Designing Cohort-Based Learning That Builds Better Leaders

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Digital cohort-based learning programs that combine live sessions with interactive assignments and peer collaboration are increasing in popularity especially in leadership development. This is apparent in Brandon Hall Group’s recent study “Igniting the Leadership Spark.” Their Principal Analyst Matt Pittman shares his insights on the study and what’s behind the growth of cohort-based approaches.

Show Notes: 

Brandon Hall Group Principal Analyst Matt Pittman shares the best practices that make up digital cohort-based leadership development.

• Cohort-Based Learning Is Here to Stay: Adoption of digital cohort-based learning has jumped from 27% in 2020 to 69% in 2024, driven by the need for scalable, cost-effective leadership development in remote and hybrid environments.
• Technology Simplicity and Integration Are Crucial: Success hinges on a user-friendly tech stack—ideally with a single access point for learners—that integrates live sessions, asynchronous content, collaboration tools, and progress tracking.
• Design for Engagement, Not Just Delivery: Virtual cohorts must be structured with interactivity in mind. Tools like breakout rooms, polls, whiteboards, and gamification help enhance engagement, as long as they align with learning objectives.
• Facilitators Need New Skills and Support: Leading digital cohorts requires facilitators to be tech-savvy and when possible supported by producers or moderators who can manage live session logistics, ensuring smooth learner experiences.
• Long-Term Impact Measurement Is Essential: Beyond course completion, organizations should evaluate leadership growth by tracking outcomes like internal promotions, retention, and on-the-job performance over time.
   

Read "Leveraging Cohort-Based Learning for Leader Development"

Learn more about Brandon Hall Group

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Transcript:

Susan Cort: [00:00:00] To develop leaders in today's hybrid work environment, many organizations are turning to digital cohort-based learning.

Matt Pittman: What we learned is that you can deliver very effective learning in this format for a fraction of the cost of traditional cohort type programs. And. You can also, as is the case from the article you read better regionalize that experience from a cultural and language perspective, so you're really meeting learners where they are.

Susan Cort: That's Matt Pittman, principal analyst at Brandon Hall Group, and the author of Igniting the Leadership Spark, a study that explores the shift toward digital collaborative learning and development. Matt joins d’Vinci's, CEO, Luke Kempski, and me Next on Powered by Learning.

Announcer: Powered by Learning is brought to you by d’Vinci Interactive. d’Vinci’s approach to learning is grounded in 30 years of innovation and expertise. We use [00:01:00] proven strategies and leading technology to develop solutions that empower learners to improve quality and boost performance. Learn more at dvinci.com.

Susan Cort: Joining me now are d’Vinci, CEO, Luke Kempski, and our guest, Matt Pittman, Principal Analyst with Brandon Hall Group. Welcome, Matt.

Matt Pittman: Great to see you, Matt. Thanks for having me.

Susan Cort: Well, Matt, talk a little bit about your role at Brandon Hall Group and why you chose to write about the value of cohort-based learning in your article, igniting the leadership spark.

Matt Pittman: Thanks. So, yeah, I'm, as you said, I'm a principal analyst with Brandon Hall Group and. My role in the organization is really looking at things through the practitioner lens, and so I really focus on understanding how organizations are solving issues and how technology providers are enabling those solutions to take place.

And I oversee a lot of our research activities as well as our newer professional development offerings as well. [00:02:00] When it comes to looking at cohort-based learning, part of our research agenda every year is really understanding what organizations are doing and how they are approaching their various activities.

And so we really started from that modality perspective and went from there. So we like to highlight innovative and successful solutions. And so that's where that article that you referenced came from because Marriott had a, a really in innovative approach, uh, along with their partner. And so we wanted to really tell that story.

Luke Kempski: Oh, that's great. I mean, when you, when you talk about cohort-based learning or co based training, what other kind of core components to it and what makes it kind of different than maybe some other modalities?

Matt Pittman: You know, I think the, the core components of a cohort-based experience aren't necessarily all that different from an in-person experience because cohort-based learning for learning leadership development's been around a long time.

