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There are a number of issues the employer needs to control and monitor in the WBL partnership, including the selection of learners, attendance, reward systems and evaluation of the programme.

5.14.1 Selecting learners and monitoring attendance

Procedures describing how employers should select the WBL learners to complete the WBL programme receive very little attention in the literature. It is, however, something the employer should carefully monitor:

I think the selection of students for these courses needs managing. It shouldn’t be just about applying and you are automatically accepted. (HEI X Participant E)

During the course of this research, I asked employers who had a good track record in terms of learners completing the programme how they select their learners, and I was struck by the diligent approach they took:

Well they first fill out an application form. A panel of three made up of someone from HR, someone from operations and myself would rate these applications and from that shortlist the applicants who would then have to do an interview and presentation. (Employer Participant A)

Unfortunately, the findings from this study would suggest that very few employers put as much effort into selecting learners as Employer Participant A. In some organisations, learners who applied to complete the WBL programme were automatically selected.

Control systems emphasise what is important to monitor within an organisation (Johnson et al., 2011) and in WBL programmes, learner attendance is an issue that requires

monitoring. The accelerated nature of WBL programmes puts greater significance on attendance, as missing one class can mean the learner misses a significant component of learning. For some of the WBL programmes delivered at HEI X, attendance is a major concern:

I have just finished a course there last week and basically attendance was a big issue. They just could not get away from their place of work. (HEI X Participant D)

Learners on the WBL programme have also commented on the importance of getting the support of the employer to attend college:

I think the employer has a lot to answer for in relation to attendance. If a business need comes up, college has to take a back seat. I think the employer has to

guarantee that the employee will be given time off to attend all modules. (Learner Participant G)

Very few of the employers that collaborate with HEI X closely monitor the attendance of their learners. When an employer invests in WBL, it is important that the learners are in a position to attend all classes/lectures. This is more likely to occur if the employer monitors attendance.

5.14.2 Reward learner effort

Learners invest significant effort when completing a WBL programme, and sometimes they can feel this effort is not recognised. Some learners believed that the employer gained the most from the learner completing a WBL programme:

Because ultimately it is the employer who benefits from the learning we receive. It is the employer who gains getting access to the skillset we have developed.

(Learner Participant G)

During this study, I came across very little evidence of employers actually acknowledging or rewarding the effort from the learner. Indeed, I got the impression from some employers that the learner should be thankful for being selected for the WBL programme, and it was the learner who was mainly benefitting from the programme.

The employers in this study reward good performance in the workplace through financial and non-financial means, but the same recognition is not afforded for the effort invested by the learner completing a WBL programme. This could potentially suggest to the learner that the organisational culture is just focused on productivity and performance.

5.14.3 Evaluation

Employers make a significant investment when collaborating with a HEI in the development and delivery of a WBL programme and, like all other investments, there should be a cost-benefit analysis conducted by the employer (Hardacre & Workman,

2010). The evaluation of the WBL programme only occurred in the larger employer organisations which employed a dedicated training manager:

We would get immediate evaluations from the students themselves first of all. Then it is documented using formal procedures. We want to see that the original objectives of the programme are being achieved. We also want to ensure that learning acquired from the programme is being applied. We also do a further evaluation three months after the course is completed. We would determine from the employees what part of the programme was most beneficial to them, what was not beneficial at all. We then bring this feedback to the college (Employer

Participant C).

I think like we said earlier that if the coordinator from the company sat down and asked – what came out of that module? In fairness to our training manager, she phones us before every exam and after every couple of lectures we hear from her. (Learner Participant C)

Employer Participant C mentions that the feedback is then brought back to HEI X, which is interesting to note. Not many of the employers actually come and present the feedback to the college. It is something that should be considered, as it ultimately benefits all stakeholders. It is also important to consider how the employer evaluates WBL

programmes. Figure 5-11 provides an evaluation sheet used by an employer that engages with HEI X:

Figure 5-11 Employer evaluation document

The evaluation sheet refers to training, and the focus of the evaluation is to determine the affect the training is having on the workplace. It is more of an input-output form of

evaluation to determine if this business transaction resulted in a good return on investment. This contrasts significantly with the evaluation used by HEI X, where emphasis is on knowledge acquired.

5.14.4 Summary of control systems for the external employer organisation

This section has highlighted the importance of control systems in presenting an

organisational culture for the external employer organisation participating in the WBL collaboration. The findings emphasised the importance of investing significant time and effort into the selection process, as well as closely monitoring the attendance of learners. It was found that WBL learners were not receiving recognition for the effort invested in completing the WBL programme. Finally, it was found that programme evaluation was carried out by the larger employer organisations employing a dedicated training manager, but not by the smaller organisations.