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December Headlines

• Workforce development: Case studies in private and public sector implementation
• On our horizon
• Workforce Capability Development
• Kathy Rankin: General Manager, Training and Education Support
• Embedding Innovation – the Jasinski and Miller strategy for embedding innovations
• Workforce Development: Implications for VET Providers
• Networks for Capability Development
• Embracing Technology in Education
• Positioning General Education for the 21st Century: Renewal in the Riverina
• Psychological Learning Contracts
• Skills Recognition
• Volunteering Overseas
• Update: December 2008

Workforce capability development: tactics for change initiatives

ARTICLE | Maret Staron and Janet Hewson

There are many true and tried approaches to implementing workforce capability development initiatives.  However, it is timely to re-think and re-configure these to better address the emerging challenges of the future.  An underlying need is to shift from traditional professional development approaches to contemporary workforce capability development.

Guiding principles

Guiding principles can provide a solid foundation for the planning and implementation of new strategies for workforce capability development.  To be effective, they need to be embedded in the way we think and practice.  Suggested guiding principles are:

Flexible and customisable

Adopt innovative, flexible and customisable options to meet local business needs and priorities. Both structural and process elements are essential in implementing change and positioning organisations for now and into the future.  

Strengths based approaches

A strength based approach calls for organisations to enquire into practices that have ‘life giving’ positive energy.  From those practices it is possible to:

• Build shared images of a preferred future
• Share innovative ways of creating that future and
• Discern themes, principles and methodology that support high quality service delivery.

Strength based approaches can be most effective for change and are a fundamental platform for culture change and innovation.

Individuals and teams modelling the processes and practices

Capability development strategies need to support individuals and teams in modelling the processes and practices which they themselves will use when assisting clients/enterprises in developing their workforce skills.  This may involve:

• A customer profile - so strategies can then reflect customer needs
• Capability profile – to show how your team/individual skills fit the needs of the customer, using a strength based approach
• Learning plans – including your team/individual outcomes, required resources and flexible learning strategies
• Organisational capability options aligned to organisational objectives - identifying what exists in the organisation or needs to be developed
• Outcomes – which ensure a creative and adaptive workforce for improved customer service.

Influencing the change

A key success factor in workforce capability development is all staff at every level being involved and taking responsibility for change.  To do this effectively, people need clarity around their roles in the change process.  For example:

• Senior executive are advocates, promote knowledge sharing and lead planning for the future
• Middle managers implement plans, provide resources and identify and support system enablers
• First line supervisors translate new directions for teams, identify developmental needs and lead by example
• Staff actively participate in developmental activities, have a clear and realistic view of their capabilities and provide feedback.

All people need to:

• Be clear on their organisations business directions
• Understand the process and elements of workforce development
• Show commitment to skills development that reflect new business imperatives, as well as being open to experimentation
• Be confident in applying their skills and knowledge now and in the future.

Inclusiveness

A central principle in workforce capability development is responsiveness to learner needs, learner aspirations and diversity of learners.  Effective learning environments are built on trust and mutual respect for the needs of all learners.  They also include learning options that develop both organisational capability, as well as modelling inclusive teaching and learning practices.

Structural design levers for change

To support innovation and change, workforce capability development requires structural design levers to facilitate the movement from strategy to action.  The purpose of the levers is to embed a change management approach to new strategies and initiatives for capability development.  

The challenge is to identify and integrate new, appropriate structural design lever(s) into the current culture of an organisation.  The purpose is to facilitate and embed new ways of working, communicating and knowledge sharing.  Examples of structural design elements include:

• New configurations of teams for the purpose of capability development
• Identification of innovators and entrepreneurs in the organisation
• Use of cross-organisation facilitators
• Ongoing forums, networks and learning events

Cross-functional teams

A diverse team approach can be embedded across the organisation as a structural enabler to lead cultural change through diffusion of new ways of working and sharing of knowledge.  The cross-functional teams are composed of those able to respond quickly to customer demands, whilst providing innovative and flexible solutions to their own business needs, and adapting to emerging influences in the environment.  They will visibly lead cultural change through modelling new capabilities and creating new ideas and products that result in positive outcomes for the organisation.

