The 70-20-10 Model: Guide to Transforming Corporate Training by 2026

Did you know that 70% of what your employees learn does not come from formal courses? This is the premise of the 70-20-10 model, a learning approach that has helped transform corporate training in thousands of companies worldwide.

In a business environment where change is the only constant, the traditional way of training employees has become obsolete. Companies around the world that stand out in their industries have one thing in common: they have discovered that the most effective learning does not happen in a classroom, but in day-to-day work.

The 70-20-10 model is not just an academic theory; it is a practical strategy that is helping companies reduce training costs while increasing talent retention and improving performance.

In this comprehensive guide, you will discover:

• What the 70-20-10 model actually is and why it works.
• How to implement it step by step in your organization.
• The best technology tools to enhance each component.

Whether you lead an HR department, manage teams, or are looking to optimize training in your company, this guide will give you the practical insights you need.

What is the 70-20-10 model? Origins and foundations

The 70-20-10 model was developed in the 1990s by Morgan McCall, Robert Eichinger, and Michael Lombardo from the Center for Creative Leadership. After interviewing nearly 200 successful executives about how they had acquired their most valuable competencies, they discovered a surprising pattern. They found that effective learning is distributed as follows:

• 70% – Experiential learning: the most powerful learning comes from hands-on experience. Facing real challenges, solving problems, making mistakes, and learning from them. This is what happens when an employee takes on a new project, leads a team for the first time, or implements an innovative solution.
• 20% – Social learning: we learn by observing others, receiving feedback, being mentored, and sharing knowledge with colleagues. This peer-to-peer learning is essential for professional development.
• 10% – Formal learning: only a tenth of effective learning comes from structured training: courses, workshops, readings, or e-learning. Although it is the smallest component, it provides the necessary theoretical foundation.

Is the 70-20-10 ratio literal?

No. And this is a crucial point that many companies misunderstand.

The creators of the model never intended these figures to be exact or prescriptive. The model does not say “spend exactly 70% of your budget on workplace experiences.” Instead, it serves as a conceptual framework that reminds us that:

• Workplace learning must be a priority.
• Social knowledge sharing is essential.
• Formal training, while important, cannot be the only method.

In your organization, the ratio might be 60-25-15 or 80-15-5. What matters is maintaining balance and avoiding the traditional mistake of relying exclusively on classroom training.

Benefits of the 70-20-10 Model

Beyond being a theoretical distribution of learning, the 70-20-10 model has a direct impact on business outcomes. By aligning training with how people truly learn (by doing, collaborating, and solving real problems), organizations not only improve knowledge acquisition, but also on-the-job transfer, training investment efficiency, and the employee experience.

These are the main benefits that explain why so many companies are adopting this approach:

1. Greater knowledge retention

The 70-20-10 model is based on how people learn most deeply: through direct experience, practice, and interaction with others. When learning takes place in real work contexts, memory, understanding, and the ability to apply what has been learned in similar situations are strengthened, increasing transfer to daily performance compared to models focused solely on theoretical training.

2. Reduced training costs

By leveraging on-the-job and peer learning, companies reduce their reliance on external trainers and costly programs.

3. Immediate application time

Employees apply what they learn immediately in their real work, not weeks after completing a course.

4. Development of complex skills

Skills such as leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, or critical thinking are truly developed through practice, not in a classroom.

5. Higher engagement and talent retention

Employees who feel they are constantly learning and growing are 94% more likely to stay with the company.

Why the 70-20-10 Model Matters More Than Ever in 2026

The context in which companies operate has changed more in the last five years than in the previous two decades. Innovation cycles are shorter, roles are constantly evolving, and technical and digital skills are transforming at high speed.

In this scenario, traditional training models, based almost exclusively on formal courses, are no longer enough to keep teams up to date. The 70-20-10 model becomes especially relevant because it offers a more realistic view of how people learn in the workplace: by combining practical experience, social learning, and structured training to respond to an increasingly dynamic and uncertain professional environment.

Speed of knowledge obsolescence

According to the World Economic Forum, 50% of the skills you need today will be obsolete within the next 5 years. Employees cannot wait for quarterly courses—they need to learn continuously, in the flow of their work.

