In fact, there is a way to deliver well-designed and effective reinforcement and follow-up without placing undue burden on participants, managers, training professionals, or other stakeholders. We have found that there are four keys to making learning transfer easy:
1. Focus on tactics rather than strategy
2. Automate the learning transfer process
3. Use both a “push” and a “pull” approach
4. Engage managers to do just what is necessary, and no more.
Let’s dig deeper into each of these and see how they add up to an approach to learning transfer that really works.
1. Focus on Tactics Rather Than Strategy
Too often, we seem to believe that “more is better” and end up devising big strategic initiatives that become too time-consuming. Such an approach might involve making a large investment in systems and processes requiring multiple skillsets, developing a competency model, and building big pieces such as a new learning portal. While such longer-term thinking serves a purpose, it can also get in the way of immediate payoffs. Making sure training has impact requires a focus on ensuring specific learning transfer to the job rather than on creating, say, a “transfer culture.” If a particular group has taken part in a sales course, for example, they need timely feedback, reinforcement, coaching, and follow-up to improve performance. Waiting for longer-term strategies to take hold often means learning will be diluted or even lost for good.
The bottom line is that a “less is more” approach can help zero in on actions that are quick, specific, and easy to execute. When it comes to learning transfer, timing matters. Activities aimed at learner readiness need to be initiated close to the time of the learning session, and the follow-up should be immediate. Messages need to cut through the clutter with a clear connection to the learning objectives and with usage always “top of mind.”
2. Automate the Process
Learning transfer often involves managing a complex agenda with multiple groups of participants and multiple modes and locations for delivering training. The challenge for training professionals is finding sufficient time and other resources to achieve learning transfer in an efficient and timely manner. A typical effort might involve everything from scheduling a series of e-mails (often managed with several different spreadsheets) and setting up meetings, to persuading managers to take responsibility for planning and carrying out coaching activities. Then there are follow-up meetings to make sure planned activities have actually occurred and achieved their objectives. These are the kinds of requirements that can make the implementation of effective learning very difficult and create barriers to learning transfer.
How can learning transfer be improved and streamlined to limit stress and increase effectiveness? By leveraging current technology, it is possible to set up a system of messages and activities that are automatically delivered at specific times to specific individuals and groups. This helps simplify complexity and avoid the time-consuming effort of manually creating all the communication and resources needed for a complete learning transfer initiative.
How does it work? A global manufacturing company was implementing sales training over a 2-year time period for some 2,000 salespeople scattered around the world. Many of them were located in remote rural areas. Their 150 sales managers were typically located far from their people in the field. The solution was in the process we used to ensure the right messages went to the right people at the right time. Rather than specifying particular dates for each message and activity, we keyed everything off of a “core” learning event.
For example, an e-mail message was not coded to a specific date, but to so many days plus/minus the core event. Thus a –10 meant that the message went out 10 days before the core event, +15 meant 15 days after the core event. All that needed to be managed was the date of participation for each salesperson in the core event. The system adjusted every message from that point. Thus, if a salesperson changed the date of the seminar he or she attended at the last minute, we didn’t need to go in and change the date of all of the activities; we just changed the date of the core event and everything adjusted from there. In addition, we could track when each e-mail was opened and each link in the e-mail selected, so managers and T&D administrators could know who was engaged in the learning process and who was not. This greatly simplified administrative requirements and also ensured that key tools, quizzes, reminders, and follow-up activities occurred at the right time for each learner and each manager. This approach helps manage different learning agendas that may be going on at the same time.
Over two decades of research and refinement, we have developed a learning system that handles pre- and post-learning activities. Communications are managed to ensure every individual learner and manager receives timely, targeted learning preparation, reinforcement, and enhancement. The efficiencies gained not only save time but promote a consistent learning experience that helps learners stay on track and engaged rather than drift away from the learning agenda.
3. Use Both Push and Pull
It’s clear that a passive approach to learning transfer doesn’t work. In one study of a learning transfer initiative, materials for further learning and reinforcement were made available through a learning portal and participants were invited to access and use them. We found that only about 5% went to the site, and as few as 1% returned more than once. The lesson learned is that materials need to be “pushed” out to participants and opportunities need to be created to “pull” them back into the learning environment.
For example, on the “push” side, participants might be provided with an e-mail that includes an exercise, a short quiz, or other material that grabs their attention and engages them in some active way.
A “pull” strategy enhances learning by giving participants a link back to the learning environment, where they can learn more about applying a skill in a particular situation. For example, a participant might get a message reinforcing one skill that also includes a link back to a learning portal. The portal might offer tips and suggestions for addressing a different skill that might be more urgent to the participant.
For the learning transfer to be fully effective, it’s essential to integrate both push and pull tactics and ensure they are coordinated and working together.
4. Engage Managers as Much as Necessary (But Not More)
When people talk about the challenges of learning transfer, the most common complaint is that managers simply won’t take the time to become involved. But this problem is typically not a function of a lack of interest or motivation; rather, it’s a simple problem of the time crunch faced by overloaded managers. They say they would like to coach and be involved, but there just isn’t enough time to spend on it. Too often, training professionals mistakenly believe that the task is to convince managers of the importance of learning transfer, and the need to make it a priority. From the manager’s point of view, the amount of time required just isn’t available. They want to be involved, but at a level that fits in with other responsibilities and priorities.
To achieve this balance and give them the opportunity to use their expertise and experience, managers need tools and guidelines they can use without spending a lot of time creating messages, following up to make sure things are being done on time, and so forth.
To see how easy and effective it can be for managers to implement learning transfer, let’s look at a couple of examples.
In one case, managers needed to take part in an effort to build trust with their direct reports in a multicultural environment. The learning transfer effort could have been burdensome, as a number of reinforcement learning activities were planned to ensure high impact. To simplify the process, automatic messages were used to manage a variety of activities involving both managers and participants. Participant messages included links to videos, application planners, knowledge quizzes, and interactive learning games. Managers received messages that helped them simplify coaching the targeted skills. One message included a “meeting in a box,” available to both managers and participants, that included an agenda, slides, handouts, and activities to be used in a group best practices meeting.
In this example, 96% of participants reported a significant increase in work productivity as a direct result of the skills and tools used to enhance the learning. All of this was accomplished without additional effort on the part of managers, who could simply leverage the tools already being provided.
In another case, managers used tools and materials delivered by an automated system to enhance learning for a global high-tech company. In this case, the tools were used to help with the application of action planning and goal setting along with best practices for meetings.
Examples like this illustrate the difference it makes when managers are relieved of time-consuming administrative tasks often associated with learning transfer activities. Instead, they can concentrate their efforts on the important activities that have a real impact on results. The automated system delivers tools on a just-in-time basis, making the manager’s engagement easy.
When we look back on the years of trial and error with learning transfer, what really stands out most is that participants, managers, and stakeholders all want their investment of time and effort to pay off—everyone wants to see real results. And everyone understands that there is no payoff without the critical step of bringing the learning into the workplace. To make sure that happens, we’ve learned the value of making learning transfer practical and tactical, easy through automation, accessible and actionable through using both push and pull strategies, and carefully planned to minimize unnecessary burdens on managers’ time.
