Empowered self-development and continuous learning

Organizational changes are creating the need for continuous learning environments that support employees' self-development. Self-development means seeking and using feedback, setting development goals, engaging in developmental activities, and tracking progress on one's own. This assumes that people are capable not only of monitoring their own behaviors, but also of recognizing which behaviors and outcomes are most favorable and desirable. Drawing on self-determination theory, this article shows how organizations can encourage self-development by providing nonthreatening performance feedback, ensuring behavioral choices for learning, encouraging feedback seeking, and rewarding participation in learning activities and other self-determined behavior. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.