When considering enterprise learning and development (L&D) strategies, the focus too often centers on tactics, programming, and delivery rather than outcomes. The result is reflected in the most common measures of success, such as process, quantity, and learner satisfaction. What gets left out of that particular equation is the purpose of providing access to learning programs, materials, and resources—building enhanced and expanded organizational skills, capabilities, productivity, and performance. That idea is captured in the movement towards outcome-based HR strategies, processes, programs, and practices. The effectiveness and impact of L&D is more critical today than ever, with skills obsolescence and talent shortages combining to motivate substantial improvements in the availability, delivery, and cost-effectiveness of upskilling and reskilling efforts. An essential approach is to elevate social learning strategies.

Social learning (also referred to as collaborative, cohort-based, or peer-based learning) is a model that exploits a natural human tendency and preference to learn and expand skills by observing, interacting, and collaborating with others. It represents a highly effective method for distributing knowledge and developing skills related to work and problem-solving, as well as collaboration and communication approaches, and performance standards, company values, and expectations, which may or may not be formalized, documented, and communicated.

Why social learning is an essential L&D approach

A continuing overreliance by many corporate L&D functions on traditional classroom and eLearning programs fails to hit the mark with employees. This long-standing trend is exacerbated by the learning styles and preferences of the generations who now dominate the global labor force – Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha. Their preferences uncovered in research by SHRM point to the core issues and frustrations with the training they access at work, including: 

• 33% find it “hard to stay motivated” during training
• 25% say they start forgetting the material soon after training
• 24% report that the training is not relevant to their role 

Peer-based learning directly addresses most of these and provides what those employees specifically ask for: greater relevance of the content to their jobs and more social learning opportunities, with 51% stating that coaching and mentoring are the most desired delivery methods.

It also provides something equally crucial for those generations of workers - highly collaborative and authentic human connections. As a result, they are notable for their favoring of frequent opportunities for face-to-face interactions and expanded networking with peers and experts.

Sadly, only 28% of companies report formally leveraging collaborative learning methods to train employees and encourage collaboration.

Understanding social learning

Social learning is based on Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, which demonstrated that learning by watching another’s behavior that is subsequently rewarded increases the likelihood that the behavior is “copied” and practiced elsewhere. Cleveland Clinic explains that this process involves attention (observing), memory (retaining), imitation (reproducing), and motivation (adopting and repeating) the targeted knowledge or skill. This is observed from childhood onward, including in the workplace. From a corporate L&D perspective, the idea is to leverage this universal human tendency to encourage and build a culture of knowledge sharing and collaborative learning alongside more passive methods. 

This approach exists in many forms and across numerous instructional approaches. While individual learning styles (visual, auditory, reading/writing, kinesthetic) differ, the aspects employed offer something for each, especially given the overriding human need for connection and belonging. Similarly, the four primary types of learning delivery often promoted in corporate circles (education, experience, exposure, environment) leverage social elements in learning as follows:

• Education (formal, structured learning) – when blended learning methods engage participants in practice or discussion sessions in pairs or teams
• Experience (hands-on learning)- on-the-job training and guided practice, job shadowing, job rotations, project team assignments
• Exposure (social and networking-based) – peer collaboration and feedback, coaching and mentoring, conferences and seminars, cross-functional learning events

The fourth element, “Environment” (physical, digital-based learning), refers to providing access to embedded job aids, tools, and resources that support learning in the flow of work.

The qualitative value of social learning in the workplace

As collaborative learning leverages the power of human connection, it offers certain advantages over more traditional and formal learning methods, such as classroom programs that are often overly structured, eLearning that often lacks opportunities to ask questions and clarify learning points, and even some experiential methods that offer limited opportunities for feedback and correction. The characteristics of social learning that are associated with its effectiveness include:

