Developing Expertise in the ICT Office - Assignment Example

Developing Expertise in the ICT Office Table of Contents Contents Contents 1 2.1 The Workplace and the Job 3 2.2 The Required Expertise and Essential Knowledge to Learn 4 2.3 Development of Expertise in a Commercial ICT Office 8 1. Introduction The topic of this assignment is Developing Expertise in the ICT Office and the subject of the research is a well-established computer networking business with around 40 employees including four ICT Supervisors. The main duties and responsibilities of these supervisors are to ensure that installation of various networking hardware and software are correct and compliant with customer specifications. There is a strong demand for expertise in this particular workplace, as aside from technical and procedural knowledge, it demands effective time, resources, and people management. Moreover, at the minimum, expert in this type of workplace must have good memory, skilful, communicate effectively, innovative, and competent enough to decide and to solve problems on their own. This assignment primarily requires discussing the extent to which expertise is being developed as well as the barriers that may be affective this development in the chosen workplace. For this reason, discussions on assignment topic is divided into three important sections that include description of the workplace and the job that needs expertise development, the specific expertise and the knowledge needed to obtain this expertise, and the required expertise development in the ICT office. The conclusion contains an evaluation of the quality of expertise development in the ICT office and discussion on the importance of developing expertise in the same workplace. 2. Developing Expertise in an IT Office 2.1 The Workplace and the Job The ability to do something well better than others is what expertise generally about (Stevenson 2003, p.4). In the workplace, expertise is the level of relevant education and amount of professional experience in a specific field (Ashkanasy et al. 2002, p.157). Moreover, expertise acquired in the workplace can viewed as the level by which a certain worker can perform within a specific field of human activity such as the ability to perform complicated procedures and highly advanced tools (Swanson 2009, p.197). People who are considered experts in their field of work perform their tasks more effectively than other colleagues, possessing special skills and knowledge, use their mind and highly organized, and often perform their tasks in distinctive ways (Gerber & Lankshear 2000, p.89). However, expertise development is not necessarily derived from formal instruction since it can be developed informally at work (Ackerman et al. 2003, p.278). Unlike formal training with purpose and goal, it is a type of learning that is not defined by the organization (Jacobs 2003, p.47). Similarly, being viewed as an expert in an organization is affected by culture, gender, and race such as conspicuous expertise that is generally identified with males or masculinity associated with technical expertise (Karsten 2006, p.125). According to Gottfried & Reese (2004,), one of the most prominent in this gender conflict is male’s lack of respect on women’s expertise (p.359). In particular, working in an ICT office with around 40 employees whose primary business is installing complex networking hardware and software, being familiar, knowledgeable, and an expert in his field is often beneficial. For instance, an effective ICT supervisor with years of experience in dealing with people and very familiar with computer networking are often more productive and attract more clients for the company. In contrast, those that are less experienced and unable to lead effectively encounters difficulty resulting to inferior performance and dissatisfied customers. Working as an ICT supervisor in a network devices retailing and installing company requires expertise learned from both customer interaction and on the job workplace practices. The nature of work is not just being able to sell and install networking hardware and software but involves the ability to manage time, resources, people, and provide unquestionable customer service. 2.2 The Required Expertise and Essential Knowledge to Learn Generally, experts on this type of job are acknowledged as those having superior memory, skilful in executing his work, an effective communicator and problem solver, innovative, can make good judgement, and understand customer needs (Stevenson 2003, p.5). According to Cherniss & Goleman (2001), in this line of work, the primary competencies that will determine the length of time a person will keep his job is his technical expertise. However, having pure cognitive ability does not guarantee superior performance as a person’s technical skills and analytical reasoning should go together with knowledge of quality customer service and problem-solving skills (p.22). The difference between an expert, a novice, or just plain competent individual in the workplace is the kind of perspective, the level of decision, and intensity of commitment to their work. For instance, novices are often easily overwhelmed by