Sandra returned home at the end of the first week in her new job and was greeted by an eager partner asking how the week went. Sandra was flummoxed, and struggled for the words to explain the confusion she felt.
Although it was only Sandra’s first week in her role, she had been with the company for several weeks in the trainee onboarding program. Sandra attended every class, took notes and engaged fully. She asked questions, studied, memorized and ultimately passed the final assessment with 100 percent — yet, once “on the job,” she felt lost. She questioned her adequacy and her ability to learn.
With frustration mounting at her partner’s questioning, she blurts out a learning and development practitioner’s worst fear: “I didn’t learn how to do my job.”
Understanding learning transfer
Knowledge is defined as information, facts or skills; having knowledge means to understand, comprehend or have mastery of content. To learn means new knowledge has been acquired. To demonstrate if knowledge has been acquired, knowledge needs to be applied to achieve an impact, also termed learning transfer.
Learning transfer is a primary, albeit complicated goal for learning practitioners and educators. Will Thalheimer posited learning transfer succeeds when the learner can apply learned behavior and knowledge in their daily work. The penultimate goal of training is ensuring learners can apply new knowledge outside the classroom, in their intended situation and environments. Unfortunately, even though educators have great intentions, learning transfer does not always occur. Even when successful, trainers may lack the measuring stick to demonstrate training was successful. The concept of measuring training remains one of the most challenging activities for L&D practitioners .
Overcoming learning transfer challenges
Scholars and educators have found many learners struggle with transferring knowledge to situations outside the one in which it was learned. One reason is the conditions in which something is learned (i.e., the classroom) do not typically replicate the conditions in which it is applied (i.e., on the job). Another reason is the training may lack realistic practice or lack cognitive links made between learned concepts and real-world scenarios.
Debora Toll and Maurice Taylor identified three primary characteristics influencing learning transfer: the training program’s design and development, the organizational climate to support learning and the individual learner’s motivation to learn. Although not intentionally designed to support the characteristics influencing learning transfer, capability academies may result in supporting the increase of successful learning transfer.
Capability academies
To capitalize on learning transfer and extend learning beyond traditional training periods, practitioners have established capability academies. According to Josh Bersin, capability academies are the evolution of traditional training and self-directed learning. Bersin posited:
Capability academies are business-driven, collaborative learning environments that facilitate learning retention. . . . Going beyond rote lessons, capability academies help companies prepare for transformation by helping employees develop complex skills and providing guidance on how to apply them in the context of the business.
The core concept of capability academies rests on the importance of collaboration between the trainers and the business. The intention is to provide learners with practice of conceptual understanding and comparative scenarios in the context and environment where they will ultimately apply their skills. Capability academies focus on providing training distinctly aligning with learners’ job responsibilities.
Archwell capability academies
Archwell, a global mortgage services outsourcing provider, spent 2022 systematically designing and developing customized capability academies. In addition to meeting their clients’ specific talent capability needs, Academies included the mission to ensure learning transfer is demonstrated, measured and reported. Archwell Academies subscribed to the structure of the capability academy outlined by Bersin, combined with the learning-transfer evaluation model founded by Thalheimer.
Successful completion of Archwell Academies suggests learning transfer is proof learners have acquired new knowledge to apply in the context of their roles. Application begins by developing skills that are defined through concepts built as foundational knowledge that can be applied in work. Learning increases motivation and leads to the belief that application was successful. The learner should have ample opportunities to test knowledge retention and application by showing what they know and what they can do; and connect this knowledge to their context, thereby building schematic understanding in their work. Finally, the learner must see a clear feedback loop that informs and supports knowledge retention and learning sustainment.
Archwell Academies learning transfer in action
Sandra’s story is unfortunately common in many learning situations in and outside workplace training. To circumvent learners from unsuccessful learning transfer, Archwell Academies were designed with a holistic learning lifecycle approach to preparing learners for their work.
We led the Archwell L&D team in outlining and documenting capabilities in partnership with the business, clearly articulating core, demonstrable and measurable tasks to answer the questions: What do learners need to be able to do, and how do we know learners have executed tasks successfully? Next, content was designed with learning transfer as a core component, focusing only on the skills and capabilities supporting the identified tasks. During this process, daily knowledge checks and weekly pre- and post-assessments were created. Though these assessments alone do not measure learning transfer, they are valuable tools to identify the existence of initial knowledge while serving as one indicator of knowledge recitation or retention during training.
Evolution
During the first few programs delivered through Archwell Academies, only pre- and post-assessments were utilized and did not demonstrate if learning had occurred. Assessments demonstrated which learners were good test takers, and if content knowledge was retained in the short term.
Interestingly, several learners who seemed unable to answer knowledge checks or discussion questions during class scored 100 percent on their assessments. Upon further investigation with a random sampling, instructors found learners could not answer the same questions in a live environment. Trainers surmised the possibility learners were sharing answers via messaging (i.e., cheating) which resulted in adding an oral assessment process.
After each module, trainers spent time with each learner individually, role-playing targeted work situations and having learners demonstrate associated capabilities while comprehensively describing their rationale. Trainers followed a weighted measuring rubric to score the assessment. Conditions also more clearly replicated the work environment, placing learners in a situation where they could begin to see the context in which they might apply knowledge. Additionally, oral assessments allowed the trainer to more clearly assess whether the learner would succeed in their role, and if not, what coaching topics would most help their efforts. The oral assessment application began to demonstrate learning transfer.
Following successful demonstration of applying their new knowledge in practice, the learner moved into nesting. Nesting is a practice common in call center training, where learners apply knowledge in the context of their work environment. Nesting can be considered a form of apprenticeship or on-the-job training.
Although Archwell Academies serve more than call center training, applying the nesting concept created an opportunity for increased success of learning transfer. Nesting provides learners the opportunity to immediately apply knowledge in a supportive environment while enabling trainers to provide immediate coaching. The immediate application of knowledge, or practice, supports the concept of learning sustainment and learning transfer.
The final data point captured through Archwell Academies followed the learner into their work environment one month after completing training. The trainer met with the learner to assess knowledge retention and application of knowledge to complete the assessment of learning transfer. Additionally, the trainer gathered insight into how much of what was learned had been applied on the job. Lastly, in the spirit of continuous improvement, the learning leaders of Archwell Academies evaluate the measurement protocols on a recurring basis to ensure the approach and data accurately articulate whether learning transfer has occurred.
Conclusion
The pinnacle for trainers and educators is to ensure the learner leaves the classroom with the acquisition of new knowledge that can apply in new contexts. Researchers have identified several barriers to successful learning transfer (e.g., lack of practice or cognitive links made between learned concepts and real-world scenarios). However, designing training initiatives with transfer of learning at the core can support successful learning transfer, as seen with Archwell Academies.
Through the realistic practice scenarios, demonstration of decision-making competence and data produced from the robust assessment formula used by Archwell Academies, learners are able to understand what they learned, why they learned, and are successful in using their new knowledge in targeted work situations. After all, the ultimate goal for L&D practitioners should be to ensure the Sandras of the world are able to transfer their learning from the classroom to the job.
