Albert Bandura proposed his concept of social learning theory, which refers to how people have the ability to learn behaviors through observing others and imitating them (Pennsylvania State University, n.d.). His work was found to be very influential in explaining human behavior, and was built on the learning theories of classical and operant conditioning (McLeod, 206). 
Bandura’s concepts can be applied to any social setting. In the workplace for instance, employee behavior can be dramatically influenced either positively or negatively by social learning (Srivastava, 2016). When an employee has a role model at work who has high levels of engagement, they were found to be significantly more likely to be influenced to also be more engaged.
I have definitely seen social learning in the various places of employment in which I have worked as well. One small way this can be seen is punctuality at work generally or to meetings. I have worked at organizations which highly value punctuality, and this is modelled by administrators and coworkers who all are on time or early to work. Even without having said it outright, their behavior sets the tone for the expectations in the workplace, and people follow suit as they do not want to be the last one in the room for a meeting. I have worked at other places however that are very relaxed with regards to punctuality, and people stroll it at all hours, come and go as necessary during meetings, or do not even come to the meetings. They feel that they can do so because they have seen a number of others do it without repercussion, so they know that this is acceptable behavior.
While this is a small example, this can dramatically affect the work environment, and one can see how this concept can be applied to other workplace examples which could really impact productivity. Employers should study the implications of this to encourage positive behaviors that they would like to see in the workplace like a positive attitude, strong work ethic, good communication, and teamwork.
References
McLeod, S. (2016). Bandura – Social Learning Theory. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html
Pennsylvania State University. (n.d.). Module 05: Social Learning. In OLEAD 410: Leadership in a Global Context: Spring 2019 [Class module]. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1964331/modules/items/25821692
Riley, C. (n.d.). Social learning theory infographic 2 [Digital image]. Retrieved February 20, 2019, from https://sites.google.com/site/ide621knowledgebaseriley/social-learning-theory/social-learning-theory-infographic-2
Srivastava, S. S. (2016). Social learning of employee engagement (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ed24/56a64992949c6e6bdeb5603ab048aaea29c6.pdf
Hello Nicole,
Social learning in the workplace is something I’ve been studying and working on for the last few years now. In an ever growing field of technological advances, we as individuals tend to lose some of our social communication skills. The ability to effectively work, learn and thrive in any environment requires these skills. Texting and email has replaced much of our verbal/ face to face communications skills. Social media platforms have limited much of our bonding and social experiences. I know I’m guilty of it for time to time but when something special is happening the first thing we do is grab our phones to capture something we’ll most likely never go back and review.
Furthermore, this ties back to your original thoughts on Bandura’s concepts and how they can apply in the workplace. We as leaders should model the positive behaviors and reinforce those behaviors over and over again. This means we must promote positive human interaction and limit our technological devices a much as possible in the workplace in order to drive this conditioning home. In social learning theory, Albert Bandura (1977) agrees with the behaviorist learning theories of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. However, he adds two important ideas: (1) Mediating processes occur between stimuli & responses. (2). Behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning. (McLeod, 2016). With these principles we can create a strong social learning experiences in the workplace. Overall I like that you brought this subject to light because there is much we can learn from this in both our personal and professional lives.
McLeod, S. A. (2016). Bandura – social learning theory. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html