How To Use the 70-20-10 Learning Model to Upskill Your Agency Team

You have two employees who are gunning for promotions but need more skills, your team is tackling a market they have limited exposure to for a major client, and everyone has to learn a new software program. 

You’ve got a lot of growth to grow with limited fertilizer. 

Like most marketing agencies, you’ve got some professional development funds set aside (but not enough to cover everyone’s wishlist). Unlike a global corporation, you don’t have a large HR department or dedicated training team. 

The 70-20-10 learning model provides insight into how agency leaders should structure their learning and development activities to achieve the best outcomes. And contrary to popular opinion, it recommends deprioritizing expensive, stale classroom learning in favor of experiential and social learning. 

That’s great news for mid to large marketing agencies who have limited cash to spend, but tons of expertise bubbling away in employee brains, ready to tap. In this article, we’ll explore the main ideas behind the 70-20-10 principle and how to apply it to your workforce development for faster, more effective learning and rapid business growth. 

What Is the 70-20-10 Learning Model?

The 70-20-10 model for learning and development was created in the 1980s by three researchers working for the nonprofit educational institution, the Center for Creative Leadership in North Carolina. 

Morgan McCall, Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger were researching the cornerstone developmental experiences of successful managers and discovered, to their surprise, that it was not formal training programs that had the greatest impact, but rather on-the-job experiences and interactions with others. 

This challenged the traditional believe that development generally begins in the classroom learning and highlighted the importance of creating a culture that fosters continuous learning through experience and collaboration.

They formulated a ratio that quantifies the optimal training mix:

• 70% of knowledge is obtained from hands-on experience, on the job learning to develop job-related skills, and tackling challenges and complex decisions in the workplace.

• 20% is gleaned from collaborating and sharing with peers, coaching, mentoring, and feedback. 

• 10% is learned from traditional instruction like training and development programs, digital courses, reading, or conferences. 

A Few Caveats

Because the model is over 40 years old at this point, and it was created for managers and not all learners, experts caution against taking it too literally. At a high level, it’s a reminder that most learning occurs in the workplace getting one’s hands dirty, rather than in a more structured learning setting, think a classroom hunched over a textbook (trigger warning, university flashback may occur). 

Further, it’s important to understand that the power of the 70-20-10 principle comes from the combination of the factors, rather than focusing on any one factor independently of another.

Research has found that across industries, countries, roles, and companies, employees learn through their own unique mix. Employees will use whatever resources are available to learn new knowledge, skills, and abilities. 

The biggest challenge is continuing to find the best remote talent and maintaining the culture of the agency as we grow our team.

We tackle this by ensuring we maintain the culture within the agency and work hard on inclusivity and engagement. 

We have an employee reward and recommendation platform (Bonusly) which helps foster recognition between the team. We also have regular events to make sure we are making time for fun, outside of the busy day to day schedule. We also run regular training briefings to foster a knowledge sharing culture within the business.

Andy Hill, Founder, Distribute Digital

For example, if your agency hasn’t had time to put together any formal onboarding training, staff will naturally turn to social learning out of necessity (“Ask Brenda, she knows, she’s been here forever”). 

Alternatively, if the agency is just getting started and doesn’t have in-house experts available to coach, staff will have to rely on external educational providers to teach them the skills they need. 

Benefits of Upskilling Your Agency Team vs. Hiring Externally

The case for promoting internally over hiring externally really boils down to three core arguments:

Internal Candidates Have Proven They’re a Good Fit 

Essentially, they’re a known commodity. They have on the job experience, a proven work ethic, and demonstrated culture fit. You know they can get the job done and understand the agency’s goals and ways of working, but will require some upskilling or coaching to grow into the next role. Hiring externally could bring a wildcard into the mix, because while they have all the right qualifications on paper, they may not mesh well with the team. 

Rewarding Your People Strengthens Culture

You’re keeping your best people along with their invaluable agency knowledge–the mentors, the coaches, the out-of-the-box-thinkers. When employees see their hard work is rewarded with promotions, they feel appreciated and motivated to succeed.

Promoting Puts Everyone Ahead

An interesting (if older) study found that new hires were 60% more likely to be fired from their new job than those promoted within the firm. While external hires in the study had more education and experience, they also had worse performance reviews, and lagged behind promoted employees for two years before catching up. Because everyone had to divert energy to bring the new person up to speed, the entire team’s performance declined. By contrast, promoting from within has the potential to avoid this particular setback. 

Finding quality staff has always been difficult. Instead of trying to find and retain talent, we started hiring entry level employees and training them! Providing them with schooling and hands on experience has helped us gain loyal employees.

Anya Curry, CEO, Ambidextrous Services

How To Apply the 70-20-10 Learning Principle at Your Agency

Now that we have an understanding of the 70-20-10 principle in theory, let’s take a closer look at how to use it to upskill employees within the context of your agency.

70% Experience

Learning by doing is key! Beyond formal training, experiential learning allows agency employees to gain valuable skills through informal learning opportunities like daily tasks, regular practice, and job-related experiences. Here are some top recommendations on how to implement experiential learning at your agency.

Bring Learning Closer to the Point of Need

Training is usually only available before the execution of a task (as in, I’ll show you how to do it, but you’ll only wind up using it three months from now and consequently forget it all) or after task execution (as in, you bungled that royally, so let me demonstrate how to do it again). 