complex situation whereas a competent person will try to analyse the situation and plan carefully. In contrast, complex situations automatically trigger spontaneous actions from experts because they are commonly familiar with a variety of situations. Moreover, experts do not need conscious planning as they often handle situations in a goal-oriented manner without having to process atomic facts or study isolated elements of the situation. Novices do not usually have a particular perspective about their work while competent individuals often select perspective they think fits the situation. More importantly, both are analytical in their approach to decision making but often detached and less committed to their actions. In contrast, experts based their perspective on previous experiences, intuitive in their decisions, and often involved and committed to their work. They have strong knowledge of specific situations and often quicker than a novice in analysis or information processing. In addition, experts can predict situations that would likely to follow and use techniques that are tested and appropriate for a given situation (Maier et al. 2009, p.283). Technical skills may be developed through training or instructional programmes being given by a company to its employees from time to time. However, analytical reasoning, quality customer service, and problem solving skills may be difficult for some since it requires a combination of personal ability and learning from the workplace. According to Gray et al. (2004), workplace is more than just acquiring formal knowledge or specific skills but learning through problem-solving, learning from completing a task, and interpersonal interaction. Moreover, most learning in the workplace occurred informally at work and from communicating and interacting within the workplace (p.4). The workplace provides experiences that are helpful in the construction of knowledge to enhance workplace performance but the knowledge acquired in the workplace is not to be confused with those being learned from the classroom because knowledge construction experiences are different (Boud & Garrick p.154). Moreover, learning in the workplace is more than just learning practical knowledge as it involves dealing with propositional, procedural, and dispositional dimensions of knowledge structure. For instance, knowledge can be propositional as concepts, facts, statements, and assertions while procedural knowledge are skills, methods or systems, or the knowledge of how people do things to achieve its objectives (Billet 2001, p.53). Some propositional knowledge that an ICT Supervisor may learn from this workplace are basic workplace procedures and effective customer relation practices. He may also learn some more propositional knowledge while being introduced to new technologies or equipment specifications and functions. Similarly, he may also learn some procedural knowledge like some specific tasks associated to his line of work such as managing a small group of technicians or configuring a network device such as a router or a network server. In contrast, there may be learning dispositional knowledge in the workplace as it involves individual attitudes, values, identity, and others (Billet 2001, p.53). Dispositional knowledge according to Gerber & Lankshear (2000) is the tendency of an individual to act according to his internal conceptualization of the tasks and the values he thinks will fit the action (p.135). Some factors can make learning in the workplace difficult or prevent the acquisition of expertise required for the work. For instance, different changes in the way workers work can affect his learning particularly when he is isolated from factors that could make him an expert. For instance, knowledge that can help the ICT Supervisor do extremely well in this line of work is to learn effective decision-making but it is not possible when higher management is the one making critical decisions. Similarly, changes in work setting can also hamper learning the right skills (Billet 2001, p.49). For instance, having another person working as an assistant to the ICT Supervisor delegated with some critical work activities essential to the learning requirements of the ICT Supervisor to become an expert in his field. In fact, too much and too few information can lead to confusion and lack of clear direction towards a workers goal (Hudson et al. 1997, p.69). Moreover, different survey research shows that there are fewer investments on training and development of lower-ranking workers compared to senior executives. Therefore, lower-ranking employees chance to acquire expertise is less and participation in knowledge creation and progression is restrained (Evans & Fuller 2006, p.30). According to Rainbird et al. (2004), the level participation plays an important role in workplace learning since the extent to which a worker is allowed or given a chance to get involved in activities and interact with other workers is critical to their learning. Similarly, individual choices can significantly affect the level of involvement on available opportunities being offered by the company (p.9). There a number of reasons why such