Creating A Culture Of Learning

The human brain doesn’t retain a lot in terms of memory, and 19th-century psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve shows just how rapidly new information is lost if we don’t have the opportunity to put it into practice quickly.

Just 12 percent of professionals use their newfound skills right away.

This means taking people out of work and putting them through a formal, structured class (where they might even be tested with the accompanying assumption they know what to do if they pass) and then putting them back in the workplace doesn’t actually influence the performance.

Being expected to retain large volumes of information all in one go is like trying to drink from a firehose—sure, you absorb a little bit, but the majority washes over you without sinking in. 

Fortunately, though, there are employee education tactics to make knowledge “stickier” and avoid the forgetting curve.

Microlearning is also an effective way to improve uptake and engagement.

Eighty-five percent of all educational content is either forgotten or rendered useless within six weeks of learning it, which indicates that traditional training might not be the most effective way for people to learn.