Are you getting sufficient return on your organization’s investment in learning and development?

Judging by the results of our 2017 Learning Transfer Research, the answer is rarely yes. Jointly conducted by Lever–Transfer of Learning (in Australia) and Lentum (in the United Kingdom), the research clearly showed that the L&D function in most organizations is struggling to achieve the outcomes the business desires. In many cases it appears the respondents are uncertain how to fix the problem.

Too many organizations are stuck in a single mode of L&D delivery when a bi-modal (two-stage) approach is required. In fact, good instructional design and a proven learning transfer methodology are crucial in seeing the benefit that training has promised for so long but continually failed to deliver. Only when the two components start to work together will businesses finally experience the positive outcomes they were seeking that prompted the training in the first place.

It is widely accepted that, on average, only 10 to 20 percent of what is learned in L&D programs is transferred back into the workplace. Traditionally, trainers are taught tools and techniques that make the learning sticky and more effective in the classroom or online, but rarely do they tackle what will enable the training to be effectively implemented outside of the classroom, as part of a day-to-day role.

At question is the degree to which learning changes not just workplace practice, but actual behavior. Without behavior change, the business results from learning cannot be fully realized.

Tap Into Inner Dialogue

Behaviors are controlled by our thoughts, feelings, values, beliefs, needs, and fears, which often manifest as that voice we all have in our head. This inner dialogue controls what we do, or don’t do. To create efficient and sustained learning transfer, it is essential to tap into this inner dialogue.

Typical internal dialogue responses of people who have completed a training program or module and are attempting to execute new processes or behaviors include:

• I’m not sure if I’m doing it right.

• It sounded easy in the course, but now I just can’t do it.

• I’m too busy to try anything new in my daily routine.

• It just doesn’t work with my people.

• How could I have been so stupid to get that wrong? That’s the last time I’ll try that!

• I haven’t done as much as I should have done.

• I’ve done as much as I can and it just isn’t working.

Not surprisingly, this kind of self-talk often becomes self-defeating. We give up practicing or implementing what we have learned, blaming either the learning or ourselves, and go back to old bad habits. To change our workplace behaviors post-learning, it is necessary to change the internal dialogue that governs those behaviors.

Talk to Your Learners

Some managers attempt to ensure learning transfer through regular post-training conversations with staff. These face-to-face discussions, however, are rarely successful. Not only is time a major barrier, the skill to really help people effectively might sound simple but in reality is far from easy. Success also requires a degree of self-reflection and honesty (on both sides) that most of us can’t muster, especially when entering into the reflection process with the person who governs our future career prospects or compensation.

To pinpoint our challenges and get clarity on the things that we could do better to execute learning fully, it helps to speak to someone with a degree of anonymity. This enables the level of vulnerability often necessary to have a brutally honest conversation with ourselves. This could be an internal or external person with a specific skill set—organizations can leverage their high potentials or learning professionals.

Another solution is to tap into a person’s inner dialogue via a direct phone conversation. To clarify, that’s a handheld phone or headset rather than a hands-free speaker phone. On a handset, the voice, whether it’s yours or the voice on the other end of the line, goes directly into the head and heart. It can’t get lost in a room, bounce off the walls, or be hidden from. The questions and conversation goes straight into the individual’s ear, accessing the internal dialogue directly.

Behavior change is all about helping the learner have a reflective conversation with themselves on the specifics of the commitments they made at the end of the learning experience. Reflection by phone with another person is far more effective than a face-to-face conversation. Using this method of deep reflection builds a platform that creates self-accountability. It fast-tracks the behavioral change process and subsequently the impact of the learning across the organization.

Bottom line: Only when you can personally see and identify the gaps for improvement can you see where the learning is most useful, and how it can be applied to create a better business outcome.

Join me at ATD 2018 International Conference & EXPO for the session: Benchmark Your Organization’s Learning Maturity for Advanced Learning Transfer. We will explore how to identify your organization’s level of maturity, enabling you to make smart, more informed decisions about your learning transfer strategy.