For Candidates: Ways to Use the 70:20:10 Model of Learning to Advance Your Career

July 31st, 2019 by ifi-admin


Many candidates feel that midsummer is not the right time to find a new job. It’s true that many companies hold off on posting key positions until fall and that the hiring process can slow to a languid crawl during midsummer due to vacations. However, there are useful ways you can use summer “downtime” to pave the way to career advancement. One way is to put the “70:20:10” model to work to enhance your skill profile.

What is the “70:20:10” Model?

The 70:20:10 model is a proportional breakdown of how people learn effectively and was developed by Morgan McCall and the Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL) in the 1980s. While it’s neither scientifically proven nor exact in its mix, the notion that informal learning carries the heaviest weight on the job has influenced approaches to training. Essentially, the CCL originally conducted a survey with 200 executives. The survey’s findings were that individuals obtain 70 percent of their knowledge from job-related experiences, 20 percent from interactions with others, and 10 percent from formal educational events. Thus, the theory has been that 90% of your professional knowledge comes from “informal” learning. The 70:20:10 rule or model revolutionized approaches to corporate training. It has also led to new ways of looking at training, with the internet giving rise to increasing proportions of both social and formal learning opportunities.

Leveraging Experiential Learning – 70%

Summer presents the perfect opportunity to expand your experience through helping cover roles or taking on extra responsibilities to offset vacations. Just like children learn through play, most adults still learn best by doing. While it might feel a bit scary to put yourself out there, growth comes when you stretch yourself. Here are 10 things you can do to get started:

Cover duties for your manager

  • Ask your manager to delegate new work to you
  • Offer to take on new and challenging assignments
  • Champion change in a specific initiative
  • Offer to learn associates’ roles
  • Expand your understanding of different departments within the company
  • Take part in a project review
  • Offer to join a team project that is outside your wheelhouse
  • Find opportunities to network and interact with the senior leadership team
  • Offer to mentor others

Seek Out Social Learning Opportunities – 20%

Social learning is fueled by our natural instinct to share our experiences. Sharing, collaboration and learning from each other is important to most modern workers, in person and online. Research shows 77% of workers surveyed believe collaborative technology is crucial to how they work with colleagues and clients today. Here are 10 ways to get started in using social learning to enhance your skill set:

Ask to be mentored by a senior manager

  • Share knowledge with others – it’s a two-way channel and you’ll learn new things as well
  • Seek feedback, opinions and guidance
  • Find ways to learn from industry associations and key figures
  • Participate in industry-leading blogs
  • Search for and read white papers and research papers by experts in your core subject matter
  • Listen to podcasts focused in your core subject matter or that deal with practices that apply to your role
  • Watch Youtube videos from leaders in your profession
  • Join meetups to network, mingle and exchange ideas with professional peers
  • Promote internal company collaboration through related technologies

Formal Education/Training Opportunities – 10%

Formal training can be either a foundation and/or an amplifier for learning. Ideally, this essential part of learning is engaging and purposeful. Here are eight ways to get started on enhancing your formal training and education:

Engage in training simulations

  • Discover micro-learning courses
  • Find distance learning programs in your profession
  • Participate in live or recorded webinars in your profession
  • Seek out professional qualification and certification programs for your profession through associations
  • Plan to attend industry conferences and workshops
  • Pursue advanced degrees online from established universities
  • Pursue an advanced degree locally (part-time) from an established university

Take advantage of the midsummer hiring lull to get started on your skill building and you’ll be well positioned to compete for choice roles in the future.
If you’re looking for a more challenging role, contact Phoenix Partners today.