Feedback as a Mechanism for Workplace Learning: A qualitative study of employee on-the-job learning in Fast-food, Restaurant and Retail SMEs in Umeå and Uppsala, Sweden.

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are central to employment, economic activity, and local business development in all of Europe. Compared with larger organizations, SMEs often have fewer formal HR routines, limited training systems, and less standardized performance management. In such settings, employee learning frequently occurs through everyday work, direct interaction, observation, problem-solving, and performance-related feedback. This the-sis examines how feedback enables or constrains employee on-the-job learning in fast-food, restaurant, and retail SMEs in two cities, Umeå and Uppsala, of one European country, Swe-den. The purpose of the study is to understand how employees experience feedback in daily work and how these experiences shape learning. Feedback is treated as a potential mecha-nism for learning rather than as learning itself. The main research question asks how perfor-mance-related feedback practices in fast-food, restaurant, and retail SMEs enable or constrain employee learning while on the job. Two sub-questions guide the analysis: how feedback is provided in these work settings and how employees interpret feedback as supportive or lim-iting for their learning. The study uses a qualitative research design based on semi-structured interviews with nine employees from the selected SME service sectors. The empirical material was analyzed using the Gioia Method, which supported a systematic movement from partici-pant-centered first-order concepts to researcher-centered second-order themes and aggre-gate dimensions. The analysis resulted in 80 first-order concepts, 15 second-order themes, and four aggregate dimensions: informal feedback practices in everyday SME work; feedback as a mechanism for learning and role development; social and emotional conditions shaping feedback reception; and relational feedback culture in small workplaces. The findings show that feedback in SMEs is often informal, immediate, task-focused, and embedded in ordinary work. Feedback supports learning when it provides clear direction, corrects errors in real time, clarifies role expectations, develops practical skills, and is delivered respectfully by credi-ble sources. Positive feedback and recognition can also strengthen motivation and confi-dence. However, feedback may constrain learning when it is vague, inconsistent, emotionally discouraging, or delivered by someone employees do not perceive as credible. The thesis concludes that feedback does not automatically create learning. It becomes a learning mech-anism when employees understand, accept, and apply it within a supportive and psychologi-cally safe workplace context.