Nurturing Innovative Work Behaviour through Workplace Learning among Knowledge Workers of Small and Medium Businesses

Abstract

Organisations need to be innovative to be able to face the complexity and turbulence of the environmental forces and factors surrounding them. This is true in the case of all types of organisations, including SMEs, where innovations are essential for their survival and growth. As such, organisations need to nurture Innovative Work Behaviour (IWB) among their employees through different means. To achieve such ultimate goal, Workplaces Employees Learning can benefit many companies. Meanwhile, Workplace Learning (WPL) can improve the competencies and skills of employees and help their IWB. This research focuses on the role of WPL as a predictor of IWB among knowledge workers of SMEs in developing countries (i.e. Pakistan). Through convenient sampling technique, questionnaires were distributed among employees of 173 SMEs, resulting in 311 useable questionnaires. Data were analysed using Smart-PLS 3. The results indicated that WPL facilitated IWB among SME employees, with informal and incidental learning being the most critical predictors compared to formal means of learning. The research results reinforce the importance of WPL and IWB, and their implications are beneficial for SMEs and the academic society.