customer service representative on a call customer service representative on a call

Learning Transfer Made Easy

4 Lessons Learned from Experience

By Michael Leimbach, PhD, Carl Eidson, PhD

If you ask a busy learning professional about learning transfer, you’ll likely hear two things: First, it’s very important; second, it’s very hard. So what is it about the process that makes learning transfer so challenging? The issue that comes up the most is the vexing problem of finding enough time.

Busy managers find it difficult to allocate resources to critical reinforcement and support activities, and training professionals also find it takes a great deal of time to design and administer a learning transfer effort.

A related issue is a complexity. Today, a training initiative may involve a global audience and multiple modes of delivery, including webcasts, virtual learning, mobile devices, and social media—and yes, even classroom components. These activities may be taking place at different times, in different time zones, with different levels of participation and diverse audiences. Managing delivery of all these moving parts can be a logistical nightmare. It’s not surprising that many training groups with limited resources find it nearly impossible to carry out the kind of learning transfer needed to ensure lasting results.

96% of participants reported a significant increase in work productivity as a direct result of skills and tools used to enhance the learning.

Michael Leimbach, PhD

Michael Leimbach, PhD, is a globally recognized expert in instructional design and leadership development. As Vice President of Global Research and Development for Wilson Learning Worldwide Inc., he has worked with numerous Global 1000 organizations in Australia, England, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and throughout the United States. Over more than 30 years, Dr. Leimbach had developed Wilson Learning’s diagnostic, learning, and performance improvement capabilities, published over 100 professional articles, coauthored four books, been Editor-in-Chief for the highly acclaimed ADHR research journal, and is a frequent speaker at national and global conferences. He also serves on the ISO Technical Committee (TC232) on Quality Standards for Learning Service Providers and on the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development Dean’s Advisory Board.

Carl Eidson, PhD

Carl Eidson, PhD, is Vice President of Business Development for Wilson Learning. Dr. Eidson leads and coaches a virtual team of over 100 independent distributors stretching from Toronto to Bogotá and works extensively with clients. Dr. Eidson has coauthored articles on selecting top talent published in scholarly journals, including Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Performance, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, and Journal of Business and Psychology. He has also authored and coauthored articles on leadership, sales, virtual teams, and employee engagement in industry publications including CIO, Training magazine, and Sales Pro Magazine. Dr. Eidson is a frequent speaker at professional conferences on the topic of learning transfer and human performance improvement research and practices.