Hey, remember that show you watched on TV a few weeks back? Or the big news stories from last week? What about those LinkedIn posts you read this morning? Yeah, I bet you don't remember any of that stuff. Why would you?
Unfortunately, your memory doesn't know the difference between important stuff and useless junk. The "forgetting curve," a well-established phenomenon in the realm of learning and development, reveals a disconcerting truth: without reinforcement, individuals can lose up to 90% of their newly acquired knowledge within a few short weeks.
What's in this post?
This phenomenon, first discovered by Herrman Ebbinghaus over 140 years ago, poses a significant challenge for individuals seeking to retain and apply their knowledge effectively.
In the context of enterprise training and coaching, the forgetting curve presents a substantial risk to businesses. Traditional coaching methods, while valuable in imparting knowledge and skills, often fall short in ensuring long-term retention and application. It's difficult to transform an organization if your people keep forgetting most of what is presented to them.
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-90% loss of knowledge |
20% of retained knowledge is |
The challenge of retaining knowledge comes along with the challenge of putting knowledge into practice. According to the Association for Talent Development (ATD), only approximately 10 to 20% of retained knowledge is applied in practice. This means that a substantial portion of the time and resources invested in coaching and training programs is wasted.
Let's break down this statistic further. If we assume that only 10% of the knowledge taught in a conventional training format is retained, and only 10-20% of retained knowledge is put into practice, we can calculate the percentage of new knowledge that is ultimately applied on the job.
This means that a mere 1-2% of the new knowledge covered in a training program is ultimately put into practice. To put it another way, approximately 98-99% of the training curriculum does not result in any significant change or improvement in employee performance. Moreover, it's very hard to predict which 1-2% of knowledge and information provided to learners ultimately ends up being put into practice.
Behavioral researchers have figured out methodologies to beat the "forgetting curve." They’ve developed AI-powered coaching methods that build on repetition and reinforcement techniques to keep learners engaged and help them remember what they've learned. Unlike traditional coaching, AI coaching is always on, giving you personalized feedback and guidance that sticks.
Here's how it works: the AI coach keeps testing your knowledge and throwing new stuff at you until you've got it down. Participating in an AI coaching program isn't just about learning more; it also helps you remember what you've learned for longer. After a single coaching session, you'll remember about 75% of the information that was taught. And that's not all! After just 10 coaching sessions, you'll gain and remember an extra 25% of knowledge. So instead of forgetting 90% of what you learn, you'll actually gain 75% after the first session and keep that knowledge while gaining an additional 2-3% with each coaching session.
But AI coaching isn't just about memorizing facts. It's also about helping you apply what you've learned to real-world situations. The AI coach does this by simulating real-world scenarios and giving you personalized feedback. This way, you can practice your skills in a safe environment before you try them out on the job.
The result? AI coaching makes you not only smarter but also more effective. A study by Retorio with 3.301 users suggests that people who use AI coaching are 8 times more effective at applying what they've learned on the job.
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+25% gain of knowledge |
8x more effective in translating |
The success of AI coaching in overcoming the forgetting curve is evident in its impact on enterprise clients. A large telecommunication company using AI coaching, for instance, experienced a remarkable 70% reduction in training effort per new hire and a 38% decrease in ramp-up time due to faster knowledge transfer. This translates to significant cost savings and faster onboarding, enabling employees to become productive more quickly.
You can find more examples and case studies here.
Interested in experiencing AI coaching? Retorio offers demos/trials, which you can book here: