Answer

Promoting Peer to Peer Learning and Knowledge Sharing in the Work Place

Abstract

Many organizations today face challenges on how to go about peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing. It is well established that organizations do not know how to promote the knowledge-sharing culture that enhances knowledge and expertise. This paper aims to discuss how organizations can encourage peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing, including conducive working environments, teamwork and collaboration, leadership roles, and employee life satisfaction. The results are that peer-to-peer sharing is more encouraged by an organization’s microenvironment than the macro environment. The results suggest that when an organization normalizes positive and healthy organizational culture, peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing are normalized and made more substantial.

Promoting Peer to Peer Learning and Knowledge Sharing in the Work Place

Peer-to-peer knowledge sharing is a platform where employees share their experiences and expertise with other people to learn for the organization’s benefit. Peer-to-peer learning is one powerful tool that can help in team-building, and it passes on the already existing expertise in the organization (Palmer & Blake, 2018). Creating knowledge and giving it to others is one of the most encouraging cultures in many organizations today. Promoting peer-to-peer knowledge sharing through different avenues becomes one of many organizations’ top priorities in pushing the organization to its ultimate success.

Creating a good and conducive learning environment promotes the passage of knowledge expertise between peers in an organization. Knowledge is easily transferred when people feel more comfortable and connected through a social platform. Therefore, providing an informal set up to encourage employees to share their knowledge can make a huge difference in bringing valuable expertise as the organization’s learning program (McNabb, 2018). The environment gives employees ample time to learn and share their knowledge without detractions or intimidation. Peer-to-peer learning in a conducive environment allows employees to become more responsive and practical from the knowledge shared compared to other training methods.

Promoting a collaboration and teamwork culture in the organization is a good breeding ground for implementing a peer-to-peer learning environment. An organization that captures intellectual capital through collaborations can turn productivity systems into a change system, making it top from the bottom (Scholnick, 2019). Employees who work together to complete a project are obliged to share knowledge and expertise to complete the work with perfection and reach success as a team. Having employees work as a team is an excellent way to promote peer-to-peer learning as knowledge is shared in the project. The interaction is maximum as teams strive to complete the task successfully with no deformities.

An organization’s leadership plays a vital role in promoting peer-to-peer learning for the benefit of the organization. Leaders are meant to lead by example; hence, they encourage their juniors to follow suit and continue with the culture when they demonstrate knowledge sharing among themselves. Muhammed and Zaim (2020) encourage leaders to support their immediate managers as it is an essential factor in promoting peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing behavior. Managers and the entire leadership system contribute to knowledge management and can create good role models for their junior staff. Organizations can use leaders to promote and foster peer-to-peer sharing in the workplace.

Peer-to-peer learning can be a result of an employee’s life satisfaction. An employee can pass on knowledge if only they feel comfortable doing so, and their personality encourages them to share. Top management knowledge-sharing contributes to promoting peer-to-peer sharing, hence critical in the organization’s performance (Ahmad & Karim, 2019). Creating a culture of knowledge sharing can encourage members to share their expertise with others regardless of their personalities. Employees are obliged to follow the organization’s rules and policies if asked to always work as a team. People tend to leave out their life issues and immerse themselves in what benefits the organization when it expects its employees to give their all, including knowledge sharing.

Promoting frequent communication and interpersonal relations among employees encourages knowledge-sharing in the workplace and adds to the existing knowledge and expertise. Knowledge interflow in an organizational member through communication facilitates individual competencies and creates new experiences collectively as a team (Trivellas et al., 2015). The empowerment gained through dialogue among employees promotes and creates strong relations and confidence to encourage peer-to-peer knowledge sharing with no fear. An organization with a culture that normalizes communication and promotes professional interpersonal relationships among its employees is likely to strive better since new knowledge is quickly passed across, making the organization a successful enterprise.

Performance management promotes and contributes to how knowledge passes across members of an organization. Processes and an organization system determine the extent to which peer-to-peer sharing is encouraged (Caruso, 2017). An effective human resource department creates a potential environment for knowledge sharing, hence the organization’s and employees’ constant growth. The culture creates a positive competitive environment, and teamwork starts with the organization’s systems as the employees have no mandate to formulate organization rules and policies. An organization with sound systems and knowledge-sharing projects promotes peer-to-peer knowledge sharing in the organization’s workplace.

Knowledge plays an important role in the organization’s growth and facilitates good working relations in the organization. Moreno et al. (2020) suggest that organizations invest in the psychosocial model that incorporates workgroup identification, shared understanding, and transformational leadership. These psychosocial models play a significant role in promoting peer-to-peer knowledge sharing since most communication, and knowledge passage happens during social gatherings. Moreno et al. (2020) stress that organizations with structured knowledge portals, mentoring, and coaching is likely to strive well in their qualities and services. Organizing training forums creates a good platform for employees to share their knowledge as they learn from each other.

            A safe environment is essential in promoting peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing in an organization. From all management perspectives, organizational culture, and the promotion of interpersonal employee relationships, an organization should provide a conducive environment where knowledge sharing could occur. Palmer and Blake (2018) mention the learning loop, practice by applying knowledge, knowledge gain, and getting feedback in ways that an organization could use to promote peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. Learning loops can encourage employees to pass on knowledge to each other, whereas knowledge application requires people to learn new ways of carrying out assignments in the practical world. Gaining knowledge promotes the establishment of new ideas from what is learned. When getting feedback from employees, new knowledge is shared that can be useful in developing the organization.

            Creating more platforms for knowledge sharing as the learning process helps build and maintain the workplace’s knowledge-sharing culture. The learning gap tends to increase as employees continue to acquire more knowledge and experience, leaving nothing to share with their peers (Scholnick, 2019). An organization must create more platforms that would allow its employees to learn new ways of handling tasks. Employees and the organization management need to collaborate and ensure a constant flow of knowledge by establishing new change ideas and functions that would force its members to get out of their comfort zones and seek knowledge. Creating new tasks in the organization creates an environment for discovering new knowledge and ideas, hence, promoting peer-to-peer sharing in the workplace.

            In conclusion, organizations, employees, and leaders have a chance to promote peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. Creating a conducive environment, promoting and encouraging positive knowledge-sharing culture, and organization leadership play a vital role in facilitating peer learning and knowledge sharing. Also, employees’ life satisfaction, frequent communication and good employee interpersonal relations, performance management, safe environment, and continuously creating new ways to impact knowledge and seek new ideas and information are ways an organization can promote peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. Therefore, a knowledge-sharing culture lies in the hard work and collaboration of each member in an organization since for it to work, team effort needs to be present.