participation is not occurring or opportunities being offered are not attractive to workers. In one study conducted by Rojewski (2004), some organizations are not willing to directly intervene with workplace learning and some of the reasons given are the fear of losing workers once they learned enough, the high cost associated with formal training, and the inability to measure the outcome of human resources development (p.34). Similarly, some of the barriers identified while learning in the workplace include the absence of support and guidance, work pressures, threats to job security or permanence, irrelevant learning outcomes due to rapid change of job roles, lack of flexibility, and lack of confidence (Hudson 1997, et al. p.70). These barriers can affect directly or indirectly the ICT Supervisor’s workplace learning experience or his opportunities to become an expert in his line of work. For instance, if the company is reluctant to support or guide their employees, the likelihood of workplace learning is less. If the ICT Supervisor is often under pressure and always focusing on meeting the deadline or produce a certain quota, the chances of learning is less if not impossible. Similarly, the resulting threat and lack of confidence about his ability and permanence in the company can prevent the ICT Supervisor from aspiring or be interested in learning some more skills and competencies in his line of work to become a full-pledged expert. 2.3 Development of Expertise in a Commercial ICT Office Since expertise is relational in the sense that it must be associated with work practices required in a particular workplace (Billet 2001, p.64), the ICT Supervisor must possess all three components of knowledge – conceptual, procedural, and dispositional. For instance, although he may be familiar with the conceptual and procedural requirements of his work, such position also requires unquestionable dispositional skills because supervisors often make critical decisions. As mentioned earlier, an expert possesses abilities much higher than a novice or a mere competent individual thus to become an expert in this field, the ICT supervisor must be experienced enough to quickly determine the right decision and practice for a particular situation. Similarly, with inadequate procedural knowledge, the ICT supervisor will likely to encounter difficulty in his work resulting to damaged reputation and unnecessary company expenses. For instance, procedures associated with network devices installation must be followed accurately since it could compromise the security and integrity of data. Conceptual or propositional knowledge alone is not enough to become an expert in particular field. The ability to describe the process is different from actually performing within the process. For instance, knowledge of how to make a chair is different from the ability to use the hammer or select which hammer is appropriate for the work (Gherardi & Nicolini 2006, p.23). Similarly, the knowledge of an ICT Supervisor of network specifications is different from actual cabling or selecting the right approach to a particular work. Acquisition of expertise is thus complex and requires much more than competence or knowledge of certain specific procedures as it often involve intuitive thinking based on long professional experience as explained below (Maier et al. 2009, p.286). When expertise is viewed as a product of a specific set of requirements then it requires learning long engagement with a particular work (Billet 2001, p.65). It is therefore necessary for the ICT Supervisor to engage and participate in activities directly related to network installation and commissioning. For instance, long and continuous exposure on different types of networking environment can give the ICT Supervisor a good knowledge of appropriate equipments and devices for a particular environment. He will have a good knowledge of possible problems such as misconfigurations caused by incompatible protocols and so on, that may be encountered during work. More importantly, from long experience, he will have the ability to determine the appropriate solutions for a particular difficult situation more rapidly than less experienced staff. In this workplace, lengthy engagement with the practice can be very beneficial to the ICT Supervisor in the sense that his work requires accuracy and familiarity with different type of networking environment. There is no doubt that competence is generally required to attain the level of expertise. Moreover, a worker’s technical skills are not a guarantee that he would perform well considering the various factors influencing the workplace. According to Billet (2001), competence is associated with how effectively skills are being use along with norms and values in the workplace (p.65). Technical skills are thus not enough as the ability to adapt, perform, and learn in the workplace is critical in becoming an expert. The ICT Supervisor therefore must possess and demonstrate these abilities such as the capacity to use his technical knowledge in harmony with accepted norms and values. Similarly, he must be able to adapt and learn new skills while performing his work. According to