Throughout 2011 we will be publishing extracts from The New Learning Architect. We move on to the fourth part of chapter 7:
A formal learning intervention is only successful if it results in lasting change in the learner’s behaviour on the job. In their 1992 book Transfer of Training, Mary Broad and John Newstrom estimated that “…merely 10% of the training dollars spent result in actual and lasting behavioural change.”
When assessing what made the biggest impact on transfer of learning, the authors looked at three different parties – the learner’s manager, the trainer/facilitator and the learner themselves – at three stages in the process – before the intervention, during and after. They found that the greatest impact was made by the learner’s manager in setting expectations before the intervention; next most important was the trainer’s role before the intervention in getting to know the needs of the learners they would be training; third most important was the manager’s role after the intervention.
| Before | During | After | |
| Learner’s Manager | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| The trainer/facilitator | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| The learner themselves | 7 | 5 | 6 |
References
Transfer of Training by Mary Broad and John Newstrom, Basic Books, 1992
Coming next in chapter 7: Strategies for formal learning
Return to Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
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