Experiential Learning

I had a great conversation with another colleague in my Adult Learning and Adult Development class. She discussed an experiential learning class that took place over 3 weeks that is effective and engaging and the work our organization is doing to try and bring that to our learners. 

It's interesting that she brought up the experiential training that takes place over a long period of time.

We usually on see our learners for a few hours. One of our longer courses is a leadership course that takes place over 2 days. Those who take it come away usually having had a transformative learning experience. Sadly, many of our learners don't get the time to take 2 days away from work. 

I understand the problem, having lived it. We are asking for one of the organization's star performers, someone they want to invest in, and then the organization realizes that they can't lose that person for 2 full days. They look at it as more than just the registration fee (which is quite low), but also the time they have to pay that supervisor to be in a 16-hour class (16hr X 35/hour = $560) but then they add the amount of potential lost revenue that they could have expected by that leaders being billable for that same time. Usually, that employee could get $45 an hour billable time. Then there's the fact that they wouldn't be able to charge the client for the truck, the equipment or any other expendables and they realized that having the employee in the field working is more valuable to them than him getting some training. 

It's always a tight rope to try and show how the course can be as valuable or more valuable than the billable time for that employee, especially in terms of his potentially leaving for not getting the training, or not mentoring and leading his team as effectively as he could.

It's a tough equation to be on the wrong side of when you're the course developer and lead facilitator. It's always great to be able to provide learning opportunities that are transformative for the learner, engaging and enriching their lives. Finding ways to convince the sending organization is the tough part that we will keep working to overcome.