The Summary

Evidenced Learning & Development (‘Evidenced L&D’) is a process where academic Learning & Development (L&D) activity is enhanced by practical opportunities to ‘put theory into practice’ with peers in a supported and psychologically safe environment.

Because of its enhanced nature, Evidenced L&D delivers critical organisational and commercial benefits ‘by design’ and is therefore more effective than purely academic L&D activity (ie, that which is not supported or enhanced through practical/vocational evidence).

Key Considerations:

• Individuals with confidence in their own abilities are more comfortable to deal directly with workplace situations than those who lack confidence.
  

• Purely theoretical L&D activity (ie, without evidenced, practical, face-to-face learning transfer content) only conveys the academic theory, and risks leaving the recipient unsupported and/or unprepared and lacking in confidence in their own abilities.
  

• Evidenced L&D activity (ie, with evidenced, practical, face-to-face learning transfer content) conveys the academic theory but also allows the recipient opportunities to experiment with that theory (and ‘get it wrong’ as part of an accepted learning cycle) with their peers in a psychologically safe and supported learning environment which builds confidence in their own abilities.
  

• Confidence to change our own leadership style and approach will increase our motivation and willingness to influence or change behaviours in others, potentially reducing instances of workplace conflict, grievances and in some cases, litigation.
  

• Learning derived from evidence, experience and consequence is a very natural process for humans. It’s a learning style which we’re comfortable with (from the earliest age) and compliments the majority of the topics we chose to learn.

As a result of these factors, by using Evidenced L&D interventions, individuals are better equipped and have more confidence to address operational and/or behavioural issues directly and quickly in the workplace (as opposed to ignoring them due to a lack of confidence) which will speed the delivery of organisational/commercial benefits such as;

• Increased Resolution of Conflicts

• Increased Discretionary Effort from colleagues

• Reduction in Grievances and Litigation

• Reduction of Escalation of issues to Senior Managers

• Increased essential Networking, Collaborative Working and ‘Getting to know you’ activity.

The Academic Justification

To help us manage ourselves and our people in often challenging scenarios in the workplace, Learning & Development (L&D) activity introduces us to ‘new approaches’ (new skills, tools, techniques and behaviours) which we can chose to use to lead, influence, inspire, resolve conflict and/or manage performance etc.

Being human, any of these new approaches might at first seem ‘different’ or even’ strange’ to us and those feelings then elicit other, sometimes hard to control, neurological and physiological reactions within us. To some people, using new approaches to manage ‘self and others’ may result in them feeling energised, emboldened or enlightened but equally we can also feel anxious, challenged, threatened or fearful.

These very real emotions and feelings associated with ‘doing things differently’ will certainly affect our own behaviour (what we say and do) which in turn has a direct effect on the behaviours of others. Consequently, ‘by design’, us doing things differently may well provoke a new (or unexpected) reaction/behaviour from someone else. This might be our primary intention (ie, to champion good practice or to reduce unwanted behaviours) but not knowing how someone might react to our new approach is also quite likely to put many of us outside of our Comfort Zone. 

It’s not unreasonable to believe that for many people, if the first time they’re able to put new approaches into action is ‘live’ in the workplace with their colleagues in potentially ‘business critical’ situations, any associated feelings of anxiety, challenge, fear or threat may well trigger a ‘fight or flight’ reaction, reducing their confidence to take that new approach, or may even totally prevent them from changing their approach altogether. In these instances, the value of the initial learning will have been materially reduced or even totally negated purely by our perceived threat of what might happen as a result of us ‘doing things differently’.

Knowledge Dispels Fear

If our lack of confidence to try new approaches is driven by fear and anxiety of the consequences of ‘doing things differently’ we can reduce or even negate that fear and anxiety by trialling the subject matter practically, face-to-face with others, in a supported psychologically safe environment, ie, one where we can observe and gauge behavioural reactions within ourselves and from others, one step removed from the real workplace. This is a ‘Learning Transfer’ process, ie, the transition from an unsupported, purely theoretical ‘training’ process to one of learning & development which is ‘safe and supported’.

By undertaking a psychologically safe and supported Learning Transfer process we collect ‘evidence’ of the effectiveness of the new approaches. Not only can we now see, hear and feel what it’s like to use a new approach but, of critical importance, that evidenced understanding (the ‘Knowledge’) reduces the fear factor and gives us more confidence to go into the ‘live’ workplace and behave differently.

From another angle, a legal standpoint, there’s now case law which exists where individuals have successfully won considerable settlements in court cases against their organisations for putting them into situations/scenarios for which they’ve not been adequately trained/prepared. This includes individuals who have been required to manage people without any effective ‘people management’ training.

