The usefulness of acclimatisation in L&D

How you need to give people time to acclimatise to change before continuing on the journey

One of our customers, Blue Light Card, launched their learning platform to their employees yesterday, and their L&D lead Chris Lonsdale explained his vision for L&D at the company by using the analogy of climbing everest. It’s a journey. They’ve made it to base camp, and they’ve got a long way to go, but they’ll get there - together.?

What was important for me here was the reason why it’s so important to make it to base camp: Acclimatisation. And the same is true for the roll out of new initiatives, technology or progammes which fundamentally alter the way people have previously worked. As the person doing the ‘thing’ or experiencing the change, you need time to adjust and understand the expected behaviours and outcomes.

Part of this acclimatisation requires structure and expectations to be set and provided. Psychologically speaking, humans feel safer with defined parameters because they provide a sense of control and stability, whilst also reducing anxiety. We also know that humans don’t do well when they are cognitively overloaded. Although experiencing change and cognitive overload are two very different things, as learning practitioners it’s always useful to consider how what you’re creating is going to impact the end user, particularly if a lot of change is occurring at once.

How are you allowing time for acclimatisation?

If you’re in the process of rolling out a new learning platform it’s likely that the team you're working with will have advised you to be selective in the experiences you want to create and encourage on the platform, rather than rolling out everything at once. This gradual release means that employees are able to adapt at a slightly slower pace and not be caught in headlights. The plus side of this is that you’re also able to pivot more quickly if things don’t go the way you expected. Feedback is therefore critical during these periods too, and of course this means actively listening to what’s going on and to the real-world of experiences of your people.

The other side of this is we know, at a fundamental level, that humans learn best when they’re provided the space and time to absorb and apply what they’ve been given - whether that’s access to a new system, or to particular resources that enhance their roles. By drip-feeding change, you’re automatically reducing cognitive overload, providing the right spacing between elements, and therefore reducing the risk of change fatigue and burnout. All of those can only be win-win, right?

Plus, as times goes on, if you’ve done it proplerly, confidence levels will start to increase due to familiarity with processes, approaches and procedures. And those expectations we spoke about at the beginning? They can start to be redefined and tweaked again.

What can you do on a practical level?

If you’re about to implement something new for your business, what are the steps you should broadly be following? This example has been left purposefully vague, because it can be tweaked depending on what it is you’re rolling out.

Carry out a needs analysis

Ensure you understand what you’re trying to achieve, and how you’re going to help people get there. The results of this will differ by group or person, and will flag any gaps that need plugging.

Create a plan for how you’re going to approach all stages

Based on the analysis the whole thing then needs planning. This includes things like marketing, any upskilling or training delivery, and feedback points along the way.

Think about how you’re going to market it

You might think it’s a great idea, but how do you ensure others are bought into it too? That’s where marketing comes in. The way you communicate and encourage awareness or engagement is crucial to the success of the roll-out.

Split the project into phases

What do you need to deliver first? How do you define each key milestone? What do people need to be able to do at the end of each one? The answers to these questions will help drive the roll-out and allow you to understand how to acclimatise your people.

Develop an ongoing feedback and support plan

You can’t just drop and run. You need to listen to feedback, measure change and ensure you’re meeting expectations. A dedicated team may need to be around to follow-up, too.

If you follow these steps you’ll be able to see the benefit for breaking things down into smaller steps and allowing for those moments of adjustment and feedback. Reaching the summit of Everest doesn’t happen overnight. It takes months of preparation, hard work and dedication.?

To wrap it up

In summary, parameters and expectations offer a structured framework that reduces uncertainty, provides a sense of control, aligns with social norms, reduces anxiety, facilitates conflict resolution, and promotes a sense of achievement. All of these psychological factors contribute to why people feel safer and more comfortable within environments where expectations are clear and well-defined.

So what do you think?

How are you interweaving employee listening into your practice and are you providing the spaces for people to get used to your new initiatives and approaches? Let us know.

Are you curious about how THRIVE can help you bridge these gaps? Book a chat with us to see how we can help you.