Focus on development with the 70-20-10 Method
“We believe in pursuing ambitions, hard work, critical thinking, and creative solutions. We never want to stand still and believe in the power of development.” At the top of the Flux Partners homepage, it’s immediately clear how important personal growth is within the company. But how does Flux implement this? You can find out in this blog!
Do, learn and train
“Within Flux, everyone works according to the 70-20-10 method,” says Jesse van der Mieden, advisor in tender management at Flux Partners. “This is a learning model by Charles Jennings, in which learning methods are divided into three categories. The name of the model refers to the percentages of time spent on each learning method: 70% of the time is spent on learning by doing, 20% of the time is dedicated to learning from colleagues, and 10% of the time is available for informal learning. In practice, this translates to 70% learning from the projects you work on. The 20% may involve asking questions to colleagues, and the 10% is for taking training or reading books on the relevant topic.”
Organization-wide
The 70-20-10 method is applied throughout Flux, in all departments and for all topics. “It starts with introduction training for each specialty group,” says Jesse. “Rob Teunissen, managing consultant at the Flux Academy, has embraced and integrated the 70-20-10 method into the Flux Academy. The idea is partly based on this to allocate Fridays as internal days. This means that many training sessions and specialty group meetings often take place on Fridays. For example, within the tender management specialty group, an hour is reserved every Friday to help colleagues with questions. This way, we make it as easy as possible to exchange knowledge among each other.”
Guidance
According to Jesse, the 70-20-10 method is a useful tool to stimulate personal development. “It provides guidance for managing your time and, at the same time, lowers the threshold for learning from each other. Additionally, it serves as motivation if you want to learn something new. You always know how much time you have available for each learning method to further develop in a specific area. For me, it’s a very pleasant way of working. When I graduated from the university, I wanted to learn a lot and take various training courses. The learning opportunities at Flux are so extensive that I never had to resort to external courses or training. I already learn a lot from colleagues, internal training, and the projects I work on.”
Ownership
“Through the learning method and the Flux Academy, there are many opportunities to keep developing yourself,” Jesse continues. “However, a certain degree of proactivity is expected. The motto we often use for this is ‘Ownership makes the difference.’ You are responsible for your own growth. For example, I expressed my interest in experiencing what it’s like to work in an innovation partnership. I had researched this procurement procedure for my thesis. After helping Van Oord with preparing the MEAT plans and winning the tender for the Strong Lekdijk Innovation Partnership, I was able to join the realization phase as an innovation management advisor. This represents the 70% practical experience. Through peer discussions with colleagues in similar roles, you can learn from each other. The last 10% can be obtained by attending a lecture or reading a book on innovation management, for instance.”