Module 1

Copyright © 1999, 2005, 2009, 2013 Institute for Working Futures Pty. Ltd. All Rights Reserved Permission Granted for UTAS-AMC, for educational purposes only

(Voc.) Graduate Certificate of Management (Learning)

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Vocational Training and Education

LEAD LEARNING STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION I NTRODUCTION At present there is no universally accepted body of knowledge suggesting the best method for leading the design and implementation of a learning strategy at a strategic or organisational level. While this publication does not seek to promote a single ‘silver bullet’ solution, it does seek to help leaders and educators better understand how to systematically plan and implement a learning strategy for an organisation. In so doing it will also furnish insights and be supported by a workbook that contains tools and templates that can be used to undertake this task. Most instructional design or learning strategy design and development exercises commence with analysis of learning needs and goals, and end with the delivery and an evaluation of how well needs have been satisfied. However, within this process a remarkable array of different actions can exist. Differences that often lack consideration of wider organisational strategic needs or the effect different individual learning styles, available technologies and learning contexts can cause (Bowles, 2004:174). Through study of topics contained herein we will examine how an organisational view on learning strategy formulation needs to move beyond interventions targeting learning outcomes in an educational setting to assess and address the strategic needs of a workforce. We will also extend discussion beyond learning strategies that focus only on closing an individual student’s competency gaps, to explore how learning strategies can and should address capabilities formed from a broader array of attributes that go well beyond the skills and knowledge required to perform.

K EY WORDS Learning strategy

Organisational learning

Organisational learning strategy

Training needs analysis

Needs assessment

Competency

Needs analysis levels (organisational, group and individual/macro, meso and micro)

Job Analysis

The Seven-S model (7S)

Competency-based needs analysis

Stakeholder analysis

Capability

Stakeholders sorting

Capability inventory

Individual values

Human Resources lifecycle

Organisational values

Individual Development Plan

Learning Implementation Process (ABII)

Workforce planning

Human capital

Workforce Development Strategy

Tangible and intangible resources (Assets)

Formative and summative data

Learning organisation

Qualitative and quantitative data analysis

Task Analysis

BSBLED702A Lead learning strategy implementation

N ATIONAL C OMPETENCY S TANDARD The following national competency standard and elements are supported by material contained herein. BSBLED702A Lead learning strategy implementation

Relevant Topic (Chapter)

Element 1: Provide leadership to learning strategy formation 1.1. 1.2. 1.3. 1.4. 1.5. 1.6.

Evaluate approaches to learning and workplace training against organisational strategic requirements Analyse and confirm with key stakeholders the contribution of organisational learning to competitiveness Examine and review options relating to deploying quality policies and processes in organisational learning Analyse and plan requirements for an organisational learning strategy to support organisational strategic and policy requirements Analyse and plan technological and systems requirements relating to an organisational learning strategy Analyse and align organisational learning strategy with human resources and learning requirements and plans

1&2

Element 2: Design and develop organisational learning strategy 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4. 2.5. 2.6. 2.7.

Design organisational learning strategy to achieve instructor, learner and organisational strategic requirements Include relevant units of competency, modules from accredited courses or non-accredited training specifications in organisational learning strategy Develop flexible organisational learning strategies to permit and promote responsiveness of the organisation to changed circumstances and priorities Design and develop learning and assessment strategies to support organisational strategic requirements Establish processes and procedures for allocating and managing resources and staff, required to implement organisational learning strategy Structure compliant assessment and recognition policies and processes appropriate to organisational strategic requirements Structure procurement and supply policies and processes appropriate to organisational strategic requirements

3, 4, 5, 6 & 7

Element 3: Implement organisational learning strategy 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 3.4. 3.5.

Implement organisational learning strategy appropriate to organisational requirements Validate organisational assessment methods and assessment tools consistent with learning and wider operational needs Source learning resources compliant with specific international, national, industry and workplace needs Review policies and procedures for continuing relevance, operational effectiveness and to identify any gaps Systematically evaluate strategic outcomes attained through organisational learning strategy and update policies and procedures accordingly

7-10

Element 4: Review organisational learning and development 4.1. 4.2. 4.3.

Develop procedures to systematically liaise with educators, learners and others to monitor how well learning strategies and learning resources achieve organisational learning targets Monitor and incorporate national policy and system changes into organisational learning and development strategies and practices Modify or design learning strategies and learning resources to support the implementation of improved learning policies and procedures

9 & 10

Element 5: Improve organisational learning strategy formation 5.1. 5.2. 5.3.

Evaluate end-to-end implementation of organisational learning strategy Review performance of resources and people supporting organisational learning strategy implementation Construct and present plans for improving organisational learning strategy formation

10


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T OPICS Introduction ........................................................................................................................................iii Key words ...........................................................................................................................................iii National Competency Standard..........................................................................................................iv 1. What is a learning strategy? ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1.

What is a Strategy? ................................................................................................................. 2

1.2.

Types of Plans ......................................................................................................................... 4

1.2.1. The Operating Environment .................................................................................................. 5 1.2.2. Organisational purpose ........................................................................................................ 6 1.2.3. Vision .................................................................................................................................... 8 1.2.4. Mission .................................................................................................................................. 8 1.3.

Values support the vision and mission statement .................................................................. 8

1.4.

Gaining Stakeholder Support .................................................................................................. 9

1.4.1. Identifying Stakeholders ....................................................................................................... 9 1.4.2. Stakeholder analysis ........................................................................................................... 11 1.4.3. Stakeholder sorting ............................................................................................................. 11 1.4.4. Visualise stakeholder commitment ..................................................................................... 12 1.4.5. Influence stakeholder commitment .................................................................................... 13 2. Learning Implementation Process................................................................................................... 16 2.1.

The Strategy of Learning ....................................................................................................... 17

2.1.1. Building A Learning Culture ................................................................................................ 17 2.1.2. Learning and Maximising Human Capital ........................................................................... 19 2.2.

The learning organisation and organisational learning ........................................................ 20

2.2.1. The learning organisation revisited .................................................................................... 20 2.2.2. Organisational learning ...................................................................................................... 23 3. Needs Assessment and Analysis ..................................................................................................... 25 3.1.

Operational level needs assessment .................................................................................... 25

3.1.1. Individual and Team Goal Alignment.................................................................................. 26 3.1.2. Operational goals, objectives and priorities ....................................................................... 27 3.2.

Collecting Data and Completing an Analysis ........................................................................ 28

4. Identification of Needs Using Job and Task Analysis ....................................................................... 29 5. Competency-Based Needs Analysis ................................................................................................ 33 5.1.

Deploying a Capability Inventory .......................................................................................... 34

5.1.1. From capabilities to job profiles .......................................................................................... 36 5.1.2. Translating Competencies into a Job Profile ....................................................................... 37


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5.1.3. Strategic level analysis of data and options ....................................................................... 37 5.2.

Implementing training tied to prioritised needs .................................................................. 40

5.3.

Aligning competency gap to development options .............................................................. 41

6. Workforce Planning ........................................................................................................................ 44 7. Stage 1 Learning Strategy Process: Analysis .................................................................................... 49 7.1.

Step 1.1. Analyse purpose, context and parameters ............................................................ 49

7.2.

Step 1.2. Define and analyse audience ................................................................................. 50

7.3.

Step 1.3. Define context ....................................................................................................... 50

7.4.

Step 1.4. Define learning and teaching approach................................................................. 50

7.5.

Step 1.5. Specify deliverables and level of attainment......................................................... 52

7.6.

Step 1.6. Define delivery resources ...................................................................................... 52

7.7.

Step 1.7. Develop metrics to assess report and evaluate impact......................................... 52

8. Stage 2 Learning Strategy Process: Build......................................................................................... 53 8.1.

Step 2.1. Design learning/instructional approach, instruments and process ....................... 53

8.2.

Step 2.2. Develop content and learner support materials ................................................... 53

8.3.

Step 2.3 Test learning components and objectives against individual/group learning profiles ................................................................................................................................. 54

8.4.

Step 2.4. Develop a delivery and management plan ............................................................ 55

8.5.

Step 2.5. Test and pilot content ........................................................................................... 55

9. Stage 3 Learning Strategy Process: Implement ............................................................................... 56 9.1.

Step 3.1. Allocate resources ................................................................................................. 56

9.2.

Step 3.2. Inform learners and stakeholders ......................................................................... 56

9.3.

Step 3.3. Provide learner support ......................................................................................... 56

9.4.

Step 3.4. Complete ongoing reporting and tracking............................................................. 56

9.5.

Step 3.5. Provide ongoing maintenance and logistical support for program/content ......... 57

10. Stage 4 Learning Strategy Process: Improve ................................................................................... 58 10.1. Step 4.1. Collect formative and summative evaluation data................................................ 58 10.2. Step 4.2. Apply metrics ......................................................................................................... 60 10.2.1. Internal and external evaluation ........................................................................................ 61 10.2.2. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation ............................................................................. 62 10.3. Step 4.3. Evaluate tools and materials ................................................................................. 64 10.4. Step 4.5. Report and suggest improvements ....................................................................... 65 11. References ...................................................................................................................................... 66


1. W HAT IS A LEARNING STRATEGY ? The concept of learning strategy continues to evolve dynamically as academics and professionals realise the role of learning in society and organisations continues to expand. Learning is no longer locked into ‘Industrial Age’ thinking where people are ‘empty vessels’ that need to be filled with the skills and knowledge to play a ‘useful’ role in society. While this sort of belief has eroded in the face of digital technology and social change, educational systems and structures still struggle to evolve. Moreover learning continues to be influenced by and sustain ongoing transformations in our society. Technology and the emergence of the digital economy is one such example. Technology is changing how organisations and occupations operate. Equally, it demands new learning solutions that leverage technology to improve what, when, where and how learning can occur. This circular cause and effect relationship places enormous pressure on educational providers and those responsible for leading learning strategy implementation to adapt at ever increasing speeds. Nor is learning strategy implementation a standardised, one size-fits-all process. Most learning strategy implementation processes commence with needs assessment, establish learning priorities and goals that trigger the design and delivery of instructional materials, and end with the evaluation of how well a training, education or development solution satisfied learner needs. However, even within one organisation this process can be subject to a remarkable range of variations. Variations that are caused as the individual, group and organisational needs compete and differences in context and how individuals learn, use technology and interact with each other, add complexity to the learning strategy implementation process. Learning has always been linked to how societies, organisations and people change. Against the backdrop of accelerated change the realisation must come that the fundamental nature of learning also has to change. This is evidenced in part by the shift away from a classroom-centric, public education and training to a focus on a more flexible, responsive, context-centric, personalised learning response. This is borne out by trends such as: • •

•

Approximately 70% of what an employee needs to know to do their job successfully is learned outside of formal education and training, typically from peers in informal interactions and structured work experiences. (Kaplan, 2002). Much of the ‘high-order’ knowledge required to perform in work is tacit, hard not only to codify into content, but deeply embedded in the context and the behaviours, attitude and culture of the people in that community (Ambrosini & Bowman 2001). Such knowledge is hard to teach in the classroom or to transfer to the workplace (Eraut, 2004: 203). In some Australian industry sectors (e.g. transport, utilities, IT, telecommunications) over 60 percent of learning activity and over 80 percent of expenditure on learning is coming from employer sponsored recognised and unrecognised training and development instead of public funded formal education and vocational training (Bowles, 2012). As a result many traditional educational providers such as universities are beginning to appreciate the importance of the commercial marketplace and authentic learning that is tied not only to skills but how graduates thinking and apply knowledge.

Our study will paint a much broader canvas than typically addressed by the typical focus of an educator on a learning strategy delineated as below. Learning strategy is the planned approach to the design, delivery and assessment of training, education and development in a variety of modes and techniques to address learning needs of individual. Instead we will move to examine leading learning strategy implementation at the organisational level.

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An organisational learning strategy provides a roadmap showing both the strategic vision for the future state whereby learning provides the capabilities required to support the direction an organisation is headed, and a plan for the actions required to develop individuals and enable the workforce to achieve individual, operational and organisational outcomes. It will be shown that at this level an organisational learning strategy must promote: • • • •

• • •

Alignment of learning goals to organisational strategic goals. Integration of learning priorities and resource allocation across individual, group and whole-of-organisation needs. Uniform use of capabilities (personal input and task performance output) and competencies as the currency shaping not only job design and performance but the skills, knowledge and other attributes required by individual employees. Assurance that competencies and resulting learning options directly underpin the HR Lifecycle from recruitment and selection, through management of performance, talent and individual development, onto remuneration and career development activities. Optimal design of delivery and development options to satisfy business and individual needs. Understanding of the environmental context and its impact on the conduct of learning to support current and future workforce development needs. Implementation cycle where learning processes continuously improve across all training programs and development interventions.

1.1. W HAT IS A S TRATEGY ? The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable comparative advantage (de Geus, 1988:71). Generally, when people talk about an organisational ‘strategic management’ they are referring to the formulation, execution and ongoing evaluation and adjustment of a strategy contained in a formal plan. As Montanari, Morgan and Bracker (1990: 4) stated: Strategic management is the choice of the analyses, plans, decisions and actions that determine the strategic direction of the organisation and lead to accomplishment of its strategic goals and objectives in a dynamic environment. Strategic management includes not only the elements of strategic planning, environmental analysis and strategy formulation but also strategy implementation and control. Strategic management is a process for managing organisations. In a commercial, business setting a primary disadvantage in many of the contemporary models relating to the development of a learning strategy and the instructional design (ISD) of learning solutions is a focus on the learner and the instructor without regard to the “strategic content” or the business needs and benefits. This has also resulted in criticism that tertiary educational institutions often lack the internal systems to be strategic in the design and execution of learning strategies. The focus in tight revenue climate being on reducing their own costs instead of working with clients to better design innovative solutions and create systems and structures to take them to market and evaluate their effectiveness (Paul & Leese, 2009; NSSC, 2013). The assumption seems to be that learning strategy and any resulting ISD holds the instructor and content design process as enablers of individual learning and organisational or economic outcomes are a by-product (Kraiger, 2008). Nevertheless, any contemporary learning strategy that intends to deal with training and development in a community or business setting has to be founded on how an organisation’s learning strategy and resulting ISD processes deliver benefit while being able to



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sustain and drive the organisation’s business strategy (Noe, Tews, & McConnell, 2010; & Tannenbaum, 2002). Strategic Training and Development Initiatives Diversify the learning portfolio

Implications

Expand who is trained

• •

Accelerate the pace an employee learns

• • • •

• • • • •

Improve customer service

• • • •

Provide development opportunities and communicate with employees

• • •

Capture and share knowledge

• • • •

Align training and development with the company’s direction

• • •

Ensure that the work environment supports learning and transfer of training

• • • •

Use technology, such as the Internet, for training Facilitate informal learning Provide more personalised learning opportunities Standardise trainers, assessors and suppliers (provider panel) Train customers, suppliers, and employees Offer more learning opportunities to general and managerial employees Establish learning communities/communities of practice Quickly identify needs and provide a high-quality learning solution Reduce time to develop training programs Reduce cycle time from need identification (skill gap) to proficient performance Facilitate access to learning resources on demand (just-intime learning) Ensure that employees have product and service knowledge Ensure that employees have skills needed to interact with customers Ensure that employees understand their roles and decisionmaking authority Ensure the employee applies the behaviours established in the brand and underpinning values Ensure that employees have opportunities to develop Ensure that training and development addresses employees’ needs in current job as well as growth opportunities Ensure learning is lifelong and can be planned to support a career Capture insight and information from knowledge employees Identify and support tacit and explicit knowledge Organise and store information logically Provide methods to make knowledge available (e.g., resource guides, intranet, websites, etc.) Identify needed knowledge, skills, attributes, or competencies Ensure that current training and development programs support the company’s strategic needs Ensure that current training and development programs are tied to required knowledge, skills, attributes, or competencies Remove constraints to learning, such as lack of time, resources and equipment Dedicate physical place to encourage teamwork, collaboration, creativity and knowledge sharing Ensure the employees understand the importance of learning Ensure that managers and peers are supportive of training, development and learning

Figure 1- Strategic training and development initiatives (Based on Tannenbaum, 2002)

The strategic planning process usually establishes the strategic goals and vision set by the organisation and defines how to implement, monitor and improve planned outcomes. A simplistic overview of this process is provided below.


