuals reported how reading professional journals and management books, as well as attending conferences, provided valuable learning resources, for example:

At the moment I am not terribly strong on negotiating skills and I am going to be doing a course on this quite soon, so this afternoon I am off to the bookshop to buy some books on negotiating. I spend at least a 100 a month on books (Female, self-employed for 7 years).

I do a lot of reading. I probably read a book every couple of days. I have got a study with about 4000 books in it, but that doesn’t stop me buying more (Male, self-employed for 5 years).

I like new ideas and I do a lot of reading as a way of getting new ideas. I do tend to flit about a bit though. I read something and I think that sounds interesting, but then I move on to something else (Female, self-employed for 3 years).

Despite the amount that individuals invest in these particular learning resources, several reported that they do not invest as much in developing their knowledge through reading professional journals and management books as they feel they should. Here then we have an example of one of the other tensions that individuals can experience when building their knowledge assets, that of having easy access to key learning resources, such as professional journals and management books. Some rely on the goodwill of others in their network to point them in the direction of articles and other learning materials that they feel may be of interest to them. However, this goodwill takes time to nurture and it also requires a reciprocal arrangement, something that can be a drain on individuals’ time.

Learning Through Non-Work-Related Projects/Activities

Some individuals used their non-work-related interests as opportunities to develop their knowledge. One individual who participated in the research spoke of how his role as Chair of Governors at his children’s school had been a significant source of learning for him. His learning came from applying his existing knowledge about recruitment, mentoring and managing people, to a new contextual environment.

Learning Through Critical Reflection

Learning through critical reflection was an important source of learning for many of the people who participated in my research. One individual, for example, spoke of ‘ A lot of it [what I need to know] I am picking up as I go along. Learning for me is about doing it for myself, reading about it, deciding what is important and trying things out . . . all you need is a strategy for trying things out and working out where you are going wrong.’ Another individual had developed his training style by applying Kolb’s ‘learning cycle’ so taking feedback from others, reflecting on this, changing his style of delivery and then reflecting further on the impact of the changes made.

Another individual reported that a pattern that he has noticed about his own learning, since becoming independent, is that whenever he wants to learn something new he seeks client work in the area that he wants to learn about. However, not all of the individuals in my research adopted this same self-confident approach. Two of the women, for example, reported how they only sought work that was within their existing capabilities, as they worked on the assumption that clients expect them to ‘turn up with the knowledge’. One pointed out how holding on to this assumption causes her difficulties at times, as it means that she doesn’t always get work that is stretching enough.

Despite making use of these six different informal learning approaches formal learning, i.e. learning that leads to some form of qualification, had also played an important role in these individuals’ lives at strategic points.

Overall their level of educational achievement was high. Most had a first degree and around half (fourteen out of the twenty-six) had a higher degree too. Ten were participating in some form of formal learning activity at the time when I was carrying out the research. This included studying for a degree, Masters or PhD. Indeed for eight of these individuals it was their formal learning career that had provided a bridge between their earlier work career (which often hadn’t been in Human Resources) and their independent career. Their experience is consistent with the view among educationalists that those individuals with the largest capital investment in learning, because of their previous learning experiences, are likely to be the biggest purchasers of learning in the future (Edwards, 1993).