AIHR has helped 50,000+ HR professionals upskill, reskill, and succeed in their HR careers. What’s the one thing that allows us to not only offer engaging learning experiences for our members but also empower them to apply their knowledge and make an impact in their work? Our Tell-Show-Do-Apply learning methodology.
What is AIHR’s Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology?
When you learn something but don’t apply it, you’ll often forget about 75% of the knowledge after just six days. This is what we refer to as the Forgetting Curve. To counter this, we develop the Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology as the foundation for all of our learning content. Our learners—whether that’s you or your HR team—are repeatedly exposed to new knowledge in different contexts (Tell and Show) and have various opportunities to reinforce your understanding through active application (Do and Apply).
In this section, we’ll take a closer look at each element, including its objectives, designated content type, and desired outcomes. We’ll use the Design Thinking and Candidate Experience (DTCX) course from the Strategic Talent Acquisition Certificate Program as an example to illustrate how the Tell-Show-Do-Apply method sets you up for learning success.
Tell
At this stage, you’ll focus on gathering foundational knowledge, including key HR concepts, theories, and frameworks. You’ll be able to understand the reasoning behind the HR practices you’ll encounter later on.
- Objective: Gain a theoretical understanding of key HR concepts.
- Features: Video lessons, reading materials, quizzes, and live events.
- Outcome: Develop a strong conceptual foundation to prepare for practical applications in later stages.
- DTCX example: Start the course with video lessons on the principles of design thinking and the candidate experience lifecycle.
Show
This stage is where you’ll discover how to use HR concepts in real-world situations. Through in-lesson case studies and examples, you’ll understand the practical strategies related to these concepts and the challenges you might face.
- Objective: Understand how theoretical concepts translate into real-world HR practices.
- Features: In-lesson case studies and examples, live events, and community discussions.
- Outcome: Have the knowledge to recognize and replicate effective HR strategies.
- DTCX example: The first lesson of the course follows a candidate who had a negative hiring experience to highlight critical hiring mistakes organizations make during the process and what to do instead.
Do
At this stage, you have the opportunity to practice and refine your skills through hands-on activities. This allows you to apply your knowledge in a simulated and risk-free environment.
- Objective: Apply your knowledge and build your skills through practice.
- Features: Interactive case studies, role-plays, and assignments.
- Outcome: Solidify understanding through action, improve the ability to implement solutions, and build confidence in your skills.
- DTCX example: You go through an interactive case study to create virtual employee experiences for a B2B e-commerce company using design thinking principles. This helps you better understand their customers and how to design impactful experiences that matter.
Apply
In the last stage, you’ll focus on solving real-world problems with the help of ready-to-use tools and resources created by AIHR. Our goal is to help bridge the gap between learning and professional application.
- Objective: Fully equipped to solve HR challenges at work.
- Features: Resources, cheat sheets, guides, and AIHR Copilot.
- Outcome: Confidently address workplace challenges by applying their knowledge to drive meaningful results.
- DTCX example: After learning how to prioritize experiences that benefit both the organization and the employee, you can download your own Prioritization Matrix Template from the AIHR Resource Library. This template makes it easy for you to categorize and assess the experiences they want to design in their own organizations. If you have more questions about this process, you can use the AIHR Copilot for instant answers.
How the Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology optimizes your learning experience
The Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology is more than just a learning format. It’s a strategic approach designed to ensure you get the most out of your upskilling journey. By focusing on practical application, retention, and engagement, this methodology helps you build valuable skills to drive success in your organization.
Here are three ways the Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology optimizes your learning experience:
1. Increase knowledge application
Many training programs fall into the trap of focusing too much on introducing theoretical concepts and not enough on how to apply them. With the Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology, we’re able to bridge the gap between theory and practice by guiding you from building foundational knowledge (Tell) to understanding practical examples (Show) to practice (Do) and applying in the workplace (Apply).
This progression ensures that you have the time and space to develop the necessary knowledge and skills while also effectively using them in your work. This builds confidence and drives impact in your role.
2. Enhance knowledge retention
We designed the Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology to address one of the most significant challenges in learning: retention. When you learn with AIHR, you’ll continuously revisit and apply it throughout the entire upskilling journey.
Each stage of the methodology offers unique ways to interact with the materials. You first build your theoretical foundation, then see practical examples, then actively engage with the content through case studies and assignments, and finally, implement what you learn in real-world situations. This progression ensures that you can solidify the knowledge, making it easier to recall and apply when needed.
This approach turns passive information absorption into meaningful, memorable experiences. With structured reinforcement across stages, you’ll be able to embed knowledge into long-term memory and make it a lasting resource as you navigate your day-to-day challenges.
3. Increase learning motivation
The Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology keeps you engaged by making the learning process interactive, relevant, and rewarding. Rather than passively consuming information, you’ll actively participate in your upskill. Elements like interactive role-plays, case studies, and community discussions build a sense of ownership and enthusiasm.
Another key motivator is the immediate relevance of the content you learn. Being able to see how your new skills directly address workplace challenges and make a difference, you’ll be more motivated to continue working toward and achieving your goals.
How the Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology helps you build high-performing HR teams
The Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology helps develop comprehensive competencies for HR teams by addressing three essential elements of professional upskilling: knowledge, skills, and experience. This holistic framework ensures that your HR team members aren’t just informed but are equipped to apply their expertise in meaningful and result-oriented ways.
Here’s a breakdown of how our methodology enables you to build HR competencies in a well-rounded way:
- Team members build foundational knowledge through video lessons, reading material, and in-lesson examples (Tell and Show).
- Team members develop their skills through assignments, interactive role-plays, and case studies simulating real-world challenges (Do).
- Team members gain experience by repeatedly applying these skills in their work (Apply).
This combination of theory, practice, and application fosters true mastery of HR competencies, allowing your team to address complex challenges and deliver measurable outcomes.
In case you’re curious how this works in practice, take a look at how Henkel APAC worked with AIHR to help their HR population build digital HR capabilities. Their two-year internal HR Academy is designed to ensure participants can build foundational knowledge, enhance their skills, and gain hands-on experience to drive real-world innovation.
- Year 1 (Tell and Show): Participants gained key digital HR knowledge and built a strong foundation in digital leadership.
- Year 2 (Do and Apply): Participants deepened their expertise by going through specialized electives based on their interests and organizational needs. To graduate, they worked on real-world projects that were judged by company leaders. The highest-rated project was implemented in the organization.
Henkel APAC’s partnership with AIHR shows how the Tell-Show-Do-Apply methodology helps foster a culture of learning and innovation.
Want to get the full AIHR’s learning experience?
Whether you’re looking to get into the field of HR, thinking of a career switch, or wanting to advance further in HR, AIHR offers a comprehensive and engaging learning experience with everything you need to succeed. Interested? We have several different membership options you can choose from. In case you’re looking for something for your team, check out our team offerings here.