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Figure 2 - Strategic planning process

1.2. T YPES OF P LANS Planning is a process of setting ends (goals and objectives) and establishing the means for achieving them. Plans are fundamentally concerned with ensuring effective transformation of inputs into outputs that meet specific standards and targets. They translate the mission into goals that can be achieved for a range of goods and services, in a defined period. The type of mission and goals will vary with the type of plan. Types of plans include: Corporate Planning is a plan covering any organisational entity, designed to give direction and cohesion to all its activities. They usually relate to organisational values and priorities, and are usually limited in time to three or five year duration. Broadly speaking the corporate plan needs to identify the customers, the services or products provided, the time frame for delivery of services and the resources committed to each major goal. It is not uncommon for some larger corporations to have integrated corporate and strategic plans or for the terms to be used interchangeably.



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Strategic Planning is the formulation of a co-ordinated course of actions to achieve business success and gain superiority over competitors. Strategic planning establishes the broader purpose, cohesion and direction of an operational entity or area, usually over a specified timeframe from one to three years. Strategic plans often encompass a Mission Statement, Vision Statement and goals and measures. The strategic plan may set objectives with a sole focus on a program or process area. It will include resource allocations and include Key Result Areas to measure and evaluate the attainment of these objectives. Business/Operational Planning translates Strategic/Corporate goals into deliverables (outcomes required to achieve team or operational business unit outcomes). It usually delineates a clear process, client, team, or work group functioning as an independent area under a strategic or corporate plan. Business plans resemble operational plans with their focus on specific time frames and in terms of their translation of broad Key Result Areas into outcomes to be achieved by teams and individuals within a team. The business plan is most useful in translating broad strategic objectives into outcomes that are both more specific and more flexible in terms of their ability to convert policy and organisational goals into customer needs. These plans may form around single project or cross-functional special programs. It is worth noting that operational plans and business plans may be one and the same thing, especially in smaller organisations or non-manufacturing businesses. Project Planning aims to plan and control the complex and diverse activities of a defined project. A project is a one-time-only set of activities that has a defined beginning and end and produces an agreed outcome.

Figure 3 - Types of plans and typical scope in terms of time

1.2.1. T HE O PERATING E NVIRONMENT The time scope listed above is only a broad indication of possible planning typologies. Vision, mission and goals will also vary with the level of application (hierarchy in the organisation) and the operating environment.


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Figure 4 - External domains or environment for a plan

The figure above depicts two triangles that represent the organisation’s domain of operation and the operating environment. It also illustrates how the three levels of an organisation can interact directly with a community associated with the business; i.e. involving other organisations, groups, business stakeholders (e.g. suppliers, government, society, etc.), or customers. The figure below converts this view into one driven by customer or market demands. The figure above explores how the three levels of the organisation and their collective relationships must be coordinated to deliver outcomes and orient all employees towards that purpose. To achieve these outcomes the organisational leaders must bring individuals and teams into alignment with both organisational and customer needs (See the figure below).

Figure 5 - Internal domains of organisational planning

1.2.2. O RGANISATIONAL PURPOSE Most successful organisations have a clearly defined sense of collective purpose. This purpose is codified in a strategic plan as in statements that, as a minimum, usually confirm the organisation’s: • • • •

Vision Mission Values Goals or Objectives

A strategy will also ‘make sense’ of how the organisation will operate in a given environment to achieve its desired strategic outcomes. One of the ways of examining the dimensions that determine ‘strategic fit’ is to use the Seven-S model (7S) developed by McKinsey & Co. consulting firm in the early 1980s by consultants Tom Peters and Robert Waterman.



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Figure 6 - 7S Model

Strategy:

The organisational plans to achieve key goals

Structure:

The way in which the organisation and work are organised

Systems:

The procedures, processes and routines that define how the work is done

Style:

The cultural style of the organisation and how managers behave in achieving the organisation’s goals

Staff:

The numbers of types of employees within the organisation

Skills:

The critical capabilities required within the organisation

Shared Values:

The key values of the organisation; what it stands for and what it believes in

The strategic plan codifies the organisations strategic fit in its operational environment over the planning period (usually 1-3 years). In broadest possible terms this is achieved by the plan defining: • • • •

The Structure and functions upon which the organisation will operate. The Systems required to enable the organisation to operate and achieve its purpose. The Strategies it has committed to orient staff, skills and style. The value and vision statements that reinforce and reconfirm the shared values and purpose.

The logic behind the 7S model suggests, in essence, that for strategy to be successful all of the Seven Ss must be in alignment. All must support the organisational strategy within the environment. The 7S model helps us appreciate the complex nature of the strategy development and implementation. Behind this highly systematic, structured 7S view it is important to reflect on how a strategic plan is ultimately a document where the organisation seeks to answer: • • • •

Who are we? What do we do? Why should you value what we do? Where do we want to go and why? BSBLED702A Lead learning strategy implementation

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• • •


When do we expect to achieve certain outcomes? How do we get there? How do we know when we get there?

1.2.3. V ISION A vision orients the organisation's workforce towards ends that all can identify with, and share in their achievement. The vision is usually set by answering the following questions:  What do we do best?  What need do we meet?  Whose need do we meet? Therefore, a Vision is the organisation’s ...  Shared strategic purpose • • • •

Has meaning to all who read it Is deeply felt and based on strong values Provides a decisional guide The things we focus on everyday

1.2.4. M ISSION A Mission is a clear statement of the overall purpose of the organisation or operational area. It should reflect the products or services and the activities required to successfully compete in a given marketplace. A mission statement differs to a vision statement in the sense it is more action oriented than about why or where the organisation seeks to go. The mission statement is less aspirational than the vision (where we want to be) and more focussed on what is to be achieved. A good mission statement will: • • • • • • •

Convey a sense of purpose Help managers and staff prioritise actions/activities or confirm expectations Translate the vision into a purpose that can then be achieved through the goal statements Reinforce the organisation’s values Reinforce the organisation’s core competencies Distinguishes the organisation from competitors and other market activities Align effort

The vision and mission statement can be complimented with value statements. Organisational values shape expectations and govern the behaviour of individuals and groups within the organisation.

1.3. V ALUES SUPPORT THE VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT Organisational purpose is not only reflected in what people do, but how they think and act. This is reflected in the organisation’s culture and its values. It is therefore essential organisations develop values that cover employees and relevant stakeholders. Ultimately, all leaders are responsible for ensuring communication and performance reinforces the organisation’s values and their credibility with all employees.



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Individual values: are shared personal judgments/preferences about what is considered good/bad or likes/dislikes that serve as broad guidelines for social life.

Organisational values: are the beliefs, norms and standards which shape expectations and govern the behaviour of individuals and groups within the organisation. It is important that all leaders apply the values while modelling good practice, professionalism and competence. They also have to be prepared to immediately question, through established communication channels, operational standards and all forms of learning support the organisation’s purpose and its values. Equally, leaders required to address poor employee performance or behaviours need to know that any learning strategy will: • • • • • • • • •

address organisational learning needs address individual learning needs provide workplace alternatives to traditional classroom training tailor delivery to individual learning styles and needs accelerate the pace of learning as required to meet operational needs be designed and provided in a consistent format promote individual access and opportunities to learn and grow enable access for all employees in all locations track and report individual completion, compliance and competency attainment.

1.4. G AINING S TAKEHOLDER S UPPORT When developing structure, systems and strategy (high-level components of the 7S model) it is necessary for an organisation to identify how any plans will impact key stakeholders. This is a common exercise in strategic planning processes. The organisation identifies stakeholders and lists them by name, and later, after goals and objectives have been framed, revisits to see which stakeholders are impacted upon by particular goals and objectives. Strategies are then devised to secure the support of affected stakeholders. As we will later see, this process also holds great relevance when framing an organisation’s learning strategy.

1.4.1. I DENTIFYING S TAKEHOLDERS Stakeholders can be defined as people that have a core or non-core interest in the development and implementation of a strategic plan. Stakeholders refer to everyone involved in, seeking to influence, or affected by the plan. They may be an individual, a group or an entity (e.g. an organisation). They may be internal or external to the organisation. Strategic stakeholders can be classified into two categories: Core or primary stakeholders are those who are directly involved in the process of delivering the outcomes being sought or will be positively or negatively affected by the outcomes being sought. Non-core or secondary stakeholders are those who are indirectly involved in the process of achieving the outcomes or may be indirectly affected by the outcomes being sought. Core stakeholders are essential to the survival of the organisation. These stakeholders usually must be satisfied if the outcomes are to be achieved in a manner that may be considered successful.


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One of the most powerful stakeholders in any commercial business will be the shareholders. The use of stakeholder analysis during the planning process is essential because it can ensure any resulting plan or goals are framed with full appreciation of the value created for shareholders. Table 1 Template to record influencing strategy for key stakeholders

TEAM/PROJECT TITLE: STAKEHOLDER:

Description in Brief:

Concerns/Status

Date Issued:

Influencing strategy

By:

Who

When

Version:

The Principles for Stakeholder management promulgated by Professor Max Clarkson are useful to note (Clarkson, n.d.). •

Principle 1: Managers should acknowledge and actively monitor the concerns of all legitimate stakeholders, and should take their interests appropriately into account in decision-making and operations.

•

Principle 2: Managers should listen to and openly communicate with stakeholders about their respective concerns and contributions, and about the risks that they assume because of their involvement with the corporation.

•

Principle 3: Managers should adopt processes and modes of behaviour that are sensitive to the concerns and capabilities of each stakeholder constituency.

•

Principle 4: Managers should recognize the interdependence of efforts and rewards among stakeholders, and should attempt to achieve a fair distribution of the benefits and burdens of corporate activity among them, taking into account their respective risks and vulnerabilities.



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•

Principle 5: Managers should work cooperatively with other entities, both public and private, to ensure that risks and harms arising from corporate activities are minimized and, where they cannot be avoided, appropriately compensated.

•

Principle 6: Managers should avoid altogether activities that might jeopardize inalienable human rights (e.g., the right to life) or give rise to risks which, if clearly understood, would be patently unacceptable to relevant stakeholders.

•

Principle 7: Managers should acknowledge the potential conflicts between; (a) their own role as corporate stakeholders, and (b) their legal and moral responsibilities for the interests of all stakeholders, and should address such conflicts through open communication, appropriate reporting and incentive systems and, where necessary, third party review.

1.4.2. S TAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS To promote successful strategic planning the leader must identify stakeholders that need to be involved at all stages of development and implementation. During the set-up phase leaders have to study stakeholders and complete the following: 1.

Identify stakeholder

2.

Sort - Prioritise stakeholder interests

3.

Visualise stakeholder relationships to the change project

4.

Communicate and engage stakeholder

Whatever the circumstances and change classification the transformational leader can map stakeholders and constantly review how change will impact upon their expectations. Failure to communicate in an appropriate manner with each stakeholder prior to introducing change can seriously hinder their commitment to the change. Once you have identified who the key players in the change process are, the next challenge is to communicate the changes to all those who will be affected.

1.4.3. S TAKEHOLDER SORTING A stakeholder’s position in relation to their power or interest in a strategic planning process can be mapped using the Power-Interest grid. The grid can be used to determine how best to manage relations with each stakeholder, plan with regard to their needs, or simply to guide your actions. The two dimensions represent the extent to which the stakeholder has: 1. 2.

Power to influence outcomes and the capacity to impose their will on the change process. Interest that is real or believe they have a legitimate need (business or personal) to be involved in the change project As a result of the two dimensions stakeholder could be classified in four quadrants. Manage Closely High power, interested people/entities: these are the stakeholders you must fully engage with, and make the greatest efforts to satisfy. These are critical stakeholders with a high stake in the change. Keep Satisfied High power, less interested people/entities: put enough work in with these stakeholders to keep them satisfied, but not so much that they become bored with your message.


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Keep Informed Low power, interested people/entities: keep these stakeholders adequately informed, and talk to them to ensure that no major issues are arising. These people can often be very helpful with the detail of your project. Monitor Low power, less interested people/entities: again, monitor these stakeholders, but do not bore them with excessive communication. These stakeholders have a low stake in the change.

Figure 7 - Power – Interest Grid for Stakeholder Prioritisation

Stakeholder influence may also be considered from the perspective of where their interests lie and who else they may influence. This is depicted in the following table. Table 2 - Directions of stakeholder’s strategic influence

Direction

Stakeholders interests and area of influence

Outwards

Customer, end user

Inwards

Employees, change processes and actions, governance

Downstream

Suppliers, contractors, input to business process

Upstream

Distributors, retailers, business partners, outcomes from business process

1.4.4. V ISUALISE STAKEHOLDER COMMITMENT To visualise stakeholder commitment and their level of influence in the planned strategic outcomes it is now possible to use previous information to place all stakeholders on a map such as depicted below. Once all stakeholders have been placed on the map the relationship between each stakeholder and their influence and commitment to the change can be determined.



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Figure 8 Stakeholder mapping

1.4.5. I NFLUENCE STAKEHOLDER COMMITMENT It is important to establish a strategy to influence those key stakeholders identified as requiring close management or involvement during the development of a strategic plan. The influencing strategy may vary according to the outcomes from the stakeholder assessment. Actions could include: • • • • • • •

Targeted communication More direct advocacy or negotiations Education Direct participation in the planning process at some level or role (i.e. membership on Strategic Planning Committee) Indirect influence through another stakeholder that is a supporter Strategic or business process coordination Parallel goal setting on areas of mutual interest

The following table shows the sort of information a change project manager will need to develop when seeking to communicate with and influence a stakeholder.


