Following the six Is of real learning overview, let’s take a look at the first I of this new L&D model – Individual.
This exploration of ‘individual’ learning is one element of the model you can use in any context. After focusing on this aspect, you can apply the other five components of learning: incremental, immersive, iterative, intrinsic and intentional.
The strong case for one-to-one learning
Fundamentally, the investment of time and money in any form of employee development should focus on the specific, unique, dynamic, individual needs of each person with whom we work. We should also factor in each individual’s circumstances, context and challenges.
Ask yourself:
- Have you ever encountered anyone whose potential has been fully developed?
- What more can you do to guide and assist talented people to perform and contribute closer to the limits of their capability?
One-to-one learning – for example, through coaching or mentoring – is often incorrectly seen as an expensive way to develop capability. A motivated and supported individual can, measured in financial terms, return remarkable value. How exactly? By truly driving their own development, energised by leading that process. Alternative approaches – such as group work or training courses – limit the learners’ boundaries, serve up prescriptive, irrelevant content and often lack support post-event.
It is important to recognise that any group is a collection of individuals, often with very different needs and expectations. The bigger the group, the harder this becomes.
It is hard for anyone with significant, impressive potential to thrive within a group of six, twelve, or more.
Group work has become the convenient norm
When you put eight people in a room, it is difficult to focus on the specific issues for each that results in real learning applied in the workplace.
Yes, there is value in group work, and this can, when deliberately designed, enhance solo learning. However, it is easy for this to become the administratively convenient norm, without considering individual learning needs.
Millions of words have been written on the reality of real-world experiences driving learning (typically claimed to be 70% of all development). Despite this, we often cling to delivering training courses, showing too little interest in the diverse working worlds of each person.
Without doubt, it is tough to be genuinely driven by individuals’ unique contexts and needs. Additionally, the skills required to support one-on-one learning differ from group facilitation.
But where one-to-one development offers both greater ease and value is in evaluation. Expenditure can be clearly and precisely defined, and a competent supporting practitioner can accurately measure attributable financial differences made by each person with whom they work.
Supporting each person’s development should be operationally embedded
How can we better integrate individual learning within our organisations? Line managers are key players in driving this – whether involving others within or outside the organisation, or managing it themselves.
Yet, it’s important to recognise that managers have never been busier, and finding the space for additional, business-critical activities can be a serious challenge.
To combat this, reflect on the following questions:
- How can we make explicit, measured and rewarded line managerial expectations around their own development and that of their direct reports?
- Who can we collaborate with to incorporate these tasks into job description?
- In what ways can we better support line managers to lead development across their team?
- How can learning and development practitioners adopt a less directive and more individually supportive role?
During performance reviews, individual development needs are usually considered. Yet more often than not, these needs are jettisoned in favour of the low-to-no value training course option. By directly incentivising managers to support one-on-one learning, we can encourage behaviour change and a shift away from the easiest, least valuable development route.
Guiding the transition from training courses to individual learning
Individual learners themselves may find a shift from the comfort of group experiences to solo learning tough. Some may find it hard to adapt to the increased exposure, responsibility and accountability.
It’s much easier to criticise a training course for being a waste of time than to lead a development path (with support) where success is dependent on them alone.
To ease individuals into this approach, ensure there is genuine support from line management.
This should include providing individual learners with specific and realistic expectations set in advance or alongside tailored development.
Those who facilitate this individual approach also play a valuable role in transferring the learning into the workplace. Post-learning support and encouragement from the facilitator is important, as it increases the chances of return on investment. The lonely learner will find the application of new insights and skills a difficult challenge.
One-to-one learning reveals employees with high potential
It is hard for anyone with significant, impressive potential to thrive within a group of six, twelve, or more. One-to-one working gives a clear and often new indication of current talents and future roles of most value.
Focusing on individuals allows a more accurate assessment of each person’s current skill set and development needs that need attention. Stars of the future can be lost in a crowd of competing noise. When working with each person alone, it is much easier to assess their current contribution and capabilities. In this setup, talented individuals can be more effectively identified, retained and nurtured.
Far too often, there is a clear disconnect between learning, its application in the workplace, and reward.
Bridging the gap between learning and reward
For any of this to happen, an absolutely fundamental issue needs to be addressed and repaired – yes, there’s even more to do!
Far too often, there is a clear disconnect between learning, its application in the workplace, and reward. If people felt that their learning contributed more directly to promotion, increased pay, and recognition, learning and development professionals wouldn’t be able to cope with the rush for help.
No one outside the learning and development world will recognise this disconnect, so we must make the case wherever we can for optimising the performance of talented people and their progression. Consider targeting scarce resources on those most likely to make the most of development budget. Then, showcase the impact, savings and generation of measurable value attributable to their applied learning.
Investing in individual learning is worth it – for both the people and the business
By working with individuals, we have the luxury of focusing on what is real for that singular person. The learning client is no longer a group member on a course; now, their specific needs, concerns and ambitions become the only matters on which to focus.
Knowing we’re directly improving operational performance through workplace learning feels rewarding. It helps foster a mindset that investing in individual development is worthwhile – especially as we can measure its impact on organisational practices.
In a time when budgets are under close scrutiny, working one-to-one allows us to address each person’s needs and brings financially measured value that far outweighs the cost.
