What Makes Learning Stick?

Every organisation invests in training. Few achieve transformation. Courses get completed, certificates are awarded, and within weeks most of what was taught has quietly disappeared. The problem isn’t enthusiasm, it’s design. The science of learning shows that human memory and behaviour don’t respond to information dumps. They respond to repetition, relevance, and reinforcement.

The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2027, more than 60 per cent of workers will require some form of reskilling, yet only half of organisations have a plan for how to do it effectively. Globally, spending on learning technology has surged, but the return on investment remains stubbornly uneven. Training alone doesn’t change behaviour; experience does.

Hermann Ebbinghaus first mapped the “forgetting curve” more than a century ago, and its message still holds: without reinforcement, people forget up to 70 per cent of what they learn within a week. Recent studies from the Association for Talent Development confirm that even modern e-learning suffers the same fate when delivered as one-off events.

Psychologists such as Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke have shown that “retrieval practice”, or the act of recalling knowledge rather than re-reading it, can double long-term retention. Add “spaced learning” — short bursts of review over time — and retention rises further. Yet most corporate learning is still built around long sessions and little follow-up.

Learning sticks when it is tested, varied, and used in context. Robert and Elizabeth Bjork describe this as introducing “desirable difficulties” — conditions that make learning slightly harder but far more durable. Mixing topics, applying new skills to different problems, and creating low-stakes opportunities for recall all improve transfer.

Organisations that design for practice, not perfection, see faster capability growth. In Japan, Toyota’s “hansei” culture of reflection turns mistakes into structured learning opportunities. In the United States, companies such as Salesforce embed live simulations into onboarding to reinforce key behaviours. In Europe, Schneider Electric’s digital academies use real customer challenges as case studies, ensuring every module ends with application, not theory.

David Baldwin and Kevin Ford’s classic model of training transfer identified three factors that determine whether learning endures: the learner, the design, and the work environment. Of these, the environment is often the weakest link. If managers don’t coach, time isn’t protected, or systems don’t support new behaviours, the learning fades.

Recent research by McKinsey found that organisations where managers actively reinforce learning through feedback and recognition are twice as likely to report measurable performance improvement. The same holds true across regions. In Singapore’s SkillsFuture initiative, the government explicitly trains line managers to act as learning multipliers, embedding reflection into project debriefs.

In a world of rapid change, the most effective learning no longer happens away from work, but inside it. Deloitte’s 2024 Global Human Capital Trends report shows that organisations embedding learning into daily tools and workflows see 25 per cent higher productivity gains than those relying on stand-alone courses.

Edify Collective has developed digital learning paths that adapt to job data and project context.

This approach is not about shrinking learning but situating it. It recognises that skills only stick when they are used in the moment of need.

Training is often evaluated through completion rates and satisfaction scores, neither of which tell you if learning has changed behaviour. The most advanced organisations now track metrics that align with business outcomes: time to proficiency, reduction in rework or safety incidents, customer satisfaction, or sales conversion.

Microsoft’s internal studies show that teams with high learning engagement outperform peers by up to 20 per cent on productivity metrics. Similarly, Unilever reports that its global learning initiatives have reduced new manager ramp-up time by almost half. These data points show what happens when learning becomes a performance lever, not an event.

Another common trap is focusing on awareness rather than agency. Diversity and inclusion training offers a cautionary example. Numerous studies show that one-off awareness workshops rarely lead to sustained change unless paired with systems and accountability. The lesson applies to all forms of learning: knowledge without structure rarely sticks.

To create agency, learning must be connected to autonomy. Give people room to apply what they’ve learned, reflect, and share. Global examples such as Mastercard’s “Learning Fridays” or Siemens’ “Learning Days” show how dedicated time signals permission to experiment. These rituals build learning into identity, not just compliance.

Making learning stick is not about volume, but design. It is about aligning the science of memory with the art of work. The most effective learning programmes are small, spaced, social, and strategic. They combine micro-practice with macro-purpose, showing employees not only how to do something new, but why it matters.

As automation, AI, and global disruption accelerate, the real transformation isn’t technical; it is human. Training builds knowledge, but transformation builds confidence, adaptability, and meaning.

In the end, the organisations that thrive will be those where learning lasts.