If You Loved My PIE Article, You’ll Love the Nerdy Bit Even More

Last week, I had an article published in Property Industry Eye about how much (or, more accurately, how little) we actually implement the things we learn at conferences and on training days.

The piece looked at that all-too-familiar feeling: returning to the office buzzing with ideas, only to find that a week later, it’s all been buried under inbox chaos, client dramas and a quick sandwich eaten over the keyboard.

I also shared a few practical ways to actually do something with what you’ve learned—because otherwise, what’s the point?

But for that article, I also did a fair bit of digging. And some of what I found was honestly pretty shocking. So I thought I’d share some of the juicier research nuggets here, for anyone who loves a good stat or is currently drowning in a sea of conference notes and wondering what on earth to do with them.

📉 How much training is actually implemented?

Let’s start with the headline stat that made me spill my tea:

• Only 10–20% of what we learn during business events ever gets applied back in the workplace. That’s according to multiple studies, who’ve branded the rest of it “scrap learning”. It’s basically the knowledge equivalent of throwing your lunch in the bin. Tasty at the time. Gone by the afternoon.

• One UK survey found that just 34% of people were still using their training a year later. And that’s if they were lucky. In many cases, the drop-off is steep, fast, and often complete. In fact, we forget about 75% of what we’ve learned within one week, unless we take steps to reinforce it.

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🏢 SMEs vs Large Firms – Who’s Doing Better?

Spoiler: neither is smashing it.

• SMEs in the UK take part in around 50% less formal training than large companies.That’s partly down to cost, time pressures and the whole “we’ll just learn on the job” mindset. (Not always a bad thing, by the way – informal learning can be very effective.)

• A recent UK survey found that 48% of SMEs hadn’t provided any formal training at all in the previous year.That’s almost half the sector skipping structured learning altogether.

• On the flip side, big corporations might throw more money at training, but even they face low implementation rates unless there’s real follow-up, support, and alignment with day-to-day roles.

So in short: more training doesn’t automatically equal more learning. It’s what happens afterwards that counts.

❌ Why doesn’t training stick?

Here’s what the research says gets in the way of actually applying what we learn:

• Lack of relevance – If it doesn’t feel directly useful to your role, you’ll forget it faster than your CPD login.

• No opportunity – Even good training gets shelved if you’re too busy to act on it.

• Workplace culture – If your boss or your environment doesn’t support experimentation or change, you’ll quietly drop the new idea and go back to the old way.

• No reinforcement – Without follow-up, you’ll lose most of the learning before the biscuits from the training day have even digested.

• Poor design – If it’s passive, theoretical, or full of waffle, it won’t stick.

One of my favourite quotes on this? “Training is not an event, it’s a process.” And if there’s no process, there’s no progress.

✅ What does help?

The good news: the data also points to things that actually work.

• Manager support can boost post-training performance by up to 67%. Even just checking in afterwards makes a huge difference.

• Peer support (e.g. learning buddies or shared discussion) can increase learning transfer by up to 70%.

• Hands-on practice and role-modelling during training increases skill application by around 15–22%.

• Action planning (i.e. “Here’s how I’ll use this back at work”) improves accountability and goal follow-through.

• Spaced reinforcement—sending tip sheets, reminders or doing follow-ups—helps beat the forgetting curve.

• Aligning training to real job tasks boosts implementation by around 20%.

• Learner readiness and motivation can increase training effectiveness by as much as 70% when done well.

The point is: no one thing is a magic bullet. But when you combine these strategies, the impact is dramatic—some studies show implementation rates improving by over 180%.

🤔 So... what now?

If you want the practical stuff—how to turn your conference notes into actual business change—then check out my original article here:

👉 Read the full article on Property Industry Eye

And if you’ve just returned from an event recently, I’d love to know:

How do you make sure your time at conferences is well spent?Are you a note-taker? An action-taker? A “stick-it-on-the-wall-and-forget-it” kind of person?

Let me know. Or share your thoughts on LinkedIn. (I promise not to judge. I’ve got a drawer full of lanyards too.)

📚 Sources Used in This Research

• Weber, E. (2014). Turning Learning into Action – excerpt in Training Magazine

• Wilson Learning Worldwide. Learning Transfer Model – research summary

• Stella Collins (2023). Your Guide to Learning Transfer – Stellar Labs blog

• Malamed, C. (2020). Workplace Support of Learning Transfer – The eLearning Coach

• Phillips, K. (2016). How Much Is Scrap Learning Costing Your Organization? – ATD blog

• Pike, B. (2018). Want to Eliminate Scrap Learning? – Training Magazine

• OECD Report (2013). Skills Development and Training in SMEs

• Capsim (2022). Making Learning Stick – Capsim Blog

• ATD (2020). Evidence-Based Design for Learning Transfer – F. Connolly