The Complete Learning Experience
The goal of creating and delivering training is to help learners attain new knowledge, perspective, and skills to enable higher levels of individual and organizational performance. This reflected in the demand for Learning and Development practitioners to be competent in driving business and performance improvement according the the 2017 State of the Industry Report published by the Philippine Society for Training and Development (PSTD). Furthermore, there are massive resources written about the various aspects of learning design, theoretical models, facilitation, materials, and all of the components that make up a successful training intervention. However, most people in training today focus on the learning event itself, because it is believed that it is where the learning happens. It is not, however, where the business impact happens.
In the book, The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning, the researchers discovered that the organizations that obtained the greatest return on their training investments were those that designed the complete learning experience— including what needs to happen before and after class— rather than just focusing on the event itself.
The process of turning learning into improved performance has four phases:
Phase 1- PREPARE
Whether participants transfer new skills and knowledge to their work— and thus improve their performance— is influenced by what happens during the preparatory phase.
Phase 2- LEARN
Most organizations/ trainers do a good job on this phase by planning and executing learning interventions. The common pitfall though, is that most programs contain too much content and insufficient time for practice with feedback.
Phase 3- TRANSFER
The leading reason that training often fails to improve performance is inadequate learning transfer. Management doesn’t distinguish between failure of learning and failure of learning transfer. When the performance of someone who attended a development program fails to improve, management concludes that “the training failed”—even if the real problem was in the transfer climate.
Phase 4- ACHIEVE
The final phase of the learning cycle is to assess participants’ achievements. Assessment of achievement at a point weeks or months after training is the new finish line for learning.
I personally think that because of the presence of various media which can be utilized for learning, the responsibility of providing learning opportunities does not only sit within the boundaries of Learning and Development teams and our offerings. Therefore, L&D practitioners have to refocus on Phases 1, 3, and 4 to be able to demonstrate the value of our contribution to the achievement of business goals.
What are your practices in your own organization? I'd love to hear them!
References:
1. Biech, E. (2012). Developing talent for organizational results : training tools from the best in the field.
2. Philippine Society for Training and Development (2017). 2017 State of the Industry Report.
3. Pollock, R. V. H., Jefferson, A., & Wick, C. W. (2015). The six disciplines of breakthrough learning : how to turn training and development into business results.