Purpose This viewpoint aims to posit that the anticipated link between upskilling of workers at mass scale and organisational agility is often fallacious. The authors propose that organizations are suffering from a “micro-macro learning disconnect” whereby individual employees acquire competences that are constrained by the legacy structures of their organisation. Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon cross-level organizational learning frameworks, this viewpoint examines the friction between micro-level knowledge acquisition (upskilling) and macro-level institutionalisation (structural adaptation). Findings The viewpoint suggests that corporate learning and development (L&D) efforts frequently over-invest in building the skills of individual employees while neglecting the need for the broader organization’s operating structures to incorporate those talents. As a result, highly-skilled employees may find themselves unable to apply the knowledge they have gained in stagnant operational environments, potentially hindering innovation and driving employee attrition. Practical implications To achieve true responsiveness, organizations must shift from an exclusive focus on micro-learning to “macro-adaptation.” This requires L&D professionals to partner with organisational design teams to simultaneously upskill individuals and decentralise the structures they work within. Originality/value This viewpoint criticises the modern “upskilling boom” and offers L&D leaders a theoretical perspective on why skill-based training return on investment is chronically low, particularly in times of technological change.
Madan et al. (Fri,) studied this question.