Maintaining Balance

The second strategy we propose to apply in terms of employee training and development is balancing traditional and innovative approaches.

Here, it’s important to consider the concept of balance, as it’s necessary to avoid extremes in conclusions, stating that traditional methods become ineffective, and suddenly transitioning to new ones. It’s more appropriate to apply methods that meet the specific needs of your organization.

For example, in a situation involving training company managers who need maturity, responsibility, and systematicity, we suggest a comprehensive approach to developing relevant skills. This approach includes interactive teaching methods and practical sessions with instructors. However, when we receive feedback about a desire to use more entertaining methods such as comics and cartoons, we welcome this idea. However, it’s important to maintain balance: if such an approach meets your needs and effectively addresses the business problem, then it’s great. But if not, we should maintain a balanced approach, using methods that effectively meet business needs. Interactive online methods, microlearning, and gamification are interesting, but if depth is important to add, incorporating work with instructors and applying practical exercises can be beneficial. An instructor should not only convey theoretical knowledge but also provide students with practical tools, share experiences, and teach them to apply this knowledge in practice. Thus, it’s important to maintain balance in the choice of methods.

The Center for Creative Leadership has developed the 10-20-70 methodology for adult learning, particularly for leadership development. This methodology defines the optimal proportion of different types of learning:

70% – is the employee’s own experience gained through practical tasks, correcting mistakes, and acquiring knowledge:

– Work assignments

– Project work

– Increasing the scope and variety of responsibilities

– Training other employees

20% – social learning based on the experience of others, through observation and clarification:

– Participation in others’ activities (Buddying)

– Observation of work processes (Shadowing)

– Internships and rotations (Secondment)

– Mentoring

– Personal development coaching

– Participation in professional communities

– Receiving developmental feedback

10% – formal learning, involving the study of theory:

– Courses

– Seminars

– Conferences

– Online courses

– Higher education

– Certificates

What is APT’s experience in this?

Within the educational programs conducted by the APT team for clients, we utilize a combination of various teaching methods, consisting of microlearning and practical sessions to reinforce the acquired tools. We want to highlight that this format is the most popular among our clients and well reflects the idea of balance. Some of our clients are limited to only microlearning or illustrative materials in an online format, and then our proposal is a set of video tutorials. This option is popular among those who wish to update their knowledge. However, when it comes to professional development, especially in the field of personnel management, which is a complex and comprehensive discipline, we believe that relying solely on online microlearning will not achieve the desired result. Therefore, we also use traditional practical sessions with trainers, provide homework for reinforcement, and practice applying the material in the workplace.

Thus, striking a balance between traditional and innovative approaches in training and personnel development is an effective strategy for achieving success in an organization. Taking into account individual needs and the specific nature of the company, it is important to choose methods that best address the tasks at hand.

Explore other effective strategies in the following articles: “One size does not fit all” and “Revisiting Innovation.“

Authors: Mariia Kot, Oleksandra Alkhimovych