In the world of corporate learning, creating impactful experiences that employees not only engage with but also repeat is a challenge every learning designer faces. Beyond delivering content, it's crucial to tap into behavioural science to make learning stick. One key area we can leverage is habit formation—an essential process for long-term learning retention and behaviour change.

But how are habits formed, and how can we apply these principles to corporate training?

The Science of Habit Formation

At the core of habit formation is the habit loop, a three-part process consisting of a cue, routine, and reward. This simple loop can be seen everywhere in our daily lives, from brushing our teeth in the morning to checking our phones when we hear a notification. Here’s how it works:

1. Cue: The trigger that signals your brain to initiate a behaviour. This could be a time of day, an environment, or a specific situation. In corporate learning, cues can be embedded in daily workflows to initiate learning behaviours.
2. Routine: The actual behaviour or action that follows the cue. It could be engaging in a quick learning module or reflecting on recent feedback. Repeatedly engaging in this behaviour helps solidify it as a habit over time.
3. Reward: The benefit the brain receives from completing the behaviour. Rewards could be emotional (feeling of accomplishment), social (recognition from peers), or tangible (a badge or certificate).

This cycle reinforces itself until the behaviour becomes automatic, making it an excellent tool for designing training programs that employees naturally gravitate towards.

Applying Habit Formation to Corporate Learning

How do we incorporate this into the design of learning experiences? Here are four key strategies based on habit formation principles:

1. Leverage Cues to Trigger Learning

Incorporating subtle, yet powerful, cues into employees' daily routines is crucial. For example, push notifications from a learning platform or integrating learning tasks into existing tools like Slack or email can act as cues to trigger learning. The goal is to seamlessly embed these cues into the flow of work, making it easier for employees to start learning without needing to think about it.

2. Design Engaging Learning Routines

Once the cue triggers the learning session, it’s essential to have well-designed, engaging routines. Bite-sized learning or microlearning is particularly effective here. These small, easily digestible chunks of content are more likely to fit into employees’ busy schedules. Furthermore, activities like reflection exercises or real-time feedback loops create opportunities for continuous learning, encouraging repetition.

3. Reward Participation to Reinforce the Habit

Employees are more likely to repeat a learning routine if there’s a reward waiting at the end. In the corporate environment, rewards can take many forms. You could offer social recognition through a leaderboard, provide tangible rewards like badges or certificates, or create opportunities for promotion and growth that stem from completing training.

The key is to ensure the rewards are meaningful. They should directly relate to the individual's goals—whether it’s career advancement or developing a new skill set.

4. Promote Small Wins to Build Momentum

One of the most effective ways to make a habit stick is by starting small. Training that feels overwhelming can deter employees from engaging. Instead, break down learning objectives into achievable tasks. This reduces resistance and helps employees feel a sense of accomplishment early on, encouraging them to return for more.

By promoting small wins, you build the momentum needed to turn learning into a habit. A series of easily completed lessons or training sessions creates a positive feedback loop, increasing the likelihood that employees will continue their learning journey.

Habit Formation and the Brain: Why It Matters in Learning

Habit formation isn’t just behavioural—it’s neurological. The basal ganglia, the part of the brain responsible for pattern recognition and automatic behaviours, plays a significant role in habit formation. The more often an action is repeated, the less effort it requires from the brain’s decision-making centres, like the prefrontal cortex. Over time, behaviours triggered by cues become automatic.

Incorporating this understanding into training design helps ensure learning sticks. If we can tap into the brain’s natural wiring for habit formation, we can make the learning experience more effective, requiring less conscious effort from employees over time. Instead of feeling like an added task, learning becomes an ingrained part of their workday.

Building Lasting Learning Habits

As learning experience designers, we have the power to not only impart knowledge but to create learning habits that stick. By leveraging the principles of habit formation—cues, routines, and rewards—we can design programs that employees want to repeat, aligning with the ultimate goal of making learning an integral part of their professional lives.

When done right, these experiences won’t just teach employees new skills; they’ll cultivate a culture of continuous learning that benefits both individuals and the organization.

Incorporating these habit-forming strategies into your training programs can be the key to creating sophisticated learning experiences employees want to repeat—and that’s a win for everyone.

Final Thought: Designing for Repetition and Growth

Mastering the art of habit formation isn’t just about helping employees remember information; it’s about shaping behaviour. When learning becomes a habit, the workplace transforms into an environment of continuous development. Use the science of habit formation as your guide, and design learning experiences that employees will return to—again and again.