A Compass For Engaging And Effective Workplace Learning
Michael W. Allen, PhD, has been a pioneer in the eLearning industry since 1970. His groundbreaking work focuses on cognitive interactivity, immersive design, and innovative training methods that truly engage learners. He developed the foundational design models used at Allen Interactions, including the CCAF (Context, Challenge, Activity, Feedback) framework and the SAM (Successive Approximation Model) process. Dr. Allen is also a prolific author—he’s written or edited nine books on effective eLearning, including Michael Allen’s Guide to e-Learning—and has received notable honors such as the Ellis Island Humanitarian Award, the Association for Talent Development (ATD) Award for Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance, and recognition as a Guild Master by The Learning Guild.
Today, we are discussing effective workplace learning design for emotional engagement and lasting behavior change.
In Chapter 1 of Rethinking eLearning, you describe the “relevancy revelation” from the Northside Achievement Zone project and how it reshaped your thinking. How does that same insight apply to corporate learning environments where employees often disengage because training feels irrelevant?
Regardless of age, who wants to learn something that seems useless? No one. It’s hard to pay attention, focus, and engage, yet we ask employees to do just that when we’ve failed to address and make perfectly clear the personal power and advantages our training affords learners. If our training doesn’t provide such benefits, then we need to ask ourselves, just why are we putting our people through this?
Why have so many organizations continued to rely on content-focused, “broadcast-style” digital learning even with advanced technology available—and what’s the cost in terms of talent retention and performance?
Content broadcasting results from and is reinforced by several factors.
- It’s what many of us were subjected to in school, so it’s the de facto standard.
- When training development starts, designers tend to jump into content immediately.
- Making sure content is complete, accurate, and concise is a relatively straightforward task. Creating engaging instructional experiences requires more creativity and technology.
However, training that doesn’t train is the most wasteful and ultimately most expensive training alternative. Training through experiences fosters performance confidence and readiness to transfer training to job performance, while the intrinsic practice increases retention dramatically.
Walk us through how the 3Ms framework (Meaningful, Memorable, Motivational), paired with spaced authentic practice and CCAF interactions, creates the emotional engagement needed for lasting change.
First, a counterexample: You can passively read about or watch a proficient violinist or business leader, perhaps to the extent you could speak knowledgeably about what they do. But could you do it? Would you be confident stepping up to the stage?
The 3Ms, spaced authentic practice, and CCAF provide an essential framework for energized engagement and learning, especially with the addition of empathy—adapting learning experiences to how learners are feeling, not just to how well they’re doing. Combining these components makes a learning experience feel as though it was designed specifically for each learner, being helpful and understanding as a personal mentor would be. The results? Not only learning, but also a positive attitude and strong, enthusiastic confidence about employing newly developed skills.
How can leaders use backward design, individualized paths, and short distributed sessions to reduce resistance and build genuine competence without overwhelming teams?
When I list all the requirements, the training creation task can sound overwhelming. But it’s actually not; it’s just different. In some ways, it’s easier. Here’s a synopsis:
- What can you ask learners to do that would prove to you and themselves that they’ve mastered the skills to be learned? Design this interaction first.
- Look at each of the errors learners might make and create a microlearning module to address each possible error. You can often do this easily by using components of #1.
- Look at each microlearning module in the same way and create additional microlearning modules to address possible errors made in them if necessary.
- Repeat as necessary until you have learning experiences that cover the most basic needs your learner population might have.
While this design is backward from the usual approach of starting with basics and working up, you’ve saved time by reusing components. You’ve also developed individualized pathways. Having learners tackle the final challenge first determines what needs they have and don’t have. You can now form-fit the instruction going forward by invoking the microlearning modules needed.
Looking ahead, what does the future of effective workplace learning look like when organizations fully embrace the principles in Rethinking eLearning?
Fun. It looks like learning fun. Learners won’t be bored or frustrated by feeling forced through training that’s below their abilities, beyond their abilities, or irrelevant to their needs. They will find CCAF is providing a video game-like environment which is both fun in itself and a valuable use of their time because, as they overcome challenges and level up, they’re learning skills that will be valuable on the job, not just within the confines of the game.
For employers, they’ll find an ROI they aren’t even imagining today, along with enhanced competitiveness in their field that will make all stakeholders very happy, indeed.
Wrapping Up
Thanks so much to Dr. Michael Allen for sharing his insights on how to cultivate genuine competence through relevant and emotionally engaging workplace learning. Explore these ideas more deeply in Dr. Allen’s new book, Rethinking eLearning: What Works. What Doesn’t. What’s Missing. Reach out to Allen Interactions to begin designing the kind of learning experiences your organization—and your people—truly deserve.