Grievance resulting in litigation is thankfully the ‘solution’ in the minority of cases, but it still makes sense on many levels to deliver the highest quality learning for our people and negate the possibility of conflict, costly grievance processes and potential litigation?

Delivering the Gold Standard

L&D activity with no evidenced learning transfer process only conveys the theory, and risks leaving the recipient unsupported (unprepared?) when faced with putting theory into practice.

Consequently, if the individual responsible for making the changes is fearful of how their ‘new approaches’ will be received and/or accepted by others;

• Desired changes in the workplace may never happen.

• The individual responsible for making the changes never benefits from the initial L&D activity and doesn’t develop as a result.

• The change process may be handled inappropriately, potentially resulting in a grievance and litigation.

On the other hand, L&D activity with an evidenced learning transfer process conveys the theory and allows the recipient opportunities to experiment with that theory (and ‘get it wrong’ as part of the learning cycle) in a safe and supported learning environment which builds confidence.

Consequently;

• Desired changes in the workplace are more likely to happen and be supported.

• The individual responsible for making the changes gains confidence and develops as a ‘people manager’.

• The change process is more likely to be handled appropriately and supported, reducing or negating the chances of grievances and litigation.

In short, the effectiveness of L&D activity is maximised when evidenced learning transfer activity its designed-in from the outset. This benefits the individual, the people they manage and the wider organisation, while minimising risks from conflict, grievances and litigation. 

Face-to-face L&D v Virtual/online L&D activity
Over the past few years there’s been a trend towards virtual/online L&D activity over face-to-face L&D activity. The drivers for this trend are diverse and numerous.

Undoubtedly virtual/online learning is perfectly appropriate for topics where learning can be taken away and put into practice with little or no actual risk or psychological risk to the individual, team or organisation, but if we accept that most aspects of ‘people management’ L&D does have risk (associated with the behavioural aspect of the subject, previously discussed) then individuals, teams and organisations would benefit greatly when L&D activity is evidenced and rehearsed through practical, face-to-face learning transfer opportunities which are designed-in from the outset.

Virtual/online interventions deliver benefit for sure, but ‘Evidenced L&D’ with face-to-face learning transfer between real people increases the likelihood of learning being more effectively landed and applied in the workplace. As a result, this ‘Gold Standard’ takes longer and consequently costs more to deliver.  

Added time and/or investment might not be acceptable, affordable or fast enough for some organisations but the benefits of face-to-face L&D go further than simply delivering a ‘Gold Standard’.

The 'Intangibles' (the stuff you get 'for free')

Networking/Getting to Know You/Discretionary Effort
If your event or programme is delivered virtually/online then simply ‘understanding the content’ may be the only benefit for recipients, but face-to-face interventions also give individuals the opportunity to network, get to know each other and have 'informal' conversations either around the content or around other work-related topics.

This was a critical aspect of face-to-face L&D which was widely talked about and greatly appreciated when organisations returned to face-to-face interventions in mid-2021 after Covid restrictions were finally lifted.

Learning through Experience – ‘Experiential Learning’
By its very nature, L&D themed around anything behavioural (personal, team and/or leadership development etc) requires interaction with other people.

If for instance, you want your people to know what leadership IS then the virtual/online environment can do this for sure, but if you want your people to experience what leadership looks, feels and sounds like so they can become more comfortable, confident and proficient, then you need to use additional evidenced face-to-face learning transfer activity. 

Developing Trust, Solving Problems and dealing with Conflict
These skills, within and between teams are generally accepted as essential for performing organisations, and it’s widely accepted that we develop trust, solve problems and resolve conflict far more effectively if we understand more about our colleagues around us.

In a virtual/online learning environment we can learn about our colleagues to some extent, but the process is considerably more effective in an evidenced face-to-face learning transfer L&D environment when we can also experience their different personalities, emotions, behaviours and body language etc.

The Human aspect

Let’s not forget that we’re all humans. Learning through evidence and consequence is a very comfortable learning process for us right from our earliest experiences as babies and young people (learning to feed, to put our clothes on, to ride a bike), through to adulthood (learning to use new tech, experiencing the wider world on a Gap Year, driving our first car, managing new relationships etc).

We learn and shape our behaviour through our experiences and the resulting consequences. It can be hard and expensive but as a learning process it sits very comfortably with us (because we’ve done it from birth).

If as humans we didn’t benefit greatly from experience, evidence and consequences (ie face-to-face ‘learning transfer’ activity) we wouldn’t value school teachers, Uni lecturers, leaders, supervisors, team leaders, consultants or coaches in education, business, healthcare or sport.

Mick Earle
mick@mickearle.com