Illeris (2011), in an IT workplace, this learning can come in different ways such as when a more experienced IT professional gave some instructions to the group, an agent sent by a supplier of new machine to provide instruction, or when lower ranking employees give their views on technical or procedural matters (p.78). The ability of the ICT Supervisor to absorb this information or acquire additional skills can lead to better performance and expertise in his line of work. One of the most popular idea of learning in the workplace is joining the “community of practice” (Malloch 2010, p.73; Billet 2001, p.65). When expertise is reciprocal or influenced by the community of practice, a worker’s response is determined by the direction of the community or the situation in which they work and learn (Kimble et al. 2008, p.216). In other words, expertise earned by learning from others at work (Blackmore 2010, p.161). The concept also implies that expertise can be achieved by simply being a “full participant” (Billet 2001, p.65) that can perform the work to the level that the community is practicing it. As mentioned earlier, the ICT Supervisor can learn new things while at work and using this concept, he can also learn from other supervisors at work. For instance, a more senior ICT Supervisor can be a role model since he is apparently part of the community of practice in this level of work. If one would follow the concept then the less experienced ICT Supervisor should learn and do his best to practice his work according to what the senior supervisor is doing. In this manner, he cannot only achieved the level of skills required by the community of practice but obtain the expertise for his line of work. Pertinence or relevance of the knowledge to the acceptable norms in the workplace is essential to expertise (Billet 2001, p.65). The worker should act in ways appropriate for a certain situation, problems at hand, and priorities at the workplace. According to Silber & Foshay (2009), managers or supervisors must have a working knowledge and comply with workplace standards and rules thus it is essential that the expertise acquired is pertinent to that particular workplace. The ICT Supervisor for instance, may need to solve work problems in accordance to company guidelines or standard problem-solving practices. For example, during an actual network installation, the supervisor received a report that the new equipment is defective. In an inquiry, he found out that his staff never checked or tested the item when it was delivered. In this case, the supervisor may opt to notify his immediate superior of the problem or solve the problem by directly coordinating with the supplier. However, if the common practice is to go through proper channels, doing the latter will be a violation of workplace practices. It is thus essential that an expert should go by the rules or standards set in the workplace otherwise his expertise will be viewed as deficient and unqualified for this particular workplace. 3. Conclusion Considering that an expertise in an ICT environment generally requires skilful execution of work, effective problem-solving skills, ability to innovate and to make the right decision, and customer relation proficiency, the ICT Supervisor must acknowledge the reality that his technical knowledge is just a small part of the requirements. In fact, his personal ability and his capacity to learn while at work appear as the majority of these requirements. However, workplace learning does not necessarily mean acquiring knowledge or specific skills because some of the requirements occurred informally at work and determined by the extent of one’s personal ability to communicate, interact, learn from what he did, and solve problems effectively. As mentioned earlier, workplace knowledge construction is different since it involves learning practical, propositional, procedural, and dispositional knowledge. It is therefore necessary for the ICT Supervisor’s workplace to offer opportunities for these types of knowledge to ensure expertise development for their ICTS. In the current setting, an expert requirement in this particular workplace does not distinguish the types of knowledge that must be acquired but rather expect an individual to deliver the goods and perform according to industry standards. Similarly, the most members of the industry do not consider workplace learning as legitimate (Birchall & Woolfall 2003, p.28) regardless of the possibility that it could enhance performance. Particularly in an ICT company that involves hardware and software installation, getting the work done up to the industry standard is enough. Similarly, if there are companies interested in developing expertise in their workforce, their efforts are being met by different barriers such as the nature of the work itself that often involve rapidly changing technology and working environment. Moreover, the resulting frequent turnover made it difficult for any company to promote workplace learning and develop experts among their employees. Since technology is changing the nature of the work is becoming more complicated, costly, and often with time limitations, getting the job seems