Leveraging the Power of Experiential Learning in the Workplace

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Have you ever heard the saying, “experience is the best teacher”? As I reflect on my career journey, I can visualize a combination of learning experiences that have been fundamental in building my skills and knowledge.  While further education and certifications were often helpful, the most impactful moments were whenever I had the opportunity to learn by doing. As Lindeman notes, “the resource of highest value in adult education is the learner’s experience” (Merriam & Bierema, 2014, p. 105). 

While most of these experiential learning opportunities occurred on the job, I often struggled most when I wanted to develop areas that were not easily within my reach. These were usually skills that I knew would add value to my current role or future career aspirations, but there was no one with the skillset within my network I could shadow.  

The Skills Gap Imperative 

Meanwhile, organizations themselves are finding their own challenges in finding, developing and retaining talent with sought out skills. There is a growing skills gap between the skills an employer needs and what an employee can deliver. In fact, a study by the Korn Ferry Institute completed in 2018, calculated that if the talent shortage continues to expand, the attributable unrealized revenue could be $8.5 trillion by 2030.  That’s $162 billion in the USA alone, which is roughly 6% of its entire economy!

This poses a need for organizations to step up their efforts in effectively tracking their workforce’s current skillset and skills gaps. Gaining a solid understanding of these needs will help the organization in the execution of their strategic workforce planning, recruitment, and retention efforts. It will also equip them to develop engaging training and compelling employee development opportunities that proactively fill the gaps, while improving the employee experience. 

Bridging the Gap from Within 

One opportunity our organization can leverage to help develop talent from within, is building and offering experiential learning opportunities within our very own learning experience platform. While terms such as stretch projects and special assignments are certainly not new, using a learning experience platform (LXP) could help better identify our workforce’s current skill level and offer development opportunities throughout the organization. 

Looking Through the Experiential Learning Lens

Experiential learning opportunities are a great way for employees to learn through a hands-on approach where they learn from their own experiences as well as from their peers’ experiences. To document these experiences from an LXP standpoint, IBM provides structure and consistency by providing a definition for experiential learning activities. They define these as: “skills-based learning that occurs directly within the context of the workplace”, that do not fall under any other delivery type such as classroom, web-based or e-learning, and have a business need driving its creation in the system (2008).  Livigni and Spears, further explain how IBM developed the PARR (Prepare-Act-Reflect-Review) 4-step approach which they used to provide structure and consistency to activities documented as experiential learning within their system. Learning from IBM’s approach in defining experiential learning activities that should be recorded, and the examples of types of activities that can be used present good practices to ensure a consistent experience throughout the organization. 

5 Examples of Experiential Learning Opportunities to Leverage 

Building experiential learning opportunities that are within employees reach across the organization, provides a win-win opportunity for both the employees and the business. Business units and teams could post openings for learning activities they can offer in efforts to build needed skills. At the same time, employees can find and take advantage of these opportunities for their own development. Here are examples of some key opportunities that could be labeled and offered within the system:

1. Stretch Projects- Business units or teams who need some extra hands on deck or require assistance with skills and knowledge they do not possess or have the capacity to fill, can post a stretch project opportunity. Employees that meet the qualifications can leverage this development opportunity to grow their network, develop new competencies and prepare for expanded responsibilities in the future. 

   
   

2. Job Shadowing- This is a great way for our organization to leverage their own talent to fill the skills gap and serve as a cross-training opportunity. Employees can use this for career exploration and exposure to a new role. Alternatively, managers can take advantage of this opportunity, as a way for their employees to share their knowledge and best practices while identifying talent to fill potential future roles. 

   
   

3. Cross-Unit Projects- These assignments would provide an opportunity for employees to be a part of a team of experts engaged in developing innovative projects for the business and for leaders to leverage cross-functional expertise. 

   
   

4. Acting Management Opportunities- Cunningham and Hillier define these types of assignments as short term positions to fill vacancies and showcase abilities, develop new skills and competencies or even try out a management position (2013). 

   
   

5. Coaching and/or Mentoring Programs- Aspiring leaders and senior team members looking to grow their coaching skills can use this opportunity to expand their skillset formally.  

   
   

Reaping the Rewards 

Ultimately, offering experiential learning opportunities across the organization using our existing tools and resources is a winning strategy for all. 

• Opportunities Within Everyone’s Reach- Offering different types of experiential learning opportunities within the LMS can help the business reach employees across the entire organization.  

  
  

• Strategic Relationship Building- Experiential learning activities will further enhance the way we connect and collaborate across the business, building strategic relationships that further strengthen our organization. 

  
  

• Fostering Creativity & Innovation- The increase in participation of employees in stretch assignments, particularly cross-unit projects, fosters the sharing of ideas and best practices through collaboration between business units that might not have worked together in the first place. 

  
  

• Tracking Progress- Effectively documenting these exchanges and each employee’s progress will provide valuable metrics that can be used to continue identifying skills gaps, adjust the upskilling & reskilling strategy as needed, and effectively leverage this data in succession planning efforts. 

  
  

References:

Cunningham, J.  & Hillier, E. (2013), Informal learning in the workplace: key activities and 

processes. Education + Training, Vol. 55 No. 1, pp. 37-51. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400911311294960

Korn Ferry. (2018). Future of Work: The Global Talent Crunch. https://www.kornferry.com/content/dam/kornferry/docs/article-migration/FOWTalentCrunchFinal_Spring2018.pdf

Livigni, R., & Spear. (2008). P. A. Experiential Learning: Unleashing learning organizations. 

https://www.iiis.org/cds2008/cd2008sci/KGCM2008/PapersPdf/G798SH.pdf

Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2013). Adult learning : Linking theory and practice. John 

Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Palmer, K. Effective Upskilling Focuses on the Individual. (2022, February 17). Degreed Blog. 

https://blog.degreed.com/effective-upskilling-focuses-on-the-individual/