Brain-Based Training & Development

Editor's Notes

• #4: Increasingly, organizations are taking a “whole person” or “whole brain” approach to learning and development. Rather than looking at learning content, the whole brain approach considers the employee’s personality, emotional needs and learning style, and whether the program considers how the brain learns. Based on recent breakthroughs in the biology of learning that allow us to know what happens physiologically as we learn, we can develop programs that enhance retention and engage employees emotionally. This workshop demonstrates how to use a whole brain approach in your programs. Understand how the brain learns. Discover essential elements of whole brain learning. Learn to integrate whole brain learning into programs. Explore emotions as enhancers or barriers to learning. Heather Hilliard is the founder and creator of the Striving Styles™ Personality System. She has over 20 years’ experience working with companies in organizational development and change, leadership and team development, succession and selection, and performance management and rewards.
• #5: Give them an experience to build awareness of their body Are you receptive to learning Guided body awareness
• #6: U.S. firms spent about $156 billion on employee learning in 2011, the most recent data available, according to the American Society for Training and Development. The amount spent per year is expected to increase by 2% But with little practical follow-up or meaningful assessments, some 90% of new skills are lost within a year, some research suggests. Most organizations still consider training as an event Don’t distinguish between training & development events and programs Training and development programs that have expectations for participation within the context of their role, engagement with managers, peers and employees, and an appraisal and accountability strategy is a process that changes the brain
• #7: Top Reasons Training Money Goes Down the Drain Focus on information over experience Passive versus experiential learning Training is an event, not a process
• #8: Reason #1: Focus on information over experience Content laden training is widely used with professionals and leaders Only engages learners rationally Palatable to decision makers: - minimizes resistance Has the least success in changing behaviour This is because these people live out of their rational brains The higher the education, the smarter people are, the higher position they hold in an organization the more they are given information instead of experiences Programs are customized so that facilitators don’t have to deal with resistance On the job training, skill building, apprenticeships, have the highest rate of success Development programs with follow up team and coaching modules with connections to HR systems most successful for leaders On the job training, skill building, apprenticeships, have the highest rate of success Development programs with follow up team and coaching modules with connections to HR systems most successful for leaders
• #9: Many people are able to sit and observe without actively participating Reason #2: Passive versus experiential learning Learners sit and observe without actively participating Little to no prework Lots of information Little participation expected No expectation to have learned what was taught Little to no follow up Engages short term memory only easily forgotten!
• #10: While advances in technology have led to a greater use of self-directed or self-paced training using online learning and webinars, video-based training, etc., the way people learn, change behavior and incorporate new learnings into job performance remains the same. Following the training, things remain similar or the same Leaders don’t get involved No system to support integration Employees resist applying new learnings Peers aren’t supportive of new learnings Without ongoing experience, context and connection to others, training fails to improve performance
• #11: Turn to the person on your right and tell them about your last learning experience What you learned How you applied it Recall the last time you took a training course What did you learn? How did you apply it?
• #12: All learning is brain based.
• #14: Not designed for rote learning As we learn (as we experience, practice, process), specific dendrites grow so that specific neurons connect at specific synapses to create larger and more-complex specific neural networks. These networks are what we know. We change the brain during learning Practice makes us grow new circuits in the brain When we are focused and paying attention, we can change the brain
• #15: Four distinct functional areas of the brain: left and right hemisphere, within each hemisphere, an emotional brain and a rational brain quadrant Each quadrant is specialized to perform specific tasks very efficiently Functions operate in the external or internal environment Both rational and emotional brains are involved in learning and each quadrant needs to be engaged in the learning process
• #17: Naturally inclined to avoid uncertainty and the unknown Highly sensitive to social stress and peer pressure Our brain is naturally inclined to avoid uncertainty and the unknown Highly sensitive to social stress and peer pressure Working memory is small and easily tired Stress reduces executive function intelligence Too many new things introduced at the same time Threat, high anxiety, and a sense of helplessness impairs learning Our learning history embedded as an emotional experience If negative, impairs learning If positive, enhances learning Anxiety and fear get in the way of learning and memory Need to create a safe environment for learning
• #19: Eight distinct Striving Styles – 2 for each function, 1 focused inward and 1 outward Each Style has predominant psychological need that must be met Based on location in brain, has unique talents and abilities to get its need met
• #23: Using the whole brain when creating training & development programs
• #24: Provide iterative experiences that lead to a sense of self-mastery and confidence Include lots of opportunity for repetition and reinforcement Understand Brain Styles of participants & extent of development of each quadrants Allow for connection to something already known As a learner goes through the stages of this natural learning process, the learner’s brain constructs its neural networks from the lowest twig up. Participants need to make a personal connection to a twig already there, to something already known. Must be personal!!!!!! With the expectation and opportunity to work on own challenges
• #25: Create safe learning environments that offer a steady source of positive emotional support Talk about negative emotions and their impact on learning Attend to the fears and emotional barriers Foster an atmosphere free from undue stress, with pleasurable intensity
• #26: Ensure opportunity to work on own challenges Focus on social interaction for a significant percentage of activities Meet emotional needs to excite and stimulate curiosity, responses and connections Use informal training opportunities amongst peers As a learner goes through the stages of this natural learning process, the learner’s brain constructs its neural networks from the lowest twig up. Participants need to make a personal connection to a twig already there, to something already known. Must be personal!!!!!! With the expectation and opportunity to work on own challenges