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Table 3 - Template to record influencing strategy for key stakeholders

STAKEHOLDER:

Description in Brief:

Concerns/Status

Date Issued:

Influencing strategy

By:

Who

When

Version:

Table 4 provides an example of one organisation’s identified stakeholders, their expectations, and how a planned introduction of quality systems and goals may impinge upon their expectations. Table 4 - Determining stakeholder expectations prior to plan formation

Organisation

Country Clothing Company

Stakeholder

Expectations

How the planned direction may be perceived by stakeholders to impact upon them and their expectations

Shareholders

High share earnings

Consistency of competitiveness

Stable market share

Short-term higher costs may reduce profits

High asset values High profits after all expenses and tax Employee representative groups (unions)

Suppliers

Job security High reward for work contributions to company success

Standards of performance will need to be reconfigured Reward systems may alter

Fair and well-regulated work conditions

Efficiency may reduce need for as many jobs

Price security

High supply standards

Forward orders

Suppliers need quality systems which will be expensive to introduce

Certainty and early notification of demands Clear conditions and terms for supply

New reporting systems


(Voc.) Graduate Certificate of Management (Learning) Management

Authority to act Job security High reward for work contributions to company success

Customers

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Need new training and ways of making decisions Workforce disruption may mean longer work hours

Premium for success

Need to work as a team and ‘convey the same message’

Expectations satisfied

Quality may necessitate that prices rise

Service standards that consistently meet requirements

Expectations and relationships managed by communicating benefits

Price, price, price Quality of product Regulatory agencies (government)

Compliance of people, systems and processes with requirements

Important that they are informed of this positive move

Safe working environment

Quality of services and products needs to be reflected in working conditions and processes

Compliance of services and products Community members

Socio-economic benefit

(etc.)

Safety of citizens

Environmental conditions are met

Preserve value and add value to the community (e.g. real estate value)

Important that they are informed of positive benefits Early engagement and clarity of communication Quality and environmental impact of build, services, products, etc.


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2. L EARNING I MPLEMENTATION P ROCESS Implementation of any organisational learning strategy—including sub-components such as an instructional design strategy—requires a systematic approach. The Learning Implementation Process (see Figure 1) is an integrated model developed as a result of a significant international research project undertaken by the author with the Unitas Knowledge Centre, and multiple universities and corporate partners from across Australia and from around the globe in 2002 to 2003 (Bowles, 1997 for the original model and Bowles, 2003). The model focussed on accommodating forms of delivery and modes of teaching and learning that are moving well beyond the options previously available in industry training as information and communication technologies (ICT) advanced. The model also espouses a philosophy and sequence of actions that span those typically found in learning strategy formation and Instructional System Design (ISD) approaches such as ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation), the Empathic Instructional Design (EID), and the Rapid Instructional Design (RID) or Rapid Prototyping Design (RPD) approach. Integrating RID and EID has resulted in some experts and major corporations advancing modified Instructional Design/Information Systems Design processes based on ADDIE. Many companies, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cisco and Woolworths Australia, have used a four-stage process with variations titles for each stage as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Assess/Analyse/Research; Build/Design/Develop; Implement/Deliver/Operate; and Improve/Review/Evaluate.

Business Outcomes Improved potential productivity, service and agility

Analyse Target gaps and establish key improvement outcomes Build Design and develop learning

Improve Evaluate, measure and verify improvements Implement Effect change; execute the plan

Figure 9 - A learning and instructional strategy design process (ABII) (Bowles, 1997, Bowles, 2004:176)

Fundamental to the ABII model is the interlocking use of the cycle at all levels in the organisation: whether the organisation be a customer or the educational provider. The model takes strategic direction and business need as its core driver and ensures any learning design activity at individual instructional level or for individual learning needs are translated back to inform organisational strategic-level decision making.



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Figure 10 – Interlocking Learning Implementation Process across activities and strategic levels

2.1. T HE S TRATEGY OF L EARNING There are a wide range of strategic factors that may shape organisational learning strategies from need through to implementation. Organisations implement learning strategies to achieve many different outcomes. Some of the system-level factors that may need to be considered when developing a learning strategy within an organisational setting may include the policy and strategic focus on building: • • •

learning culture; human capital; and a learning organisation and organisational learning.

2.1.1. B UILDING A L EARNING C ULTURE To build a learning culture all levels of an organisation have to value learning as a strategic and a personal asset. Three levels of performance can be defined in most organisations. While we may focus on individual learning, quality systems emphasise the need for learning to be able to enhance team and process-level performance. This, in turn, contributes towards and is a subset of organisational-level performance improvement. Therefore learning strategies need to be cognisant of needs and relationships between the:

1. Corporate level; 2. Group (team, function, etc.) level; 3. Individual staff members.


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Vision Corporate Level (Phase I)

Strategic Objectives Performance Indicators Function/ Division

Individual Level (Phase III)

Project/ Process/ Team

Group Level (Phase II)

Individual Job Performance

Figure 11 - Conceptual framework for organisational strategic levels  The Centre for Working Futures, 1992, with permission

Just as organisational systems need to span all three levels, so learning needs to support and reinforce training and development at all three levels within an organisation. The fundamental aim is to ensure a workforce exists to performance at the required standard and to achieve the strategic objectives. This can ensure that individual work inputs do not undermine the optimal attainment of job, group and the organisation’s strategic outcomes. The key to aligning individual performance to collective outcomes lies in developing a framework that orients individuals, particular groups and the organisation’s workforce towards agreed outcomes. Table 5 identifies how performance variables may be better oriented across organisational, group and individual levels. Table 5 Enhancing workforce capacity across the organisation

Performance variables Strategic goals

Organisational level Is the organisational purpose known, and are strategic goals attuned to the reality of economic, political and cultural forces? Do structure, policy and competency frameworks support improved performance? Is there a sense of shared identity and convergence of values, beliefs and norms to support desired performance?

Group level Do the process goals enable people to work together to achieve both organisational and individual ends?

Are the professional and personal goals of individuals consistent with those of the organisation? Are individual styles of learning and creative processes respected?

Expertise

Does the organisation select for capabilities (e.g. for cultural ‘fit’) as well as for ‘skills’?

Are processes designed to permit individuals and groups to modify systems to meet contingencies? Are interrelationships identified and managed to encourage diversity, creativity and innovation while achieving team and process outcomes? Are processes and teams developing expertise to respond to change and new customer demands?

Future capacity

Does the enterprise manage human, infrastructure and social capital to achieve its goals?

Are management systems and processes designed to encourage learning that improves current and future capacity?

Competency

Cultural identity & behaviours

Individual level


Is the individual committed to work and innovation while respecting divergent views and ideas? Do individuals have the applied competencies to master both task performance and work in a specific context? Does the individual want to perform, learn and respond to customer and market demands?


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Organisational learning and development requires both an inward focus on individual and group capacities and an outward focus on enhancing capabilities through the capture of knowledge residing in the complex relationships that make up an organisation and its operational environment. These relationships are strongly influenced by an organisation’s culture, encompassing shared beliefs, values, roles and patterns of behaviour. The organisational culture in turn contributes to the identity of individuals in the organisation and influences how it is viewed by both insiders and outsiders.

2.1.2. L EARNING AND M AXIMISING H UMAN C APITAL In the Digital or Knowledge Economy, an employee’s capabilities have economic value to an organisation because these capabilities enable the organisation to perform and adapt to change. In this context, value has come to refocus on people as they constitute the organisation’s human capital. Organisational efficiency and effectiveness of KM strategies has become as much about building ‘human capital’ value as they are about transferring knowledge or generating learning outcomes. An equation has been proposed to summarise this: KM + HRD + Performance = HC where KM is Knowledge Management, HRD is Human Resource Development, and with performance together equate to HC or Human Capital. This formula is a subset of Knowledge Capital formation whereby: HC + SC + STC = KC where HC is Human Capital, SC is Social Capital, STC is Structural Capital and KC is the resulting Knowledge Capital. The measurement of HC can not only be tied to different individuals in a variety of occupations, positions and contexts, but also to encompass how the knowledge assets resident in people can contribute to the overall Knowledge Capital value available to the organisation. To encompass all the above principles HC can be defined as follows. Human Capital is not only about the availability of competencies relevant to current performance, but also the potential for the individual and groups of individuals to further develop capabilities and relationships that hold potential advantage for the organisation. There is a direct and well researched relationship between recruiting and managing people, company performance and higher HC value measures (Lermusiaux, 2002:14-15). In effect a skilled workforce has value because of what it can produce but other people factors also contribute value to the HC equation. Such factors that are known to relate directly to improved HC value include: • • • • • •

•

Overall employee satisfaction; Recruiting effort and efficiency of ‘hires’; Psychological ‘fit’ of employees to the organisational culture; Employee recognition programs; Development programs and especially how the company deals with high performance people on a leadership pathway; Efficiency of succession planning (a crass analogy but this is akin to inventory management and factors such as ‘availability on demand’ and ‘wait time’ for fully capable people to gain promotion);and Are loyal to staff even during periods of layoffs and tight economic growth. (Lermusiaux, 2002:14).


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Value may not all lie in observable, tangible factors. A common delineation of capital resources in organisations is between tangible and intangible resources. Tangible resources are made up of financial, physical, human and organisational resources.

Intangible resources are identified as reputation, technological resources and innovation. Intangible assets such as knowledge in organisations have always been an essential part of successful organisations. The development and utilisation of knowledge and capabilities within organisations is now being identified as critical to success or failure. Many organisations now undertake a far more complex analysis of what constitutes the capabilities required to achieve not only corporate outcomes but also the individual capabilities and team capabilities that underpin current and future outcomes. The need for process improvement within principally manufacturing organisations led to the definition of competencies. Competency defines the ability of an individual to perform an isolated task. Capability as a broader term than competency measures the range of activities that are possible given the skills, experience and knowledge that can be deployed in a generalised and/or a specific context. As such, capabilities define the range of activity performance that is possible. The development of capabilities and the transfer of individual knowledge could be seen to relate to both competency and non-competency variables:

2.2. T HE LEARNING ORGANISATION AND ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING In this section we will examine the distinction between the learning organisation and organisational learning. This discussion will revolve around two differing definitions and fields of work regarding learning and the organisation. In a learning organisation learning is tied to the organisation’s strategic purpose and occurs systematically as part of its functioning and enhanced capacity to transform and respond to opportunities. This leads to the concept where learning is meaningful and managed at an organisational level to achieve specific outcomes.

By way of contrast organisational learning suggests that organisational learning is not limited by organisational structures but grows out of individuals and communities. In this view, knowledge and learning exist in social situations and in networks of individuals that have identified with a common purpose. These networks may well extend beyond the organisation. As such organisations need to encourage individual learning that may well extend beyond the organisation’s core purpose and systems.

2.2.1. T HE LEARNING ORGANISATION REVISITED Peter Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation (1992) spurred a surge of interest in the idea of the learning organisation. Yet Senge did not invent the



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concept, nor was his the only framework for analysing its principles. The concept of the learning organisation had been aired internationally for more than a decade before Senge’s book appeared. In early works on the subject, the learning organisation was presented as an ideal rather than as a basis for everyday practice. Alistair Crombie, writing in Australia in the late 1970s, was careful to present the learning organisation strictly as a utopian model, ‘suggestive of a future ideal, rather than descriptive of present realities’ (1978:38). In Britain in the late 1980s, John Burgoyne consolidated a framework for creating what he termed a ‘learning company’; he published his findings with Mike Pedler and Tom Boydell in The Learning Company: Strategy for Sustainable Development (1991). Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell also presented the learning company as an ideal paradigm rather than a reality. They promoted the potential of the concept, but they explicitly rejected the idea that it could offer a ‘quick fix’ (1991:3). Learning was advanced as a catalyst for improvement, not as a substitute for other management approaches. Senge, by contrast, intended the learning organisation to provide a ‘management solution’ in the real world (Senge, 1992:37). His The Fifth Discipline set out a new systems approach to management and presented a coherent and holistic framework for both study and practice (Senge, 1992:42). Senge summed up his approach as follows: Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants. Living systems have integrity. Their character depends on the whole. The same is true for organisations; to understand the most challenging managerial issues requires seeing the whole system that generates the issues (1992:66). Under a learning organisation approach the aim is to create a compelling corporate vision that encourages employees to constantly think about how they might improve the way that work is conducted. Can you imagine belonging to an organisation where everyone, from senior management down, is absolutely committed to increasing their understanding of the ways that work can be improved? Such an environment has the potential to make work truly meaningful for employees and to substantially increase the profitability of the business. In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge links the capacity of an enterprise to become a ‘learning organisation’ with its ability to obtain and hold competitive advantage (Senge, 1992). Senge depicts an organisation where individuals continually seek to expand their capacity to create desired results, where new patterns of thinking are nurtured, and where people are continually ‘learning how to learn’ together. Senge recognised that building a learning organisation required a substantial shift in prevailing mental models. In 1992 he expressed disappointment with the lack of implementation of learning organisation approaches, blaming this on the fact that ‘new insights fail to get put into practice because they conflict with deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting’ (1992:7). Traditional training structures, for example, stress conformity as a source of cohesion and unity of purpose for participants. Training approaches are better at inculcating established belief systems than encompassing diversity. The idea is that if people all think and act like machines, they will interact efficiently and generate shared values, views and attitudes. In a predictable and unchanging environment, this approach facilitates process efficiencies and reduces the amount of coordination required of managers within a hierarchical structure. When the environment is unstable and unpredictable, however, the lack of diversity limits organisational agility. Bureaucracy, which is the epitome of a cohesive organisational culture, experiences serious difficulties when presented with non-routine problems. This is the antithesis of a customer-responsive, service-oriented organisational approach. The development of a learning organisation is widely seen as requiring an organisational culture that balances functional efficiency with open systems—that is, the ability to take on and learn from diverse values, beliefs and experiences (McGill et al., 1992; Schrage, 1990: ch. 5). According to Redding and Catalanello (1994), there are five stages on the path to becoming a learning organisation. Those five stages are outlined in Figure 12.


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The characteristics of each stage are as follows: Stage 1: The start-up company is basically learning how to stay afloat. No effort is invested in deciding what people need to know to do their jobs better. Stage 2: Training programs are made available through outside providers. Training is viewed as a consumable and is aimed at fixing short-term problems. Stage 3: Some in-house training may be offered and there is a greater emphasis on gaining sustainable results, but training is not fully coordinated and may focus on ‘flavour-of-the-month’ subjects. Stage 4: Senior managers realise that they need to develop the skills and knowledge of the workforce in order to remain competitive. Training is usually conducted offsite, and is targeted towards providing competitive advantage. Stage 5: Learning is seen as vital to the success of the organisation, and there is a planned effort to make learning part of everyday work. The organisation encourages employees to learn by trying new things and experiencing different processes within the workplace itself. Work and learning are integrated

Learning is important enough to plan for

Learning is brought inside the organisation

Stage 5

Stage 4

Stage 3

Learning is treated as a consumable

No intentional learning programs

Stage 2

Stage 1

Figure 12 - The five stages of the learning organisation (Redding & Catalanello, 1994)

In the fifth stage, which typifies the learning organisation, employees may work on projects outside their usual domain to promote reflective learning that can offer insights into the way they normally do things. A sales manager, for example, might join a production team to learn more about how the products work, or production staff might work with salespeople to develop a marketing strategy for a product that is in the pipeline. Employees are motivated to improve their existing skills by an organisation that makes it clear that their existing skills and knowledge are valued as part of day-to-day activities. In this scenario, learning strategy can be deployed to encourage collaborative exchanges, to enable people in multiple locations to complete a common activity, or to integrate learning into the everyday work environment by making knowledge accessible on demand. In spite of its attractions, the concept of the learning organisation is not above criticism. Some commentators have suggested that it is too much a ‘systematic approach’ that fails to take into account the vast array of processes that create and modify knowledge (Schulz, 2001). The BSBLED702A Lead learning strategy implementation


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emphasis on creating systems that encompass the whole organisation risks overlooking the variations in how individuals interact, transact and learn.

