Why 70:20:10 Rule is Not Good Enough

Dear HR , Training and Learning & Development Heads,

Good Morning,

We all have this question in our heads. How to Engage/ How to Equip?  The list is endless. But before we go there, lets go back to fundamentals.  Do you and your team know what is 70:20:10 Learning Model?

What is 70:20:10 Learning Model?

The 70:20:10 Model for Learning and Development is a commonly used formula within the training profession to describe the optimal sources of learning by successful managers. It holds that individuals obtain 70 percent of their knowledge from job-related experiences, 20 percent from interactions with others, and 10 percent from formal educational events. The model was created in the 1980s by three researchers and authors working with the Center for Creative Leadership, a nonprofit educational institution in Greensboro, N.C. The three, Morgan McCall, Michael M. Lombardo and Robert A. Eichinger, were researching the key developmental experiences of successful managers.

Learning demands placed on workers have exceed workers’ capacity to meet them. Think about three elements that all employees contribute to accomplishments and performance in the workplace:

·        Our skills and knowledge

·   Our shared experience (things learnt from others, informal learning we do via social networks, interactions with peers, etc.)

·       Our individual experience (things we learn by doing)           

L&D professionals should think less in terms of “courses” and used the 70-20-10 “rule of thumb” to consider how to help someone build competence.

Learning takes time, whether we do it informally or formally. In today’s workplaces, we’re pushing people to do more and more. We are failing to acknowledge what this “more and more” often means: we are asking people to go way beyond 40 hours in their work week to do the learning required to build and maintain proficiency and to do the work that contributes to company profits.

To manage stress and minimize burnout, we have to incorporate “learning curve” into the work people do. We have to factor this learning curve into the time things will take to complete and the amount someone will accomplish in a day or a week. And because people are constantly figuring out how to do something while they are working on their projects, we have to build in this constant “learning curve” into our expectations of  what people will accomplish and how fast they will accomplish it.

I have found out that many Malaysian companies L&D personnel do not really understand how to apply the 70-20-10 Rule and how to think beyond this Rule.

In conclusion, we  should think beyond formal courses in helping people build proficiency and more into Internal Engagements.  Who needs to drive this?  Ah…its always the HR/L&D and Training Champions. 

HR/L&D and Training Champions need to be equipped in learning before you teach others..just a word of advice …..start reading & you will be amazed with the knowledge that you will have in your brains…I know I did. J

Until my next sharing…