How to Make Learning Stick and Drive Real Results
Proven strategies to boost retention, transfer, and on-the-job performance.
From Practice to Performance
When I was quite young, I taught music to help fund my university education. I started with 30 students, and after five years, I was teaching over 350 students per week – in my spare time! Looking back, I must’ve been doing something right.
Many things in life come full circle. In 2007, I found myself back in a teaching and learning context - this time as a trainer for EU institutions and the corporate sector. Since then, I’ve been refining my approach to give learners the best possible experience. I’ve studied neuroscience, am certified in learning transfer methods, and have explored what really helps people apply what they’ve learned.
But here’s the thing: all of that just helped me codify what I already seemed to know instinctively as a music teacher.
A few key principles from that world still hold true today:
- Clear learning outcomes and expectations keep motivation alive.
- Supportive environments (especially at home or work) accelerate growth.
- Deliberate practice, with expert feedback, wires the brain for real skill.
- Break it down: sometimes the challenge is just two tricky notes.
- Performing a piece of music is evidence of the learning
- People will play music they like and enjoy
- And yes - rehearsal matters before any real performance.
In this edition of The Leading Edge, I’m sharing practical insights from three top learning experts and former guests on my Leading People podcast - each of whom has helped me reflect on how we can turn great training into meaningful learning and behaviour change.
How we Learn Best
Stella Collins is the author of Neuroscience for Learning and Development
Stella shared many insights about how we learn best. Your brain isn’t built to retain what it doesn’t emotionally engage with or apply. The secret? Create learning experiences that feel real, move the body, and activate emotion.
Test this out: Embed learning in context - use movement, storytelling, and active retrieval. Don’t leave recall to chance. Design training for practice, not just presence.
“You don’t learn to swim by reading about swimming - you need to get in the water.”
🎧 Listen to Stella’s episode:
https://leadingpeople.buzzsprout.com/1496338/episodes/8834183-how-we-learn-best
How to ensure Training Transfer Effectiveness
Dr. Ina Weinbauer-Heidel founded the Institute for Transfer Effectiveness and is the author of The 12 Levers of Transfer Effectiveness
The 12 Levers was based on Ina’s PhD research, and she discovered that the biggest gap in training isn’t quality - it’s transfer. Most programmes overlook key levers like learner motivation, manager involvement, and the transfer climate in an organisation.
Test this out: Use the 12 Levers framework to plan transfer before the training starts. Pay special attention to setting expectations, follow-up support, and manager alignment.
“Transfer doesn’t just happen. It’s either designed, or it’s left to luck.”
🎧 Listen to Ina’s episode:
https://leadingpeople.buzzsprout.com/1496338/episodes/8606521-what-makes-training-really-work
From Learning to Performance
Andy Lancaster is the author of Driving Performance Through Learning and the former Head of Learning at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development - IOM College (CIPD)
Andy highlights that learning is too often decoupled from real work. To make it stick, it must be embedded into roles, routines, and relationships - not isolated events. He also believes that a culture where mistakes are not tolerated impedes learning transfer.
Test this out: Turn learning into a continuous performance journey. Build in reflection, peer learning, and on-the-job experimentation as default elements — not add-ons.
“Learning is the engine - but performance is the road.”
🎧 Listen to Andy’s episode:
Quick Wins for Your Next Learning Experience
Whether you’re designing training, facilitating learning, or just trying to develop your team:
- Set expectations and accountability for learning transfer with line managers before the course.
- Identify one action learners can apply immediately - and get them to practice it.
- Move from learning events to workplace learning journeys with clear follow-through.
Are you Ready to improve the impact of your Training?
Wide Circle’s learning programmes are designed using methods to ensure that the learning is transferred to the workplace. We’re certified in Training Transfer Design, Brain-Based Design and Facilitation, and Brain and Behaviour Change.
🎧 Explore the Leading People podcast for more tips on leadership and collaboration:
https://leadingpeople.buzzsprout.com
Upcoming: Talent Lab Live on 3 December
If learning effectiveness matters to you (and it should), attend our next Talent Lab Live session:
How to Ensure your Learning Programmes Deliver Results
With learning transfer experts Fergal Connolly (Mastercard) and Melanie Martinelli (Institute for Transfer Effectiveness)
Reserve your spot now:
https://www.widecircle.eu/registration-page-c69e8c47-61ab-4e88-b1eb-6fe229ab2560
Let’s Start a Conversation
Which of these tips do you find most useful?
Let me know in the comments — or share a learning moment that really stuck with you.
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