Keywords: Social informal learning, learning climate, employability, workplace learning

"Understanding the Social Side of Learning On the role of Learning Climate for Informal Learning and Employability"

Why is learning and development important? The past few years have been a primary example of how global disruptions can change people’s ways of working. For professionals as well as organizations it is important to respond to and keep up with these work-related changes. In other words, professionals need to be employable. One way for professionals to become more employable is to invest in their development. The workplace provides ample opportunities to learn. Particularly learning from others (i.e., social informal learning) is a relevant form of workplace learning. Learning climate is a contextual factor that can support, facilitate, and stimulate social informal learning.

This dissertation aims to increase our understanding of how professionals learn from others and how learning climate can facilitate social informal learning to increase professionals’ employability. A total of four studies using different research methods provide evidence for an array of ways in which professionals learn from others and show that learning climate can act as an important lever for workplace learning. Furthermore, given that leadership is considered a key element of learning climate, the role of leaders is also studied in more detail. The results of this dissertation may guide professionals, leaders, and organizations in identifying, fostering, and using opportunities for learning.

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