A learning approach in the team should foster the asking of positive questions, of sharing knowledge, of seeking help and of experimentation.  Collaboration should be across the organisation, not just limited to the teams themselves.  

Ideally these teams are composed of people with a range of capabilities relevant to the business need and key capabilities to be developed.   Team members should be motivated to mentor others and lead by example.  Teams are to be supported in reaching their goals by access to flexible and innovative decision makers.  One suggested approach is:

• Senior managers promote and sponsor the need for new teams and facilitators
• Tasks, required outcomes and teams are identified against organisational priorities
• Teams identify customer profile and from that, their own capability profile, learning needs and learning options
• Undertake recognition processes and develop learning plans
• Keep sponsors and senior managers informed and actively involved
• Undertake capability development
• Present outcomes to key stakeholders, evaluate and continuously improve learning strategies

Of course life does not progress in a neat linear way.  Organisations may need to simply ‘massage’ current approaches and further incorporate some of the above, rather than totally replace.

Innovators and entrepreneurs

Innovators and entrepreneurs for the purpose of workforce capability development are those individuals who apply creative and novel approaches to meeting new demands of customers.  These people need to be identified and enablers put in place to encourage and foster their activities, as well as their learning and development needs (particularly if they feel isolated and side-lined).  This can include monetary/resource assistance with costs, time release or ensuring that they work in a supportive culture which motivates them to learn and to pursue new ideas – which can then be spread across the organisation.

Organisational Facilitators

Facilitators can have a pivotal role in engaging staff across all levels in implementing workforce capability development initiatives.  To be effective, they require high level facilitation skills, as well as experience in delivery and assessment of workforce services in industry and enterprises.  Or alternatively, an experienced facilitator may work alongside an experienced workplace facilitator.  The role of facilitators strategically located across the organisation, can be that of:

• ‘Expert’ facilitators in promoting new practices through formal learning programs
• Facilitation of work based projects, mentoring or shadowing
• Provision of ‘on the job’ recognition services
• Process facilitators working with teams to support their learning and capability development; integration of across-team expertise; and promotion of knowledge sharing across the organisation through Communities of Practice and networks.

Ongoing forums, networks and learning events

Forums and networks are both formal and informal means of supporting continuous improvement of individual and organisational capability.  The use of ongoing forums and networks can provide an environment of collaboration and consultation that facilitate the sharing of knowledge.  They are essential elements as reinforcing processes in building capability and support a continuous professional development model for effecting change.  Forums and networks enable participants to tap into specific areas of need, knowing there is access to others with similar interests, and/or expertise.

Learning options

Organisations already apply a wide range of learning strategies and methodologies to support their workforce skills and capability development.  Flexible development opportunities enables organisations to meet the diverse needs of learners and enables individuals and teams to choose their preferred learning styles and preferences. A detailed list of options and learning contexts can be found at: 
http://icvet.tafensw.edu.au/aboutus/documents/
Professional_Development_Strategies_final.doc

The following list highlights the more contemporary approaches:  matching/Shadowing, mentoring, Communities of Practice, networking, coaching, talent Management, conversation, self managed workshops, disruptive Technologies, Appreciative Enquiry, open space technology, action learning, positive deviance and work based learning.

Learning options may be available face-to-face, online or through a variety of blended learning approaches.  The extent and availability of these options will be subject to business priorities and resources and to the extent to which individuals commit to and extend opportunities to learn inside and outside of work.  Teams and individuals, in their learning plans, can be encouraged to select a flexible range of learning approaches appropriate to their particular needs and within the resources available to them.

