What does research tell us about adult learners and how to best work with them?
Adults are experience-based and have years of experience and a wealth of information, and they have established values, beliefs and opinions.
- Focus on strengths new hires bring in to the company and demonstrate respect for them.
Adults relate new knowledge and information to previously learned information and experiences.
- Help new hires connect learning to prior knowledge and experiences; draw out their relevant experiences.
Adults have pride.
- Support self-esteem and reasonable ego.
Adults will not ask questions or participate in learning if they feel afraid of being put down or ridiculed.
- New hires will be experienced and likely confident but be sensitive to messages that might make them uncomfortable or get in the way of learning; allow the new hire to admit confusion or lack of understanding – treat questions and comments with respect.
Adults have a deep need to be self-directing and take initiative in learning.
- Let new hires drive some decisions and help set the pace for learning new skills; strive to help them learn in ways that best meet their learning needs.
Adults have problem-centered orientation to learning; they are motivated to learn in order to apply what they have learned, and they learn from real life examples.
- Emphasize how learning can be applied to new hires’ jobs and help ensure successful job performance – use case studies, examples and descriptions from real life to support immediate application of information and skills.
Adults are sensitive to uncomfortable surroundings.
- Do all you can to make sure the training environment is conducive to learning e.g. pay attention to temperature, distractions and similar things.