Expectations of new generations

According to Gallup, millennials and Generation Z, who represent the majority of today’s workforce, value continuous professional development. 87% of them consider having development opportunities at work to be important.

Digital transformation and remote work

The rise of hybrid and remote work has democratized access to different forms of learning, but it has also fragmented informal social learning opportunities.

How to Implement the 70-20-10 Model in Your Company

Applying the 70-20-10 model does not simply mean adding more courses or opening a Teams channel. It involves designing a learning ecosystem where daily experience, collaboration between people, and formal training work together to develop real competencies. These are the key actions to activate it properly within the organization.

1. Activate the 70%: experiential learning on the job

The core of the model lies in learning by doing. This is where the most complex skills are developed and where learning naturally transfers to performance.

Some ways to drive it:

• Assign challenging projects (stretch projects) that push employees out of their comfort zone.
• Job rotation programs to expose people to new functions or areas.
• Shadowing senior profiles or experts.
• Simulations and practical environments (including digital simulations or interactive scenarios).
• Structured reflection after projects, analyzing what worked, what didn’t, and what was learned.

This type of learning aligns with the concept of learning in the flow of work, where development happens while working, not outside the real context.

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2. Boost the 20%: social and collaborative learning

A large part of learning happens through conversations, observation, and shared experiences. Organizations that systematize this exchange accelerate the development of their teams.

Key actions:

• Mentoring programs with tracking and defined objectives.
• Communities of practice by role, area, or competency.
• Spaces for knowledge sharing (meetings, internal forums, collaborative channels).
• Employee-generated content, where professionals themselves document best practices.
• A culture of continuous feedback among peers and managers.

Want to see a real success story? Discover how we helped Petit Palace boost their team’s talent through Mentoring.

CASE STUDY

How Petit Palace managed to enhance the talent of its team through mentoring.

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3. Optimize the 10%: strategic formal training

Structured training does not disappear, but its role is to provide the foundation, context, and reinforcement for what is learned on the job.

Key elements here include:

• An LMS that centralizes training, assigns content, and measures progress.
• Role-based learning paths, connected to key competencies.
• Microlearning and short-form content that support specific needs.
• Ready-to-use course catalogs covering both soft and technical skills.
• Authoring tools that enable rapid creation of internal training.

This formal layer acts as the framework that organizes and reinforces experiential and social learning.

4. A key step many companies forget: learning diagnostics and culture

Before rolling out initiatives, it is essential to understand the starting point. Implementing 70-20-10 without this analysis often leads to isolated actions with no real impact.

It is necessary to analyze:

• How training investment is currently distributed.
• Whether people truly have time to learn during their workday.
• Whether knowledge sharing is valued or perceived as a distraction.
• Which competencies are critical for the business and what the current gap is.

This diagnosis helps prioritize efforts where the impact will be greatest.

5. Define clear objectives and impact metrics

The model must be linked to results, not just training activities. That is why it is important to establish specific and measurable objectives, such as reducing onboarding time, improving skills, or increasing productivity in certain processes.

In addition to participation indicators, it is advisable to measure:

• Application of learning on the job.
• Changes in professional behaviors.
• Impact on business indicators (sales, efficiency, quality, error reduction).

This way, learning is directly connected to organizational outcomes.

Specific KPIs for the 70-20-10 model

For the 70%:

• % of employees assigned stretch projects.
• Average number of new experiences per year per employee.
• Success rate in new assignments.

For the 20%:

• % of employees with a mentor/mentee.
• Frequency of interactions in communities.
• Volume of employee-generated content.
• % of employees who actively share knowledge.

For the 10%:

• Course completion rate.
• Average formal training time per employee per year.
• % of employees certified in key competencies.

6. Start with a pilot and scale progressively

Trying to transform the entire company at once often generates resistance. A more effective strategy is to start with a specific team or area that has a clear development need and a committed manager.

During the pilot, it is key to:

• Communicate the purpose clearly.
• Measure from the beginning.
• Gather continuous feedback.
• Adjust the model based on real experience.