But when you bring it into the virtual realm, into [00:03:00] those digital first settings, there are some things that you want to make sure that you're taking care of and caring for. So, the social collaborative component is critical. The ability for the cohort members to connect outside of the live sessions and build relationships to help each other out and learn together is key.

Also, this idea of gating so that cohorts proceed at a similar pace through the experience and your early adopters and achievement motivated learners. Don't get too far ahead. The other tricky aspect I think is caring for the ability to practice and apply learning in low stakes environments, which can be accomplished in a, in a number of different ways.

Luke Kempski: Yeah, I think there's also kind of like an accountability piece that comes with, you know, that, that paced out in-person or, you know, online, digital, in-person experience where you're, you know, collaborating with others and you're expected to do your offline activities before you come into that collaboration.

Matt Pittman: Absolutely.

Luke Kempski: Yeah. So, um, your research shows a real [00:04:00] dramatic increase in the popularity of cohort-based, uh, programs. I think it went from like 27% to 69% from 2020 to 2024. That's pretty, uh, pretty amazing jump.

Matt Pittman: Yeah, it is. And I think, you know, you have to, when you look at that, the 2020 was the year of the pandemic and the obvious catalyst that the pandemic response provided for learning and leadership development professionals.

We had to find new ways to do things, to keep the agenda moving forward, to keep the development happening. And so what we learned is. You can deliver very effective learning in this format for a fraction of the cost of traditional cohort type programs. And you can also, as is the case from the article, read better regionalize that experience from a cultural and language perspective.

So, you're really meeting learners where they are.

Luke Kempski: So it does definitely sounds like it's sticking as well, like even though it was, you know, [00:05:00] inspired a jump through the pandemic and the aftermath, that it's starting to really stick because it's, I would imagine, um, working and organizations are seeing results.

Can you talk a little bit about the technologies that enable cohort-based learning? Like what are, what are the features that, that you really need in a, in a platform, in a tech stack?

Matt Pittman: Yeah. You know, for me, simplicity is key. A single destination or entry point for that cohort where they can access everything they need without having to log into multiple systems or go to multiple locations.

Even if you go into the. Location and it takes you out. But I'm still going through that single point of entry. That makes a huge difference. The ability to track progress is key. Be able to interact with cohort members. Um, adding some of the gamification elements like leaderboards or badging can make a big difference as well.

I think we see a lot of success with [00:06:00] blended experiences as well. A mix of. Async e-Learning and virtual live sessions and other recorded media and discussion boards all working together. And your platform should ideally include all of that, though generally the live virtual sessions end up in your company's platform of choice, be it Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, whatever.

Luke Kempski: Yeah, no, that sounds, that sounds good. It sounds like, uh. That's what can make the best learning experiences like is where it's not so technically challenging or you get people in different windows and you're trying to coordinate all of that. So, you know, our, our listeners are mostly learning leaders who are either responsible for developing learning programs or they're, uh, overseeing a team of instructional designers and learning developers.

So what, what would you advise in terms of how they should think about doing cohort-based programs? Like how's it different in terms of how they should approach it from a development standpoint?

Matt Pittman: You know, it's interesting, uh, because I'm actually in the middle of designing [00:07:00] some cohort-based learning experiences for the Brandon Hall Group Institute right now.

As I've worked on this project, my biggest learning has been remember the environment. So I've done my best to ensure the live portions of our courses are highly interactive and that, and that actually takes a little more time to execute in a virtual setting than it does in an in-person setting. So leveraging all the digital tools, breakout group capability, polls, whiteboards, collaboration tools is important, but don't be gimmicky.

Make sure it serves the learning objectives of the session. Don't force too much content into the time you have available. There is what I would describe almost as the technology tech tax when it comes to virtual experiences. A portion of your time will be taken by the technology itself. It's not a lot, but it is real and you need to hold space for that in your design, uh, so that you can maximize the learning.

Opportunity and the learning activity.

Luke Kempski: That's so interesting. And now, [00:08:00] are you also gonna facilitate the program you're developing? If so, I guess, or if not, like either way. Like how does that impact how you're thinking about it?

