Learning opportunities can be the make-or-break factor in employee engagement, productivity and overall experience. On top of this, organizations depend on learning to ensure compliance, accuracy and timeliness of completed work among many other considerations that ultimately define organizational success.
Given the impact that learning has on both employees and organizations, ensuring that the investment justifies the expenditure of time, money and organizational resources is essential. After all, neither learners nor leaders want to repeat the same training if it didn’t yield the desired outcomes the first time. Therefore, focusing on long-term learning retention is essential for learning functions. This article offers learning professionals four considerations that will ensure training is sustained beyond the classroom.
1. Define the Purpose
The first conversation with stakeholders is to determine the intended outcome of the learning. For example, say an organization is looking to improve their onboarding because, once employees finish the training, they have to relearn everything on the job. The current model is classroom-style learning with little interaction between learners. Prior to changing the style of training, the learning professional should determine with their stakeholders what the goal of the training is. Some functions need more recall-based training, such as compliance teams needing to know regulations that impact their role. On the other hand, some functions need simulation-based training that allows learners to experience the content through first-hand practice. By first determining the purpose of the training, learning professionals can offer effective solutions that are more likely to make learning stick.
2. Design With Consistency
When designing learning, it is important to ensure consistency throughout the content. Consider, as an example, a training initiative focused on improving call handling times in a call center. If every type of call requires the learner to go to a different place, use different systems or ask different people for support, the learning is less likely to stick because it is fragmented and inconsistent. Alternatively, having a clear path for support regardless of call type takes learning from “in one ear and out the other” to an elevated practice within the call center’s workflows. Working with stakeholders to define consistent processes and resource hubs not only simplifies the learning process but also ensures that the knowledge gained is more likely to be retained and applied effectively.
3. Blend Techniques
Learning retention is the goal of nearly all training initiatives, yet many fail to revise their methods to combat the forgetting curve, learners’ tendency to forget information if they don’t make an effort to retain it. In other words, putting a slideshow in front of learners and expecting to remember the information when they need it months later isn’t realistic. Build off of existing slide decks to incorporate other learning techniques and follow-up activities, such as gamified content, learner-driven discussions, “check your knowledge” assessments and job shadowing. This will not only drive engagement with learners but also support long-term retention and application of what was learned. Creating memorable learning experiences using a variety of methods is critical for both employees and organizations to see the value of investments into learning retention.
4. Demonstrate Real-World Relevancy
A final driving factor of learning retention is the content’s relevancy because, in seeing how learning will be applied, learners are able to create tangible connections between learning and their role. Immersive learning techniques such as simulations, role-plays and on-the-job training require learners to think critically through situations they will encounter in their role and come up with solutions in a low-risk environment. This learning experience and others like it elevate training for learners and takes content “off the page” to ensure it can be applied when necessary in their roles.
In summary, making learning stick is the culmination of efforts between learning professionals and stakeholders to streamline, innovate and optimize the learning experience. Streamlining content and resources through an emphasized and impactful purpose is key to driving learners to the training and getting buy-in at all levels. This requires enhancement in the training itself, as innovation in how content is learned and applied by learners is critical to engagement and experience-driven learning. By emphasizing these principles in all learning offerings, organization leaders will see the investment as a worthy and important use of resources.
