Use it where they can see you

You paid for the training. The team sat through it, nodded, asked good questions. 2 weeks later, the old spreadsheet is back open on every screen.

There's a name for this now. TalentLMS surveyed 1,500 U.S. employees and called it "habit hugging": fewer than half consistently use a new way of working after they've been trained on it. 73% mix the old way and the new one. And 60% said getting results matters more to their company than using the new method, which explains why people slide back.

The number I care about most: 49% of employees stuck with the new way when their manager used it too. When the manager didn't, 22%.

This is for owners and managers who rolled out a tool (AI or anything else) and watched it fade. The fix takes about 30 days and starts with you.

By the end, you'll know:

• why your own habit matters more than the training
• how to pick 1 task and make the new way the only way
• how to check who's using it in 5 minutes a week

1. Use the new way where they can see it

People copy what the boss does. If you rolled out a shared task board and you still send your updates by email, your team will keep sending theirs by email too.

So do your own work in the new tool, out loud. If it's AI meeting notes, send your next meeting summary straight from the AI draft (after you check it) and say "I used the new notes tool for this." If it's a task board, run Monday's meeting from the board instead of your notebook. It feels a little silly the first week. Do it anyway.

2. Pick 1 task and make the new way the only way for 30 days

Mixing old and new is where things fall apart, and that's what 73% of people in the survey were doing. Don't try to move everything at once. Pick 1 task that happens often and has a clear owner.

For example: every invoice request goes through the new tool, starting Monday. The old spreadsheet stays open for reference, but nobody adds new rows to it. After 30 days, the new way is just how invoices work. Then you pick the next task.

3. Ask people to show you

"Are you using it?" gets you a yes every time. Instead, on Friday, ask 1 person to share their screen for 5 minutes and walk you through 1 thing they did in the new tool that week. You'll learn more in those 5 minutes than in a survey.

If you keep a weekly review, add 1 line to it: who's back on the old way, and why. Usually there's a real reason. The new tool is missing a field, or the old way is faster for 1 step. Fix that and the habit sticks.

A quick note on the source: TalentLMS sells training software and the answers are self-reported. But a 49% versus 22% gap is hard to ignore.

Start Monday

Pick the 1 task. Do it the new way yourself, where the team can see it. Then ask someone to show you theirs on Friday.

If you want a second set of eyes on which task to start with, grab a time with me.

Sources: HR Dive, "Workers are 'habit hugging' despite new training, survey finds", Oct 30, 2026, on TalentLMS's habit hugging report (survey of 1,500 U.S. employees).