New TalentLMS Research Reveals the "Habit Hugging" Effect in the U.S. Workplace
65% of employees say breaking old work habits is harder than learning new ones.
TalentLMS, a leading employee training platform, today released its new report, "Habit hugging: When old habits block new ways of working, highlighting a persistent workplace challenge: learning a new way of working doesn’t necessarily mean letting go of the old one."
The survey of 1,500 U.S. employees points to a training adoption gap. Only 41% consistently use a new way of working after training, while another 42% still use tools or processes their manager thinks they’ve replaced.
The Rise of “Habit Hugging”
TalentLMS calls this pattern “habit hugging”: holding onto familiar ways of working as jobs keep changing, expectations rise, and AI rewrites how work gets done.
Adoption isn’t a clean shift from the old way to the new. Nearly 3 in 4 employees (73%) mix old and new ways of working to get the job done, while 29% say their company is investing in tools they’ve quietly stopped using.
The pressure to deliver can also push new ways of working aside. Almost half of employees (48%) feel rushed to adopt new ways of working, while 60% say that at their company, getting results matters more than using the new way.
AI Training Doesn’t Guarantee AI Adoption
The challenge extends to AI employee training. Among employees trained to use AI for work tasks, 36% sometimes revert to old ways of working, while 12% continue working without AI.
“AI is fundamentally changing how work gets done, but AI training alone isn’t enough to make new ways of working stick,” said Dimitris Tsingos, CEO at Epignosis, parent company of TalentLMS. “Organizations need to move beyond training completion and help employees put what they’ve learned into practice. The real opportunity is to unlock AI’s productivity potential and free up human time and brainpower for higher-value work, like judgment, leadership, and problem-solving. But achieving that potential depends on making new ways of working an integral part of everyday work.”
Managers Set the Tone for Change
Managers play an important role in training reinforcement by modeling new ways of working. When managers use the new ways of working they expect employees to follow, 49% of employees consistently adopt them, compared with 22% when managers don’t.
From Training to Lasting Behavior Change
Completion confirms that training happened. Looking at what happens afterward helps determine whether learning is making its way into the workday. Yet while 41% of employees say their company tracks training completion, only 36% say it checks whether they’re using what they learned.
When habit hugging pulls employees back, companies can help new behaviors stick. Half of employees (50%) say making the new way part of their everyday workflow would help, while 49% point to more opportunities to practice.
Read the full report: https://www.talentlms.com/research/habit-hugging-report
TalentLMS is the easiest-to-use learning management system (LMS) for companies that want to launch training quickly, prove value sooner, and turn learning into a driver of success. Designed for growing businesses, it combines simplicity with AI-powered tools, a complete set of course content options, and built-in reporting — putting impactful learning within reach for all. Trusted by over 22 million learners in 12,000+ organizations worldwide, TalentLMS helps companies train employees, partners, and customers — fueling growth for your business at every step.
