How does workplace learning affect the adjustment to corporate lives of youth and general employees?

Abstract

Many researchers and organizations have emphasized the potential of workplace learning that promotes mutual benefits of organizational competency and human development since it can positively encourage an employee’s behavioral changes toward the job and work. This study explores the characteristics of workplace learning, focusing on the structuredness and firm specialization, and investigates the impact on the adjustment to corporate life among general employees and young employees by measuring the changes in job satisfaction, in- house communication satisfaction, and turnover intention. Using employee survey data from Human Capital Corporate Panel (HCCP) published in 2018, it presents ANOVA and regression results to analyze how the different levels of structuredness and firm specialization of workplace learning affect individual employees’ adjustment to corporate life in terms of what ways to what extent. An employee who gets the middle or highest structuredness levels of workplace learning tends to show an increase in adjustment to corporate life compared to an employee who gets the lowest structuredness level of workplace learning. However, there is no significant adjustment level change between employees receiving the middle structuredness and the highest structuredness levels of workplace learning. Also, the influence of structuredness is not different between general and youth employees. An employee who gets firm-specific training tends to show a decrease in adjustment to corporate life compared to an employee who gets general training. The decrement is consistently evident even controlling external conditions. Moreover, youth employees are partially more susceptible to the highest level of firm specialization, showing a significantly decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover intention for young workers in firm-specific training than those in general training. This study identifies that structured and general workplace learning positively affects employees’ adjustment. Companies can gradually increase the training’s structuredness since it may take effect from the early stage. Companies can consider revising firm-specific training contents to align more with the acknowledged qualification framework in the labor market.