Browsing by Subject "Osaaminen"

The importance of competence development has grown, especially in expert organizations, because of the rapid pace of change in working life and the need for continuous learning. The aim of this study is to examine competence development in an expert organisation that provides business services. The first research question examines what conceptions experts have about competence development. The purpose of the second research question is to deepen the previous question by studying the role of managers in the competence development of junior experts. The data consisted of nine semi-structured individual interviews. All were collected from the same organisation. Six of the experts worked as associates/senior associates and three of them as managers. The first research question was put through a phenomenographic analysis in order to make it easier to tackle competence development as a phenomenon. The second research question was analysed through databased content analysis. The phenomenographic analysis resulted in three abstract categories, which describe the concepts of competence development in the target organisation: 1) competence development as an assumption and aspiration, 2) the contradiction between the necessity of competence development and its actual implementation and 3) learning at work and knowledge sharing. Thus, it can be stated that the experts of the target organisation consider competence development to be an important and necessary part of the organisation’s operations. Everyone in the organisation is expected to develop and want to develop their skills towards deeper expertise. At the same time, there is a challenge in terms of the amount of available time and the demands of client work, which limit opportunities to participate in training. However, the largest source of competence development was found not to be training itself but learning at work and sharing knowledge with colleagues and managers. When studying the manager’s role, the databased content analysis resulted in three different managerial roles: 1) instructor, 2) supporter-enabler and 3) sounding board-advisor. To sum up, the role of manager emphasises providing guidance, enabling developmental paths and acting as a sounding board and advisor. Based on the results of this study, it can be stated that competence development is at centre stage and is seen as being at the core of the expert organisation operations. However, ensuring that this is accomplished requires time in addition to the motivation of individuals and the opportunities offered by the organisation. Managers also play a particularly important role in ensuring that the needs of the organisation and the competence levels of the experts meet.