The Relationship between Organizational Learning at the Individual Level and Perceived Employability: A Model-Based Approach

Abstract

The challenges of the modern labor market determine increased job insecurity and the growing importance of sustainable employability. Today, in an era of the growth of the world’s knowledge resources, permanent learning is indispensable in order to maintain or strengthen one’s employability. Therefore, this article aims to determine the relationship between organizational learning solutions at the individual level and perceived employability in the modern labor market according to the workers’ opinions. Studies conducted on the subject literature confirm the lack of research in this field. A survey was conducted among 351 employees from a number of organizations based in Poland and was performed using a computer-assisted web interview (CAWI). The study’s results indicate that out of eleven analyzed solutions, people value those connected with sustainable actions the most, such as learning from one’s own mistakes (own mistakes), observing other employees’ work (observing others), self-education, incentive systems (contributing to an increase in the commitment to competency development), and providing employees with feedback on the results of their work (feedback). Moreover, it is important to state that EFA first revealed, and CFA subsequently confirmed, two factors: Factor 1, Practical Aspects, which includes organizational learning that covered such activities as incentive systems, feedback, self-education, modern technologies, and the use of case studies, and Factor 2, Active Learning, which consists of two activities—one’s own mistakes and observing others. The research results lead to the conclusion that Factor 1, Practical Aspects, had a significant impact on perceived employability, while Factor 2, Active Learning, did not have an impact on the general assessment of organizational learning in the context of perceived employability. The authors also present the diamond attempt toward actions that might be taken by organizations in order to enhance the employability of workers in general. The conducted research is considered to be idiographic and exploratory.