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THIS WEEK
Immersion Learning
ALSO IN THIS EDITION
Many of my clients comment about how I so quickly "get up to speed" with their industry. They can't get over how I can flip from working on plastic extrusion moulding one moment and medical equipment the next. How I can understand the intricacies of Chinese herbal medicine and still be able to talk sensibly about the world of private school education.
It's quite simple. Years ago, when I was in Human Resources I learnt about a technique called immersion learning. Generally, immersion is used to teach students a foreign language, but the concepts are applicable no matter what you want or need to learn.
The underpinning philosophy is simple. Humans are a learning machine – our brains naturally learn and want to learn. If you want to learn something, provided you have the right learning environment then you will learn it. It is that simple.
If you go into a learning experience with that philosophy, then you are a long way there. That is why sending "conscripts" to training is counter-productive. People need to sign onto the concept that they want to and are willing to learn. They need to be willing participants.
Fastest learning comes when three things fall into place – thought, word and deed or action. Training needs to engage the heart and mind and must be experienced.
Traditional learning focuses on just the mind – teaching "stuff" with a little bit of practice thrown in. This may sound a bit "woo-woo" but unless your heart is engaged in the learning – unless you get an emotional response, or you can "feel" the lesson, then the lesson is not as successful.
With immersion learning, you spend 100% of your time in the foreign language. You read it, speak it, think it, talk about it, hang out with people who are doing the same thing, and experience it. You don't take a break from it – as you lose the momentum. You just leap in and stay the distance.
Think of it like going to live in a foreign country for a time - if you throw yourself into the culture by eating where the locals eat, hanging out where they hang out, trying the language out and doing what the locals do, you get a better understanding of the country and the language than if you drive through on an English speaking tour bus staying in Western hotels eating Western food. Compare a 7-day immersion in a country with a 7-day tour bus experience. Who can speak the language better at the end of 7 days?
So let's make this practical. How does this work in business? Let's say that I have a new client who is a top-notch speaker. And let's say that I have never worked with speakers before. What I personally do is read everything I can about being a top-notch speaker and how to market them. I buy the books, take courses, and look at existing top-notch speakers to see what they do.
I spend a lot of time talking with the speaker, finding out what makes their heart sing – what is their unique message to the world, and connecting at a heart level with their message. I keep talking with them and thinking about what they do until I get so excited about their message that I know that I have to share it with the world. That's when I put pen to paper and write their marketing material. We then refine the drafts until they feel it fully fits who they are now and who they want to be. For 7 days or more, I immerse myself in the world of the speaker.
So, do I do this every time for every client? Pretty much. You see if you fully immerse yourself in your industry, business, or thing you want to learn you get up to speed super fast. In 7 days, you can learn the equivalent of a few years of drip feed study, or mind only study. That's why I love experiential live in programs so much. You can really get massive learning happening in a short space of time.
Where else can we see examples? Think of reality TV - the Biggest Loser. Take a group of overweight people and put them in a house together. Teach them what and how to eat, push them to exercise, challenge their emotions, and get them to focus 100% on losing weight. What happens? They lose massive amounts of weight. They are immersed in weight loss.
Immersion as a learning strategy is everywhere. It works really well for everything from new employee orientation to learning how to internet market.
You just need to learn how to apply it to your industry and your business, be willing to throw yourself in the deep end, commit to taking action, and go in with the philosophy that you can and will learn.
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| HR Tip of the Week: New Employee Immersion |
You have a new hire and you want to get them up to speed quickly. Do you (a) sit them at a desk and get them to read their Induction Manual or (b) get them working from the moment they come in and catch up with the paperwork later?
This is a trick question. New employees learn best by being immersed in their role and culture as soon as possible. Like every good training though, you need to set the agenda and framework for the training, explaining the ground rules and sign posts for the process.
Best inductions come from a one on one face to face discussion first thing hitting the most important facts on day one. They then are assigned a "buddy" to work with and learn from. Someone they can follow around, ask questions of and be shown the ropes.
Like all good immersion programs, you need regular check-ins to make sure all questions are being answered, that everything is covered the way it should and the person's emotional state is "OK".
Immersion is not submersion. Don't throw them in the ocean to teach a new employee to swim. Let them gain their confidence in a safe way before asking them to swim the English Channel.
 When we are talking about immersion, you still need to assess the distance a person has come, and whether or not they are performing to the desired level.
That's where our Employee Performance Review Manual comes into it's own. Through a combination of text and audio recordings we immerse you in the world of performance reviews. Helping you learn how to do effective reviews - even when the person dissolved into tears or gets angry.
It was clear and easy to use. The recorded training sessions were a bonus and easy to listen to, Ingrid’s voice is not grating and it was good to have an Australian accent as well. It reduced my workload considerably.
The package was pretty comprehensive, the difficult areas of non performance and change management advice was very good. It was particularly helpful to me as we were encountering problems with one of our staff and the advice on acting promptly especially in diligence really made us review management practices and how we could improve them by setting clear performance objectives, identify performance gaps and how to coach staff on improving.
It will save managers time and money, it is good value for money and if the advice is applied will probably save expensive HR mistakes being made. The practical advice on change management and difficult reviews will help those with minimal HR resources and help them recognise potential problems before they happen. It helps produce a professional sound framework in HR which is easy to follow and use.
Suzanne Kuzio
If you need to learn how to do Performance Reviews, then click here to discover how I can help you learn.
A colleague raised a great point the other day - what would your business be like if your "be your brand". If you immerse yourself in your brand. And it got me thinking ...
exuberantly yours
Ingrid
Heart Harmony
PS: This week's Small Business Tips blog included a post about "Making the Most ouf of Opportunities".
Legal stuff: This newsletter is intended only a general guideline for Australian businesses. You should seek specific advice for your situation rather than relying only on this newsletter
Earnings disclaimer. Some of the content may include advertorial information, which means I may receive financial compensation for the products I recommend. But - unless I know and trust the product, I will not recommend it.
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