70-20-10 Model

What is the 70-20-10 model?

The 70-20-10 model is a framework for how people develop, suggesting that roughly 70 percent of learning comes from challenging experience and on-the-job practice, 20 percent from other people through coaching, mentoring, and feedback, and 10 percent from formal learning such as courses. The numbers are a rule of thumb, not a precise law, and the point is the balance rather than the exact ratio.

It underpins much of modern learning and development and shapes how a good individual development plan is built.

Why it matters

Organisations often over-invest in the 10 percent, formal training, while under-using the experience and relationships where most growth actually happens. The 70-20-10 model corrects that by reminding L&D and managers to design development around real challenges and human support, not just content. `[VERIFY]` any specific research attribution before citing exact origins.

How to apply it

70 (experience). Stretch assignments, new responsibilities, and real problems to solve.
20 (relationships). Coaching, mentoring, and feedback such as 360-degree feedback.
10 (formal). Targeted courses and programmes that support the other two.

The practical takeaway is to plan development across all three, using experience and coaching as the engine and formal learning as a complement.

Strengthen the 20 percent

The 20 percent, learning from others, is where coaching lives, and it is often the weakest link. Coachello makes coaching available across your organisation, so development is not left to courses alone.

Build coaching into how your people grow. Book a demo.

FAQs

Are the 70-20-10 numbers exact?

No. They are a guideline, not a precise formula. The value is in the reminder to balance experience, relationships, and formal learning, not in hitting the exact ratio.

What does the 20 in 70-20-10 refer to?

Learning from other people, including coaching, mentoring, and feedback.

How do you use the model in practice?

Design development plans that combine stretch experiences, coaching and feedback, and targeted formal learning, rather than relying on training alone.