2.2.2. O RGANISATIONAL LEARNING In contrast to the idea of the learning organisation, the concept of organisational learning is less evangelical and initially more modest in its aims. It starts from the insight that organisations are not primarily built to learn, but to engage in transactions both within and outside their structure. Therefore, organisational learning may be viewed as a means of enhancing an organisation’s capacity to create a climate conducive to change and to realise competitive advantage through performance improvement. Organisational strategies for learning should not confine their emphasis to codifying or bureaucratising learning under a ‘systems’ model. Rather, learning exchanges and individual social interactions can be viewed as opportunities to stimulate relationships that can be strategically managed to encourage organisational learning through knowledge sharing. This process can be facilitated or inhibited by the ecological system in which transactions take place (Argyris, cited in Malhotra, 1996:68). Unlike advocates of the learning organisation approach, most organisational learning advocates believe the best approach is to accept that learning will occur, and then set out to design, deploy and lead it towards agreed outcomes (Garvin, 1993). The emphasis is on individuals within and outside the organisation. Ultimately, it is they who have to experience a desire to learn and adopt the requisite behaviours. The organisation’s task is to harness this capability so as to generate the knowledge required to perform and adapt. Crossan and Hulland identify six points of difference between an organisational learning approach and the concept of the learning organisation (1997:4–14): All organisations learn: Patterns and processes of learning vary between and within enterprises, and no single theory can allow for all these differences. Learning is not an end in itself: The crucial question in assessing organisational learning is whether the organisation is skilled at developing new products or services, and is able to compete in a complex and changing world. Organisational learning extends beyond dedicated ‘learning’ activities: There is more to the translation of learning than managing individual acquisition of skills and knowledge. Learning is embedded in interaction and relationships within and outside the organisation. There are learning processes that link organisational levels: Learning is a metaprocess; individuals absorb knowledge, integrate it at the level of the team and institutionalise it at the level of the corporation. Organisational learning needs to consider the flow of learning among these levels: Any learning process needs to integrate individual learning (competencies, capabilities and motivation) with processes affecting the group (group dynamics and development of shared understanding) and organisation (knowledge assets/capital, systems, structure, procedures and culture). Individuals within the organisation are the ultimate arbiters of organisational learning: Individual perceptions drive the system of building knowledge assets. To evaluate organisational learning success is not simply a matter of determining whether the organisation has achieved its overall goals; it is also necessary to measure individual employee perspectives and understanding. The distinction between organisational learning and the learning organisation is a subtle but important one. The idea of the learning organisation, as advanced by Senge and others, is very much a systems-level approach in which learning becomes the focus of organisational design. Strategies to achieve organisational learning can underpin many of the same principles and


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practices, but they do not require learning to be viewed as the organisation’s central purpose. In fact, many practitioners of organisational learning would not see any value in building a learning organisation. They would prefer to see learning managed as part of wider management systems.



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3. N EEDS A SSESSMENT AND A NALYSIS Analyse Target gaps and establish key improvement outcomes

Improve Evaluate, measure, and verify improvements

Need & Outcomes Improved competency and overall capacity

Build Design and develop learning

Implement Effect change

Figure 13 - Needs and Outcomes that drive the learning strategy process

The aim of needs assessment and, more specific activities such as training needs analysis (TNA) and setting an individual development plan (IDP), can be stated as the identification of any gap that may exist between current skills, knowledge, attributes or competencies and those required for by an individual or a workforce to complete job outcomes. Although gaining commitment to personal and organisational improvement is a vital first step in the learning process, direction is also required in order to channel this desire to learn in a way that will benefit both the individual and the organisation. Needs assessment and analysis of data can establish a systematic set of priorities and planned learning interventions that can help individuals, groups, organisational and industry workforces set out what education, training and development they require. This topic and the next few will focus on establishing how to conduct a needs assessment and analysis process that can prioritise the training and development of individuals while meeting the strategic needs of an organisation.

3.1. O PERATIONAL LEVEL NEEDS ASSESSMENT Needs assessment can occur at three levels. 1. 2. 3.

Macro-level needs assessment can be conducted at national, industry, regional, community or organisation-wide levels. Typically this is strongly related to workforce planning (covered in the next topic area) Meso-Level needs assessment covers group or process level needs that may span project, programme, functional, business unit, team and operational level groups Micro-level needs assessment spans individual employees and, potentially, contractors, business partners and even clients.

We will examine the last two of the above now and move onto workforce planning in the next topic.


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3.1.1. I NDIVIDUAL AND T EAM G OAL A LIGNMENT The individual level is where competencies are deployed to achieve operational, technical and immediate job performance. Needs assessment (e.g. TNA) at a group level will be composed of the needs of the individuals within it. However, groups or teams may also need skills that relate to their functioning or the interaction of individuals within the team. For many organisations performance appraisal is the key activity to align the competencies of individuals against the performance requirements for a position or a number of positions. If appraisal session can use tools that align competencies for learning purposes with performance requirements for a position, then any gap in performance that is training related can also be defined as a competency (skill, knowledge or behavioural attribute). Thence, an assessed need equates to a performance and a learning and development need. The figure below depicts how individual development plans may reside within an integrated approach to appraisal.

Figure 14 - The strategic performance appraisal cycle

Figure 15 - Performance appraisal and interlocking processes



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Tying performance management and appraisal to competencies aligns any activity that closes competency gaps directly with strategic and business outcomes. The figure above expands the earlier one by showing how the appraisal process can not only link to needs analysis at the individual level, but also provide the cornerstone for a group or an organisation. This ensures individual training and development is a component of not only a TNA process but the learning design is also directly tied to strategic outcomes and priority needs.

3.1.2. O PERATIONAL GOALS , OBJECTIVES AND PRIORITIES Operational requirements will vary with the strategic imperatives and short term priorities confronting an organisation. Some of the broader imperatives will require changes to: • • • • • •

Strategic goals and objectives; Business and performance plans; Quality assurance and/or continuous quality improvement; Change and emerging market opportunities (multi-skilling, up-skilling and reskilling); Legal and compliance (i.e. Access and equity, Occupational health and safety, operational legislation and related rules, international trade, etc.); and Collaborative partnership arrangements (especially supply chain management requirements).

It has long been appreciated that success of a TNA exercise was in large part due to how well it was strategically aligned to priority business needs (Bowles, 1995:12). The aim being to scientifically identify activities that will remove targeted performance gaps that inhibit company success. This does not devalue personal growth objectives. It is a simple recognition a company has to attain commercial success if it is to successfully invest in learning. The learning strategy therefore has to translate strategic goals into training outcomes through a dynamic partnership between the training staff and those seeking to achieve outcomes currently not possible with their existing competency profiles. Essential features in a training needs analysis and resulting learning plan therefore include: • • • • • • • •

• • •

the link with a corporate or strategic plan the sanctioning of the plan by senior executives the means to integrate the training plan with strategic and business planning activities realistic and achievable key result areas that can be achieved as training outcomes (as opposed to problems caused by non-training factors long term goals while articulating short term steps with measurable indicators allocation of responsibility and budgets for each activity a means to link operations with training and development statements that mirror corporate mission and vision but interpret these into values that drive training, education and development (human resource development and management) activities a process for design and implementation that is participative and embraces involvement of operations managers a communication strategy should be articulated for departments to know and use the plan (i.e. it should sell itself) a dynamic means to confirm the relevancy of courses and related training materials and remove, replace or to update them.

Having identified a skill gap and assumed a training need exists, it is absolutely essential to confirm that the performance gap will be solved through training. J. Edwards Deming believed that 85 percent of all quality problems resided in the environment and processes of work that were a management responsibility. Therefore no amount of training for individual staff members would close the performance deficiency or remove the problems. In order


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to improve, management had to take the lead and put in place the necessary resources and systems (Deming, 1982). Training may not be a solution if poor performance is caused by: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

the behaviour of the employee/ trainee poor processes inappropriate equipment poor motivation caused by working conditions and systems incorrect measures or descriptions (standards) supervision is hostile to the trainee or training lack of practise time to apply learning available resources (time, money, etc.)

3.2. C OLLECTING D ATA AND C OMPLETING AN A NALYSIS Successful needs analysis requires collection of data that is sufficient in terms of breadth, depth and relevance. Weaknesses of the data also need to be considered when basing TNA outcomes on the findings. This issue traces back to the concept of data needing to be reliable, valid, appropriate to the level and scope of the analysis and current. Training needs data can be collected and confirmed through a number of different tools and methods. As discussed previously these need to be scoped to the appropriate organisational level. The methods below are ranked for their relevance in gathering data at different levels of performance within the organisation. It is possible to mix methods to achieve improved results. Table 6 - Best-fit methods for confirming training needs

Level of Performance and Needs Assessment Method

Individual

Group/ Team

Site

Region

Org. wide

Surveys and questionnaires

**

***

**

**

***

Interviews with job incumbent

***

**

**

*

**

Structured interviews linked to performance management and development cycle

***

***

*

*

**

Unstructured interviews by manager with those doing the work

*

**

*

Observation of those doing the work

***

*

Job Analysis and performance reviews

*

***

***

*

***

**

**

***

***

*

*

***

***

*

**

**

*

**

Occupational Analysis Assessment Centre for occupation/ group

***

Expert data collection sessions Document collection and review (e.g. position descriptions, awards, manuals, etc.)

**

**

*

Employee satisfaction/culture audits and feedback surveys

*

***

**

Key Indicative Effectiveness of Methods: * Not very appropriate ** Can be customised to provide useful information

***


*

***

Very appropriate


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4. I DENTIFICATION OF N EEDS U SING J OB AND T ASK A NALYSIS One of the methods organisations use to determine needs is job analysis. Job analysis is the formal process of dimensioning a job (goal alignment, accountabilities and responsibilities), isolating the main activities involved in completing a job and the attributes people will needed to perform the work. Job analysis may be oriented to study either the task or the person. Task analysis tend to focus on the task components of a job as performed (outputs), while person oriented approaches tend to rely on identifying the attributes an individual will require to perform (inputs). Task analysis echoes back to the seminal work of Frederick Taylor on scientific methods (Taylor, 1911). Task analysis centres on identifying the tasks and complexity of the tasks(s) required to perform (what), the mental and physical requirements for task completion (how), the environmental conditions and range of variables such as technology, clothing or resources required (where), and variables relating to time or sequence of task in a given process (when). (After Wilson, 2007). As depicted below approaches to job analysis and profiling can fall into quadrants separated by the input-output and person-task dimensions that underpin their study. This is a somewhat idealised depiction as overtime boundaries between these two dimensions have tended to blur.

Figure 16 – Job analysis dimensions and exemplar approaches

As we will deal with the competency/competence analysis approach in a later topic this section will focus on the work of industrial/organisational psychologists. Their emphasis included skills and knowledge with a predominant emphasis on identification of the behavioural attributes individuals required to achieve job performance. Note

There are two prevailing schools of thought on the use of ‘competence’. One approach strongly ties competence to behavioural descriptors. This approach is linked to BSBLED702A Lead learning strategy implementation

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psychometric and related fields of social studies and human resource management. It is common in US literature and related organisational development frameworks. In other countries with national training frameworks (i.e. UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Malaysia, etc.), competency is a standard of performance, not a behavioural descriptor. While behaviours may be linked or influenced by these competency standards the framing of these competencies relates not to the person, context, or job, but to the standard required at a level of employment. Behavioural approaches to job analysis identified competencies (skills and knowledge) that form the input or deeply embedded part of a person’s personality and an underlying characteristic that is causally related to effective and/or superior performance in a job situation (Spencer and Spencer 1993:15). Both schools of thought use competency-based approaches to needs analysis and training because they set a single target for both learning outcomes, performance criteria and human resource (HR) activities (i.e. job design, recruitment, etc). By analysing jobs it is possible to isolate both tasks and the attributes an individual requires to perform successfully. This can result in profiles for professions, occupation and specific jobs. Where job analysis is completed using national occupational codes (e.g. Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations-ANZSCO) not only can jobs be compared within the classification, but with other classifications and with comparable occupations classified in other countries. The table below maps where different forms of analysis techniques that also have been used in other context we will study such as competency analysis training needs analysis and curriculum design. Table 7 - Application of common forms of analytical methods used to complete job analysis

Analytical Methods Direct observation and checks – May cover a range of techniques and approaches. This basically involves using a predetermined tool to observe, survey or examine job documentation to compare tasks performed in a job against another job or to benchmark standards established for all people performing similar job roles or tasks. Such tools may include: • • • • • •

Individual Job

Occupation/ Profession

√

√

Hierarchical Task Analysis Job analysis tools Skills audits Behaviour profiles/ descriptors Competency profiles Skills tests

Information search – Such approaches can vary widely. However all relay upon establishing an analytical basis for defining the given job, task, or performance area under review. This information is usually used to benchmark job design or shape applied research or workforce analysis activities. The information may be sourced from such areas as: • • • • • • • •

Industry/ Region

Classification and pay compendiums Statistical profiles Questionnaires and surveys World wide web On-line search data bases Training and education curriculum International competency profiles of occupations Etc.


√ somewhat

√

(Voc.) Graduate Certificate of Management (Learning) Focus Groups – Is a meeting of people with agreed (pre-meeting) and related perspectives on the given job, task, or performance area under review. The group agree on performance outcomes for the area covered and identify barriers or problems associated with attaining this performance. The group is facilitated in a manner whereby key issues are isolated and methods to address these performance problems determined. A series of focus groups may be required to give different perspectives or to address skills issues or system problems. The groups are usually informally structured with formal reporting of findings by the facilitator. Functional analysis – Functional analysis is very useful when major enterprises or sectors analyse traditional occupational and job structures to derive ‘families’ of related functions or roles. A process of benchmarking and validation can then be used at other levels (sectors, locations, organisations, or individual level). The aim being to identify the functions and roles of particular jobs and job families. Functional analysis usually will involve other competency research approaches such as interview, group work, or data analysis techniques. Subject Matter Expert Interviews – Using tools such as Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) an business or job analyst interviews experts supervising or considered ‘best in class’ incumbent to isolate and/or validate tasks and attributes required for a job. The attributes may be framed against agreed headings for each task; i.e. Critical incident Technique – May be either a group technique or a means to survey an individual (e.g. job diary/video). A basis for surveying tasks or skills and knowledge is devised and then individuals performing those tasks are surveying as they perform. Descriptions are tested and indicators refined to map superior and inferior performance outcomes. This technique relies very heavily upon those performing the job actually assisting define task performance.

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√

√

very large companies only

(√)

√

√

√

√

√

√

√

√

√

√

√

√

DACUM – is a group technique normally used to assist Develop A CurriculuM. This technique has been widely used to assist define competency profiles for occupational areas and industries. An expert group of job holders or managers of the job holders are convened into a group to define the nature of a particular job area. A number of such meeting indifferent locations may be required to achieve a complete profile for an industry or major sector. However a facilitator of such meetings can record results and orient the group towards the types of knowledge and skills that define a job. This technique also ensures relationships between jobs and jobs within a process or production or service delivery are considered together. The DACUM may have some initial information of a job area to consider (and this has been show to assist many DACUM groups) but it is not unusual for occupational analysis information to be ignored to permit groups a ‘greenfields’ approach to defining jobs. Delphi – This is a group technique dealing with forecasts of projected competency or skills sets that are placed into an iterative process whereby groups consider, modify and eventually gain consensus on the final descriptions for a job, occupation or such like. This can span investigations involving psychometric profiling and statistical analysis.


mostly very large companies

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Inventory comparison – This approach assumes some form of descriptions of tasks or skills and knowledge exist. The inventory may be mapped into competencies and permit existing jobs to be profiled against all the available descriptions in the inventory. Gaps are recorded and added to the core inventory. Thus the inventory expands and helps reshape how existing jobs and occupations are defined.

