Literature on employee learning and development suggests
that being competent at continuous learning involves a
combination of several things. First, continuous learning
involves having a ‘‘development orientation’’ or ‘‘learning
orientation.’’ Having a development orientation means that
one tends to pursue developmental activities and endeavors
that are important to him/her. A person with a development
orientation has the desire to expand his/her skill or
knowledge base beyond current levels (London 1983).
Similarly, individuals with a learning orientation (Dweck
and Leggett 1988) view challenge as an opportunity to
learn new things and they seek out learning. Therefore, to
be competent at continuous learning, one will likely need
to possess a development orientation
Second, being competent at continuous learning
involves inner work standards. Individuals with high inner
work standards will strive to do their best, even when a
lesser level of performance would be acceptable. This
refusal to accept mediocrity is important to development
because developmental experiences stretch a person to
their limits, bringing them out of their current mode and
level of functioning to a place where they must think and
act in different ways. If one has inner work standards that
involve a constant striving to be the best one can be, then
stretching the limits is a staple of their professional existence
(Ohlott 1998). Maurer (2002) echoes this notion by
proposing a model in which employee learning and
development orientation within an organization is the result
of a chronic discrepancy between actual and possible
selves (Markus and Nurius 1986; what one sees himself/
herself as being versus what one sees himself/herself as
capable of becoming). In the pursuit of a smaller gap
between these conceptions, the person is constantly striving
to better him/herself