Journal of Social Knowledge Education (JSKE)
Vol. 7 No. 4 (2026): July

Facilitating Informal Workplace Learning for Organizational Capacity and Public Service Improvement: Managers' Experiences in Cambodia's Sub-National Administrations

Sour Sokh (Royal University of Phnom Penh)
Bunhe Harth (Royal University of Phnom Penh)
Thearom Ret (Royal University of Phnom Penh)



Article Info

Publish Date
17 Jul 2026

Abstract

Purpose of the Study: This study explores how managers facilitate informal workplace learning within Cambodia’s sub-national administrations. It examines the managerial practices, workplace conditions, and organizational factors that support employee learning and development and contribute to organizational capacity within decentralized public-sector organizations. Methodology: A qualitative exploratory design was employed to examine managers’ experiences of facilitating informal workplace learning within Cambodia’s sub-national administrations. Data were collected through 14 semi-structured interviews involving 16 managerial participants, including governors, deputy governors, administrative directors, deputy administrative directors, and office chiefs across multiple levels of sub-national administration. Interviews were conducted in Khmer, transcribed, translated into English, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Main Findings: Four interrelated dimensions of managerial facilitation of informal workplace learning were identified: structuring opportunities for learning, creating supportive learning climates, developing employee capability through work participation, and managing organizational constraints affecting learning. The findings demonstrate that managers play a central role in creating learning-supportive workplace environments that foster employee development and strengthen organizational capacity within Cambodia’s sub-national administrations. Novelty/Originality of this Study: This study provides an empirically grounded framework of managerial facilitation of informal workplace learning within a decentralized public-sector context. It advances workplace learning research by introducing Constraint-Adaptive Learning Facilitation as an emerging conceptual proposition and demonstrates how workplace learning can strengthen employee capability, organizational capacity, and public service effectiveness.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

JSKE

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Economics, Econometrics & Finance Education Environmental Science Social Sciences

Description

This Journal of social knowledge education (JSKE) publishes research articles, results, and conceptual studies in Social Studies. The Journal of social knowledge education publishes research studies employing various qualitative and/or quantitative methods and approaches in Social Studies. The ...