√

CODAP – Comprehensive Occupational Analysis Programs were developed to analyse occupational data across a large range of subjects. It is heavily reliant on questionnaires and surveys and helps provide data computers can then process to detail break downs of occupations and how they are demarked by a cluster of tasks resident in the sample/ population surveyed.  1995, 1999 The Institute for Working Futures. Used with permission


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mostly large companies only


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5. C OMPETENCY -B ASED N EEDS A NALYSIS Competency standards provide a ready-made tool or currency for needs assessment and analysis. They can also be used to profile not only the people and the positions being examined but also learning. For educators it is important to note that basing needs assessment and analysis on competencies instead of learning outcomes has major implications. The most important is the assumption the need is not just a training or education outcome. It is about job outcomes and standards of performance at a level of employment. Learning in such cases makes a strategic contribution. One important use of competency standards or an inventory of skills, knowledge, behaviours and other attributes in a capability inventory can form is the means to identify an individual’s job related and personal development needs using the process listed below. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Establish the competency standards relevant to the level of work, employment or occupation (job analysis and profiling). Map competencies to specific learning and development requirements. Align learning to competencies required in work, an occupation or a career pathway. Assess an individual’s current competence Assess and isolate an individual’s competency gaps that may impact job performance or career development. Develop an individual learning plan to ensure training and development closes know gaps. WORK Occupational/Job Profile)

1

Competency Standards or Capability Inventory

Gap Need Analysis

5

3

INDIVIDUAL 4

(Current Competency profile)

6

2 TRAINING

(Learning & Development Intervention)

Figure 17 - Using competency standards to complete organisational training needs analysis  1995 The Institute for Working Futures. Used with permission

The above process is not linear nor is it always sequential. This is because it is often assumed that an individual that holds a competency can perform in all contexts or that the competency is current or held to the required level of proficiency once attained. But competencies may have a ‘use-bydate’ or require constant revalidation. Equally, there may be factors influencing an individual’s competency levels such as changes to process, practice, and technology. In which case a job may be redesigned and so make all incumbents ‘incompetent’ until they are assessed as holding the new competencies.


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Closing a true performance gap between individual competency and position performance requirements can have a significant strategic impact. Training plays a strategic role by underpinning an organisation’s effort to change its culture or to meet future challenges. The above competency-based needs analysis approach can enable benefits realisation for an organisation that extend beyond HR and learning strategy to positively influence the future sustainability of the business. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Inform valid decision making and assessment of an individuals’ current competence. Promote validity and comparability of any job description within the organisation and between one location or group and others. Allow the standard of performance by employees to be benchmarked and managed (e.g. raise competence over time to improve customer experience). Confirm most important qualifications and skills. Promote comparability of job applications and final selection of a candidate for a job. Enhance succession planning for hard to fill or critical jobs. Improve the employee value proposition by offering not only internal career pathways but flow in and out of the organisation. Identify potential and manage talent. Profile and develop leaders. Assure the right development activity is undertaken for the targeted skill, knowledge or behaviour. Enhance organisational responsiveness (agility) by succession planning and streamlining cycle time to filling a new or redesigned job with a competent individual. Correctly size, weight, align and reward jobs. Review the existing learning strategy and education, training, and development activities to assure coverage of priority needs.

5.1. D EPLOYING A C APABILITY I NVENTORY Capabilities can be mapped by adapting existing measurement systems to produce a picture of possible individual contributions to job, group and organisational performance. A customised system maps individual traits and skills to organisational goals or key outcomes. Rather than relating an individual to a specific job, the capability inventory can outline the individual’s capacity as a personal input and a task performance output. Table 8 - Compiling capability data from traditional collection points (Bowles, 2004:Ch10)

Capability field

Examples of information collection points

Competencies (skills and knowledge)

Productivity sheets, downtime records, checklists, procedure manuals, diagnostic ratings, training programs, job descriptions, job analysis forms, skills audits, occupational analysis data, industrial awards, occupational and industry classification data, competency profiles, performance improvement targets.

Non-competency-based attributes

Behaviours: Psychometric profiles, organisational structures, span of control documentation, reporting relationship documents, workflow systems, quality system work procedures, job sampling, and information system audits. Cultural: Cultural audits, climate audits, job satisfaction surveys. Traits and motivation: Attitude surveys, value and climate audits, individual job satisfaction indices, behavioural descriptors, educational programs, job weighting scales. Experience:



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Job selection frameworks, personnel records, job weighting scales, performance appraisal data, prior education and qualifications.

Building a capability inventory presupposes that management acknowledges learning as a strategic activity, and that the contribution of learning can be measured in terms of current performance and future organisational competitiveness. Where a capability approach has been adopted, it has been used to considerable effect in assessing how far training for individual development achieves immediate outcomes and rationales that relate to the overall effort of building human capital (Bowles 1999). Capability inventories are a dynamic business tool because they encompass the competencies, cognitive factors and experience required to achieve competitiveness. They also provide a framework for training, career development and organisational improvement. Table 9 - Comparison between skills-based audits and capability inventories

Skills-based approach

Capability approach

Tasks can be described using a single descriptor

It is recognised that tasks vary with time and situation

Information is based on current performance data and projections

People’s perceptions are measured as well as their performance

Performance is concrete and can be quantified

Individuals can adapt to context to complete tasks

Evaluation is logic-based

Evaluation is value-based

Tasks define jobs

Tasks may define multiple purposes and futures

Job descriptions define current performance expectations

Job descriptions help to describe future expectations and career pathways

Focus is on portability of individual competencies between jobs

Focus is on capabilities for multiple futures

Audit defines current job roles within an organisation

Inventory identifies organisational current and future performance needs

Aim is to achieve efficiency

Aim is to provide adaptability

Focus is on job performance

Focus is on organisation-wide outcomes

This suggests that any attempt to finalise a learning strategy that is intent upon satisfying individual needs cannot ignore the capabilities required by the individual in the context of the organisation and the group within which the individual and their job resides.

Figure 18 - Levels of capability  The Centre for Working Futures, 1994, with permission

Skills-based profiling focuses on functional processes, and as such produces task efficiencies that are one step removed from organisational outcomes. Capability profiling on the other hand, is


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linked to strategic outcomes and the deep capabilities required by an organisation to meet current and future strategic challenges within and beyond the domain of an individual job.

5.1.1. F ROM CAPABILITIES TO JOB PROFILES The aim is for an organisation to accurately profile the capability of their workforce. By consistently profiling jobs managers can set the foundations for not only profiling what we need the job to do (goal alignment and job design), but also the person and the combination or skills required to perform in that job today or in the future. As jobs change to meet operational or strategic requirements a consistent ‘currency’ exists to profile people and work to isolate any gaps that need to be closed through learning and development.

Figure 19 – Competency types and job design

Represented below, capability or competency levels can have a tight alignment to the stratified systems theory seven level framework (Jaques, 1997) used by many corporations across the globe —and qualifications. This means needs analysis can naturally uncover skill gaps and learning needs by competency type, level and by person and position.



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Figure 20 – Relating a capability framework and jobs to the Australian Qualifications Framework

5.1.2. T RANSLATING C OMPETENCIES INTO A J OB P ROFILE Below is a Job Profile for an IT position for a Network Engineer at a senior level of competence in a real enterprise. It is based on the model used by Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) Foundation (McLaren, 2012). It illustrates the combination of international skills descriptors and enterprise capabilities with national competency standards into a job profile. All can coexist and have a confirmed relationship through use of the company’s capability inventory and, thence, job profiles and career pathways. Table 10 - Job Profile

Title: Senior Network Engineer (Level 5)

Discipline Area: Network Engineer

The Senior Network Engineer role is responsible for devising promoting, and governing the strategic direction of the mobile and fixed core network that support the business model, including also the overall architecture of groups of systems or of the infrastructure. The role will be required to provide effective, authoritative guidance and governance of the required technologies and services to all stakeholders, and implementation of assigned projects.

Qualification: Bachelor or post-graduate degree in Computer Science, IT or Telecommunications. Experience: Bachelor or higher degree in Computer Science or IT with 10+ years of technical experience in network management. More than 5 years of architecture, business systems, or related experience. Specific experience in project management including agile IT is desirable. GENERIC:

COMMON SFIA SKILLS:

NATIONAL TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES SPECIFIC TO THE JOB:

SFIA SKILLS SPECIFIC TO THE JOB:

GA2 Results attainment GA5 Problem solving GA5 Individual and Team Work GA6 Communication GA9 Customer orientation

STPL/5 Enterprise & Business Architecture Development ARCH/5 Solution Architecture IRMG/5 Information Management RLMT/4 Stakeholder Relationship Management GOVN/4 IT Governance

ICTNPL6046A Undertake network performance analysis ICTOPN6129A Analyse optical transmission systems ICTTEN6044A Coordinate fault rectification and restoration of service following network outages ICTTEN6091A Analyse and organise repair of highly complex telecommunications network faults

PRMG/5 Project Management INOV/5 Innovation EMRG/4 Emerging Technology Monitoring SURE/4 Supplier Relationship Management

Once drafted the job or position profile can be assessed as part of standard job design (does it fit in a career pathway, job family and what learning processes can be expected to support), job weighting and dimensioning (how does it interact with other roles, is it too big or too small for one person to perform) and, ultimately, remuneration and benefits analysis processes. In this manner standard profiles form an important HR tool that can be customised to the organisation’s strategic and operational needs.

5.1.3. S TRATEGIC LEVEL ANALYSIS OF DATA AND OPTIONS A competency database or HR Management Information System (HRMIS) can be deployed to translate needs analysis data into strategic decision making systems. Data collection systems for competencies and capability audits can also contain information about the development of relevant skills, educational qualifications, experience and expertise. The entire system serves as a database supporting the entire human resources (HR) lifecycle from recruiting and selecting the right person with the right skills for a job, through to talent management and remuneration.


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Business Need Design the job-team

Succession

Reward

Optus Capability Framework

Development

Define talent and potential

Recruitment

Performance

Selection

Figure 21 - Optus Capability Framework and the human resource cycle

Such systems can form the hub of an HR system and support learning strategy from formulation, through execution, and onto evaluation. It can also streamline and integrate competency reporting for human capital at all levels (from individuals to business units or regions to partners such as suppliers, training providers and contractors). The competency database acts as a central repository for data related to industry, occupational and organisational learning and performance. It can provide a quality-assured, accessible and consistent framework for the reporting and recognition of capability and competency. This permits the organisation to monitor its own current levels of competency by person, position, occupation, business area, or even location. In turn, such data guides the acquisition and prioritisation of learning and development activities. As it applies specifically to learning, a competency database or inventory can also manage qualified learning providers, assessors, coaches and mentors; report and analyse course completions; and stream learners between in-house learning, vendor courses and formally recognised courses that result in qualifications. It thus permits the organisation to ensure that workplace learning delivery and assessment will: • • • • • • • •

relate to on-the-job outcomes wherever possible; recognise an individual’s current capabilities; map learning requirements against potential work placements; map work placements to job performance requirements; generate cost profiles for workplace development activities; maintain a resource schedule (physical, human and time-based); generate capability profiles for any mix of individuals, groups, enterprises or strategic partners; and integrate e-learning with tools and procedures used in the workplace.

The database makes it possible to ensure that staff focus on training that meets their immediate job requirements or career development needs. Capability profiles thus provide an integrated human capital reporting system with needs being identified, tracked, reported and closed at all levels in an organisation.


(Voc.) Graduate Certificate of Management (Learning) Person to job profiling through self-assessment or HR analysis: • Training needs analysis • Selection • Succession planning • Deployment • Team composition • Performance assessment and management • Overall skills available Person to multiple job profiling:

Person Job

Job

Person

•

Job

•

Job

Person X

Job Person Y

Person Z

Learning Job

Identifies areas and amount of match between the person and a job to generate a potential further career or development needs Can matches a person’s existing skills to those required for performance in different professional or job roles at a defined level of work or group.

Job to multiple people profiling can be used to identify areas and amount of match between person and position to generate a: • recruitment short list for employment or selection • succession planning needs • balanced team skills profile (i.e. Jobs are designed to encompass team or project outcomes/deliverables) • Agile team with people holding required mix of capability and technical competence • talent identification and management or assess potential against agreed profile Development planning: • Align job competence/skills with relevant learning and development options • Plan learning and development priorities for a group • Set a development pathway for employees moving into a new or redesigned job • Tie development to career/professional progress • Best fit education solutions to match job/career Person to job skills gap profiling:

Gap

Job

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Development

Person

• • • • •

Skill gaps equate to individual development plan Prioritise skills development to performance/goal needs Identify person’s current and future job ‘competence’ Align development activities to high priority skill gaps affecting job performance Identify development options for leaders or those on a high potential (talent) pipeline

Person to job surplus skills profiling: • • •

Job Person

Surplus

•

Establish redundant skills (and training if still occurring) Isolate skills that may be harnessed Profile ‘potential’ of workforce with skills that may assist with future responsiveness (Current skills versus future requirements) Establish total human capital value of a workforce (all people in a role/location profiled to determine current/future capability)


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Workforce All Jobs

(type/location)

Workforce to target profiles for the organisation: • Available people to fill specified Jobs • Skills analysis and priority training plan (How many people are in jobs where they require further development?) • Future scenario analysis and future skill gap analysis (e.g. Where are we going and how ready are we to respond to market opportunities?) • Current performance and capability (e.g. How many people satisfy the skills for their current job?) • Recruitment profile (How many people do we need to replace/find?) • Available people in critical roles, e.g. specialisation (e.g. How many Engineers must we retain?) • Value of workforce (e.g. what is the Human capital value and salary cost of our workforce?)

Figure 22 - Capability and competence profiling and optimising HR activities

For example, a profile might show significant gaps between an individual’s competencies and those required for a position. This could indicate a need for a staffing change or for further job related learning by the employee. Competency profiles also highlight areas where unrealistic expectations are placed on individuals’ job performance. This can extend to all levels of the organisation and to all types of learning, not just traineeships and apprenticeships. At higher levels of the organisation, managers can be offered opportunities to augment vocational and trade qualifications, or up-skill to university qualifications. Others might update their degrees or professional qualifications through refresher courses, short courses on new trends or research degrees. This kind of flexibility can benefit the individual, the organisation and the networks within which both operate. Limiting training needs analysis or identification of learning gaps just to ‘skills’ required to do the job is far too narrow. Although gaining commitment to personal and organisational improvement is a vital first step in the learning process, direction is also required in order to channel this desire to learn in a way that will benefit both the individual and the organisation. A learning plan will help individuals to set out what it is that they hope to learn and how this might benefit their employer. This section will help you to develop a learning plan that will meet the needs of different people in different organisations.