One key aspect of 70-20-10 learning solutions is empowering workers to access training or learning resources during task execution, when the information is most relevant and application is immediate. This is called making training available at the time and point of need. Learning closest to its application is more likely to translate to correct action and improved performance.

Hand Out Stretch Assignments

For staff to adapt and grow, they need to be exposed to new experiences and challenges. Whether this is part of their formal professional development plan, or integrated into daily work assignments, learning is fostered through increases in job scope, horizontal job moves, launching new initiatives, and solving large challenges.  This can also help prepare your agency team members to tackle any current or future need the agency, or its clients, may have.

What would this look like in practice?

• Stretch Assignments: Assign team members more challenging assignments or projects that require them to learn new skills, providing opportunities to develop and practice those skills in a real-world context. For example, a social media specialist accustomed to designing static carousels might work on a video marketing campaign, gaining experience in video editing and storytelling.

• Client Shadowing: Encourage your creative team to shadow client meetings or presentations, particularly those focused on creative direction or feedback discussions. This provides exposure to unfiltered feedback on their work and helps them gain a better understanding of customer needs.

• Pilot Projects: Launch small-scale pilot projects with new technologies or marketing strategies. This allows employees to gain practical experience in a controlled environment.

20% Exposure

Developmental relationships foster deeper understanding through self-directed exploration and immediate feedback from peers, strengthening both knowledge and professional connections. Here are some ideas to integrate exposure opportunities at your agency.

Pursue Effective Mentoring

Oftentimes people get the misconception that mentoring is a veteran, gray-haired employee taking a bright-eyed newbie under their wing, taking them out for drinks, and somberly explaining the ropes. It's a bit more structured than that, with the mentee making far more active contributions. 

In practice, adding opportunities for mentorship might look like agency leaders sitting down with more junior employees for a 1-on-1 discussion about employee performance once a month or more. Both should come prepared to discuss topics, work through solutions, and generate plans. 

Mentors help mentees grow by outlining steps to achieve their career plans, discussing ambitions, acting as a sounding board for ideas, and connecting them with others who can assist further. The mentor is a motivator, holding the mentee accountable for making progress and following up on past conversations. 

Facilitate Manager-To-Manager Development

The jump from star specialist to empathetic people manager is notoriously challenging. Technical mastery–a strength as an individual contributor–doesn't guarantee leadership success.

Peer learning bridges the gap. Matching new managers with seasoned veterans for advice and shared experiences is invaluable. Formal programs or informal pairings–anything that fosters social learning–empowers new leaders to build strong networks, access critical feedback, and gain complex leadership skills that just can’t be picked up from books.

Use Impact Feedback To Drive Behavior Change

Feedback from managers and authority figures is another component of social learning. Of the four different kinds of feedback, impact feedback is the most effective type. It tells the receiver the effect their actions had on others or the business, without assigning blame. 

10% Education

Finishing out the ratio, formal training methods provide essential knowledge and frameworks to excel. This section explores formal training opportunities that equip employees to master their roles.

By providing our team with more time for training and professional development, we have been able to improve our skills and knowledge in areas like digital marketing, data analysis, and client communication, which has helped us deliver better results for our clients and stay competitive in th e marketplace.

Daniel Dye, President, Native Rank, Inc.

Don’t Neglect Soft Skills Development

Soft skills are characteristics like empathy, compassion and authenticity, which are needed to form bonds with others. Self-awareness, communication, and learning agility are all core skills everyone needs to possess. So while technical certifications are great, don’t forget to add some formal coursework around leadership or soft skills development into the mix.

Keep Formal Learning Flexible

Encourage learners to pursue industry certifications, attend conferences or workshops, read books, or engage in any formal development method that resonates with them. Offering financial assistance or fee reimbursement for relevant training is a flexible way for agency employees to find learning opportunities that meet their needs, interests, and schedules. 

That said, don’t discount the value of free. Here are three training resources worth checking out from our archives:

• 9 Best SEO Certifications & Courses to Level Up Your Agency

• The Only 19 SEO Tutorials You Need To Read

• From Beginner to Pro: 22 Free Google Ads Tutorials

Bring Training In-House To Maximize Company-Wide Skill Development

Does your entire team need a refresher on the latest SEO best practices? Are social media strategies a knowledge gap for some employees? 

If there's a skill relevant to your agency as a whole, consider bringing the learning in-house! Take advantage of your regular planning sessions or retreats to develop and deliver some in-house workshops or partner with external providers for courses that address specific skill gaps or emerging trends in the industry. 

In-person learning, supported by group discussions and activities, is proven to foster deeper understanding and better application of a new skill. Overall, it drives better results than individual or online study.

Conclusion

Succeeding as a marketing professional has always necessitated a little trial by fire. With some solid creative leadership, it’s possible to tame the flames and turn these challenges and opportunities into learning moments for agency employees. 

By focusing on experiential learning (70%) through stretch assignments and on-the-job challenges, you empower employees to develop essential skills organically. Support this with social learning (20%) and formal training (10%) to create a well-rounded development strategy.

Our mission is to make life better, whether it's by providing worry-free experiences for clients to achieve their goals or empowering new hires through ongoing training programs to maximize their professional development.

Alexa Rees, SEO Manager, seoplus+

It's also beneficial to equip your team with easy-to-use tools that require minimal training and deliver exceptional value quickly. AgencyAnalytics empowers your team to generate beautiful, white labeled campaign reports in minutes, with no extensive training needed. This frees up valuable time for them to focus on developing core marketing skills and strategic thinking.