Implementation examples

Four implementation scenarios are provided to promote discussion and guide selection and customisation for innovative and tailored learning options.  The four scenarios are:

Implementation example 1: Communities of Practice
Implementation example 2: Project based learning
Implementation example 3: Workshops
Implementation example 4: Mentoring/Shadowing

Each scenario includes:

• Primary focus
• Key features
• Complementary strategies
• In practice examples

Click to read the Case Studies

Organisational systems and processes as enablers

Organisational systems and process are enablers which may contribute to successful implementation workforce capability development strategies.  These can include:

• Communication strategy: How will this be undertaken?
• Resource commitments:  Level of funding and staff available with appropriate expertise - who will facilitate the process?  How will sharing of resources take place?
• Structure:  Roles and relationships, information flow and decision making processes
• Functional units:  What role do functional units have?  Recordkeeping, evaluation and reporting.  Who will be involved and in what way?  What interdependencies are there?  i.e. degree of deliberation needed
• Rewards: Types of reward and how they will be used.

(List adapted from Hambrick & Cannella, 1989)

Communication of vision and change

A communication strategy that is holistic in nature and provides two-way input at all levels and during the life of a workforce capability development initiative is suggested.  Involving staff in the early stages of change can provide an opportunity for feedback and buy-in across all stakeholder groups.  Adopting a participative approach can provide an opportunity to communicate the need for change and how it will impact on staff in their roles.  Engaging staff and adopting a strength based approach in reinforcing the organisation’s capability to change will help build readiness for change and encourage active co-operation and greater commitment.  

Clarity of vision and expectations and articulation of the desired future when communicating the change message to staff can assist in minimising reactions of angst or confusion.  This will minimise resistance to change which can occur for ‘reasonable and predictable reasons, such as loss of control, too much uncertainty, the costs of confusion, more work and concerns about competence’ (Kanter, Stein and Jick, 1995).

The following list of communication processes are presented as a guide:

At the beginning of a workforce capability development strategy or initiative

• Sponsorship by senior executive
• Communicating the need for change - Rewards and benefits against business imperatives
• Organisational plans to address the strategy or initiative
• Promotional strategy and regular newsletters
• Workshops/conversations with managers; and advertising for participants
• Modelling by managers

During the strategy/initiative

• Promote the implementation structures and processes that have been
• Formal/informal reporting on outcomes to managers and stakeholders
• Showcasing outcomes

Celebrating achievements and learning

Celebration of achievements and learning are important elements in changing culture by promoting and communicating successes and new or different ways of working that arise by operating under new values and thus reinforcing sustainable change in behaviours.  Many organisations have events that encourage excellence in achievement.  Often however, these events only recognise on an annual basis and have a limited audience.  They can also be a cause of disgruntlement amongst staff who do not achieve awards.  Extension of reward initiatives for all staff members in addition to these events should be encouraged and may take the form of more regular informal activities for celebrating and sharing.

Through providing the opportunity to identify short term gains and continuous improvement initiatives, measurable results can be demonstrated in reaching strategic goals and subsequent motivation through success.   Recognition of Prior Learning and current competence can also be seen as an acknowledgement and reinforcement of achievements and effort.  It can provide evidence of our organisational capability to industry and enterprise.  Encouraging the use of individual learning plans in conjunction with recognition services can identify and greatly enhance the learning potential and pathways for both individuals and teams and promote continuous professional development and currency.

Evaluation

Evaluation and reporting aims to measure the effectiveness and impact of strategies, initiatives and programs and the degree of change.

Evaluation is a dynamic, complex, unpredictable, multifaceted and emergent process.  There has been a shift from highly structured or linear professional learning and development programs to capability development approaches and strategies that are more holistic and emergent.  As evaluation, in general, seeks to establish the value or worth of an activity or program, it is important to continue to evaluate.

As organisations will undertake their own internal evaluation(s) of the effectiveness of new strategies and initiatives, a range of models and strategies are provided for consideration.

