Leveraging the learning for the business
Katharina Stickling (MSc), Ruth Harrowfield (MSc Hons)
Learning is a lifelong process. Subconsciously or consciously, we are observing, filtering, processing and storing new information every day. But what really happens when we learn as adults? And how can we learn in a way that yields the results we’re looking for?
Learning involves change. A change in knowledge, beliefs, behaviours, or attitudes. This change is not fleeting, rather, it has a lasting impact on how learners think and act in the future. Getting to a point of changed behaviour takes time – yet it is a process worth investing in.
The same is true for training – whether it’s for leaders or individual contributors. Upskilling staff isn’t done in one single day event, but requires careful planning and time dedicated to it either side of the training session. While it is important to conduct a training needs analysis before training and provide relevant and engaging content during training, it is also essential to consider and plan how the knowledge will transfer into the learner’s day-to-day work after training
Anyone offering training to their staff should factor in the time investment required for their employees to practise and apply the newly gained knowledge and provide the moral or material support they may need to activate their new skills. Without repetition and practical application, more than half of the information gained from a training session will fade from our memory within one hour only unless we find a way to repeat it and apply it practically. In the absence of such reinforcement, after a month has passed, people will only recall 20% of what was learned.
When you engage people in a learning process, we recommend prioritising a weekly, if not daily, investment of time into using what was learned. Create an environment that supports your people in doing so and foster a culture that allows for mistakes to be made. If you don’t quite know how, get in touch and we will happily lead the way.
We help business leaders who are unsure how to grow the people they want to hold on to, for the purposes of engagement, productivity and organisational growth.
Harrowfield is a strategic learning agency. Working to a specific client brief, we draw on the disciplines of organisational and behavioural psychology to determine and execute strategic and tactical programmes for personal development and team development.
Have you spotted a growth opportunity or a behavioural frustration? We help business leaders to bring out the potential that they see in their people by shaping habits of thinking, communication and action in the workplace. Talk to us today.