• #28: Development of staff should be integrated as part of organizational strategy, and should be applied throughout the company as part of its culture. This means accepting, recognizing and rewarding ideas, attitudes and behaviours that support people development and developing managers who value staff. Managers should have an understanding of learning as an essential developmental tool, and thus play a key role in people development through performance management & development programs, and through mentorship, coaching and guidance
• #29: Engage the whole person by having managers, program designers, facilitators as well as participants understand: Brain Styles – mechanics of the mind Emotional Drivers of Behaviour Innate Needs Associated Fears Learning Styles each Style begins the learning process from a different part of their brain
• #30: Using the whole brain when creating training & development programs
• #34: Harvard business Review Happy employees produce more than unhappy ones over the long term. They routinely show up at work, they’re less likely to quit, they go above and beyond the call of duty, and they attract people who are just as committed to the job. Moreover, they’re not sprinters; they’re more like marathon runners, in it for the long haul. When we and our research partners at the Ross School of Business’s Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship started looking into the factors involved in sustainable individual and organizational performance, we found a better word: thriving. We think of a thriving workforce as one in which employees are not just satisfied and productive but also engaged in creating the future—the company’s and their own. Thriving employees have a bit of an edge—they are highly energized—but they know how to avoid burnout. Across industries and job types, we found that people who fit our description of thriving demonstrated 16% better overall performance (as reported by their managers) and 125% less burnout (self-­reported) than their peers. They were 32% more committed to the organization and 46% more satisfied with their jobs. They also missed much less work and reported significantly fewer doctor visits, which meant health care savings and less lost time for the company. We’ve identified two components of thriving. The first is vitality: the sense of being alive, passionate, and excited. Employees who experience vitality spark energy in themselves and others. Companies generate vitality by giving people the sense that what they do on a daily basis makes a difference. The second component is learning: the growth that comes from gaining new knowledge and skills. Learning can bestow a technical advantage and status as an expert. Learning can also set in motion a virtuous cycle: People who are developing their abilities are likely to believe in their potential for further growth.
• #36: Developing employees for future job growth: Training and development opportunities based on performance appraisal results should be available for all employees, and training plans must be tied to employee development plans and organizational goals. An integrated learning management system (LMS) allows an employee’s development plan to prompt the system to automatically recommend relevant training based on competency gaps and development goals. • Tracking development progress: Connecting development programs and performance management allows an organization to track and prove a measurable correlation between training and increased employee performance. When integrated with an LMS, it’s easy to track and manage all aspects of learning, including planned, free-form, on-the-job, and external training. • Targeting training and objectives based on employee performance: An LMS that supports performance management can deliver targeted training and development, ensuring that learning initiatives are not randomly assigned but actively address identified gaps with training, especially in critical areas where employees lack skills or knowledge.
• #37: Succession planning and career management have the potential to be powerful drivers of retention. Research indicates that organizations with a formalized succession management process have 50 percent lower turnover among high-performing employees. In other words, employees who believe they are being groomed for future positions are more likely to stick around.8 However, succession management shouldn’t just be for senior executives and critical talent. The CedarCrestone 2009-2010 HR Systems Survey found that organizations that limited succession planning to top management or critical talent experienced the lowest sales growth, while those with succession initiatives that included middle management or all employees had higher sales growth. Although succession plans for the entire organization can yield benefits, succession without learning and development is a futile exercise. Identifying the talent gaps in the workforce is not enough. To be sure that your successors will have the right skills at the time you need them, targeted training and learning initiatives must take place. True succession management should map appropriate development paths years in advance of an anticipated talent gap and include a link to learning programs. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. According to Bersin & Associates’ report on High Impact Succession Management, only 12 percent of respondents said their companies’ succession management programs are integrated with talent management programs such as performance management and employee development. How learning can benefit succession management Integrating learning programs into succession management can benefit an organization through: • Using development to address talent gaps for identified successors: For your successors to be ready to take on their future roles, understanding the talent gaps is only the first step. Developing necessary skills may take some employees years to master and as a result should be an ongoing process. According to research from the talent management consultants at Knowledge Infusion, the top two drivers of talent management strategy today are current or imminent leadership gaps and the lack of desired knowledge and/or skills. Taking the right steps to address these areas must include learning at its core. As a best practice, you should help successors understand where their gaps exist, then link these gaps to necessary training and education. • Linking development to career paths: Career paths can allow an employee to view potential paths for development within the organization by viewing related jobs based on their current job. An employee can view the job’s description, responsibilities, requirements, associated competencies, and any identified readiness gaps. Ideally, development plans that are linked to learning should be dynamically generated in response. The system not only tells an employee what he needs to be good at for a new role, but also how to get there. • Measuring the impact of development: Talent pooling focuses succession planning on critical positions rather than management hierarchy. The organization identifies specific roles that are mission-critical to success, then operational or HR managers can identify employees who can fill those positions. For talent pools to truly benefit the organization, they need to be able to reflect immediately the skills that have been acquired. If succession and learning initiatives are not integrated and aligned, this measurement is impossible.
