Episode 01 – Britt Brackenie on the 12 Levers of Transfer Effectiveness

In this very first episode of the renewed Training Improvement Café, Roy sits down with Britt Brackenie—co-founder of Route12 and passionate advocate of practical learning transfer. Together, they explore what really makes training stick and how to create learning experiences that actually lead to behavioral change at work.

💡 Spoiler alert: It’s not just about what happens in the training itself.

About Britt

Britt Brackenie is a co-founder of Route12 and helps L&D professionals design impactful learning journeys. With a background in Human Resource Management and a fascination for creating meaningful experiences, Britt now focuses on improving training transfer based on research by Dr. Ina Weinbauer-Heidel.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why Britt once considered becoming a funeral coordinator (!)

• How the 12 levers of transfer effectiveness help L&D pros create more effective programs

• How to use the transfer card game to reflect on existing training

• Why clear transfer goals beat traditional learning objectives

• The role of managers and peers in successful transfer

• Small changes with big impact, like writing letters to managers

• Why “What’s your biggest takeaway?” might not be the best closing question

Episode highlights

• [00:01:00] – Why Roy loves the topic of transfer

• [00:05:00] – Britt’s “aha” moment that led to Route12

• [00:10:00] – What are transfer goals, and how do they differ from learning goals?

• [00:14:00] – Playing the transfer card game with a cybersecurity training case

• [00:35:00] – Can you ever cover all 12 levers in one training?

• [00:39:00] – Why a letter to the manager might work better than a letter to yourself

• [00:44:00] – Britt’s take on the most overrated L&D advice

Resources mentioned

• The 12 Levers of Learning Transfer – by Dr. Ina Weinbauer-Heidel

• Transfer Designer Certification

• Blog posts by Britt and Route12

• Britt’s LinkedIn

• Britt’s newsletter “Britt Leert”

Britt’s inspirations

• Julie Dirksen – blending learning science with behavioral science

• Lavinia Mehedintu (Offbeat) – thought leader in L&D curation

• Dr. Alaina Szlachta – specialist in evaluation and data-driven training improvement

Quick tips to apply right away

• Try ending your next training with transfer planning, not just reflection

• Get participants to write a letter to their manager with their key insights and next steps

• Involve managers before and after training with simple 15-min conversations

• Use transfer goals (not learning objectives!) to clarify desired behavior change

We’d love your feedback!

What did you think of the episode? Have a question for Roy or Britt? Share your thoughts via [email protected] or message us on LinkedIn.

📣 Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with fellow L&D pros who care about making learning work.