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According to popular belief, the relationship is supposed to be 70:20:10, i.e., 70 percent of work-related learning occurs informally; 20 percent through coaching; and 10 percent of learning occurs formally. The idea was proposed by University of Toronto professor Allen Tough in the 1960s, revived in the mid-1990s by consultants from the Center for Creative Leadership, and revived again in the last few years.
But management researchers Scott DeRue and Chris Myers noted there is no research evidence to support this model. In fact, the only research evidence that attempts to identify the extent to which workers learn on the job was provided by the Conference Board of Canada, which determined that only 56 percent of all work-related learning occurs informally.