Matt Pittman: So, I will be facilitating at least our pilot experiences, uh, coming up this summer.

Uh, I will not always be the facilitator, but. That also helps from a design perspective because as I'm putting it together, I'm practicing in my head and sometimes out loud to make sure that it's making sense to me. I think when it comes to the virtual experience, the biggest difference for facilitators is the ability to leverage that technology fully.

In fact, I recommend, and I myself try whenever possible to have a producer in quotes, support person on any live session to help me manage the technology and the learner experience. So if you're in the middle of walking through a key concept or setting up instructions for an activity and somebody's dropping questions that are relevant and [00:09:00] urgent in the chat, having someone else who can respond to those.

In the chat, while you keep the main flow of the session going can be really important. It's just uh oh, and also for the asynchronous pieces, you have to make sure you know how to leverage any of those tools that are in the design of the cohort and you're consistently interacting with the cohort. In between the live experiences, time and technology management, which are key for any facilitator in any setting are elevated.

That much more, more in a virtual experience. I think,

Luke Kempski: I guess having a producer is kind of a different approach than maybe just a typical synchronous kind of webinar kind of training. When you think about all the different variables that you might have in a cohort-based program, like the number of times you're gonna have in-person online experiences, the number of weeks or months from the beginning to the completion, whether there's an assessment at the end and a test.[00:10:00]

And a certificate, whether there's, you know, kind of the balance between the work that's done in the cohort versus what's done offline, either asynchronously or, you know, through e-learning or watching videos or podcasts. Are there any best practices emerging that you, that you've seen with developing cohort-based learning experiences?

Matt Pittman: I would call it. I don't know if we're quite at the place of best practice yet. From my perspective, I would say sort of guiding principles that I think are really important, and for me the most important is relevance and applicability. So as you move through that cohort experience, making sure the content is clearly applicable to the work the team members need to deliver back on the job.

And providing clear pathways for leveraging what they are learning in real life, as they say is critical. Pacing is critical. Less is more when it comes to a virtual experience, either managing all of these different pieces. As you've mentioned, [00:11:00] if you need to get through more content, you will need more time, either more weeks in the program or more time in the live session.

So for example, if you have designed your program around weekly, 45-minute live sessions as your anchor points, you need to make sure that what you are asking for between those sessions is doable. In the context of the day-to-day job they're already doing and that the content that you try to tackle in that 45 minutes is digestible in that timeframe.

Luke Kempski: Yeah, that's for sure. So, when you think about, uh, how organizations are implementing cohort-based learning and cohort-based experiences. Are there some things they should do in terms of measuring the success or ROI that might be a little different or just, you know, making sure that it gets embedded in in the process?

Matt Pittman: Yeah, so for any learning program, measurement should always point first and foremost to business impact. I. From a leadership perspective, tracking key leadership indicators over [00:12:00] time, as well as looking at those cost implications that'll vary by organization. So, what's important to one company may not be as important to another company, but looking at things like leader retention, employee retention, under those leaders who participate in the program.

Ongoing KPI or OKR delivery, uh, by participants over time, internal promotion and mobility rates. And that resulting cost savings from not having to recruit externally can be a good component to the strategy. And then from a program perspective, of course, learner experience, feedback is important, but also looking at things like cost per learner and positive impact of performance on the job.

Savings overtime. 'cause as you transition in your approach and as you begin to see, uh, the results of the programs making their way back into the day-to-day of the organization, you looking at how is that positively [00:13:00] impacted our ability? To prepare more leaders to move, to have, you know, leader quality and leader structure over time, uh, be stable and continually improving.

Uh, I think all of that is really important.

Susan Cort: Matt, from the research that you've done, I. Are there certain types of learning experiences that translate very well into cohort-based learning and maybe others not so much. What have you seen people doing in the industry?

Matt Pittman: So, I, I really think there is a way to tackle most things in a virtual cohort experience that you would in a, in a live experience.

You just have to maybe get a little creative with it or leverage some other tool that maybe you haven't in the past. And certainly with the advent of. AI-enabled tools in the mainstream. There are some other even more things that, that come online, like feedback agents and, uh, scenario-based coaching [00:14:00] interactions with AI bots to help prepare you.