getting more attention than allowing anyone to learn or be an expert in his field someday. The quality of environment for learning and developing expertise in an ICT workplace seems being influenced by the very nature of the work since unlike ordinary businesses, information technology is more often involve in global competition, rapidly and constantly evolving products, often changing work environments, and diverse workforce. Moreover, the flat management hierarchies and cost cutting measures affects learning considerably since there will be fewer but busy managers with more work to do. However, taking into account that ICT businesses are often involved in global competition, the more they need to allow their workforce to learn and develop experts they can use to increase their sales and expand. For instance, although there are several barriers such as diversity and rapidly changing working environment, expertise development can still be achieved through job satisfaction and employee maintenance. For instance, job satisfaction reduces employee turnover thus retaining knowledge and expertise learned from years of working with the company. This same knowledge can be transferred through community of practice or informal training and can be improve by giving more emphasis on workplace learning in the future. Learning and developing expertise in the ICT sector workplace is very important, as they are primarily knowledge-based organizations requiring competent and skilful employees. Moreover, global competition demands quality work and products that can only be achieved through constant training and expertise. Developing expertise in the ICT office is not only beneficial to employees or the ICT Supervisor since the company owner in the form of profit, stability, and competitiveness will enjoy the greater part of the benefit. Moreover, expertise learned from one workplace is explicit to that workplace thus appropriate and very effective. The ICT office should realize the value of workforce development and should make considerable investment in the near future. 4. Reference List Ackerman M., Pipek V., & Wulf V., 2003, Sharing Expertise: Beyond Knowledge Management, MIT Press, United States of America Ashkanasy N., Zerbe W., & Hartel C., 2002, Managing Emotions in the Workplace, M.E. Sharpe, United States of America Billet S., 2001, Learning in the Workplace: Strategies for Effective Practice, Allen & Unwin, United Kingdom Blackmore C., 2010, Social Learning Systems and Communities of Practice, Springer, Germany Boud D. & Garrick J., 1999, Understanding Learning at Work, Routledge, United Kingdom Cherniss C. & Goleman D., 2001, The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace: How to select for, measure, and improve emotional intelligence in individuals, groups, and organizations, John Wiley and Sons, United States of America Evans K. & Fuller A., 2006, Improving Workplace Learning, Taylor & Francis, United Kingdom Gerber R. & Lankshear C., 2000, Training for Smart Workforce, Routledge, United Kingdom Gray D., Cundell S., Hay D., & O’Neill J., 2004, Learning through the workplace: A guide to work-based learning, Nelson Thornes, United Kingdom Gottfried H. & Reese L., 2004, Equity in the Workplace: Gendering Workplace Policy Analysis, Lexington Books, United States of America Hudson R., Prothero S., & Oates L., 1997, Flexible Learning in Action: Case Studies in Higher Education, Routledge, United Kingdom Illeris K., 2011, The Fundamentals of Workplace Learning: Understanding How People Learn in Working Life, Taylor & Francis, United Kingdom Jacobs R., 2003, Structured on the job training: unleashing employee expertise in the workplace, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, United States of America Karsten M., 2006, Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the Workplace: Issues and Challenges for today’s organizations, Greenwood Publishing Group, United States of America Kimble C., Hildreth P., & Bourdon I., 2008, Communities of Practice: Creating Learning Environments for Educations, Volume 1, IAP, United States of America Maier R., Hadrich T. & Peinl R., 2009, Enterprise Knowledge Infrastructure, Springer, 2009, Germany Malloch M., 2010, The SAGE Handbook of Workplace Learning, SAGE Publications, United Kingdom Nicolini D., 2006, Organizational Knowledge: The Texture of Workplace Learning, Wiley-Blackwell, India Rainbird H, Fuller A., & Munro A., 2004, Workplace Learning in Context, Routledge, United Kingdom Rojewski J., 2004, International Perspectives on Workforce Education and Development, IAP, United States of America Bircham D. & Woolfall D., 2003, Corporate E-Learning: Delivering Business Benefits, Grist Ltd., United Kingdom Silber K. & Foshay W., 2009, Handbook of Improving Performance in the Workplace, Instructional Design and Training Delivery, John Wiley and Sons, United States of America Stevenson J., 2003, Developing Vocational Expertise: Principles and Issues in Vocational Education, Allen & Unwin, Singapore Swanson R., 2009, Analysis for Improving Performance: Tolls for Diagnosing Organizations and Documenting Workplace Expertise, ReadHowYouWant.com, United States of America Read More