How to Maximize Continuous Learning in the Workplace


By Sarah McIntosh

Employee training typically involves static learning—learning that occurs at a single point in time. This might result in an annual training opportunity, a one-off event, or a brief course with a certificate that arrives in the participants’ inbox after they complete it. But without a continuous learning approach, the participant will forget the content as quickly as they learned it. Research shows that the greatest memory lapse takes place immediately after an individual learns new information.[i] When organizations only offer training on an annual basis, people will likely forget most of the information—dubbed “the forgetting curve.”

An organization can help its employees overcome the forgetting curve by consistently practicing continuous learning. Continuous learning enables a workplace culture in which employees constantly seek out opportunities to learn and commit themselves to the organization and its mission. Research shows a correlation between continuous learning and positive business outcomes. For instance, when SAP Company redesigned their workplace learning program to integrate best practices in continuous learning, employee attrition dropped by 80%.[ii]

The Four Ds Framework

The “four Ds” of learning offer a framework for the different approaches to continuous learning. To successfully create a culture of learning, organizations can and should integrate the four Ds into their workplace learning model.

The First D: Learning by Didactics         

This approach involves the more “traditional” process of learning through formal courses.[iii] An employer might implement didactic learning by offering a weekly, monthly, or quarterly online training to its employees on different topics. Didactic learning might incorporate active recall, where an employer will ask their employee to reflect on a situation. For example, if a manager wants their employees to learn about a methodology, rather than just lecturing about it they can ask them to share an example of an application.

The practice of microlearning is a modern take on didactic learning. This process, which involves repeating content using short bursts of repetition, helps an individual overcome the forgetting curve. Employers can engage their staff in microlearning through interactive quizzes, mini courses, and open-ended questions.[iv] [v]

The Second D: Learning by Discovery

This approach involves informal learning through online resources, videos, podcasts, blog posts, and articles.[vi] Employers can engage their employees in this learning method on a weekly, or even daily, basis by sharing an interesting article or motivational TED Talk. Employers must simultaneously utilize strong knowledge management practices[vii] to institutionalize this information and make it easily searchable.

The Third D: Learning by Discourse

This approach involves learning through communication and collaboration with colleagues.[viii] Employees can engage in learning by discourse on a weekly or even daily basis by sharing knowledge with the other members of their team. Teams can also engage on a monthly or quarterly basis through lunch and learns and team-building exercises.

The Fourth D: Learning by Doing

This approach involves acquiring experiential learning through job activities or performance feedback from a manager (delivered on a monthly or quarterly basis).[ix] Supervisors looking to engage their staff in learning by doing might task them with a project that requires learning a new methodology or reading about a new field of study.

Creating a Culture of Learning

A recent survey by the Center for Modern Workplace Learning shows that learning occurs across all four methods. Specifically, surveyed employees said they learned almost equally from each of the four Ds.[x] While traditionally employers have leaned heavily into didactic learning, the survey found that only 28% (i.e., approximately one-fourth) of employees found this type of learning to be the most essential type, further demonstrating that all four approaches are necessary to maximize learning.

When integrating the four Ds into a workplace learning program, it is important to reinforce and develop essential knowledge and skills through multiple learning methodologies. An employer could offer a training one month and follow it with a lunch and learn the following month to create space for employees to reflect on the implementation of their learnings. The employer can then reinforce this learning by sharing articles, video clips, and trainings that support the knowledge base for a new project. Here, knowledge management is key to ensure the organization captures, organizes, and shares these past resources and trainings. Having these resources readily available will provide the proper foundation for learning across all four Ds.

Employers can further lean into the four Ds through the practice of gamification. Gamification incorporates game-like systems into a rewards-based learning program. Incorporating rewards systems and competition increases learner engagement and actively tests employees’ knowledge. Rewards-based systems cause the brain to release dopamine and other chemicals that aren’t typically released through normal learning processes. To implement gamification, an employer could set up a leaderboard to incentivize employees to complete trainings. They could also offer badges or rewards for sharing the knowledge they obtain in those trainings with their colleagues through virtual brown bags or social media.

Some companies have used the gamification approach when they were struggling to incentivize leaders to complete an executive training program. They implemented a series of gamified elements, including badges, leaderboards, and status symbols to reward employees for completing the course. The gamified elements reduced the time to complete certification by 50%.[xi]

The future of workplace learning lies in the integration of the four Ds of learning. This may involve a combination of short videos, game-like simulations, team-based activities, and social collaboration. Employees of the future will have access to learning on-the-go and on-demand, fully embracing the paradigm of continuous learning.[xii]

Human CapitalMichelle Wandrescontinuous learning, educationComment