Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal

Experiential learning – creating learning experiences with business impact

Ruth Moody
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Ruth Moody, (2012),"Experiential learning – creating learning experiences with business impact", Development and Learning in
Organizations: An International Journal, Vol. 26 Iss 3 pp. 16 - 18
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 Experiential learning – creating learning
experiences with business impact
Ruth Moody

hen considering their most powerful learning experience, most people do not cite a

W conference, academic study or a classroom based training course. Instead they

cite an experience that was moving, touching, stretching or challenging in some
way. Sometimes it is work related, sometimes it is not. Often it was many years ago – a
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memory or event that has stood the test of time; that has shaped and moulded how a person
behaves and that still evokes an emotional response. So if experiences are so powerful a
Ruth Moody is Managing learning tool, how can they be introduced into a work setting to deliver tangible and
Director, Farscape measureable business results? UK-based organizations Synergy Health, Allianz and Aviva
Development, UK. have all incorporated experiential learning activities into their development strategies. This
article sets out some of their thoughts and evidence on why this approach worked so well for
them. But, first, what do we mean when we use the term ‘‘experiential learning’’?
Experiential learning can be defined as the development of personal understanding and
skills through the analysis of, and reflection on, activity. Experiential learning is all about
giving people the opportunity to experiment with a variety of techniques in different
environments, indoors or outdoors, based on David Kolb’s cycle of learning – Plan, Do,
Review, Apply. It is founded on the idea that if people experience something (through doing
it) they are more likely to remember it and therefore take action.

Improving intra-team communication

Synergy Health’s IT Leadership Team had been through significant change. Initially based in
different offices, the majority of the team moved to the same office and this highlighted
challenges with trust, communication and team effectiveness. The Head of IT calculated that
rework (as a result of communication challenges) was costing each manager at least 1.5 hrs
a day of management time. This gave 360 wasted days a year across the whole team - the
equivalent of employing another 1.25 managers or a cost of £65,000. The Head of IT
therefore recognised an urgent and important need to develop the leadership team’s
effectiveness, cohesiveness and communication skills in order to stop this significant loss in
terms of time and money.
When asked why he chose experiential learning as a route to delivering the required results,
Adil Jan, Head of IT at Synergy Health, commented ‘‘It was clear to me that people in
non-academic environments do not value ‘traditional’ learning styles – I have often heard
people talk about boring and out-of-touch corporate initiatives which they do not understand
or relate to and I knew that I needed to look for a solution that would engage them from the
start.’’
This is all well and good, but how did Synergy ensure that the learning was more than a
memorable experience and delivered real, measureable results? The answer – by creating a
balance of academic input and opportunities to experiment; by creating overt links between
the abstract ‘‘outdoor’’ environment (where part of their learning took place) and real work

PAGE 16 j DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING IN ORGANIZATIONS j VOL. 26 NO. 3 2012, pp. 16-18, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1477-7282 DOI 10.1108/14777281211225767
 challenges and situations; and by committing to rigorous follow up. The programme
incorporated profiling using a simple communication tool (Strength Deployment Inventory)
with opportunities to practice using this in an outdoor setting. A two-day outdoor course was
designed to stretch the team outside their normal comfort zones so that they could
experiment with different communication styles and practices. This in turn created
opportunities for them to give each other feedback and explore options for working together
in a different way. The team built their own shelter and slept overnight in the woods and this
shared experience allowed them to unpack some of the communication issues that had
been occurring in a unique setting. Finally this experience was followed up back at work –
reviewing how the lessons learnt could be rigorously applied to specific work projects and
challenges.

