Evidence Summary
Library Staff are More Motivated to Engage in Professional Development
When Encouraged by Library Leadership
A Review of:
Johannessen, H. T. D. (2018). The need to grow, learn and develop – how
does management affect motivation for professional development? LIBER Quarterly, 28(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.18352/lq.10238
Reviewed by:
Hilary Bussell
The Ohio State University Libraries
Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
Email: bussell.21@osu.edu
Received: 28 Nov. 2018 Accepted: 16 Jan.
2019
2019 Bussell.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons‐Attribution‐Noncommercial‐Share Alike License 4.0
International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly attributed, not used for commercial
purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the
same or similar license to this one.
DOI: 10.18438/eblip29534
Abstract
Objective – This study explores whether there is a correlation
between academic library leaders’ support for professional development and
their employees’ professional self-esteem and motivation to participate in
professional development.
Design – Survey questionnaire.
Setting – Academic
libraries in Norway.
Subjects – 1,637
full time equivalent (FTE) staff.
Methods – The
theoretical framework for this study is knowledge management. The author
defines this as “The creation and subsequent management of an environment which
encourages knowledge to be created, shared, learnt, enhanced, and organized for
the benefit of the organization and its customers” (Sarrafzadeh, Martin, &
Hazeri, 2006, p. 624, quoted on p. 3). An anonymous quantitative survey was made
available to staff working in Norwegian academic libraries. The survey included
questions about to what extent their leader encourages them to attend
conferences, to what extent their leader understands their skills and
competencies, personal belief in their own skills and competencies to perform
their work tasks, and number of professional development activities they
attended in 2015 (including conferences, continuing education seminars, and
interdepartmental seminars).
Main Results – 626 survey responses were collected, for a 38%
response rate. The responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Over
50% of all survey respondents reported high satisfaction with their
professional skills and competencies. There is a difference when broken down by
gender, with 77% of men reporting confidence in their professional skills
versus 63% of women. Education level, on the other hand, does not make a
difference. The study found a correlation between perception by library staff
that their library leader has a “good overview” of their professional skills
and staff members’ confidence in their ability to perform their job well.
Library staff with leaders who encouraged professional development were more
likely to participate in external professional development activities.
Participation in internal professional development activities was not affected
by library leaders’ encouragement.
Conclusion – When library staff are encouraged by library
leadership to participate in professional development, they are more likely to
do so. Library staff who perceive that their library’s leaders recognize and
value their professional skills and competencies have a higher sense of
professional self-esteem. Library leaders can use knowledge management to come
to a better understanding of the knowledge and skills their staff members
already possess, and to encourage communities of practice and the sharing of
knowledge in the organization. This recognition can result in employees who are
happier and more motivated to learn.
Commentary
This study adds to the extensive literature on the
role that library leadership plays in encouraging a culture of professional
development in their organizations. In 2000, Shanhong argued that professional
training and education among library staff would become an important knowledge
management objective in 21st century libraries. More recently, some
have argued that academic libraries should improve their use of knowledge
management in order to increase knowledge sharing among staff (Koloniari &
Fassoulis, 2017; Muchaonyerwa & Mutula, 2017). This study reinforces the
value of knowledge management for contributing to employees’ self-confidence
and motivation to engage in professional development.
The study was evaluated using the “EBL Critical
Appraisal Checklist” (Glynn, 2006). The methodology utilized is appropriate to
studying the entire population of academic library staff in Norway. A few areas
of the methodology could benefit from clarification. Although the paper states
that a survey was conducted using the online program SurveyXact, it does not
discuss how participants were recruited, and it is unclear whether the survey
population includes all academic library staff or only staff with “librarian”
in their job title. Since some academic libraries have different levels of
professional development support and expectations for librarians versus
non-librarian staff, this could have implications for the findings.
Additionally, the article does not include the survey instrument itself,
precluding the possibility of other researchers replicating the study.
A potential confounding variable that was not
discussed in the article is financial support for professional development. If
library leaders who encourage their staff to attend conferences are more likely
to provide financial support for these activities, this could be a reason why
these staff members are more likely to attend. This could also explain why
staff participation in in-house professional development was not correlated
with a library leader’s encouragement. Overall, the article would benefit from
a more thorough explanation of the study’s findings.
This study will be valuable to anyone in library
administration who is interested in cultivating professional skills and
self-confidence among their employees. Using a knowledge management frame, the
paper makes a compelling case for why it is important that library managers not
only familiarize themselves with the competencies and skills their staff
possess, but make sure they are communicating to their staff that they are
recognized and valued. The study indicates that social recognition goes a long
way to improving employee self-confidence and motivation to learn, which
benefits both individual employees and the organization as a whole.
References
Glynn, L. (2006). A critical appraisal tool for library and information
research. Library Hi Tech, 24(3), 387–399. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830610692154
Koloniari, M., & Fassoulis, K. (2017). Knowledge management
perceptions in academic libraries. The Journal of Academic Librarianship,
43(2), 135–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2016.11.006
Muchaonyerwa, N., & Mutula, S. (2017). Knowledge-sharing strategies
among library staff at selected university libraries. Mousaion, 35(3),
1–24. https://doi.org/10.25159/0027-2639/2003
Sarrafzadeh, M., Martin, B., & Hazeri, A. (2006). LIS professionals
and knowledge management: Some recent perspectives. Library Management, 27(9), 621–635. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120610715527
Shanhong, T. (2000, Aug.). Knowledge
management in libraries in the 21st century. Proceedings of the 66th IFLA Council and General Conference.
Jerusalem, Israel. Retrieved from https://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/057-110e.htm