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May 2026
Ella Jaczynska
Learning at Work Week celebrates growth and development – but in today’s world, learning can also feel relentless. In our modern “always-on” development culture, we are encouraging employees to consume more learning than ever before, while creating less space to actually process, personalise, retain and apply it.
Without giving people the space to reflect and apply information contextually, do we risk a combination of learning fatigue, mental overwhelm and transitory knowledge?
The pressure to constantly develop & how that pressure affects mental wellbeing
The pressure to optimise personal growth and development is pervasive. We live with career comparison on one hand, and the growth of L&D apps and AI tools that feel like pressure to learn in every five-minute gap on the other. It’s little wonder that the younger workers have been described not as job-hopping, but as growth-hunting. [i]
With the race to constantly upskill seemingly gathering pace (Gen Z workers are nearly twice as likely to be actively upskilling compared with older generations[ii]), it may come as no surprise that 55% of workers under 30 said burnout had negatively affected their ability to work.[iii]
The value and importance of learning and development at work is undeniable. The question is, what should this learning look like and how can organisations ensure employees are stretched without overwhelm?
Content alone rarely creates change
All the research shows that truly embedded learning comes from something you do and personally integrate and connect with, not something you attend or consume on a superficial level.
In fact, statistics suggest that 79% of learning (from events, apps etc) is forgotten within 31 days of learning, unless the material is revisited multiple times.
Successful organisations recognise that retention naturally decays without reinforcement and application.
Why coaching and reflective learning create sustainable change
70% of individuals supported with personalised coaching experience performance improvements due to deeper embedding and integration of the learnings.
In other words, apps and “information snacking” may have their place, but it’s vital to slow learning down enough to make it meaningful and to help individuals translate information into sustainable behavioural change for improved performance.
A personalised coaching programme, whether designed for individuals, groups, teams or boards, due to the nature of what it is, delivers sustainable outcomes and is results-focused. By delivering learning in this way, organisations can support wellbeing alongside performance. That is why we are so passionate about the coaching we deliver and how it supports Healthy High Performance.
Learning that lasts – not burnout disguised as growth.
Click here to view our coaching programmes and find out more.
[i] https://www.randstad.com/press/2025/genz-workplace-blueprint/
[iii] https://www.icaew.com/insights/viewpoints-on-the-news/2025/mar-2025/how-gen-z-can-avoid-burnout