Revolutionising learning through the 70:20:10 model
The 70:20:10 learning model
The 70:20:10 learning model says people learn most of what they know on the job (the 70), and through social learning (interaction with peers, leaders, coaching and mentoring) (the 20). Yet, most organisations invest in formal training (the 10) and leave the rest to chance. GRIST harnesses the power of 70:20 by developing and inspiring team members to learn and leaders to lead.
Why doesn’t change stick?
Think about a standard training program. The team member attends a course and returns to work enthusiastic about putting something they learned into practice. Their leader has little interest and directs the team member to go back to what they have always done, quickly, to clear the backlog of work. This experience drives team member belief that they are misaligned with the training program and little change will occur.
Instead, if training is aligned with leader-led coaching and on-the-job application, new skills can be built quickly and increase the appetite for more learning. We’re passionate about this balance; designing learning interventions with the 70:20 in mind means skills are built more efficiently and sustainably, and your organisation can achieve real behavioural change.
The psychology of performance
The 70:20:10 learning model is a fantastic guide for looking at learning differently; but when it comes to assessing what’s working and what to change it can be harder to get down to the detail and really analyse whether the balance is right. When we are in this analysis phase, working through what is the best approach to take, we always come back to the Experiences to Results Model.
This model helps organisations understand what is driving their current results and what they need to do to achieve their desired results. Understanding this helps to unpack the culture in the organisation but more importantly, when it comes to learning interventions, it can act as a litmus test of what learning experiences are currently happening, and what coaching or mentoring ‘muscle’ you have in the business. If you want to know how you can harness the 70:20 better in learning, you first have to understand what’s happening already at this level. The Experiences to Results model helps you do this, but also helps you align the learning you’re designing to the results you want to achieve, ensuring you have real-world, tangible objectives that demonstrate a return on the investment you’re making in training. In short:
The results an organisation achieves are based on the behaviours that people demonstrate.
These behaviours are driven by a set of beliefs or mindset about the right thing to do.
The experiences team members have on a daily basis inside an organisation drive these beliefs.
The psychology of performance: how experiences influence mindset, which then guides the choice of behaviours demonstrated, that determines the results achieved.
In drilling down through these layers we start to really understand the root cause of the results an organisation is achieving. If we think about your organisation’s culture as a set of experiences, mindset and behaviours we can demystify it and take action to help you build the culture you need, to achieve the results you want.
When we bring this back to the 70:20:10 learning model, understanding the current experiences helps you to assess the gaps, or where more experiential or social learning needs to take place. Knowing where you want to get to, how you want to build skill and capability through on-the-job application, will help you set clear goals on what needs to change.
When you break the culture of your organisation down this way, and understand the environment your learning interventions ‘live’ in, you’ll make different decisions on what the real problem and focus could and should be. Your learning interventions will already be more effective, because you’ve considered the application of new skills in a real-world sense; and you’ll know what you need to put in place to support that application.
At GRIST, this is how we design learning programs. We spend the most time on the 70:20; equipping leaders to coach and mentor, and ensuring there is maximum time and support for on-the-job application. The next learning intervention you’re involved with, do a quick audit: does it prioritise application and support alongside the theoretical components? Or is this part of the learning left to chance?
Read more about the 70:20:10 learning model here.
