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Elevator pitch
Although early human capital theory recognized the relevance of workers’ experience, its focus was on education and formal training. More recent studies show that much of the performance of newly hired workers is driven by learning by doing or learning from peers or supervisors in the workplace. Descriptive data show that workers learn a lot from the various tasks they perform on the job. Informal learning at work seems to be relevant for all age groups, although it is more meaningful for younger workers’ performance. Informal learning is far more important for workers’ human capital development than formal training courses.


Key findings
Pros
Informal learning is more important to workers’ performance than formal training.

Learning by doing is often an automatic byproduct of productive work.

Informal learning is highly important for workers with temporary contracts.

New hires have a steep performance increase in their first year of employment.

Knowledge spillovers between peers in the workplace contribute to firm productivity.

Cons
Skills acquired through informal learning are less observable by other employers when compared to skills acquired through formal training.

Informal learning involves costs when less proficient workers are less productive in their jobs.

Most firms do not have adequate human resource management strategies to optimize informal learning in the workplace.

The causal effects of informal learning on worker performance are still unclear.

The economic literature on informal learning is underdeveloped.

Author's main message
Steep performance increases among new hires and the large share of work time in which workers perform tasks that impart new skills indicate that informal learning is the main driver of human capital development in the workplace. Knowledge spillovers among co-workers are also an important part of informal learning. Rapidly changing skill demands and rising retirement ages make informal learning even more important for workers’ employability throughout their work life. However, policies still tend to emphasize education and formal training, and most firms dedicate insufficient efforts on optimizing the gains from informal learning at work.

Via Canadian Vocational Association / Association canadienne de la formation professionnelle, LGA, michel verstrepen, juandoming

"In a connected world, leveraging the employees’ network and their own experiences is a very effective way to build a culture of learning ..."

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Via Leona Ungerer, juandoming, Carmen Ridaura