90% of learning in the workplace happens on the job

CANBERRA, Australia, 2021-Nov-17 — /EPR Network/ — With learned skills being so easily forgotten, applying them correctly in the workplace is nothing short of a tricky task. That’s according to the Acorn subject matter experts’ latest article. They say that to best apply skills, organisations need to identify what they need, why they need them, and then figure out how employees learn best. When it boils down to it, learning in the flow of work is the most effective way to apply skills.

Skills can be either hard or soft. Hard skills are the technical abilities or knowledge gained through one’s education and career. They are teachable, quantifiable and measurable. Soft skills are personality traits or interpersonal habits, otherwise known as people or transferrable skills.

While hard skills are the foundation of an organisation, soft skills are the heart. Neither is more crucial than the other, but rather each makes the other better. Both can be taught, refined and corrected in the environment in which they’re needed.

“Learning in the flow of work helps build not only skills, but crucial capabilities,” said Blake Proberts (Co-Founder and Managing Director). “Reinforcing the abilities, knowledge and behaviours your organisation needs in the context employees will have to use them helps boost knowledge retention and creates a culture of lifelong learning.”

In their article, the Acorn experts highlight the 70:20:10 learning model. The model states that 70% of learning is experiential, 20% is through social interaction and 10% is via formal training. So, if 90% of learning happens on the job, it’s important to take advantage of that.

Experiential learning, also known as learning in the flow of work, is a new but increasingly popular L&D phenomenon. The aim is to make learning part of an employee’s day-to-day work. For learning to really happen, it must align with learner’s working lives. Experiential learning can be driven by encouraging collaboration, refining workplace cultures and utilising microlearning.

You can read the Acorn expert’s full article about the importance of learning consistency on their Acorn Labs blog: https://bit.ly/2ZOu8aD

Pursuit Technology is a software development company which seeks to streamline systems through innovative solutions and unlock the potential of the workforce. Pursuit is all about putting the customer at the centre of everything we create. Since the inception of our Acorn LMS seven years ago, we’ve worked with everyone from local businesses to federal government agencies. In that time, we’ve maintained a 100% retention rate. Acorn LMS contains all the tools needed to support workforces – from onboarding and inductions through to compliance and ongoing development.