Formal vs. Informal Learning: Differences, Benefits, and Use Cases

Corporate learning—whether formal or informal—brings a lot of benefits, such as performance improvement and employee engagement. It helps attract top talent eager to develop their careers, as well as helps retain those employees by stimulating their curiosity for new knowledge and willingness to learn new skills.

From an employer’s perspective, corporate learning is an essential tool for employee development in the short term and career growth in the long term. It supports upskilling—so team members can perform their roles better—and reskilling—so employees can transition into future roles.

In this blog post, we’ll compare informal learning vs. formal learning, walk you through the benefits of each approach, and outline the cases in which you might need one over the other. But most importantly, we’ll tell you if combining formal and informal learning can make your employee training programs more effective.

What is formal learning?

According to Springer’s Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning, formal learning must include a predefined set of learning outcomes, an instructor, and an evaluation of individual learning achievements.

Also, formal learning usually requires in-person delivery and takes place in a classroom setting at official educational institutions, such as colleges, universities, schools, or training centers. But that’s not always the case.

Formal learning can happen in the workplace and online as long as there’s an instructor involved, clear learning outcomes, and some sort of individual evaluation.

Examples of formal learning include:

• Graduate and undergraduate courses at high-education institutions
• Instructor-led training in the form of courses, workshops, or seminars delivered face-to-face
• Virtual instructor-led training delivered online
• Corporate training delivered by instructors through video or virtual reality

Additionally, we can argue that internships—a form of on-the-job training—are a type of formal learning. There’s an instructor involved (the intern supervisor), clear learning outcomes (e.g., developing the competencies to perform the role), and an individual evaluation (the intern supervisor report).

Benefits of formal learning

When comparing formal vs. informal training, these are fundamental benefits of delivering structured, instructor-led learning.

• You can set a timeframe for formal learning—which is perfect for fulfilling organizational needs within a certain time, such as filling in a team’s skill gaps in preparation for an upcoming project.
• You can schedule formal learning—allowing managers to plan in advance and reserve project time for training, which, in turn, enables staff to commit to learning without worrying about missing deadlines.
• You can measure the impact of formal learning—through learning measurement methods like comparing pre- and post-training employee performance or running cost-benefit analyses on courses.
• You can address pre-determined goals with formal learning—such as onboarding new employees with new-hire training and complying with legal or regulatory obligations through compliance training.
• You can offer career growth opportunities to personnel—with career paths and formal training programs.

What is informal learning?

Informal learning is spontaneous, can happen at any time, and isn’t bound to specific timeframes. It doesn’t involve an instructor and can’t be mandatory, measured, or certified.

Instead, informal learning:

• Depends on team members’ willingness and availability to learn
• Happens when they need or wish to learn something and make room for that on their calendars
• Occurs continuously or as business and organizational problems arise
• Is about employees learning by themselves (alone) or from each other (by interacting with their peers)
• Is optional by definition, as you can’t demand staff to learn informally about particular topics
• Might take place without you noticing it, which is why it isn’t meant to be measured or certified in the first place

In other words, informal learning is self-directed. You can offer opportunities for informal learning to a workforce and encourage them to take those opportunities. For instance, you can offer a repository of informal learning resources, an online knowledge center, or online learning communities on Slack. You can even have managers mandate their team members to block training time on their calendars. But you can’t schedule informal learning.

Informal learning is entirely dependent on the initiative of the staff. It is solely driven by moments of need—to solve day-to-day or strategic challenges at work—and by the individual eagerness to grow professionally.

When personnel learn informally from each other, that’s social learning happening right there. They share best practices stemming from experience, which they can apply, potentially to the same context (project, company, or team).

Examples of informal learning include:

• Sharing lessons learned or asking teammates for technical or managerial advice on an online learning community
• Reading an educational article on a corporate blog or following an optional tutorial on a knowledge center 
• Informal mentoring provided by senior employees to junior team members
• Reading books or listening to podcasts on leadership, emotional intelligence, or interpersonal communication, which is known as “self-study”
• Optional eLearning courses

Benefits of informal learning

You might think that formal learning has more benefits to companies, whereas informal learning appeals more to employees. But surprisingly, in the comparison of formal vs. informal training, companies benefit from having their team members learn informally.

• Employees—according to adult learning theory—tend to commit more deeply to informal learning because it is optional, triggered by their specific needs or wishes, and matches their personal or professional interests.
• Informal training helps keep the learning momentum between editions of formal training programs. It maintains learners’ interest in and commitment to training, plus high employee engagement levels.
• You don’t need to clear staff’s calendars to deliver informal training, which happens often with formal training.
• You can take the pressure of implementing training programs off of managers between editions of formal training programs, allowing them to dedicate more time to other core business or revenue-generating activities instead.
• Informal learning encourages personnel to take ownership of (and, most importantly, responsibility for) their career development, as they pick what they learn, when, and how.
• Informal learning can be more frequent than formal learning—daily instead of quarterly or yearly—enabling you to build a learning culture at your company.

Key differences between formal and informal learning

For your convenience, here’s a summary of how the two approaches compare:

Structure and Organization

Formal learning is structured; informal learning is spontaneous.

Flexibility

Formal learning follows a rigid schedule; informal learning adapts to the learner’s pace.

Measurement

Formal learning has measurable outcomes; informal learning lacks standardized assessments.

Combining formal and informal learning for maximum impact

• Blended learning strategies. Organizations can integrate formal and informal learning for a holistic approach to employee development.
• Technology’s role. Tools like learning management systems (LMSs) and collaboration platforms can support blended learning.

Examples of successful blended learning programs:

• Sales Enablement for New Product Launch: A company launching a new software product could implement a blended learning program for its sales team. Formal learning would include a mandatory, instructor-led virtual training session covering the new product’s features, benefits, and competitive landscape. This would be followed by self-paced eLearning modules accessible on an LMS, allowing sales reps to delve deeper into specific functionalities or customer use cases. Informal learning would be encouraged through a dedicated Slack channel where sales reps can ask questions, share best practices, and receive real-time support from product experts and peers. Regular, optional “ask me anything” (AMA) sessions with product managers would also foster informal knowledge sharing.
• Leadership Development for Mid-Level Managers: To develop stronger leaders, an organization could utilize a blended approach. Formal elements would involve a series of structured workshops (in-person or virtual) focusing on core leadership competencies like conflict resolution, performance management, and strategic planning. These workshops would include pre-assigned readings and post-workshop assignments. Informally, managers would be encouraged to participate in a peer coaching program, where they meet regularly with a small group of colleagues to discuss leadership challenges and share experiences. Access to a curated library of articles, podcasts, and TED Talks on leadership topics would be provided, promoting self-directed learning and continuous development outside of the formal training sessions.

Advantages of a balanced learning approach

• Comprehensive skill development. Combining both methods creates well-rounded employees.
• Increased engagement and retention. Informal learning complements formal training, making it more engaging and relevant.
• Cost-effective training. Informal learning can reduce the need for frequent formal training sessions.

Choosing the right learning approach for your organization

To sum up the comparison of informal learning vs. formal learning, corporate, instructor-led training programs are formal learning opportunities, whereas informal learning consists of employee and career development opportunities that staff find on their own.

Regardless of the differences between them, the best learning approach for your company is one that allows you to fulfill your organization’s needs and goals. So, when designing a training program for your teams, rather than asking whether to choose informal learning vs. formal learning, you must ask if a blended approach is a better option.