Developing talent
Michael Pearse at Aviva agrees. ‘‘Follow up is critical to the success of experiential learning.
We created personal action plans based on the feedback we got about each individual –
this gave us real focus and structure and ensured that everyone understood how they could
use their learning experience to make a real difference back at work’’. The proof is in the
pudding – four managers gained promotion within six months of joining Aviva’s Talent
Development Programme and all of them cite their outdoor learning experience as one of the
most powerful and memorable part of their journey. Ask why and they talk about the
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opportunity to experiment, to try out different skills and techniques and to get feedback
about their performance and behaviours in a safe environment.
In this case the outdoor experience formed an early part of the programme. Aviva wanted to
launch the programme with a strong message – that they were taking it seriously and
wanted the delegates to take it seriously too. The outdoor experience allowed Aviva’s
facilitators to observe their ‘‘talented’’ delegates operating outside their normal
environments and they were able to give feedback based on people’s attitude, openness
and behaviours during the programme. This gave a strong steer to each individual’s
development throughout the rest of their talent development programme and where
necessary some people were given feedback about changes that they needed to make in
terms of attitude and behaviour.

Looking outside your organization

As a high potential manager looking to gain promotion, Christine Bellenger was seeking an
opportunity to develop her own skills and confidence. She created a case for Allianz to invest
in her taking part in an overseas learning experience – with delegates from different
companies. She went on a facilitated journey to Namibia - a combination of leadership
challenges, community interaction and group facilitated workshops. For her it was the
interactions with the other delegates that made the most significant impact. Getting
feedback from other people about her performance helped her to recognise where she
needed to develop and gave her clarity around her own career aspirations.
The trip to Namibia helped me realise the values that are truly important to me. I had time to think
about myself and work and how I would, should and did deal with different styles of management
and leadership. I didn’t realise how much the trip had helped me until I came back home, to put it
simply it was an amazing journey both physically and mentally.

Since returning from the overseas learning experience, Christine has been promoted into a
senior leadership role. She had clearly demonstrated that she was willing to take ownership
of her own development and her growth in skills and confidence as a result of the experience
ensured that she was well placed to take the next step in her career.

Is it too costly?
So how do companies justify investment in experiential learning when budgets are being
squeezed and spending is under the microscope? Adil Jan from Synergy Health

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VOL. 26 NO. 3 2012 DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING IN ORGANIZATIONS PAGE 17
 commented ‘‘We got more return than we would have from hiring an additional person.
Times are difficult which means investment has to be measured against return. I can’t think of
a better investment over the year.’’ The reality is that there are far cheaper forms of training –
classroom based, online, long distance learning – they may all deliver results of some form
or another. However, experiential learning’s benefits can stretch beyond the immediate
business results. Experiential learning is more emotional and memorable for the individuals
involved, therefore their engagement and morale is likely to increase significantly because
their company has invested in an experience which has been potentially life changing for
them. So training, that at face value looks more expensive, suddenly feels like a great
investment when greater staff loyalty and commitment, as well as the time and money that
are saved through more effective working practices, are taken into account.
When asked about justifying investment in the current economic climate, Michael Pearse
from Aviva comments: ‘‘ In the current climate it is vital that we hold onto and develop our
staff as the cost to replace them far outweighs the cost of investing in them. It’s not just the
cost of finding them, there is the cost of attracting them, training them and then developing
them to the standard of those we have lost. If we don’t spend the time, resource and
investment developing our people then our competitors may.’’

Conclusions
What is clear from each of these companies is that experiential learning delivered results.
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The learning experiences themselves may have had a profound effect on some individuals;
however it was the shared experiences, the learning from other delegates and the rigorous
follow up that delivered the business results. So if companies are going to get creative with
their learning, they need to ensure that the appropriate structure and rigour is put in place
Keywords: and integrated into the experiences to make them relevant and results focused.
Experiential learning, What is also clear is that a profound learning experience stays with a person forever – they
Outdoor learning, refer back to it; they use the techniques that they learnt and it shapes how they behave and
Leadership development, interact with others. Yet as people become more senior in an organisation, the opportunities
Talent development, for these memorable learning experiences become fewer – people spend more time behind
Expedition, desks, attending conferences and having more ‘‘academic’’ training. So they end up
Return on investment, referring to experiences that may be over ten years old and that perhaps become outdated.
Learning, If we need people to continue learning, however senior they are, experiential learning should
Leadership apply to them as well.

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