In my last blog posting I quoted the 80-20 rule - that is that research shows that 80% of learning in an organisation is informal, and only 20% of learning is formal. Jay Cross has pointed out that the inverse is usually found, i.e. that organisations spend 80% of their budget on formal learning. Other commentators say he is wrong; in fact, it is more like 100% of training budgets are spent on formal learning solutions (i.e. courses) and little if nothing is spent on informal learning solutions.
So, let us assume you are a Learning & Development manager and you have a £100,000 budget to spend this year, does that mean if you apply the 80-20 rule, you really only have as little as £20,000 to spend on formal learning? So what on earth do you do with the other £80,000?
If you would like a few ideas for looking differently at common training problems, continue reading this article at our website
2 comments:
Jane, I agree with you on most points. There are many investments in learning with better returns than more training. However, when you take the 80%, the Learning and Development Manager doesn't get it all. That's the person who has been overlooking the informal alternatives all along. The 80% needs to be spread around to managers who will invest in social networks, facilitated conversation, getting the most out of meetings, and a bunch of other things. All the best to you and Vaughn.
Thanks Jay
You make a very interesting point! If the 80% is spread around to the other managers to create their own informal learning solutions, and there is no longer a centrally-held training budget, is there going to be any future need for a central Learning & Development function?
But that's probably a question for another blog posting I should think!
Jane
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