Motorola University, the “granddaddy” of all corporate universities, posted a study showing that for every dollar invested in training, there was a $30 (300%) increase in productivity. But getting the maximum return on your training budget is not easy. One of the challenges is that people have different learning styles ranging from audio to visual, to read/write and kinesthetic.

We have probably all had the experience of leaving a multi-day, full day or even half day conference filled with excitement and new ideas…only to return to work and quickly be overwhelmed with what is waiting. Although excited and motivated with new information, often none or very little gets implemented. This type of training tends to drown us with ideas and information and send us back gasping for breath. People can’t pay attention to too many new ideas at once and the studies show that we forget 42% of what was learned in 30 minutes.

According to Baruch: “There is considerable evidence that a critical factor influencing transfer of training is the extent to which the trainee receives the opportunity for practice and gets constructive feedback.” Many shorter training sessions that dispense “smaller bites” are more easily digested and assimilated over time.

Indiana University recently reconfirmed that it is important for training programs to keep in mind methodologies that can help people retain what they learned. People remember; 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see and hear and 60% of what they write.

The research further confirmed that people tend to remember; 70% of what they discuss, 80% of what they experience and 90% of what they teach. When training programs break people into smaller interactive groups they provide opportunity for discussion. As group discussion is taking place, participants are both gaining experience and teaching each other.

If your organization has events such as annual or regional conferences where huge doses of information have been given all at once, make sure there is a central theme and stick to it. Organizations such as: American Express, the American Management Association, AT&T, Citibank, Colgate, Levi Strauss, Northern Telecom, NYNEX Corporation, and Procter & Gamble have found that follow up with one-on-one executive coaching can help especially if the coaching fosters the development and use of the theme of the event.

Learning styles are critical to incorporate into every program because failure to do so, guarantees the outcome will be ineffective for and frustrate participants…as well as prove to be a poor investment of time and money for the organization.

Visual learners prefer charts, graphs, symbols, arrows and other devices complementing word explanations. They usually take extensive notes to read later.

Audio learners prefer listening to talks, CD’s or talking with others and have difficulty learning with just handouts or overhead information. They’re usually not quiet for long and have a need to ask questions.

Read/write learners prefer information displayed in words and love to have lists. While the talk is okay they value handouts and the more extensive and complete the better.

Kinesthetic or tactile learners prefer to learn by experience and practice and want not just “active learning” but learning in real-world context. They love role playing, dramatization, cooperative games and simulations.

Keep in mind, time space learning in short intervals followed by the opportunity to practice and implement is the best way to affect meaningful change and can increase productivity by 88 to 300 percent. To do so requires interactivity and small group discussion, coupled with incorporating all four learning styles.

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