Once validated, the approach can be scaled across the rest of the organization with a higher probability of success.

Common mistakes when applying the 70-20-10 model

Many organizations try to adopt the model but make mistakes that reduce its impact:

• Believing it is a budgeting formula: it is not about dividing investment exactly into 70-20-10.
• Leaving the 70% to chance: experiential learning must be designed, not improvised.
• Forgetting managers: without their involvement, on-the-job learning does not activate.
• Not measuring real application: focusing only on completed courses ignores behavior change.
• Not connecting learning with the business: if it does not impact KPIs, it is seen as an expense, not an investment.

What tools you need to make the 70-20-10 model a reality

Implementing the 70-20-10 model does not depend only on the willingness to learn, but also on having an infrastructure that enables experience, collaboration, and structured training. Technology does not replace learning, but it makes it possible at scale.

Tools that drive the 70%: learning on the job

To ensure experiential learning does not remain informal or invisible, it is important to support it with tools that structure it and connect it to performance:

• Project management systems that allow the assignment of real challenges and new responsibilities.
• Simulation platforms and practical scenarios to train decision-making and technical skills.
• Performance evaluation tools that link experience with competency development.
• Goal tracking systems where learning is tied to professional objectives.

These solutions help turn daily work into an intentional source of development.

Tools that enable the 20%: social learning

Learning between people needs spaces where it can happen naturally and continuously.

Key tools here include:

• Communication and collaboration platforms (such as Teams, Slack, or corporate apps).
• Mentoring and coaching systems with tracking of interactions and objectives.
• Digital spaces for communities of practice, by role or specialty.
• Internal knowledge repositories where employees share best practices.

These tools make collective knowledge visible and accelerate its transfer.

Tools that structure the 10%: formal training

Formal training is still necessary, but it must be integrated into the overall ecosystem.

For this purpose, organizations use:

• LMS (Learning Management Systems) to organize, assign, and measure training.
• E-learning content authoring tools that allow rapid creation of internal courses.
• Professional course catalogs to cover key competencies without starting from scratch.
• Assessment and analytics systems to measure progress and impact.

This layer provides coherence, traceability, and reinforcement for learning that happens outside the classroom.

How isEazy Helps Turn the 70-20-10 Model into Reality

So far, we have seen what applying the 70-20-10 model involves: integrating experience, collaboration, and structured training into a single ecosystem. The challenge for many organizations is not understanding the model, but having the right tools to make it work in a coordinated and scalable way.

This is where isEazy’s AI-powered e-learning tools make the difference.

For the 10% – Structured formal training

With isEazy LMS, organizations can centralize training, define role-based learning paths, and measure progress with analytics that connect learning and performance. Its all-in-one approach includes an AI-powered authoring tool that makes it easy to create interactive courses, simulations, and multimedia content without requiring technical profiles. It also offers a library of professional courses that accelerates coverage of key competencies such as sustainability, AI, leadership, compliance, cybersecurity, and more—without starting from scratch.

For the 20% – Social learning

Knowledge sharing is enhanced through isEazy Engage, which combines management, internal communication, and learning in a single app specially designed for frontline teams. It enables communities of practice, experience sharing, and employee-generated content, similar to the way people interact on social networks.

For the 70% – Experiential learning

The features of authoring tools such as isEazy Author for creating branching scenarios, chat simulations, and interactive videos allow learners to practice decisions and real-life situations in safe environments. This reinforces the learning that occurs in day-to-day work and facilitates the development of complex skills.

Conclusion: the 70-20-10 model is not a trend, it is the natural evolution of learning

Organizations that rely exclusively on formal courses are training for the past. Today’s environment requires professionals who learn continuously, collaborate across areas, and develop competencies while working.

The 70-20-10 model offers a clear framework to achieve this, integrating experience, social learning, and structured training into a single strategy. It is not about adding more training, but about redesigning how learning happens within the organization.

Companies that adopt this approach not only develop better professionals, but also build continuous learning cultures capable of adapting to change.

If you want to see how this model can be put into practice with tools that connect formal training, social learning, and on-the-job experience, you can request a demo of our products and explore how it works in a real environment.