There are many positive points to be made about the just-in-time mode of development and its two derivatives: on-demand learning and e-learning. This mode of development is not only coming into vogue, it also is highly appreciative. It is appreciative in that employees are assumed to be self-motivated and self-directed learners. Just-in-time programs begin with the assumption that employees can skillfully diagnose their workplace needs, so that they might decide what and when they should learn something new. It is also assumed that employees are knowledgeable. They know what they need to know. Just-in-time development is also appreciative in its emphasis on employee access to information, in its futuristic visions, and in its predilection toward inter-organizational cooperation in the gathering and dissemination of learning programs.
These are clearly not only ways in which just-in-time development is appreciative, but also ways in which this fourth mode of development is likely to be of greatest benefit to contemporary organizations. The just-in-time program envisioned by our president of the financial firm is geared specifically for the new self-motivated, knowledge worker who wishes to influence the environment in which she works. An appreciative environment is needed if just-in-time programs are to thrive. Obviously, the conditions for new learning play a key role in defining this environment, especially in a learning organization. Just-in-time training and education are indispensable strategies in any appreciative employee development initiative.
The negative side of this fourth mode is interwoven with the positive side. The assumptions about self-motivation and self-direction are often questionable. Do we really know what we don’t know? Can we skillfully diagnose the needs of our workplace when we are so intimately involved in the daily operations of this workplace? There are numerous other questions concerning assumptions about an employee’s skill and knowledge. Employees will become effective just-in-time learners only after they have mastered the technology of e-learning instruction. This is a major training and education challenge for most organizations that are filled with employees who are comfortable with only a minimal number of computer applications. Effective just-in-time development also requires that employees learn how to learn in a rather isolated setting, independent of the support and encouragement they usually receive from not only a live instructor but also their fellow students.