5.2. I MPLEMENTING TRAINING TIED TO PRIORITISED NEEDS Implementation of training solutions has to target closing capabilities gaps where job performance or individual development can best support priority outcomes. Determining priorities is not a static process. Priorities may also shift as a result of a number of changes. Business imperatives: • • • • • •

New technology or processes Change imperatives New roles New hires Compliance/legislative need Failure of existing training interventions

Operational needs that shift HR priorities identified through: • • •

Performance reviews Development planning Career ladder-planning


(Voc.) Graduate Certificate of Management (Learning) • • •

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Talent review Succession planning Job redesign

Priorities may shift to reflect workforce capacity issues, including: • • • • • • • • •

current number of vacancies current turnover in the critical jobs/occupations projected exits from the critical job groups by time frame (identified from the workforce profile) projected supply required to meet business growth supply gaps by time frame number of current employees with required skills to undertake critical job group number of current employees with capabilities to up skill to undertake these critical jobs scope to re-design critical job groups/roles to match supply supply and sourcing options: retaining current staff, developing current staff, buying externally, ‘growing’ trainees, increasing the graduate intake, re-designing jobs/roles, or a combination of all of the above.

5.3. A LIGNING COMPETENCY GAP TO DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS In this unit the term development is used in an all-encompassing manner. This is more business oriented than typically encountered in education literature and theory. An individual development plan is a document constructed within a formal process usually involving an employee and their manager to identifying, prioritising and setting goals relating to addressing performance and career development needs. It may include development options that span training and education, formal or informal learning and assessment, and activities that can be completed in a range of contexts including on or off the job and physical or online environments. A number of development options are available that can streamline learning processes. As a rule of thumb the development options also have a direct relationship to ISD, sourcing decisions, and the optimal use of organisational resources. Basically three broad categories exist. They include learning from experience on the job (70%); learning from others (20%); and, learning from structured education (10%).

1. Learning from experience Best for changing how people behave, react or are motivated. May be tied to role-specific personal attributes and self-reflection on personal skills and thinking. Examples: Job rotation, job exchange, expanded role to present challenges, special projects, role in special team (i.e. cross-functional, project team, etc.), study tours, orientation into another workplace/role, work-based workshops, contextual induction programmes. Specific example: Rotation into a job where a role challenges and develops capability where the individual may currently have a gap. Advantages

Disadvantages

• • •

• • •

Can change hard to shift personal attitudes Lead to new insights and better practices Can be highly specific to an individual’s need

Needs guidance to make sense of experience Developmental roles not always available Can be expensive to resource and harder to measure business benefits


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2. Learning from others Best for contextual skills and informal (tacit) knowledge – knowledge that is highly contextual and embedded in the people doing the job, not a textbook or manual. Examples: On the job coaching; development coaching session; mentoring of person; instruction by peer who is a subject matter expert; interacting in a team or collaborative setting (i.e. a project or programme). Specific example: Appointment of the executive in charge of project governance to be a mentor and provide guidance (e.g. Individual bi-monthly sessions) to recently appointed project team leaders over six months in order to enhance business outcomes and remediate poor project governance. Advantages

Disadvantages

• • •

• •

• •

On-demand More personal Highly customised and contextualised to individual and business needs Flexible Can be very cost effective

• •

Expensive if using external, expert coach Often hard to match mentor/coach and participant’s personality Outcomes often not formally assessed Risk of scope creep: needs discipline, clear goals and monitoring of progress

3. Learning from structured education Best for formal, recognised learning and transfer of codified (explicit) knowledge - Knowledge that can be learnt, transferred and is often relevant across many contexts. For example, Master of Business Administration; Project Management; vendor certificate in Java, Trainer and Assessor, etc. Examples: Training = on or off the job workshops, competency-based modules, structured assessments, etc. or Education = Degrees, vendor course, academic learning, specific training, executive courses, etc. Specific example: Prosci's Change Management Certification completed at Graduate School of Management in the University of NSW. Advantages

Disadvantages

•

• •

• • • •

Often builds underpinning knowledge and more flexible foundations Focus on cognition and thinking Structured time and place Many options available Formal assessment

• •

Intellectual rather than applied, job skills Often more generic than tailored to the individual or contextual needs Difficult to identify best-practice with so many options Cost

Development gaps can be tied to capabilities required in a job or by the profession. Each capability is composed of attributes – skills, knowledge and behaviours that may be expressed through attitude, traits and motives. These reflect the broad range of capabilities an individual may require.

Figure 23 -- Isolating attributes and how they affect an individual’s capability © Working Futures 1999



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Each of the five attribute dimensions may have a gap that will further help isolate the development options an individual should undertake. Skills and knowledge may related directly to observed technical or performance related outcomes, while identity or behavioural attributes are about the person their behaviours and the input in relation to a person’s ability to perform in a given context. When identifying the appropriate intervention you need to be aware certain attributes are best addressed with specific approaches to learning and development. These are overviewed below.

Figure 24 - Tying certain attributes to development opportunities © Working Futures 1999

The model above shows that some attributes may be far harder to change than others. This supports the importance of not just targeting development to close a need, but ensuring the right person has been recruited to fill the job in the first place: across both behavioural and technical attributes. How people think and act can be a critical determinant of how people perform and how any gap can be overcome.


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6. W ORKFORCE P LANNING A macro-level approach to needs assessment is workforce planning. Workforce planning (WFP) is a systematic process used by an industry, region, professional group or organisation to review current and future employee numbers and required capability in line with strategic needs. In an organisation WFP will often drive the conduct of activities in the Human Resource Lifecycle (see the previous topic on competency-based analysis), including job design, recruitment and selection, training and development, talent management and such like. The Workforce Planning Cycle includes four phases consistent with the ABII process: working from identification of the strategic need in the given environment to then complete: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Analysis Build Implement Improve

Figure 25 - The Workforce Planning Cycle

This generic cycle is developed consistent with a range of other approaches that include; Standards Australia HB 299—2008 Workforce Planning (http://infostore.saiglobal.com/store/details.aspx? ProductID=996804), the Australian Public Sector Workforce Planning Guide (http://www.apsc.gov.au/ publications-and-media/current-publications/workforce-planning-guide) and those promoted in national industry workforce planning as represented by the Australian Government’s Skills Connect (http://skillsconnect.gov.au/home/the-road-to-successful-workforce-development/).

Strategic Need

Identification of the strategic context within which strategic HR and learning will occur is an essential start point. This means determining the workforce implications resulting from the corporate or strategic plan. This echoes back to Topic 1 and includes tight alignment of future workforce planning to the vision, mission, goals, internal and external environment and priorities driving the organisation into the future.

Phase 1: Analyse and Forecast Future needs

Unlike a simple TNA or needs analysis at an individual or team level WFP is strategic. As such it has



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to take a longer term perspective. This may be as short as 18 months in a very dynamic operating environment or, more typically, span a 3 to 5 year period. During this phase it is critical the organisation confirm any immediate or future business drivers that will affect job profiles or skills development and thence any organisational learning strategy. They may include: Business imperatives: • • • • • •

Compliance/legislative need New roles New hires New technology or processes Failure of existing training interventions Change imperatives

Competitor activities: • • • •

Business maturity Market position Brand position (and the downstream impact on business processes, behaviours, profile of workers, etc.) New products, services, technology, processes, practices or such like that may be require to protect or enhance competitiveness

Parallel processes triggering capability/ competency gaps: • • • • • •

Performance reviews Development planning Career ladder-planning Talent review Succession planning Job redesign

Number of positions in the critical job groups: • • • • • • • • •

current number of vacancies current turnover in the critical job groups projected exits from the critical job groups by time frame (identified from the workforce profile) projected supply required to meet business growth supply gaps by time frame number of current employees with required skills to undertake critical job group number of current employees with capabilities to up skill to undertake these critical jobs scope to re-design critical job groups/roles to match supply supply or labour sourcing options: retaining current staff, developing current staff, buying externally, ‘growing’ trainees, increasing the graduate intake, re-designing jobs/roles, or a combination of all of the above.

Demographics of the workforce: • •

retirements aging


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• • • • •

Retention issues for specific segments (e.g. by profession, location, age, gender, etc) location and access issues gender balance hours worked and work-life balance initiatives to attract new employees (value proposition)

Phase 2: Build: Analyse results and develop a workforce development strategy

The workforce planning cycle should generate analysis and a plan that is typically titled a Workforce Development Strategy (WDS). This strategy is the translation of the information captured from the workforce analysis and the scan of future needs. It permits an organisation to create a focused development plan for its workforce and, in some cases, its suppliers, business partners and other stakeholders. This important process ensures that staff productivity is maximised and people are able to perform the job roles they are allocated: now and in the future. In this phase a number of tasks are occurring: • • • • • • • • • • •

Collate and analyse results using quantitative and qualitative methods Present results using tables and graphs supported by data analysis. Undertake comparative analysis across relevant dimensions (macro-, meso- or micro-level strategic perspectives). Identify skill supply gaps (internal and external) by job or competency. Confirm the impact of workforce planning and any Learning strategy on attainment of the organisation’s strategy and goals. Forecast important environmental factors and any trends or indicators that affect workforce plans. Compare results across competitors, communities, locations, demographics, occupations, levels of work or such like. Produce key supply and demand findings by timeframes relevant to your business strategies e.g. 2013–2017, July 2013 to December 2014, etc.). Establish clear resource and planning implications that need to be factored into strategic and operational plans. Feed WFP results and the workforce development strategies into a coordinated organisational response in terms of a Learning Strategy. Present major risks and analyse options.

Phase 3: Implement the workforce development strategy

Implementation of a WDS will parallel previous topics on individual and group level strategic responses. As depicted below, it is worth noting that a WDS will typically choose HR responses that fall within three dimensions.

Workforce Development Strategy Attraction

Retention

Development

- Recruit & Select

- Reward

- Training

- Career pathways

- Succession

- Qualifications

- Job design

- Talent/Potential

- Job rotations

Figure 26 - Workforce development strategy and possible HR responses



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Use of capability or competency or capability inventories and resulting job profiles can promote consistency within and across each of the three domains. Attraction The essence here is to make the competency standards explicit, and to set performance criteria that assist with selection decisions. • Right person with right skills for right job at the right level (now and in the future) • More appropriate candidates attracted to interview • Standardised questions and selection criteria • Rational, evidence based selection decisions • Lower recruitment costs Retention Competency descriptions—whether used to design jobs, write job descriptions or create team profiles—create certainty as to not only current requirements but what an employee needs to do to advance. They add greater objectivity to assessment of job level, the required personal qualities and remuneration structures. • Add competency ‘rules’ to correctly dimension and weight job classification and remuneration systems • Identify job families (occupations) and map generic job descriptions to organisational salary scales • Provide comparative benchmarks for competencies/job roles in other organisations • Establish career and occupational ‘pipelines’ or pathways that show an individual the relationship between competence in a job roles, career pathways and classification/ remuneration levels Development Individual Development Plans for individuals or groups (teams, projects, occupations, etc.) can isolate competency gaps (skills, knowledge, behaviours or other attributes) that are tied to appropriate development options. Industry, occupational and organisational-wide approaches to WFP can accelerate closure of labour market and major skill shortages. It can also enable systems-level planning by educational providers seeking to respond to supply shortfalls with effective demand-side learning strategies. A systematic approach to development will foster the following outcomes. • • • • •

Reduced reliance on expensive training when development such as coaching or job rotation may be more appropriate Reduced project risk Developing in-house competence and workforce capability improve human capital value and reduces recruitment expenses Development budget is spent effectively and targeted to priority needs Reduced attrition.

Phase 4: Improve The improvement phase relates directly to the monitoring and evaluation of outcomes achieved through implementation of the strategy. Ultimately this involves answering questions such as: •

•

Has the workforce planning cycle and resulting workforce development strategy ensured the available workforce (supply) satisfied forecasted needs (demand) and enabled attainment of the organisation’s strategy? Does data analysis and reporting show a high level of ‘fit’ between the people in a job and the competencies required?


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•


Is there a supply of skilled individuals to meet future deployment needs and vacancies in critical positions if current incumbents leave?



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7. S TAGE 1 L EARNING S TRATEGY P ROCESS : A NALYSIS This is the first topic in the second part of our study of learning strategy. Study will move to establish the principles leaders can use in the design and development of an organisational learning strategy. The last four topics will confirm how to implement learning strategies that not only enhance an organisation’s competitive advantage, but are designed to satisfy individual and occupational or group learning needs. Layout will very much follow the design of a ‘how to do it manual’. This is deliberate as the aim is to help a leader build a cost effective and wellFigure 27 - Analysis targeted organisational learning strategy, while also introducing the tools required to systematically implement learning for an organisation, community or defined group. What needs to be achieved? The Analysis stage is undertaken to ensure that learning strategy can successfully target and achieve the desired needs and outcomes. The major actions in Stage 1: Analysis, include: Step 1.1.

Analyse purpose and parameters;

Step 1.2.

Define and analyse audience;

Step 1.3.

Define context;

Step 1.4.

Define learning and teaching approach;

Step 1.5.

Specify deliverables and level of attainment;

Step 1.6.

Define delivery resources; and

Step 1.7.

Develop metrics to assess, report and evaluate impact.

7.1. S TEP 1.1. A NALYSE PURPOSE , CONTEXT AND PARAMETERS Beyond the outcomes to be achieved, the process of learning strategy design or implementation requires strict planning parameters. The point of commencement for a learning strategy should therefore be not just a need or aim, but also a plan specifying the project outcomes with associated resources and timelines noted. The learning strategy itself should not exist in a vacuum. Within an organisation it is critical that the strategic drivers, as well as the learning needs, shape formation of the learning strategy. It should be very clear what the learning strategy is not addressing. This may seem a statement of the obvious but all too many interventions either target needs that are not related to training or place unrealistic expectations on the learning design. The learning strategy should also be delimited by the context within which it is relevant. This may be tied to the audience or in some cases to a geographic area or a specific teaching mode. If learning will change as the context or situation changes, then the learning strategy should state


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under what context and conditions it should be limited to. Clear parameters therefore need to be set that define what the learning strategy is intended to address.

7.2. S TEP 1.2. D EFINE AND ANALYSE AUDIENCE It is usually best to establish a learning strategy for a specific audience. While this may not always be the case setting a learning strategy too generally may make it all things to all people or simply unable to satisfy any one major group’s needs. It is important to know: • • • • • • •

Who is affected by the stated need; Who may potentially have the same learning need; What prerequisites exist to enter the learning (i.e. language, IT skills, level of learning); Accessibility of learner to learning environment or facilities; Relevance; Learner demographics; and Relevance or ‘use by date’ for the learning.

The audience may have specific needs, for instance English as a second language, accessibility needs, cultural or other variables.

7.3. S TEP 1.3 D EFINE CONTEXT The context or situation where learning will occur has to be known. This is closely linked to the identification of the intended audience and the type of teaching approach to be adopted.

7.4. S TEP 1.4 D EFINE LEARNING AND TEACHING APPROACH With the outcomes known, the audience confirmed, and the individual’s needs and preferences and prior learning and capabilities confirmed, a pedagogically sound approach to the type of learning can be determined. The type of learning can vary enormously. It may vary with duration of the training or by mode of delivery such as: • • • • • •

On-the-job versus off-the-job learning; Classroom-based learning or instructor-led learning; Distance learning; Flexible learning; Electronic and web-based or online learning; and Learning communities.

