Organisational learning in complex public services: Job demands and job resources at multiple levels

Abstract

Complexity-informed approaches to public services emphasise the role of learning and collaboration in creating healthy systems. Although macro-level changes to public organisations have changed the structure of work and the demands placed upon the workforce, there has been limited examination of this within the literature. The current research therefore aimed to enhance the understanding of how organisational learning at multiple levels was experienced by employees working in complex public services. A conceptual model framed the research which integrated organisational learning and job design theory. This enabled a multi-level analysis of a representative case that had implemented a complexity-informed approach to public services. Data were collected longitudinally and identified three interpretive phases of the programme.
The findings demonstrate attempts to balance exploitation- and exploration-dominant learning over the phases and the associated characteristics of work. Experiences of these characteristics varied between occupational groups and were dynamic, reflecting situational fluctuations and changing appraisals of work. Relationships between work characteristics were complex and interrelated and represented a bidirectional relationship with learning processes.
The findings make three specific contributions to knowledge. First, the organisational learning literature is extended by providing a longitudinal analysis of exploitation- and exploration-focused learning processes. Second, the findings contribute to job design theory that integrates employee wellbeing by considering the nuanced and dynamic interplay between demands and resources across multiple levels of analysis. Third, the unique manifestation of job demands and resources in complex public services is highlighted, demonstrating that the experience of organisational learning in this context mirrors the complexities associated with managing public services. Therefore, rather than seek to control the experience of work through top-down interventions, building opportunities for mutual reflection on the experience of learning into the meta-strategy is recommended to support ongoing exploration. This collaborative act could itself be experienced as resourcing by staff.

Date of Award	27 Mar 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Northumbria University
Supervisor	Hannah Hesselgreaves (Supervisor), Max French (Supervisor) & Rob Wilson (Supervisor)