Employee Education: How to Avoid the ‘Forgetting Curve’

Unleashing the power of employee education often hinges on overcoming the 'Forgetting Curve'. Discover strategies to ensure knowledge retention, transforming learning into a lasting investment, rather than a fleeting moment soon forgotten.

You’ve spent the day at a leadership conference learning all sorts of great things

but within a few weeks, you try to recall what you learned.

• Only 12% of professionals use their newfound skills right away
• Being expected to retain large volumes of information all in one go is like trying to drink from a firehose
• There are employee education tactics to make knowledge “stickier” and avoid the forgetting curve

Stack new knowledge on top of prior knowledge

This creates a strong foundation and avoids learning loss.

• Not all knowledge “belongs” in the “stack”
• To ensure efficient stacking, request feedback from your team members
• Learning has to make sense to the employee

Create training opportunities that are easily accessible and device-agnostic

Be certain that you’re offering training that meets people’s learning needs and preferences

• Similarly, be sure that all employee education content is accessible on any device
• Calculate what types of devices or learning styles are being used most often by your team

Give workers access to bite-sized learning

Eighty-five percent of all educational content is either forgotten or rendered useless within six weeks of learning it, which indicates that traditional training might not be the most effective way for people to learn.

• Microlearning is also an effective way to improve uptake and engagement.

Go for a blended learning approach that still includes formal learning

Intersperse formal learning with other types of employee education, such as microlearning, feedback loops, and self-directed learning.

• Don’t just have a lecture-style marathon. Add a post-workshop task and follow-up sessions to round out the learning.

Follow up after training to reinforce learning

Having team members share how they’ve applied what they learned is one of the most effective ways to overcome the forgetting curve and to ensure behavior change

• Meeting with their team leaders to go over digestible chunks of the material they learned while onboarding helps with retention

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