• Targets discussions directly relevant to the work to be performed or the problem to be solved.
• It is participatory and engaging learning that is activating and intrinsically rewarding.
• Enables more open and transparent interactions with trusted peers or managers that lessen fears of negative judgments.
• Personalizes learning to the individual, tailoring understanding to their specific needs.
• Delivers immediate or just-in-time access as needed to resolve work problems and avoid delays.
• Is location-neutral, as it can be conducted across geographies, time zones, business units, functions, synchronously and asynchronously, and directly or digitally transmitted.
• Builds relationships and bonds that most often extend over time for a layering and deepening effect.
• Develops skills in both roles – expert and learner, as explaining a concept repeats and deepens the knowledge, and allows questions to solidify understanding in the learner.
• Develops soft skills among employees by practicing and honing communication, collaboration, emotional intelligence, and conflict management behaviors.
• Democratizes learning that is free from the chain of command, and offers multiple methods that cater to different types, styles, and demographics of learners.
• Is a cost-effective method of extending expertise and spreading and building new institutional knowledge.

Employees also report that this method of learning delivers highly effective and satisfying learning, much as they encounter with experiential learning. Research.com recently reported that when workers were asked to name the most effective learning methods they participated in, on-the-job training (82%), and informal social learning (71%) topped the list, with job-related performance coaching receiving mention from 19%. All of these involve social learning as a primary delivery vehicle.

The measurable value and impact of social learning

While these approaches are highly effective at accelerating knowledge transfer and skill integration, business and HR leaders alike will appreciate their impact on broader business and talent outcomes. They have been shown to demonstrably improve operating results through a number of human-centered outcomes that establish a sustainable foundation for organizational growth and coordination. Those include:

Operational effectiveness

Research has found that companies with comprehensive, high-impact peer-to-peer learning practices and ecosystems achieve 75% improvements in operational performance, according to a Brandon Hall Group study. Even more impressive, research from Intrepid Learning demonstrated that high-performing organizations use 5.5X as much collaborative learning as their lower-performing counterparts.

Collaboration and innovation

The interactive nature of this learning delivery method fosters greater collaboration among employees, which, in turn, is a critical driver of innovation. Given that 86% of executives cite a lack of collaboration and communication as a major contributor to business failures, social learning offers a multi-tiered benefit to organizational performance. The reason for this appears to be improved cross-functional and team communication and coordination, stemming from enhanced employee networking outside their immediate work teams and partnerships. In fact, organizations with mature social learning programs report 37% higher team collaboration than those that rely primarily on classroom and eLearning approaches. And organizations that prioritize these learning programs report 28% higher innovation ratings and introduce new products or services more frequently than their competitors.

Talent growth and engagement

Unsurprisingly, the more effective the learning offerings and the more accessible the opportunities available to employees, the greater the impact on their skill acquisition and perceptions of the workplace in general. Add to those the satisfaction that naturally accompanies increased human interactions and interpersonal connections, and social learning approaches drive significant improvements in the talent outcomes most desired by employers. For example, Intrepid Learning found that organizations that deploy what they refer to as “collaborative learning” solutions generate:

• 52% higher employee engagement
• 56% greater work efficiencies
• 54% improved skill development
• 50% improved career development

Similarly, eLeap has found that companies with well-established, proven social learning programs experience 24% higher employee engagement and 31% lower turnover rates than their competitors. 

Such reliance on social learning supports a continuous learning culture by encouraging cross-team, functional, and business-unit engagement and the sharing of ideas, work methods, and problem-solving approaches. It more fully engages employees in developing not only their own skills and capabilities but also those of others.

The mechanisms that make social learning so effective

Further support for the efficacy of social learning approaches comes from the scientific community, which provides additional evidence for HR and L&D teams to consider expanding their use. Two primary lines of research inquiry have deepened the understanding of what makes social learning such a potent method of learning. 

The first involves the core concept originally popularized and validated by Bandura in the early 1970’s, which identified biologically based reasons for its effectiveness. It has since been expanded upon by others, including The Neuroleadership Institute, which highlighted the finding that learning with others helps embed learned information across more neural networks in the brain, which establishes more places for learned content to be stored. 