Do I think that's enough in most leadership programs? Probably not. So I think what we are seeing is. In addition to sort of those anchor live experiences, there are intermittent experiences. So for example, the Marriott uh, program that is a part of this article that you guys read. They, in addition to being in the cohort, within the cohort, there are subgroups that are assigned for the entire duration of the program.

And those are generally regional. Uh, so all of the, you know, all of the managers in Asia, all of the managers in North America. That sort of regionalization to the experience. And then they have ongoing study groups or activities that they need to do as their small group, if you will, uh, in between the main anchor session.

So I think that has worked particularly well for them [00:15:00] and is an approach that I would recommend as well.

Luke Kempski: Yeah, that makes sense. Do you, do you think that the cohort-based training is going to increase going forward like it has been and become really the dominant form, especially for leadership development for corporations that have, you know, multiple locations and people distributed across the country or across the world.

Matt Pittman: You know, I think it's very contextual to the company and their culture and their needs. We do expect in general, that. All digital first modalities and approaches will continue to increase in usage and especially as I mentioned, as those AI empowered tools continue to wake, make their way more and more into the mainstream of HR and learning practices.

And while it's hard to say whether cohort approaches will become the dominant approach, I suspect it will do what most modalities do, which is peak pretty high on the utilization scale. And then. Normalize back down to lower, but a more sustainable level. [00:16:00] Uh, much like the swing away from live, traditional in-person training was brought on by the pandemic response that did rebound as we came out of that season, but it's not gotten back to pre-pandemic levels in terms of utilization.

I think cohort-based learning will, will follow a similar trend in the other way. So, I think there will be a peak at some point. Whether we've hit that yet or not, it's hard to say. Uh, but then I think it, it'll normalize. And you know, our most recent research shows that, um, organizations, 60% of organizations are using this type of approach in their learning in some way today.

Luke Kempski: Yeah. It could be that we're all taking part in one course or another at any given time. As part of a cohort because we have to constantly be learning and it is kind of a, a really good approach that kind of mixes a lot of different experiences, whether it's, you know, the e-learning piece, watching a video, reading, and then collaborating with people who maybe you don't get to collaborate very often, but have [00:17:00] similar.

Responsibilities that you do and how you can learn from each other is really great.

Luke Kempski: Matt, you're involved with research. Um, is there any research that you're, that you'd like to see happen with cohort based? Approaches or, or something that you're working on?

Matt Pittman: Yeah, you know, that's, that's a great question.

At Brandon Hall Group, you know, we try to benchmark practices at least one time a year, and we have the unique opportunity to mine hundreds of best-in-class leadership programs through our awards program. So, we are always trying to understand what the [00:18:00] best of the best are doing. And in fact, in our most recent learning study, as I mentioned, 60% of organizations have indicated that they are using some form of social collaborative platform, and the rest are planning to add that capability.

This year and a look at leadership development across 27 different organizations this year has shown that all of them are leveraging a blended cohort-based approach in some way. I think the biggest research need is going to be looking at effectiveness over time. How is cohort-based learning impacting long-term leader quality?

And how are companies maximizing their continuous improvement activities to refine those programs and help them get even better?

Luke Kempski: Yeah, that's great. And uh, definitely Brandon Halls in, uh, the perfect position to make that happen. Really appreciate your time today, Matt and, uh, continue to do the great work and the studies that you're doing at Brandon Hall to keep us all informed and educated as we continue to practice what we do.

Matt Pittman: Thank you so much. It was, uh, really [00:19:00] fun to be here today.

Susan Cort: Thank you, Matt. We appreciate you sharing your insights, and we'll be sure to put a link to your article in the show notes of the podcast.

Matt Pittman: Sounds great.

Susan Cort: My thanks to d’Vinci CEO, Luke Kempski, and our guest, Matt Pittman of Brandon Hall Group for joining me today.

If you have any questions about this topic or have a suggestion for a future topic or guest please reach out to me at PoweredbyLearning@dvinci.com. And if you've enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to Powered by Learning wherever you listen to your podcasts.