Developing competencies of Gen Z: role of organizational learning culture and learning agility

Purpose In the dynamic landscape of the 21st century, modern organizations strive to maintain a competitive edge by cultivating an agile workforce with robust competencies. Learning agility (LA) has emerged as a crucial element of employee skill sets. This study examines the role of organizational learning culture in developing employee competencies of Gen Z. Furthermore, this study explores the role of learning agility as an underlying mechanism between the above-proposed variables in the context of the Indian IT industry. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional study was carried out with a structured questionnaire distributed to IT organizations in New Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad and Bangalore. PLS-SEM was used to evaluate the sample of 381 Gen Z employees. Findings The results revealed a positive and significant relationship between variables of the study and showed that organizational learning culture positively affects learning agility and employee competencies. The findings draw on the tenets of Resources-based theory. Practical implications This study offers concrete insights to HR managers for fostering learning agility which in turn can play a pivotal role in building a high employee competency. This study emphasizes fostering a learning culture where employees are constantly encouraged and supported to learn, experiment with new ideas and exchange knowledge freely. By doing so, firms can enhance their ability to adapt to a rapidly changing business environment, stay competitive and be better prepared to meet new challenges and opportunities, which is expressed in terms of learning agility (Groves and Feyerherm, 2022). The study reported that investing in employee’s learning agility enables them to acquire new skills and competencies. Originality/value This study offers several important contributions to the literature. First, much of the understanding of employee competencies comes from consultancy work while there is a void in the academic literature that explores the factors contributing to its development. Second, addressing the paucity in the literature, this study explores the relationship between OLC and employee competencies via learning agility.