ABSTRACT

In this chapter, we shift the focus toward the individual in the work context. We aim to show how aspects of employees’ individual biographies as well as their prior experiences play an important part in facilitating the “interrelationships” between employees and their workplace environments. Workers’ contributions to the learning workplace can be facilitated by such factors as employers’ support and skills recognition as well as various elements of the expansive workplace environment such as opportunities for career development or additional on-the-job training. We conclude that learning opportunities and activities are more likely to be effective when they are responsive to the microconditions of specific working groups or contexts.