Why are most L&D budgets being spent on activity that is unlikely to achieve the change organisations really want?
Our study of a 140 Learning and Development professionals, found that the overall goal for almost everyone is to drive real change in the workplace. And yet the most popular learning method used is unlikely to lead to behaviour change. And only 10% are actually measuring whether their L&D spend results in changes at work.
Professor Karen Pine explains why there needs to be a fundamental shift in how the L&D industry goes about targeting change in the workplace.
“Our survey suggests that while almost all L&D professionals hope to drive change in the workplace, few target their spending on behaviour change. Fewer still actually measure whether behaviour change in the workplace is achieved.
Knowing something is not the same as doing it
“The Learning and Development, Human Resources and Public Health professions have adopted an information-deficit model of learning for many years. This is based on the principle that if you teach someone something, they will go on to do it.
“This is just not the case. Research tells us that people who spend a day in a classroom learning or training – even at the most inspiring event – often fail to implement more than 5% of what they learned.
“We see it all around us. In a company, you can run really simple training sessions to get people to adopt a new IT approach and the following week most people will continue with the same old procedures. You can run diversity awareness training throughout an organisation but it won’t affect unconscious bias (because people behave automatically and without thought). When it comes to health, most people in Britain know the “5-a-day” rule and yet we have a growing obesity crisis.
Targeting different sides of the brain
“Why is this? A plethora of neurological studies show that knowing something (learning) and doing (implementing) use different regions of the brain.
“Add to that the compulsion of habits – our brain’s autopilot function – and the time-poor nature of modern working lives and you can see why real change in the workplace is still a huge challenge.
Fancy a fun weekend in Brighton?
“Just continuing with classroom learning or e-learning where people cram knowledge and are tested at the end, only tell us one thing. It says: “Yes I have understood what you have told me. Yes I remember it.” What it doesn’t tell you is “Yes I have actually implemented this in my daily work.” When you consider that this is the preferred outcome according to 97% of our survey participants, that simply isn’t good enough.
“It’s like saying: “I really fancy a fun weekend in Brighton.” Then reading all the TripAdvisor reviews of where to stay and what to do. Checking out the train timetables. Booking an early Friday getaway in the diary. But never getting on the train. You got a great idea of what it might be like, but you never got your toes in the sea.
“…the most advanced behaviour change system in the world.”
“If your desired outcome is behaviour change, it makes sense to target behaviour change (get on that train!). If you need to educate your people or get them up to speed with new skills, you need to embed that experience in the workplace, not hope that the trainee will get around to it at some point in the future. If you’re targeting change in the workplace, you need to measure it.
“We’ve spent years (more years than I would care to admit to) at the University of Hertfordshire researching behaviour change. The Do Something Different online behaviour change approach we have developed embodies our findings. I believe it’s the most advanced behaviour change system in the world.”
More about Do Something Different
The Do Something Different approach brings five real advantages over traditional learning:
- It’s in the workplace. We don’t do classrooms. Our programmes are delivered to people as they go about their daily work, by text or email.
- It directly targets behaviour change (doing). By prompting action, we engage with the region of the brain where implementation is initiated.
- It translates knowledge into small actions. That way the change we want to bring about is easier to implement and so more likely to happen.
- It prompts people during the working day. That means they are more likely to apply change at work.
- It measures change. Our system benchmarks behaviour before and after so you can see what has been achieved.
Find out more about our programmes for organisations
Professor Karen Pine is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and one of the founding psychologists at Do Something Different.
