The 70/20/10 Learning Model was developed in the 1980s at the Center for Creative Leadership by three researchers named Morgan McCall, Michael M. Lombardo, and Robert A. Eichinger. They were interested in discovering the most critical developmental experiences of successful managers.
They discovered the top learning sources for managers and employees. They deduced that individuals retain 70% of their knowledge via work-related and hands-on experiences, 20% via their relationships and more informal exchanges and interactions with others at work, and 10% from formal education events. should you be embracing the model?
The model shed light on what organizations should invest in when it comes to their leadership and development programs so that the organizations could improve employee performance. And many organizations still follow this model to this day. However, many learning professionals believe that it’s outdated with the new advances in online e-learning.
Why Is the 70/20/10 Learning Model Important?
Essentially, the 70/20/10 Learning Model revealed that most things employees learn at work are through their own experiences (via experiential learning), not through institutionalized and planned coursework, and only partially through their interactions with other employees. Employees learn and develop best by completing their everyday tasks over and over again and by putting their skills and expertise into practice.
The reason why work-related and hands-on experiences are so valuable to learning and development is because they offer employees instantaneous and real-life feedback, feedback that’s related to their daily work and that matters to their work. They don’t just offer hypothetical situations or theoretical information. Instead, workers can experience what they need to learn as they’re learning.
For instance, if employees are learning how to use a new technology platform, they will do their best learning when they start clicking on buttons and navigating the platform, not when an instructor is in the front of a classroom telling them how to use it.
Is the 70/20/10 Learning Model Still Relevant?
Many learning professionals argue that the 70/20/10 Learning Model is becoming obsolete as more employees begin engaging in e-learning or stop interacting as much at work because of flex schedules and remote opportunities. They argue that the percentages of the model are now incorrect and should be adapted to the current nature of the workforce and how people learn with technology. However, one could also argue that technology actually allows the model to remain fully intact. While employees may be using technology to conduct work, they’re becoming more empowered to learn on their own, pursue their own development and career paths, find their own answers, engage with their coworkers via chat windows and social dashboards, and more.
While the numbers in the 70/20/10 Learning Model may need to be updated or adjusted a little, the model itself still seems to hold some strategic weight when it comes to how employees and managers understand and implement learning and development.