Sticky Learning, Stronger Results: How Verified Training Drives Talent-Centered Success
Welcome to the second edition of my newsletter, Sticky Learns. In my first post, I explained why I believe your training needs to meet three criteria if you want your training to stick. It needs to be engaging for each learner, applicable to each individual, and durable — delivering value and being reinforced over time. Now, I‘d like to raise the ante on that proposition.
When you deliver learning that results in verified training that sticks when it matters most, you do more than mitigate risk. You’re going beyond avoiding the immediate possible consequences of unverified training or a lack of competency on the job (especially a significant concern in high-risk environments where the negative outcomes of one person’s lapse can mean project failure, injury or fatality, or damage to your brand).
When your organization consistently and mindfully works toward delivering training that sticks, it is taking a significant step toward putting people at the center of your business strategy. And that is no small thing.
Research from Gallup and Workhuman says that employees who strongly agree that their organization encourages them to learn new skills are 47% less likely to search for or watch for another job. McKinsey research indicates that companies that put talent at the center of their business strategy realize higher total shareholder returns than their competitors.
In a recent article, McKinsey identified five actions organizations can take to maximize their return on talent:
These actions are paramount because they can significantly influence the way your organization remedies what the new McKinsey research further identifies as the three root causes of a decline in individual productivity:
Now, to return to engaging, applicable, and durable training — training that sticks — and its relationship to maximizing your return on talent. Sticky training directly supports Actions 1, 3, and 4 for maximizing return on talent: It should be one aspect of your skills-based strategic workforce planning, one piece of your investment in L&D, and one path to developing a performance-oriented culture. Learning that sticks indirectly advances Action No. 5, elevating HR’s role as a talent steward.
So, learning that sticks can not only mitigate immediate risks and enhance your return on talent. It can also help prevent individual lack of productivity and drops in performance.
However, reaching any of those outcomes requires verified learning. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, verified learning goes beyond checking the “Lesson Complete” box. It means ensuring learners gain the requisite knowledge, retain what they learn, and effectively use what they’ve learned on the job.
Without that, the best outcome is wasted time and effort and a serious lack of confidence and trust from business managers and employees. A 2022 survey by the business services firm Emergn found that only 23% of learners and 22% of leaders view their organization’s current workplace training as extremely effective.
The worst outcome of choosing not to precisely verify learning and competencies is to accept the increased risks that come from unverifiable training in work environments. In today’s world, this option is simply unacceptable.
STICKY LEARN | Companies that put people at the center of their business strategies have a competitive advantage — and a learning system that delivers training that sticks supports several of those business strategies.
What else is going on?
Dig Deeper In a Recent Forbes Article: “5 Steps Every Company Should Take Now to Verify the Effectiveness of Employee Learning”
By focusing on the right measurements at the right times, organizations can build robust learning systems that educate and empower employees to drive individual success through learning. Implementing five practical steps can ensure with a high degree of confidence that your workforce has the right knowledge and skills, and that you’ve mitigated risks from improper knowledge before they can become a severe issue.
STICKY LEARN | Organizations must refine their approach to verifying employee learning and job knowledge to remove risk, doubt, and uncertainty about workplace competencies.
What Do You Think?
I’d really like to know. So, I conduct a one-question poll via LinkedIn each month and publish the results and my thoughts about them in the upcoming issue of Sticky Learns.
STICKY LEARN | We sure don’t need a recount here! Participants overwhelmingly believe in the importance of personalized employee training. Equally striking, no one dismissed the idea, indicating widespread recognition of its relevance. However, more than 1 in 4 respondents wonder what "personalized" really means. This highlights an opportunity to clarify its value and perhaps how it can work in “real life.”
News Highlights
Recommended by LinkedIn
Why the $340 Billion Corporate Learning Industry Is Poised For Disruption
Work-tech analyst Josh Bersin argues that the next big shift in the evolution of L&D will be “a massive growth cycle” driven by the potential of AI, starting with its ability to “repurpose” and “regenerate” existing learning content at scale. Read the article.
STICKY LEARN | AI has the power to solve one of L&D’s most demanding challenges: making content useful, practical, and easy to consume (not just smaller, faster, and mobile-accessible).
The Future of Learning & Development: Adapting to an AI-Powered Evolution
A report from SHRM similarly expands on how the “unprecedented transformation” of the L&D landscape “driven by the rise of AI” promises to make corporate learning more adaptable, relevant, and personalized than ever. Read the article.
STICKY LEARN | Yes, AI holds great promise for L&D, but it is critical to find the balance between technological innovation and human-centered development.
Shaping Tomorrow’s Manufacturing Workforce
Manufacturing Tomorrow reports on the challenges of dealing with a chronic labor shortage while the industry’s technology and markets continue to evolve — and the knowledge, training, and qualities needed for workers to be successful continue to shift. Read the report.
STICKY LEARN | New strategies and training are needed to ensure prospective hires possess the correct skill set and employees receive training and development to remain productive and engaged.
Why and How Companies in the Life Sciences Must Improve Their L&D Strategies
Life sciences industry publication MedCity News reports that 75% of managers are dissatisfied with their company’s L&D function, and 70% of employees don’t feel they have the mastery of skills needed to do their jobs. Read the article.
STICKY LEARN | Life sciences training programs are failing because they are often ineffective and unstructured. They’re not personalized to meet employee needs or address critical gaps in life sciences-specific learning.
News From Around the Shop
From general news in industries where high-risk work environments are familiar to reports about trends in AI, training, and learning in general, here’s a compilation of recent news that caught the eye of the people at Realizeit.
Employment law
High-risk Industries
Digital, Personalized, and AI-powered Learning
About Realizeit
Realizeit is the adaptive learning system that delivers training that sticks through learning experiences that are engaging, applicable, and enduring. We uniquely leverage expertise and experience in adaptive learning, AI, and instructional design to work with customers to design, modify, and build unique training and learning programs that easily and efficiently integrate into their existing learning ecosystem to maximize performance and reduce risk. With real-time, clear lines of sight into knowledge gaps and accurate verification of proficiencies, you’ll always know your people have the skills necessary to drive success.
Contact us if you need training that sticks.
CEO Coach | Empowering CEOs to Achieve Extraordinary Results
4dInsightful-thanks for sharing’
Group CIO @ Realizeit | PhD, FBCS, FIP, CISM, CIPM, CIPP/E, COBIT
2wSticky learning for HCM, good read.
Growth....People.....Sales
2wLook forward to reading this months edition!