Why Do Employees Forget?

Carol LeamanCEO

Axonify

Charles HendersonL&D Professional

Agenda & Speakers

• The question “Why Learners Forget so Quickly?”

• The analysis

• What the latest in brain science tells us

• An example

• Q&A

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Key Takeaways

1. Insight into what the L&D community thinks about why learners forget

2. The latest in brain science and what it tells us about learning retention

Charles HendersonL&D Professional

Axonify Confidential

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10 words or less turned into

47,379!

Axonify Confidential

Maybe it’s the request to keep comments to 10 words or less. Maybe it’s the northern hemisphere summer down-time that gives some LinkedIn members more opportunity to contemplate this kind of question.

I think it’s more likely that this is a question that cuts deeply into the psyche of educators and trainers.

The Performance Improvement BlogDr. Stephen Gill

Co-Founder of Learning to be Great

Analysis of Reponses from the L&D Community

900+ responses analyzed!

Analysis of Reponses from the L&D Community

Occurrence: At what point in the learning process do respondents believe the mistakes and failures which lead to “forgetting” occur?

Poll #1

At what point in the learning process do you believe retention problems occur?

A. Pre-Training

B. During Training

C. Post-Training

D. Not Related to Training

Pre-Training4%

Intra-Training58%

Post-Training32%

Not Related to Training6%

At what point do we believe that retention problems occur?

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Some Common Themes

• Poor facilitation• Boring or lecture-only

delivery• Lack of attention-

getting stories• Unmotivated learners• Overwhelming amount

of material

Intra-Training58%

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Some Common Themes

• Lack of immediate application of the skills and knowledge learned

• “Use it or Lose it”• Lack of reinforcement

Post-Training32%

Analysis of Reponses from the L&D Community

Responsibility: Which party or parties do the respondents believe are responsible for retention failures?

Poll #2

What do you believe is the main reason for lack of retention?

A. The Curriculum

B. The Facilitator

C. The Learners

D. Organizational Leadership

Learners22%

Facilitator20%

Curriculum33%

Leadership/Accountability

24%

What do we believe to be the main reason for lack of retention?

Carol LeamanPresident & CEO

Axonify

Employees aren’t remembering and applying what they need to know to do their jobs and it is expensive.

The Fundamental Truth

The Forgetting Curve

Traditional Corporate Learning

21

Let’s start with the brain.

Scientists know more about the brain and memory than ever before.

Brains Need a Break from Continuous Input

Emotional Events Get Our AttentionWe Process

“Gist” before Details

We Are Incapable of Multi-Tasking

Posner’s Theory of Attention

24

3Cognitive strategies that can be used to improve memory.

25

3Cognitive strategies that can be used to improve memory.

Repeated Retrieval

Spacing

Deep Encoding

Repeated Retrieval

Repeated retrieval is more effective for long term retention than repeated study.

Study Repeated Retrieval0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.18

0.38

Prop

ortio

n Re

calle

dFact: Repeated retrieval leads to better learning

Fact: Retrieval practices produce better learning

Study

Repea

ted St

udy

Concept M

apping

Retriev

al Prac

tice0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

Prop

ortio

n Co

rrec

t

Source: 2011 study by Jeffrey D. Karpicke, Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University

Spacing

Long-term retention is improved as the spacing between repetitions increases.

Fact: Spaced (vs. crammed) practice leads to better learning

Prop

ortio

n Re

calle

d

Fact: Spaced (vs. crammed) practice leads to better learning

Prop

ortio

n Re

calle

d

Deep Encoding

The more deeply and meaningfully you process information, the more likely you are to remember it.

Fact: Deep encoding leads to better retention

Case Rhyme Sentence0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Prop

ortio

n Re

cogn

ized

Source: Craik & Tulving, 1975

Level of Processing

Take Home Messages

1. Spacing combined with retrieval leads to better learning

2. Practicing retrieval is particularly beneficial to learning when it:• is followed by feedback• occurs multiple times• requires effort

3. Retention is better when information is processed deeply.

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Incorporating Brain Science into Corporate eLearning:• Retrieval Based Learning• Spaced Repetition• Bite-sized Learning

Retrieval Practices(Questioning Format)

?Spaced Repetition

(Interval Reinforcement)

The Next Generation of Corporate eLearning

Add Engagement….

BadgesPrizesConstant Feedback

Timed PlaySurprise ElementsIncreasing DifficultyGoals

Community Recog-nitionPeer VisibilityLeaderboards – Individual & Team

AvatarsGame ChoiceAchievement LevelsQuestion Styles

Personalized Social Fun Rewarding

…to maximize learning

Results

Bottom-Line Results at Pep Boys

60% increase in calls to Integrity Pays hot line

Inventory Shrink reduced by 55%

Can demonstrate to

OSHA a 95%+

delivery rate by

topic, by associate

Claim Counts down

by 40%, despite

adding stores &

employees

LOSS PREVENTION HEALTH & SAFETY

Learning woven into the workday, driving behavioral change, resulting in improved financial performance.

ContentReinforcement• Personalized• Gamified• Social

LearningRetention

OperationalTransfer

BehavioralChange

CulturalShift

Bottom-Line Results• Reduction in Shrink• Reduction in Safety

Incidents• Increase in Sales• Improved Service

Thank youLearn more: Axonify.com