_This article is written by Dr Filia Garivaldis, Senior Lecturer, Monash University. _

  • The problem: A persisting assumption in organisations is that participants who register to complete a course of professional development or study are also motivated enough to gain impactful learning experiences.
  • Why it matters: This assumption can lead to the use of a familiar but narrow set of pedagogical solutions for addressing the majority of training and development challenges.
  • The solution: A range of behavioural insights can be applied, both readily and systematically, to offer simple solutions to these challenges.

Education is recognised as the single best investment a country can make to create prosperous, healthy and equitable societies (United Nations). Enhancing knowledge and understanding is certainly one way — an educator’s way — of inspiring change. However, it is not the only way and not all education is done well.

The need for a behavioural approach?

Training and development specialists and participants alike face a number of barriers associated with teaching and learning that interfere with the impact of even the most rigorously validated pedagogical, including digital educational tools. Within a continuously evolving organisational landscape, a behavioural approach to optimising training and development to keep skills current that complements the pedagogical approach is needed more than ever.

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Behavioural scientists are concerned with understanding human behaviour from what prompts an individual to behave in a certain way to how this behaviour can change to create better outcomes for people and the planet. There are many examples to draw from where applying behavioural science principles has improved economic prosperity, health, social inclusion and environmental sustainability (including specific reference to Covid-19). However, little-known work has gone into examining the value of behavioural science in learning.

The assumption that simply providing participants with information and knowledge of what they need to learn and how is not enough.

Fortunately, there are a range of tools and techniques drawn from the best of behavioural science that can be applied to any training and development activity to improve the chances of engagement. A growing body of literature is showing that simply providing learning content to learn is only one of many possible ways to teach.

Applying existing frameworks to improve training and development

The EAST framework, from the Behavioural Insights Team UK, recommends four simple principles, including making priority behaviours EASY, ATTRACTIVE, SOCIAL and TIMELY to increase their likelihood of being performed. The four EAST principles often resemble ‘nudges’, techniques that encourage people to make certain decisions over others without coercion and without compromising freedom of choice. EAST can be applied to a range of contexts, including training and development in the workplace, alongside existing and new behavioural and educational interventions that involve getting others to behave differently. Trainers may use the EAST principles to complement their education toolkit to get the most out of their teaching efforts.

  • Behaviours that are EASY tend to have a clear ‘call to action’ and can be readily performed without the need to navigate hurdles and intermediate steps. Learning can be made easy by changing default options, reducing barriers, friction costs and simplifying instructions.

For example, participants can be automatically opted in to receive notifications from their learning management system, can be provided with direct links to learning material to ensure easy access or may be provided with instructions in step-by-step form to make key actions easier to follow.

  • When a behaviour is ATTRACTIVE, it is engaging and enjoyable. To make learning attractive, trainers may use visual cues to draw attention, personalise messages and offer incentives.

For example, heavy text can be replaced with visuals to reduce monotony, personalised feedback on progress may be provided to participants to prompt better performance or reward good performance and learning can be made as fun as much as possible to elicit positive emotions.

  • Behaviour that is SOCIAL is influenced by others, such as how others behave or how others expect us to behave. Learning can be made social through the use of credible individuals to communicate messages, the sharing of progress to harness the power of positive social norms and through increasing accountability for behaviours that need to be performed.

For example, trainers may use in-group members such as colleagues to support key messages or show participants how highly engaged others are in performing at the right level. Finally, participants can be asked to pre-commit to learning activities as a way of increasing accountability to themselves and others.

  • Lastly, a behaviour is TIMELY when it is situated or planned at a point in time that matters. Learning can be made timely by considering when participants are most receptive to new information, the immediate costs and benefits of certain behaviours, effective goal setting and planning.

For example, trainers may take advantage of the start of a performance or development cycle when participants are most receptive to communicate key information, or send reminders and prompts for upcoming milestones, provide timely feedback and help participants identify a time and a place for engaging in learning behaviour.

Applying a systematic approach to designing impactful education

Alternatively, a systematic approach to designing behaviour change solutions using well-established frameworks, such as the BehaviourWorks Australia Method, can ensure a well-informed approach is applied to addressing specific behavioural challenges that may compromise training and development outcomes. Such an approach specifies the tools and techniques that can be used at different stages of a behavioural campaign to ensure that the problem and target participants have been explored adequately, that the priority learning behaviour and what drives that behaviour is well understood and that the solutions designed to change behaviour are fit for purpose.

BehaviourWorks Australia Method Framework Figure 1: The BehaviourWorks Australia Method

A behaviour change perspective to training and development can enable educators to consider novel solutions to recurring educational challenges — i.e. solutions that are targeted and, when combined with sound pedagogy, have a greater chance of success. The assumption that simply providing participants with information and knowledge of what they need to learn and how is not enough. By using insights from the behavioural sciences, training and development specialists can create impactful educational products in ways that go beyond just information provision.

You can read more about the EAST framework here and you can purchase a copy of the BehaviourWorks Australia Method book here.

Done reading? Make sure to share your own thoughts on using behavioural science insights and methods in training and developing or in your own learning by leaving a comment below ⬇️

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