Social learning actively engages and encourages three of the four primary elements of learning: 

• Attention, where focus on the content is held without distraction (as when engaged in a one-on-one conversation)
• Generation, where the new information or insight is linked to other existing knowledge or skills (such as when the context of learning is the same as currently or previously faced circumstances) 
• Emotion, where the new understanding generates positive or negative feelings that subsequently boost recall from the social interaction (from the endorphin release in the brain that relieves stress and increases bonding).

The fourth component, spacing, or putting time between learning sessions that involve repetition, is a separate condition that must be met regardless of the learning approach to enhance understanding, retention, and further application.

Next, behavioral and educational scientists have successfully explored how knowledge retention is achieved through social learning strategies, with impressive outcomes. The issue is a central concern for corporate L&D teams, as the ROI of any learning program depends on the extent to which learning is recalled and subsequently applied to task performance. Studies have consistently found that without further use or interaction with the material, people forget 70% or more within a day and up to 90% within a week. In fact, as the American College of Education reports, traditional, passive (e.g., lecture, reading, presentation) teaching techniques average retention rates in the 5%-30% range, while social (discussion groups, teaching others) and interactive (hands-on practice and use) approaches generate 50-90% retention. 

Part of the effect, as discussed earlier, is the power of observation, or watching others perform a task or activity and seeing the consequences that their relative success or failure generated. Watching other people try something, succeed, and get rewarded is inherently motivating. It builds confidence in applying the same behavior(s) or approach.

Designing and implementing social learning approaches

Bringing social learning into an L&D ecosystem involves a disciplined approach similar to introducing any other new capability, from a new system or technology to updated processes, governance, roles, and performance expectations.

1. Develop a strategy

Articulate the purpose, value proposition, governance, and comprehensive approach that brings social learning exchanges to the forefront. Conduct an environmental scan of external and internal factors that the strategy will need to address. Clarify the business and talent objectives it will be designed to achieve, and establish standards and criteria against which those will be monitored. Acknowledge and reinforce the spontaneous nature common to many social learning opportunities by stating the types of learning that take place daily, and establish mechanisms to identify and promote those as they occur.

2. Establish formal governance 

Implement a formal governance structure to ensure continuous alignment of strategy and business propriety, appropriate levels of investment, and measurable impact against the mission and objectives that established it. Staff a governance council with interested business executives/leaders, or as a sub-council reporting to a corporate, functional, or business unit training or learning council. Assign oversight responsibilities to a blended HR and business leader team to develop structured programs, techniques, and technologies, and assign resources (e.g., budgets, people) to formalize the capability.

Set standards for structured activities and events, such as clearly stated learning objectives, associated rubrics and discussion prompts, employee (non-management) leadership, and expense management guidelines.

3. Establish communities of practice

Launch targeted employee “communities” of practice or expertise that build a sense of community, common interest, and shared responsibility for building the organization’s expertise in a specified topic. The topics should relate to pressing organizational capability needs, such as emerging technology adoptions (e.g., AI, advanced manufacturing, business intelligence, and analytics), with flexibility for employee suggestions. They should be guided by formal charters that clarify their purpose, specify how and when they will communicate and share ideas, and establish rules of membership and participation. 

Make invitations open to all interested parties to provide access to career and skill-building opportunities, including current role holders and those aspiring to grow into such roles. Create regular meetings (online, lunchtime, or after-hours) with topical agendas, and engage experts and practitioners at all levels to present advanced and emerging concepts, work methods, recent successes, and lessons learned to the community. Leverage collaboration technologies to share learning content across locations, time zones, and work schedules. The key is to use these to build and strengthen relationships and trust among participants.

4. Leverage technology to broaden access

The prevalence of peer-based learning and collaboration tools in the marketplace speaks to their popularity and utility as mechanisms for social learning. These are designed to provide access to, and share team and community expertise, communications, and development. Starting with content creation and file sharing (e.g., Google Workspace), and messaging and discussion forums (Slack, MS Teams), these have expanded to include visual and live learning collaboration (Miro, NovoEd, Disco), and LMSs with AI-enabled peer learning and coaching (Docebo, 360Learning). 

