By: Sue Ebbers, Ph.D.
Originally published October 6, 2020.
Updated on August 21, 2023.
Successful businesses and organizations develop and maintain a quality workforce that is aligned with organizational requirements. A systematic approach begins by determining KPIs, then measuring current training adherence, and finally designing a curriculum architecture which will effectively drive learning for employees. This article is part 1 of a 3-part blog series to help you better understand how to achieve this workforce alignment to results by following a very deliberate process.
The Steps You Can Take To Align Your Workforce To Quality
Your first step in delivering a quality workforce aligned with organizational results is to identify, categorize and validate all tasks required of each individual job class that directly or indirectly contribute to the organizational result. If your organization is committed to quality standards and organizational alignment, the determination can be made through development of either a competency model or a job task analysis. It is crucial for you to be an expert in both approaches, especially when addressing professions in your workforce whose member impact the lives and health of others.
The second step after completing the model or analysis phase is for you to determine how closely your company’s current training aligns with the required skill set. This gap analysis will permit design of a curriculum architecture, which is the third step to developing an effective set of courses aligned to organizational results. To provide an example for reference, this article series references an engagement between a Fortune 500 manufacturing company and Change By Design.
During that project, Change By Design developed a customized competency model targeted specifically for the client’s large sales force. This competency model included several broad categories, called domains, as well as custom definitions of each. Under each domain, Change By Design included several “competencies” and a definition for each. Within each competency, then, Change By Design included specific tasks, knowledge and attitudes. The resulting ‘stacking’ method helped to deliver an aligned perspective of the requirements of that job class.
Evaluating Existing Trainings For Workforce Alignment To Requirements
Following the competency model build, the organization’s current training offerings were each evaluated to determine:
Their level of effectiveness;
Their alignment with specific competencies; and
Whether they should be kept, refined or retired.
Lastly, the curriculum architecture was designed for each of three levels of sales associates, with tailored approaches for each level. Because of this thorough and data-validated approach, the client had high confidence that the architecture would inform all subsequent sales associate course design and development efforts.
This confidence can be a helpful buoy for refining the courses that already exist, for building new elearning courses, or even great instructor-led custom trainings on a tight budget. Depending on the diversity of your workforce, they can even identify members of your team who are limited from reaching their peak performance, because of a systematic bias against learners who have accessibility requirements.
Interested in learning more? Continue reading part 2 of this blog series on workforce alignment, which covers details of the gap analysis process, including how to properly research, interview, and complete applicable data analysis along the way.
Related Articles For Further Reading
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Why Decomposing Skills Is A Necessary Instructional Design Task
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