Or it may vary across the teaching methods adopted to target different cognition: constructivism, metacognition, intelligences, or behaviours. Approaches could include: • • • • • • • •

Passive learning (i.e. classroom-based lecture); Action, experiential or problem-based learning; Cooperative learning; Collaborative learning; Role plays; Simulations or laboratory work; Scenario-based learning; Situated learning; or


(Voc.) Graduate Certificate of Management (Learning) •

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More innovative approaches such as serendipitous learning.

The type of learning itself may be a mix of the above and result in a blended approach to learning (for instance, blending instructor-led classroom-based learning and collaborative problem-solving learning in an online environment). All forms of work-based training have at their core the formation of competencies—skills, knowledge and attitudes—by a trainee/employee through learning that will enable them to attain a standard of learning and/or performance. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are detailed in the following table. Table 11 - Advantages and disadvantages of training methods

Cost ($)

Timeframe

Best for

Not recommended for

On-the-job training

Low

Short

Small-scale, job-relevant skills

Complex skills that require in-depth analysis and repeated practice

Off-the-job training

Moderate to high

Short to long

Broad ranging skills that are complex and require outside expertise

Skills that are relevant only to the organisation

Classroom training

Moderate to high

Medium to long

Training a large number of employees in skills that require practice or interaction with others

Small-scale, specific skills that are applied directly to the workplace

Self-paced training

Low to moderate

Short to long

Conceptual skills that require Small-scale, specific skills outside expertise, especially that are applied directly to for employees with limited the workplace time

Coaching and mentoring

Low to moderate

Long

Skills that require complex understanding and gradual implementation

Small-scale skills that may be quickly acquired

Short to long

Skills and knowledge that are required for compliance with operational, legal or competency standards and are required to be transferred to many individuals within a given timeframe

Large-scale interactive sessions that require operational skills only able to be demonstrated in a workbased context

Learning strategy Low to high

In this way we remove the individual from a dependency model to a self-directed model that has benefits in many other areas. FROM

TO

Dependent



Self-motivated

Building on own experience



Drawing on others’ experiences

Fearful of exposure of weaknesses



Embracing opportunity to grow and develop

Self-centred



Collaborative


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7.5. S TEP 1.5. S PECIFY DELIVERABLES AND LEVEL OF ATTAINMENT Previous actions in this stage of analysis will have yielded some insight into the level at which learning will need to be set. However, a formal decision must be made as to the level at which the learning strategy will apply. This will include: • • •

The level of qualification or accreditation sought; The relevant level of employment or professional recognition; and The future career or learning pathways the learning will lead into.

Unstructured short courses may not require any formal linkages to be made. Nevertheless, the packaging of learning will still necessitate a decision on whether all learning is at the same level or if it is required to be sequenced in a certain order. In formal, recognised courses learning strategies will need to be designed to ensure that the learning is completed and evidence provided to assure all requirements for the qualification or recognition is satisfied. For some occupational areas, the learning strategy may have to be established by professional, legislative, regulatory, standards, industrial or other authorised bodies.

7.6. S TEP 1.6. D EFINE DELIVERY RESOURCES Many learning strategies have evolved from previous strategies. Equally, they may be initiating interventions that must fit within established policies, processes or procedures. From all points of view—management, design and teaching staff, students, and others—a learning strategy should be developed cognisant of existing approved approaches. Another major issue to resolve very early in the design and development of a learning strategy is the existing capacity of the organisation(s) to deliver the strategy. This may include determining requirements and availability of: • • • • •

Infrastructure and technology; Finances and budgetary resources; Competencies and capabilities of staff; Time; and Content and support materials (this last point is the most important).

Prior to building a learning strategy, an audit process may be adopted to ascertain the status against all above matters. For learning strategies that may be utilising new modes of delivery or teaching methods (i.e. learning strategy), this stage is an important way to document and then create learning design guides that can address such issues as content management, reporting, record keeping, storage, bandwidth and other infrastructure issues affecting all individuals involved in the learning process. Unfortunately, in many cases the lack of documentation on current practices and management of content under a single repository/regime makes this stage hard to complete and the reuse of existing resources difficult to accomplish.

7.7. S TEP 1.7. D EVELOP METRICS TO ASSESS REPORT AND EVALUATE IMPACT At the earliest possible stage of a learning strategy implementation process, it is important to establish the measures beyond learning outcomes that will gauge the success of the overall implementation processes. Evaluation of a learning strategy should be embedded throughout every stage of its implementation process.



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8. S TAGE 2 L EARNING S TRATEGY P ROCESS : B UILD The Build stage integrates many of the activities that in traditional approaches tend to be placed in separate design, development and prototyping stages. The integrated Build stage develops and confirms the correct configuration of the learning strategy intervention (content, technology, infrastructure, services or such like) necessary to achieve the outcomes established in the Analyse stage. The Build stage is a critical component in the overall process. It is the stage between targeting what needs to be done and actually achieving the agreed outcomes. While organisations may become more proficient in the overall learning strategy Figure 28 – Build implementation process and increase the speed with which they complete the design, training delivery and development processes (i.e. reduce cycle times), progress is very much contingent upon excellent leadership during the Build stage. The major actions in Stage 2: Build, include: 2.1. Design learning/instructional approach, instruments and process; 2.2. Develop content and learner support materials; 2.3. Test learning components and objectives against individual/group learning profiles (‘fit’); 2.4. Develop a delivery and management plan; and 2.5. Test and pilot content.

8.1. S TEP 2.1. D ESIGN LEARNING / INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH , INSTRUMENTS AND PROCESS Given these steps it is important next to confirm that the pedagogy is appropriate for the technology and tools chosen. Even if learning outcomes and the point of accessing learning are the same, how individuals access the content to satisfy performance and learning outcomes may vary (e.g. mode of delivery, type of technology, location, time). Therefore, the pedagogy may also vary. This step includes three essential tasks: • • • • •

Write instructional strategies and lesson designs; Confirm the learning outcomes or other outcome descriptions required; Set out the sequence and structure of the learning process. While this may vary as the development occurs, it should set out a logical learning process. The sequence will also establish the packaging or ‘chunking’ of content for delivery and assessment; Determine assessment and reporting systems (administration and delivery); and Develop individual learning plans.

8.2. S TEP 2.2. D EVELOP CONTENT AND LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIALS Having confirmed learning instruments and possessing a complete analysis in the previous step, a specification can be drafted. This step includes the following tasks. •

Confirm interaction design and media treatments;


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• •


Select or author content; and Set assessment and reporting mechanisms.

Decide whether to modify or renew existing programs (content and services). Repurposing existing content can be a major error undertaken with the best intentions. Because of apparent cost savings and familiarity with existing content and its efficacy, many use extant materials only to end up with inappropriate learning, including content that has many problems. Writing content may be completed in-house, outsourced to a third party or completed in partnership with a learning vendor or delivery partner. While many forms of pre-packaged content abound and developers can be sourced, often the solutions are generic and applicable across many companies or occupations. The content being developed should be packaged into the appropriate medium for the learner to access. Basic course and instructor information would normally include. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

13. 14.

Aim Intended users Prerequisites and any entry requirements Learning description and/or code Course outcomes or objectives Competencies—performance expectations related to student learning (Use specific verbs that communicate observable, measurable performance or outcomes. See guidelines for developing competency statements) Evaluation methods—list of projects, papers, major assignments that will be graded to determine student competency for all course competencies (See guidelines for measuring competency) Grading criteria—teacher’s criteria and requirements for major projects and term papers (style, format specifics, length, due date, other criteria), and special grading practices (late work policy, make-up, extra credit) Grade composition—list of all grade components, weight of each, scale for A, B, etc.; Text/s, readings, tools—full bibliographic info for texts (state whether required or optional); list of other tools and equipment, electronic resources, reading packets, etc., and where students obtain them or gain access to them Attendance and policies—attendance policy (tardiness, absences, illness, excused and unexcused), academic dishonesty policy (cheating and plagiarism), drop/withdrawal policy, etc. Non-secular perspectives—indication of how non-secular (e.g. religious, spiritual, ethical) perspectives will be integrated into the course (teaching philosophy about integration, competencies related to a specific perspective, course units focussed on specific perspectives or ethics, etc.) Format—indication of the way class sessions will be conducted, types of activities (i.e. lecture, lab, research, discussion, groups, case studies, electronic media) Course calendar—for each week or each class meeting—list of activities and content to be covered, assignments, due dates for all graded items, exam dates

Allow for flexibility and revisions of schedule based on progress and needs of the participants. The confirmation and sign-off of the final learning strategy and the supporting materials may be an essential step in the process.

8.3. S TEP 2.3 T EST LEARNING COMPONENTS AND OBJECTIVES AGAINST INDIVIDUAL / GROUP LEARNING PROFILES Given the previous steps it is important all learning components are checked or initially tested to ensure it is consistent with the pedagogy and the intended audience. Failure to do this may mean



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the components are developed but will not deliver the required learning outcomes for the target audience.

8.4. S TEP 2.4. D EVELOP A DELIVERY AND MANAGEMENT PLAN Prior to delivery of any learning strategy it may be necessary to produce a delivery and management plan. This plan should at least identify: • • • • • • •

Delivery time and location; Recommended duration; Competency requirements of the facilitator and assessor; Mode of delivery; Learning resources required for delivery; Content, assessment tools and any related materials; and Logistics, reporting and any related administrative requirements.

8.5. S TEP 2.5. T EST AND PILOT CONTENT The Build, proposed to achieve the desired learning and performance outcomes, has to be reality tested. First, contrast the learning profiles of individuals in the audience against the known combination of the type of learning and knowledge being covered, the available technology and infrastructure to be used, the desired outcomes and the current capacity to resource this intervention. This should answer the most fundamental questions: Will the planned approach enhance the individual’s competency? and, Can the learning deliver the required needs in a realworld context (i.e. requirements set by the organisation, profession, community, regulator, etc.)? This step may be completed through consultation with peers or with learners. However, it may be very comprehensive where complex learning strategies and resulting ISD and delivery and assessment activities are involved. Building and testing may be completed as a rapid prototype process whereby an initial test is made of a beta version of the Figure 29 - Build stage prototype and testing learning strategy (see Figure 8). This exercise may be completed in-house or as an external pilot. A test plan should be devised for this process. Benchmarking other companies undertaking similar learning may also prove useful. However, the development and initial testing of learning content and supporting materials or resources will likely encompass: • • • • • •

Cost parameters; Validity of instruments for delivery and assessment; Rigour and appropriateness to overall learning qualification or pathway; Relevance and suitability of content or learning objects; Editing (i.e. is further editing and refinement required, checking whether anything has been omitted); and Appeal, level of interaction and suitability for the intended audience (i.e. is it engaging and does it achieve the required skills and knowledge transfers).


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9. S TAGE 3 L EARNING S TRATEGY P ROCESS : I MPLEMENT What needs to be achieved? The Implementation stage is where learning strategies are actioned. While the Build stage may test or pilot such interventions and seek to confirm learner or stakeholder satisfaction, the implementation stage is the formal transformation of the learning strategy through to satisfaction of the need. Major actions in Stage 3: Implementation, include:

Figure 30 - Implement

Step 3.1.

Allocate resources;

Step 3.2.

Inform learners and stakeholders;

Step 3.3.

Provide learner support;

Step 3.4.

Complete ongoing reporting and tracking; and

Step 3.5.

Provide maintenance and support.

9.1. S TEP 3.1. A LLOCATE RESOURCES This step must include delivery and support staff to effectively implement the learning strategy. It also should include executive support and allocation of both the budget and resources necessary to achieve the learning and business outcomes.

9.2. S TEP 3.2. I NFORM LEARNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS Learning resources and information relating to delivery will have to be communicated to the students in the most appropriate manner.

9.3. S TEP 3.3. P ROVIDE LEARNER SUPPORT Critical to learning is the development and maintenance of a well-defined learner support strategy. Many contemporary adult learning approaches emphasise the importance of learners being selfdirected. For many learners self-direction has not been a common part of institutional educational experiences. As such, strategies need to be implemented to respond to different learners’ support needs. This goes beyond providing access to content in a mode appropriate to the learner’s needs; it is about support throughout the learning process.

9.4. S TEP 3.4. C OMPLETE ONGOING REPORTING AND TRACKING Implementation requires ongoing reporting, analysis and evaluation. This is not just about assessment of formative, diagnostic and summative outcomes for individuals and groups of BSBLED702A Lead learning strategy implementation


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learners; it is also about program evaluation and improvement to the learning strategy, design, delivery and assessment process(es).

9.5. S TEP 3.5. P ROVIDE ONGOING MAINTENANCE AND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT FOR PROGRAM / CONTENT Once delivered, learning content, resources and support services must be subject to feedback, adjustment and maintenance. These have to be determined during the delivery process in terms of the requirements to support different learners.


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10. S TAGE 4 L EARNING S TRATEGY P ROCESS : I MPROVE Evaluation of learning strategies should verify the total contribution that the strategy make to improvement as determined by the measurement of individual competency development and enhanced capability of the organisation (e.g. as measured using human capital or workforce capability measures). The evaluation process occurs throughout the learning strategy implementation process. It determines the value-adding effectiveness and efficiency of a strategy and related programs. The Improvement stage delivers the evaluation, review and valid insights necessary for a community, an organisation or the Figure 31 – Improve stakeholders involved (learners, facilitators/teachers, supervisors, designers, providers, etc.), to determine whether their investment not only has been engaging, but also has generated the desired result. Reporting and recording attainment of capabilities to fill a known ‘skill’ deficiency is one approach to mapping and reporting that the investment in learning has resulted in tangible improvement. However, the larger challenge for the instructional designer, learning manager or learning provider is to demonstrate that this value-add has occurred within an efficient and effective learning strategy that can continuously improve. Proficiency at the Improvement stage means locking in enhancements to the overall learning strategy process and generating reliable data that in turn can improve the Analyse, Build and Implement stages. Major actions in Stage 4: Improve, include: Step 4.1.

Collect formative and summative evaluation data;

Step 4.2.

Apply metrics;

Step 4.3.

Evaluate tools and materials and the learning process(es); and

Step 4.4.

Report and suggest improvements.

10.1. S TEP 4.1. C OLLECT FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE EVALUATION DATA Kirkpatrick’s model for Summative Evaluation—and its four levels—has become a classic reference: Level 1: Reaction Level 2: Learning Level 3: Behaviour Level 4: Results Level 1: Students’ Reaction In this first level, students are asked to evaluate the training after completing the program. The aim is to assess the learner’s satisfaction with the session, or program, of learning. While often reduced to simplistic surveys (so-called happy sheets) completed at the end of a session, this type of evaluation can survey individual responses on matters that can be compared across the student population. This survey or questionnaire could for instance investigate:


(Voc.) Graduate Certificate of Management (Learning) • • • • • •

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The degree to which the learner felt in control of the learning process; Access and ease of progress through the course (modularised, timeliness, etc.); The relevance and portability of learning to life and/or work; The ease of navigation; Satisfaction with the learning experience; and Level of personalisation in both content and assessment.