• #38: Ideally, pay-for-performance allows your organization to reward the behaviors and outcomes that make your business successful. Pay-for-performance promotes ongoing goal achievement, competencies strategically mapped to roles and high levels of retention. However, not all of the rewards of pay-for-performance are monetary—and they shouldn’t be. Top performers need to be motivated with merit increases, bonuses, and promotions, but development opportunities can also benefit the personal development of your best employees and the organization’s long-term prospects. Also, average performers need opportunities to acquire the skills necessary to improve performance and increase compensation. A pay-for-performance compensation strategy must be aligned and integrated with performance, succession, and learning initiatives. To truly create a culture of performance, compensation should be integrated with competency assessments, goal achievements, development plans, and key performance indicators (KPIs). How learning can benefit compensation Integrating learning programs into compensation can benefit an organization through: • Striking a balance between development and compensation: Financial rewards for immediate goal achievement shouldn’t come at the expense of longer-term career and skills development. Both are vital to the long-term health of the organization. • Using development as a retention strategy: In organizations where merit increases are hard to come by, development can be an alternative approach that can still reward a high performer and drive retention. Whether it is providing access to senior executives for one-on one coaching or setting up high-performing and high-potential employees as mentors for others to share the secrets of their success, a number of nonmonetary development opportunities exist that can benefit the organization.
• #39: Social Networking: Don’t Hide the Knowledge in Your Organization Sage HRMS Whether your organization is ready or not, social networking is here. Use of social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter has become so pervasive that employees are eager to use similar technologies to facilitate communication and collaboration in their work lives. Employees are quite comfortable going out and finding the knowledge they need, when they need it. However, without the proper platform, the knowledge in your organization is effectively hidden. Now, thanks to enterprise-class social networking tools, significant opportunities exist to bring this hidden knowledge out into the open and increase collaboration, improve performance, and share knowledge across your organization through informal learning methods. Because 80 percent of what people actually learn in a job is informal and collaborative, it’s critical to integrate a social networking solution with an LMS and other talent management initiatives. How social networking can facilitate learning Integrating learning programs into social networking can benefit an organization through: • Facilitating on-demand learning: Creating communities of practice, rich user profiles, expertise location, tag clouds, rating/sharing content, knowledge management, blogs, wikis, podcasts, and RSS feeds can allow employees to both create and find information they need, when they need it. • Connect professional network to talent profiles: It’s not just what you know, but who you know. Employees with extensive and effective professional networks can be just as important as employees with critical skills. Take steps to account for the value of these connections in performance management and succession initiatives. • Engaging alumni and retirees: As the Baby Boomer generation begins to retire, organizations must understand both the risk and the opportunity at hand. On one hand, their retirement will lead to a brain drain and an experience gap. However, many of these retirees will welcome opportunities to continue to contribute their knowledge. Social networks are a great way to continue leveraging the expertise of retired employees for the ongoing benefit of the organization.
• #40: A strong imperative for continuous improvement the world is changing so fast that we need to continually update our knowledge, skills and productivity. Doing it in discrete steps just doesn’t work any more – even if the steps are small ones. We all need to develop the mindset of continuous, always-on learners. Informal and social learning approaches fit this need better than staccato formal learning. Embed learning as a process. It is not a series of events. The process of embedding changed behaviour in long-term memory requires focused practice, experience and reflection. All of these  are on-going processes.65hout context is lost very quickly (about 50% is forgotten within an hour). Other research has shown that taking people away from their workplace and ‘training’ them is usually equally ineffective. Most formal learning is content-heavy and interaction-poor, provides little opportunity for practice in context and for reflection. In other words, a large amount of formal learning is a cost rather than a benefit. People learn better when they’re in charge of their own learning. Guidance helps, command-and-control doesn’t. Formal learning usually puts someone else in control. Individuals drive their own informal and social learning. Guidance can help, but there’s no point trying to ‘formalise’ informal learning other than working to embed it in organizational culture as ‘the way we learn stuff around here’. 7. There’s an inherent inertia in formal learning approaches. It takes time and effort to design, develop and deliver learning content. Speed-to-competence is often compromised. Once a course, programme or curriculum has been developed there is often so much invested effort and cost that it’s unlikely to be changed or discarded as fast as it needs to be in order to keep pace with changing circumstances. Cost. Informal and social learning approaches are invariably cheaper, more effective and better received than their formal counterparts.
• #41: Active learning engages our long term memory over time