supporting the business of learning

The 2nd edition of the 70:20:10 Report has been published by GoodPractice. I have described 70:20:10 as a useful model and have suggested nine ways to implement the model. These form the core of the social learning workshop.

The 70:20:10 model is based on observations that in the workplace, people learn 70% of what they need to do their job from experience. About 20% is learned from exposure to new tasks or environments. Only 10% is learned from formal education and training. While these numbers are not firm, they provide a rule of thumb.

In the GoodPractice report, I state that one of the problems is that the Learning & Development (L&D) department, in a lot of cases, has become a deliverer of products and not a co-solver of problems. 70:20:10 puts formal instruction where it belongs, which is as a very targeted and focused type of intervention. It says that even if you are building the best courses, you are still only dealing with 10%. What are you doing with the other 90%?

New Perspectives on 70:20:10 – A GoodPractice Research Paper

I go on to say that if L&D professionals do not understand the business, if they’re not connected to the organisation and what’s happening to people, then they’re not doing their job in supporting learning. It’s understanding the 70:20 of 70:20:10. That’s 90% of workplace learning. If L&D is not involved in that, then it is pretty well irrelevant.

The report has additional input from my Internet Time Alliance colleagues – Jane Hart and Charles Jennings – as well as workplace learning specialists Nigel Paine, Clive Shepherd, and Ger Driesen.