Level 2: Learning Results This level measures what participants have learnt from a learning program. It seeks to quantify the extent to which participants’ knowledge, skills and other attributes have changed. The results emphasised by Kirkpatrick refer to the learning outcomes from structured modules, programs or courses. This form of evaluation may involve comparative test scores before and after a course, or across different classes and demographic groups. This type of evaluation is not as widely conducted as Level 1, but is still very common. Level 3: Behaviour in the Workplace Competency retention is an important attribute for the knowledge-based worker. Learners may score well on post-tests, but it is more important to determine whether they can transfer the new knowledge, skills and other attributes to immediate and longer-term job application (Horton, 2000). Level 3 involves follow-up evaluation over longer periods than Level 2 after the learning programs (training) has been completed. Over three to twelve months after completion of learning, evaluation attempts to answer whether students’ BEHAVIOURS actually change as a result of new learning. This data is harder to collect and analyse but has real value in terms of planning future learning strategy strategies and investment. Surveys or behavioural analysis assessments may be reviewed to show how learning outcomes change behaviours in ways that can be evidenced through customer and business outcomes. This evaluation evidence may include how service training has impacted customer satisfaction or behaviour, or how training for government compliance has resulted in overall compliance of service with government requirements. Level 4: Business Results The fourth level seeks to evaluate the business impact that results from learning. The results may be organisation wide, or across populations of learners (i.e. an occupational group, team or business unit, or functional unit. This level requires evaluation metrics to move beyond the individual learner and examine the contribution in learning to the organisation sponsoring the investment. Various means of evaluating learning could be applied to learning strategy. While Kirkpatrick’s is one approach, it does have weaknesses. Direct and implicit criticisms include: • •

•

• • •

It takes too long to get to Level 4 evaluation, which is the most important one for managers making investment decisions; There is no substantial research base to prove that a linear progression from Level 1 (learner reactions) to Level 4 (business outcomes) exists (i.e. if you complete one you can move on to the next level); The available electronic environments and requirements for knowledge work in the New Economy have progressed so far and are so dynamic that the original four Kirkpatrick levels bear little relevance to measurement of the transfer of knowledge in its many diverse forms; The model ignores the situation within which learning transfer occurs and focusses on the learning outcomes or immediate knowledge transfer (Holton, 1996); As an extension of the above, the evaluation approach needs to accommodate the learning so that it includes learning objects and evaluation of technology design; and Organisational learning or factors impacting learning capacity and knowledge transfer within organisations and communities are not accommodated or cannot fit within a linear, non-adaptive system model. BSBLED702A Lead learning strategy implementation

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While surveys consistently show that more than 80 per cent of training managers use Level 1 forms of evaluations and up to 30 per cent Level 2 approaches, less than 20 per cent use Level 3 and less than 5 per cent deploy Level 4 forms of evaluation. Clearly Level 4 evaluation provides the best indication of the business benefits of an learning strategy design or intervention. Continuously improving learning strategy metrics at this level directly translates into improved integration into systems and overall organisational strategic success. Yet it is at this level that least evaluation is conducted.

10.2. S TEP 4.2. A PPLY METRICS The overall advancement in building capabilities (competencies such as skills and knowledge, and identity attributes such as behaviours, roles, culture) at individual, group or organisation levels should be revisited to ensure that evaluation is using the best metrics or if they need to be updated. This will provide a gauge of overall learning efficiency. Senior managers in organisations also seem to like metrics that confirm the value the investment in the learning strategy has yielded. Various methods have been used and supported to evaluate organisational effectiveness in terms of return on investment at Kirkpatrick’s Level 4. While Kilpatrick suggests a cost-benefit ratio (CBR):

Program benefits CBR =

Program costs

others, such as Phillips (1997), argue for a return on investment (ROI) approach and its addition as an extra level of evaluation. Phillips adds an ROI step and identifies ten strategies to convert data to monetary values depending on the type of data and the particular approach being used. The ten strategies follow: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Output data is converted to profit contribution or cost savings; Cost of quality is calculated; Wages and benefits are used as value for time; Historical costs are examined; Internal and external experts are sourced; External databases are used; Participants provide estimates; Participants’ supervisors provide estimates; Senior management provides estimates; and HR/educational staff provide estimates.

Kirkpatrick’s is, at best, an indicative model for learning strategy to accommodate many levels within the evaluation metrics. It also emphasises the need to evaluate beyond reaction and individual learning. The capture, analysis and reporting of information must enable a picture to be formed of how well learning strategy is effected at different organisational levels. These levels include: • • • • •

The organisation; Major functional or occupational areas (e.g. finance department or clerical work); Job-specific requirements (e.g. at an occupational level such as clerical or accounting); The operational unit (e.g. team, business unit, project group, etc.); and The individual.



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10.2.1. I NTERNAL AND EXTERNAL EVALUATION Outcomes from a learning intervention may also be evaluated by internal and external validation. Internal validation involves a series of tests or pilots designed to ascertain whether the training meets stated learning/competency outcomes. External validation involves a series of tests or pilots designed to gauge whether internal programs or validation efforts are realistic and the organisation’s requirements. The question to be resolved is: Does the learning design or sourced solution deliver the desired outcomes? This is followed by the qualitative questions, How can the learning system be improved? Systems evaluation is essential to ensure learning design and delivery continually improves. This can be built into all stages of the integrated learning design and implementation process (ABII). Table 12 - Types of validation for systems evaluation

Type of Validation Activity

Internal validation

External validation

Review by external experts

√

Panel of experts appointed by the organisation to receive evaluation report or conduct evaluation

√

√

Benchmarking known indicators against competitors or set standards

√

√

Pilot/testing conducted by external consultant/project team

√

Pilot/testing conducted by internal nominee(s)

√

Pilot/testing conducted for a client and evaluated by the client against agreed outcomes

√

√

Structured response and feedback from system managers and users

√

√

Control groups (clients or across a range of delivery scenarios)

√

√

Structured reinforcement and feedback on processes and product from managers and users/clients (trainees)

√

√

Validation can be as simple as securing feedback on outcomes at some point before, during and after delivery and/or assessment. This form of validation can be built into the build stage for learning or assessment materials. To make this feedback part of an overall systems evaluation of the learning strategy, it must be captured as part of an information system that can report variations or non-conformance that requires follow-up and actioning. Such feedback can cover not only learning materials and processes but also personnel and cost-effectiveness. Evaluation can also be conducted to record learning management aspects of the learning delivery system. Learning strategy evaluation may include: Budgets: Cost projections, actual expenditure and revised cost modelling.


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Cost-effectiveness: Budget-related matters such as the cost-benefit analysis of learning to other factors, including equity and access issues relating to the impact of cost on the demand for learning. Diversity: The type and profile of people accessing learning services/ products. With reporting it is possible to profile the diversity of users and, for instance, examine how learning delivery or assessment is responding to users with special needs or customers within certain demographics (language groups, cultures, locations, age, gender, etc.).

10.2.2. Q UALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION Data evaluation can also span qualitative and quantitative aspects. Table 13 - Sourcing and presenting learning data in evaluation reports

Data Type

Source

Presentation

Qualitative

Output or outcome of learning (i.e. performance, learner progression, cultural change)

Graphs, charts, data depicting spread (Pareto, histographs, run charts, control charts), etc. Data consistency and problem removal measured over time/courses

Quantitative (group or class data)

Proportion in marking range (requires further training, competent, excellence, etc.) Feedback sheets

Class percentages, class average, range, median, standard deviation Analysis of response or feedback sheets

Response sheets Learning outcome achieved by class and trainee Numbers of trainees and final pass rate/completion rate Hours teaching for full-time hour/study equivalent

Qualitative data is essential when evaluating learning across an organisation. Data may be gathered based on the following. Content:

Was it relevant, up-to-date?

Method of delivery:

Was it appropriate for the subject, mix of methods, context?

Method of assessment:

Was it appropriate for the subject, mix of methods, context?

Scope of learning covered:

Was it appropriate for learner and the workplace? Could/should the mix be modified to promote earlier/later coverage of some materials? Did it confirm or revise earlier learning?

Amount of material supporting

Was all the material necessary to support e-learning? Was it too much in one package for the learner/trainer/coach and in



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learning:

terms of allocated time?

Trainer’s skills:

Did the teacher/instructor/trainer/coach possess the skills to present the materials and transfer the learning?

Learning style and pace:

Was it appropriate to the learning outcomes and the trainee?

Learning sequence:

Was the module/session or course sequenced correctly? Were some aspects given too much/too little emphasis?

Omissions:

Were any essential aspects of the learning omitted or not given enough emphasis?

Facilities/location:

Was the environment conducive to learning? Were all the facilities provided and suitable for the topic?

Administration:

Was the training delivered appropriate for critical administrative/business measures such as time, cost and service support?

Relevance/timing:

Was the learning delivered when it was required? Did the timing of the training ‘fit’ work commitments?

Application in workplace:

Did the learning transfer into practices appropriate to the workplace?

The next table indicates some of the quantitative or ‘hard’ data that can be collected to illustrate return on investment derived from learning delivery and assessment. The aim is to establish learning evaluation frameworks that report this sort of information. Table 14 - Indicators of learning-business strategic integration

Benefits of Training

Indicated By

Improved Performance

Productivity increase Increased sales (higher comparative sales revenue) ‘Better’ quality product/service % fit of job incumbent’s current competency profile to job competency profile (by job, occupation, team, site, etc.). Reduced variations (waste and error rate reduced) Improved ratio of labour cost to production/service costs

Building commitment and culture

Improved job satisfaction Improved work attitude or workforce/teams Decreased absenteeism Reduced staff turnover Greater ability to measure and value of intellectual capital

Reduced cost and better integrating of learning tools

Integration of, or reduced completion costs for: Training (resources, duration, etc.) Skills audits Skills analysis Training needs analysis Performance appraisals


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Benefits of Training

Indicated By Recruitment and succession planning

Responsiveness of the workforce

Improved customer satisfaction Reduction in (surveyed) complaints Adaptability or responsiveness of workforce to market opportunities More rapid adoption of innovations, work practices, new technology Improved team work Ability to adopt new service modes (e.g. petrol, banking)

Reduced staff-replacement costs

Mobility of existing staff to vacant jobs (part-time, casual and fulltime) Cost of retraining reduced Cost of recruitment reduced Number of potential recruits (% fit of employees to a job — recruitment pool) Staff retention, promotion and term of employment (by commencement age and employment level or area) Volume of part-time/casual staff moving into full-time jobs

Reduced costs of recruitment, selection and succession planning

Improved recruitment Selection targeted to ‘match’ an individual to a job Better matching of training to individual job and career needs Retention rates for individuals (time and percentage) Reduced absenteeism Improved relationship between promotion and learning completed

Learning solutions can be contextualised to produce outcomes central to the strategic requirements the organisation may have in areas such as legislative compliance. This can include completing, recording and reporting assessment for competence in areas such as occupational health and safety, food handling, financial advice, security and privacy issues.

10.3. S TEP 4.3. E VALUATE TOOLS AND MATERIALS Evaluation needs to focus not just on the outcomes from the learning strategy, but on the instructional design, the learning process and the materials used to support the learning strategy. The core focus for evaluation at this level is on: • • •

Content; Overall design; Learner satisfaction.

Common causes of problems with learning strategies can be traced to content or a design remedy that is: • • •

Inappropriate or irrelevant to the skills, knowledge, attributes or competencies being sought; Inappropriate or irrelevant to the learning objectives; Investment was ill-founded and failed to deliver the skills required for the given individual, group, performance context or sponsor;


(Voc.) Graduate Certificate of Management (Learning) • • • • •

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Set at too high or too low a level of rigour for the intended audience; Unclear or does not provide adequate coverage of the topic; Lacks currency; Unable to balance knowledge transfer with applied practice or individual reflection; and Illogically sequenced.

10.4. S TEP 4.5. R EPORT AND SUGGEST IMPROVEMENTS Evaluating the impact of learning on individuals, groups and an organisation provides management with a critical means to assess current investments in learning. Evaluation not only can determine current progress, it also can analyse and confirm where improved results can be achieved. Beyond the business and investment dimensions, evaluation is a formal part of the overall instructional design cycle. It’s also a critical part of the quality assurance cycle. As such, evaluation triggers improvements to the overall system of learning strategy design. Evaluation results need to be properly documented and formal responses monitored.


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Kraiger, K. (2008), Transforming our models of learning and development: Webbased instruction as enabler of third-generation instruction. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 1, 454–457. Lermusiaux, Y. (March-April, 2002), Managing human capital in a downturn. Ivy Business Journal. 14-16. McLaren, R. (2012), Professional profiles in IT. SFIA Foundation. Document provided by author. SFIA Foundation profiles for a range of jobs can be sourced at http://www8.open.ac.uk/employers/sector-solutions/it-and-telecoms/sfia-based-job-profiles. Malhotra, Y. (1996), Organisational Learning and Learning Organisations: An Overview, Sourced 2 January 2002, http://www.brint.com/papers/orglrng.htm. McGill, M., Slocum, J. & Lei, D. (1992), Management Practices in Learning Organisations. Organisational Dynamics, Vol. 42, Summer, 5–17. Montanari, J.R., Morgan, C.P. and Bracker, J. (1990), The choice perspective of strategic management, Strategic Management: A Choice Approach, Chicago: The Dryden Press. National Skills Standards Council [NSSC] (March 2013), Improving Vocational Education & Training: The Case For A New System, A NSSC Position Paper, COAG Consultation Regulation Impact Statement. Canberra: NSSC. Accessed May 2013 at http://www.nssc.natese.gov.au/standards_review/?a=74063. Noe, R.A. Tews, M.T. & McConnell Dachner, A. (2010), Learner Engagement: A New Perspective for Enhancing Our Understanding of Learner Motivation and Workplace Learning. The Academy of Management Annals, 4:1, 279-315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19416520.2010.493286. Paul, M. & Leese, B. (2009), Australian Higher Education: Actionable strategies for University performance, Deloitte Point of View, Sydney: Deloitte. Pearn, M., Roderick, C. & Mulrooney, C. (1995), Learning Organization's in Practice, London: McGraw-Hill. Pedler, M., Burgoyne, J. & Boydell, T. (1991), The Learning Company: Strategy for Sustainable Development, London: McGraw-Hill. Phillips, J.J. (1997), Handbook of Training Evaluation and Measurement Methods, 3rd edn, Gulf Publishing: Houston, Texas. Redding, J. & Catalanello, R. (1994), Strategic Readiness, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Schrage, M. (1990), Shared Minds, New York: Random House. Senge, P.M. (1992), The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the learning Organisation (Reprint of 1990 original), Sydney: Random House. Schulz, M. (2001), The Uncertain Relevance of Newness: Organisational Learning and Knowledge Flows, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44 [4], 661-681. Spencer, L.M. & Spencer, S.M. (1993), Competence at Work: Models for Superior Performance, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Tannenbaum, S. (2002), A strategic view of organizational training and learning. In Kraiger, K (Ed.), Creating, Implementing and Managing Effective Training and Development, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, pp. 10-52. Taylor, F.W. (1911), The Principles of Scientific Management, New York: Harper & Brothers. Wilson, M. (2007), A history of job analysis. In L. Koppes, Historical perspectives in industrial and organizational psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.


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