Developing Effective Learning Programs – Part III

By Gina Abudi, on June 4th, 2014

A Client Story: Presenting the Report to the Client

Developing Effective Learning Programs - Part III Read Part 1 and Part 2 of this client story for background information

The Client Report

Significant information was gathered from ACG’s evaluation of the current offerings and our small group meetings. The small group meetings provided the most relevant information as we were also able to dive into individual’s wish lists.

We developed the client report highlighting our key findings (summarized below):

Area/Section Reviewed, or Group Interviewed	Key Findings
Vendor-developed materials	Vendor materials were 2 – 3 days in length While there were individual and team-based activities in the vendor materials, much of the activities did not seem aligned to the day-to-day work done in the organization (activities were more general) No action planning was done to ensure application of the training back on the job Learning objectives mapped to about half of the client’s competency model Of the vendor materials reviewed, only one vendor had updated the materials in the last year Over the last few years, satisfaction level of vendor-provided training has declined
In-house developed materials	In-house materials were 2 days in length There were limited activities in the in-house developed materials and where there were activities they were mainly individual activities rather than team-based No action planning was done to ensure application of the training back on the job Learning objectives mapped to much of the competency model In-house developed materials had not been updated since launched Over the last few years, satisfaction level of in-house developed training has declined
Small group meetings	The small group meetings highlighted the following needs for training moving forward: More interactive sessions and shorter training workshops (no more than one day in length) More virtual workshops as well as e-learning options Ability to register for workshops online (rather than via email to HR) Increased workshops focused on general leadership skills Increased support for training by managers (some of the newer managers in the organization seemed to be discouraging training as it took time away from getting the work done)

Recommendations to the Client

The following recommendations were made to the client (summarized here at a very high level):

Update the competency model to better reflect the growth and changes within the organization

After the competency model was updated:

Do an assessment of current employee skills
- Through performance reviews
- Surveys
- Interviews

Then, use that information to:

Secure (through vendors) and develop in-house training workshops – combination of face-to-face, e-learning, virtual offerings – mapped to employee needs and the competency model

Additionally, we recommended that other than workshops be provided for increasing skill sets and knowledge of employees. This includes:

Participation on projects
Reference materials (books, articles, etc.) via a knowledge base
Increased collaboration via a knowledge base/collaboration portal
Just-in-time learning modules (15 – 20 minutes in length)
Opportunities to work on strategic initiatives internal and external

We worked with the client to develop an action plan and schedule to move forward with implementing the recommendations, all of which the client accepted.

Once this project was finalized (1 ½ years for implementation of all recommendations), a regular review schedule would be set up to keep ahead of updates and necessary changes thereby eliminating the need for another comprehensive review as this.

Gina Abudi

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Developing Effective Learning Programs – Part III

A Client Story: Presenting the Report to the Client

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