Models and strategies

Effective evaluation requires multiple strategies.  A fresh and distinctively different approach to capability development demands a fresh approach to evaluation. The first two approaches, Appreciative Inquiry and Most Significant Change, take into account simultaneous development on multiple levels. They recognise multiple stakeholders (organisation, team or unit, and the individual), all of whom will have different expectations of evaluation and use evaluation measures in different ways.

Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry has been used to embed self-evaluation by discovering an organisation’s own best practice and allowing all practitioners to assess their own performance against that benchmark (Elliott in Andrews, 2005).  Preskill and Coghlan (2004) recommend that using an AI approach to evaluation is particularly useful to accelerate change, build communities and overcome skepticism.  In contrast with ROI measures, evaluation based on AI is unfolding, engages capability development participants, and focuses on improving and accelerating outcomes. 

Most Significant Change
The Most Significant Change Technique (Davies and Dart, 2005), is explained as a form of participatory monitoring and evaluation.  It is participatory because many project stakeholders are involved in deciding the sorts of change to be recorded and in analyzing the data.  It is a form of monitoring because it occurs throughout the program cycle and provides information to help people manage the program. It contributes to evaluation because it provides data on impact and outcomes that can be used to help assess the performance of the initiative as a whole.

Return on investment
This century is characterised by demand for ‘return on investment’ in the vocational education and training sector.  Return on investment models suggest traditional financial measure based on historic data and in training and education, is used primarily for self-justification rather than improvement.  Some factors limiting the contribution of return on investment assessments include the interaction between training and other variables and the difficulty defining and measuring intangibles.

Evaluation of training is not just in terms of whether the participants were satisfied with the experience, but also with the question of how well the learning and development experience met the needs of the sponsoring organisation and/or industry.

Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation model
Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation model was originally developed in 1959 and is still one of the simplest and best around. The four levels of Kirkpatrick's evaluation model essentially measure:

 

Program logic
Program Logic is a tool for understanding a program's theory of action. It is useful, not because it is specific to the evaluation of learning and development, but rather for helping managers to tease out the specific evaluation issues that may need to be addressed when reviewing a training and development program or project.  The Program Logic model was initially developed in the mid 1980's by the Program Evaluation Unit in the NSW Public Service Board. The model described here is the work of Sue Funnell, who is acknowledged worldwide for having successfully used this approach to evaluate professional development and educative programs that incorporate a range of delivery methodologies and strategies.

Program logic starts with program analysis which is the basis of the development of a Program Logic Matrix.  The Matrix includes an outcomes hierarchy commencing with outputs, followed by intermediate outcomes and then the ultimate outcome.   The main objective of the hierarchy is to show the influences between outputs and outcomes.

Characteristics of effective evaluation

Whether you choose to use the Kirkpatrick model or any of the other approaches mentioned above, there is general agreement that evaluations should be:

 

Stages of evaluation

In general, strategies and programs are developed through three identifiable stages. Most evaluation models include these stages in some way. At each stage specific evaluation questions can be asked before proceeding to the next stage. These stages and questions are:

Design

• Does the program/project meet the needs of the stakeholders and the customers?
• Do we know who the stakeholders are, their relationship to the program, their needs and concerns?
• Is it feasible and viable?
• Have other solutions been considered?

Implementation

• Have clear targets been set and are they being achieved?
• Is there an information system and does it provide regular reporting on inputs and outputs?
• Are the program/project objectives still relevant?
• Are objectives likely to be met? If not, what can be done?

Impact

• Was the program/project completed and were participants satisfied?
• Did the program/project meet the objectives?
• What were the medium and longer term impacts?
• How worthwhile and valuable was this? Was it value for money? Was there a reasonable return on investment?

Reporting on business results

Many organisations report against business results rather than against any particular strategy or initiative.  Such reporting can include mandatory reporting such as AQTF outcomes, or voluntary reporting such as against the AQTF excellence criteria and ISO audits. 

Collection of data

Both qualitative and quantitative data can be collected for reporting purposes, for example:

 

Click to read the Case Studies

 

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