Wells Fargo

Alaina Doyle

According to the 2022 Workplace Learning & Development Trends report, organizations reported their desire to fill roles with individuals that possess both hard and soft skills. Organizations are also using workplace learning to build these skills. While learning and development departments believe their responsibility is to serve their organization through reskilling and upskilling employees, a gap remains in training employees about the thought process that goes into gaining a new skill. The importance of gaining insight into how and why a step is completed is equally important to what employees want to learn. Apprenticeship programs are a way to help employees build new skills. For instance, the Department of Labor offers a military apprenticeship program for active duty service members to complete to learn on-the-job experiences and takes into consideration the skills utilized in the military. However, if someone is interested in a direct, one to one approach, a cognitive apprenticeship experience could also be used. This concept was introduced by Collins and others (1986) as a technique to teach children how to read and write. However, more recently a study conducted by Hanna Moon (2017) suggested the concept could be used for workplace learning. Individuals at McKinsey agreed, as they discussed this concept during a recent podcast, ‘Apprenticeship gets a makeover’.

Cognitive apprenticeship includes six aspects to bring others to a new place of learning: modeling, coaching, scaffolding and fading, articulation and reflection, and exploration. Modeling refers to demonstrating a behavior for someone to observe. Coaching provides an opportunity to give supporting language to reinforce and/or correct behaviors. Scaffolding occurs when an individual provides temporary support for the completion of task an individual might not be able to complete. Fading is in tandem with scaffolding and refers to the gradual removal of scaffolding. Articulation and reflection are supports to help individuals externalize their thoughts and cognitive processes. Exploration allows individuals to solve problems on their own and seek out challenging tasks.

" To ensure a successful apprenticeship, a clear vision must be established, and the individual must be willing to endure the learning challenges "

Certain elements of learning should be present to ensure the goals of cognitive apprenticeship learning are met. Elements like, a real situation and collaboration with others, a problem to solve, opportunity for self-evaluation, cognitive growth, and acquisition of knowledge and skills to solve workplace problems. Cognitive apprenticeship gives employees the opportunity to learn a new skill and experience the work in a real environment. The section that follows will demonstrate how it was used to develop a new advanced skill, conducting an analysis of needs.

The table below outlines the approach and application of Bob’s cognitive apprenticeship process. Needs assessment occurs in three stages: 1) discovery call; 2) a deeper dive into problem and gap analysis; 3) presentation of learning recommendation. The cognitive apprenticeship stages are not listed in the order at which they occur. The approach was iterative and based on the task and level of complexity.

Bob completed the cognitive apprenticeship activity and has moved on to become a consummate human resource professional that offers solutions at his current organization.

Advice

To ensure a successful apprenticeship, a clear vision must be established, and the individual must be willing to endure the learning challenges. The person leading the employee through the apprenticeship framework should exercise patience and recognize the skill level of the employee. Depending on the level of complexity, cognitive apprenticeship could take between six to twelve months. It is best to fade of easier tasks as soon as possible to open the opportunity to address the more complex tasks. The employee should take ownership of the task to ensure fading is completed.

Implications

Human resource development or learning and development professionals could offer this solution on a broader scale and should be formalized. Sponsors, mentors, or leaders could leverage this during interactions with individuals seeking your expertise. Explaining the thoughts and insights helps the individual acquire additional knowledge and skill.