Beyond the owner-manager: Exploring employee-LED learning practices in SMEs during volatile times

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate how employees in small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) actively initiate and sustain learning processes within disruptive and resource-constrained environments. Specifically, it explores how employee agency shapes knowledge sharing, adaptability and organizational resilience in volatile contexts, moving beyond dominant owner-manager-centric accounts of SME learning.

Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative interpretive design, the study draws on semi-structured interviews and focus groups with employees across 13 SMEs in high-disruption sectors. The research questions focus on identifying distinct employee-led informal learning practices in the context of volatility and on understanding how these contribute to SME resilience over time, analyzed through an integrated theoretical lens combining Communities of Practice and distributed agency.

Findings Three dominant employee-led learning patterns are identified: peer learning networks that foster collective knowledge exchange; improvization as a situated form of adaptation to volatility; and resilience as a dynamic outcome of shared learning and social support. These patterns reveal employees as “learning entrepreneurs” who initiate, sustain and orchestrate learning ecosystems when formal training and structured learning are limited or absent, with emotional and relational dynamics playing a central role in how resilience is constructed.

Originality/value This research challenges dominant narratives that depict SME learning as either top-down or merely scaled-down versions of large firms by foregrounding distributed employee agency under conditions of volatility. It offers a novel, empirically grounded perspective that conceptualizes employee agency as “learning entrepreneurship,” focusing on how employees initiate and sustain informal learning over time across heterogeneous SME contexts, and integrates CoPswith distributed agency to explain these processes. Practically, it highlights concrete pathways for SME leaders to recognize, cultivate and leverage employee-led learning mechanisms, such as peer networks, improvizational spaces and resilience-building practices, to enhance organizational agility, innovation and long-term resilience.