Critical reflective work behavior: a survey research

- Rebat Kumar Dhakal

Word count: 713+273 = 986

‘Critical reflective work behavior’ is a survey research by Marianne van Woerkom, Wim J.
Nijhof, and Loek F.M. Nieuwenhuis who have tried to find out various dimensions of critical
reflective work behavior (CRWB) in an organizational setting. CRWB is a set of connected,
individual activities aimed at analyzing, optimizing, or innovating work practices on the
individual, team, or organizational level.

The researchers state that CRWB is a construct consisting of nine dimensions – reflection on
oneself in relation to the job, learning from mistakes, argumentation, vision sharing,
challenging group-think, asking for feedback, knowledge sharing, experimentation, and
awareness of employability. They also state that there are mostly two factors which influence
the CRWB - individual factors and job and organizational characteristic factors. Individual
factors are motivation, self-efficacy, and experience concentration (the diversity of
experience in one’s career). Job characteristics with a supposed impact on CRWB are work
pace and workload, alternation, autonomy, task obscurity, information, participation in
innovation and decision-making, cooperation, communication, coaching, and organizational
learning climate. Their study shows that the most important influencing factors are self-
efficacy (positive), participation (positive), and experienced difficulty with change (negative).

The study shows that good employees could be characterized as critical reflective employees.
Instead of working harder and harder to meet the increased work pressure, as they suggest,
people should in particular learn to work differently. One has to have courage to withstand
social pressure and be critical, to experiment instead of walk the beaten track. Employees
should be able to step back occasionally from their daily routine and devote more attention to
self and time management. I really appreciate what a production manager at a cheese factory
observed – “Real craftsmen are not monkeys who can perform tricks but people who
contribute ideas towards the process, who reflect on the whys and wherefores, and who can
think ahead.”

The concept of learning organization is in the limelight today which gives emphasis on
learning from mistakes. This is not limited to mistakes inside the company only; complaints
from customers are also to be handled very carefully. Senge (1990) states “Failure is, simply,
a shortfall, evidence of the gap between vision and current reality. Failure is an opportunity
for learning about inaccurate pictures of current reality, about strategies that didn’t work as
expected, about the clarity of the vision. Failures are not about our unworthiness or
powerlessness.” Learning opportunities are determined by job characteristics, the information
environment and the social environment. It is also said what has been learned before has to be
unlearned to make the place for new knowledge, skills and attitude. Thus, critical learning
can be seen as breaking down and building up. Critical reflection relates to understanding
one’s own standards, goals, and interests, and learning about backgrounds, assumptions and
performance objectives, aimed at improvement. People learn best when they are able to ask
questions about why they saw the world as they did, whether their thinking was correct, or
1|Review of ‘Critical reflective work behavior.
rbtdhakal@yahoo.com
how they came to believe a perceived truth that they held scared. Good workers like to share
knowledge with their colleagues, without being afraid for competition. Competitiveness
amongst colleagues has a negative effect on knowledge sharing. According to Brooks, critical
reflection is useful for improving work practices, addressing moral and ethical dilemmas, and
evaluating organizational goals and strategies. A practical means of assessing the value of
critical reflection is to measure whether it improves work practices.

The concept of double-loop learning that Argyris and Schon (1996) distinguished is closely
related to critical reflection. Double-loop learning enables workers to identify, question and
change the assumptions underlying workplace organization and patterns of interaction.
Further the researchers describe so called model II behavior – related to critical reflection and
necessary for double-loop learning. This behavior can be characterized by asking questions,
expressing one’s opinion and inviting others to give feedback or to confront visions,
perspective taking and experimenting with new behavior and work method. If organizations
want to stimulate double-loop learning this has to be achieved via stimulating employees’
self-efficacy. Self efficacy is the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the
sources of action required to manage prospective situations. It has a positive effect on the
dimensions of critical reflective work behavior. The study further shows that the most
important predictors for reflective work behavior are self-efficacy and participation.

What I feel about this survey report

No matter what organization we belong to or what status we bear or what role we have to
perform, we will be required to be engage with some kind of work that has to do with critical
reflective behavior. Anyone who wants to get ahead in managerial career in life should know
the nine dimensions of the critical reflective work behavior. Though the list may not be such
comprehensive as allowing no space for including some more points, there is enough
evidence for encouragement and some practical strategies for self and time management. But
by far the most useful is the second dimension in which we have to learn from our mistakes
which implies the way to turn the disappointment of facing negative criticism into a positive
learning experience. The ideas this article presents are very practical and straightforward.
What it offers is a set of strategies for people who need to look at work - whether they are in
administration, commerce, or management. If one works in a school or university, a business
organization, or a government information office - then this research report will help him/her
to express themselves more effectively. This is a lively and comprehensive write up which is
obviously based on solid experience of helping team players to improve their skills. I enjoyed
reading this article. The style is lively and often quite amusing with the quoted ideas like
“The guy is a troublemaker, but he sharpens us” or “Real craftsmen are not monkeys who can
perform tricks but people who contribute ideas towards the process, who reflect on the whys
and wherefores, and who can think ahead.”

2|Review of ‘Critical reflective work behavior.

rbtdhakal@yahoo.com