Developing Employees’ Digital Competence with Informal Learning in the Work Process

With the rise of information and communication technologies (ICT) in workplaces, employees require adequate digital competence. This paper addresses the question of how employees can acquire and further develop the digital competence required to perform their work tasks. Conventional training methods face challenges such as rapid technological development, high costs, and difficulties in transferring knowledge, which impede the continuous development of digital competence. Studies indicate that regular ICT use at work supports digital competence development. Given the benefits of workplace-based learning in ICT task performance for developing digital competence, the design of work to facilitate learning is an important prerequisite. The main contribution of this paper is to highlight the relevance of informal learning in the work process for the development of employees’ digital competence. Further research should explore the role of work design in facilitating digital competence development at work.