This process includes ongoing learning, continuous practice, constant feedback, and frequent unlearning and relearning. Learners undergo a non-linear process to accumulate performance-improving new knowledge. However, that knowledge isn’t sufficient for immediate on-the-job application and performance improvement. Employees develop the foundational knowledge needed through such programs.

When there is a significant amount of new information, knowledge, and skills to acquire, and subsequently apply to the job, formal, linear training does not work well.Īnd that’s why, typically, formal training programs aim to equip employees with just the baseline knowledge required to perform their roles. Most formal training programs are structured in a linear form and are of a limited duration. When it comes to the application of learning in the workplace, the “train them and unleash them” approach has limited prospect success. And here lies the challenge! Why Must L&D Teams Look Beyond Formal Training To Improve The Application Of Learning? Learners with relatively new exposure to a subject or skill, through a limited-duration formal course, must take that newly learned knowledge and immediately apply it to the workplace. The expectation is that employees, who enter a formal training program with little to no subject matter knowledge, must exit the program with a much higher level of performance than when they signed up for the program. Training is supposed to enhance employee performance.

However, they aren’t geared to demonstrate the application of learning immediately upon course completion. These formal programs are often role-specific and designed with the aim to introduce the “dos and don’ts” of a task, subject, or role to a learner. When employees are freshly onboarded or existing ones are tasked to take on new responsibilities within the organization, the L&D team usually prescribes a set of trainings before they commence their new assignments. What Are The Limitations Of Formal Training?

I believe in learning on the job