With the ability to manage and control membership, these enable support for collaboration and learning with special interest groups (SIGs), tagging and identifying knowledgeable employee resources (expert locators and directories), and AI-driven recommendations for channels, groups, and individuals.

5. Formalize coaching and mentoring

The power of peer-based coaching, advice, and support as social learning and development methods cannot be understated. Employees' trust in management and leadership has eroded substantially, while the credibility of peer guidance remains high due to peers' lack of sway over employment-related decisions and their ability to be honest, open, and transparent. Identify influential individual contributors who demonstrate high potential (HiPo) as future managerial candidates and provide them with training, practice, and deployment opportunities in core coaching skills. Establish a formal mentoring program to select, train, and deploy senior and executive management personnel as champions and role models for developing HiPos and middle managers.

6. Establish peer group learning opportunities

Create structured opportunities for colleagues to teach and learn from one another. Start with “lunch and learns” using experienced employees to share best practices, advanced skills, and lessons learned with more junior colleagues. Create group coaching cohorts at the team or job/career level, with cross-functional learners exploring topics that span departmental and job-function lines (e.g., data analytic methods, AI prompts and programming, advanced collaboration, presentation skills, managing conflict, coaching and feedback).

7. Engage employees and recognize participation

Proactively communicate and promote employee contributions to the various social learning vehicles, including collaboration platform postings and question submissions, invitations to join communities of practice as their skills grow and aspirations evolve. Invite them to document/post and/or present their approaches and results of noteworthy work contributions or innovations. Communicate the value of listing their participation and contributions in one-on-one performance discussions and documentation submitted in support of their performance evaluations. Implement employee recognition platforms and practices that encourage and gamify peer-based acknowledgments for team contributions and “thank yous” for providing support or guidance to others.

8. Assess the value and impact of social learning

Evaluating the effectiveness of social learning, much like measuring informal learning efforts, can build credibility and support for its deployment. At the same time, it remains a significant challenge for many organizations, with the Brandon Hall Group reporting that fewer than 16% of companies can identify and track metrics for the efficiency, effectiveness, talent, or business impact of any learning activities (formal or informal). 

However, that has changed with the movement towards skills-based development, which introduces more clearly defined and understood employee capabilities and assessments of both their presence and proficiency levels. When those are integrated into performance management, succession management, leadership development, and L&D processes and practices, the mapping of social learning activities to individual skill growth can then be analyzed for its impact on broader business, operational, and talent outcomes. The ability to evaluate and track the impact of those activities on actual skill application, expansions in technical contributions, and improvements in leadership, collaborative, and communication skills can be significantly enhanced. Similarly, data captured and reported in learning management (LMSs), collaboration platforms, and even organizational network analysis (ONA) derived from emails and shared calendars can be used to measure the effectiveness of social learning in terms of learner engagement, contributions (postings and responses), and peer interactions.

Relevant Practices & Tools

Advanced Learning and Development Practices to Accelerate Skill and Capability Growth. >

These practices focus on developing, staffing, and managing a learning and development function that is highly responsive to business needs, employing both technology and non-classroom methods to effectively enhance employee knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)... more »

Creating Group Coaching and Mentoring Programs to Broaden and Syndicate the Potential for Impact. >

As a coaching and mentoring culture progresses, its effect is felt throughout the organization. The key at this level is to syndicate the use of coaching and mentoring deeper into the ranks... more »

Facilitating Networks Inside and Outside the Organization to Foster Informal Collaboration. >

Informal relationships—those that are outside of a formal hierarchical structure—can be highly influential in determining how work gets done and therefore how value is created in an organization... more »

Selecting and Developing Employee Coaches and Mentors as Internal Resources. >

Selecting and developing internal coaches and mentors requires planning and structure to ensure that a) the right people are in place and b) they are properly prepared and managed to provide guidance and development to individuals in the most impactful roles in the organization... more »

The Internal Environmental Scan Tool: Capture and Categorize Factors Internal to the Company Impacting its Objectives. >

This template provides a structure for identifying key internal topics that should be considered in a formal analysis of the business’s upcoming challenges... more »