The Challenge

A private learning organization that partners with the federal government to train their employees was undergoing a transformation from a brick-and-mortar learning institution to an all-digital learning platform. This transformation, further accelerated by the global impact of COVID-19, shed a bright light on the faculty’s competency and skills deficits in the realm of digital learning and online instruction. In light of this transformation, the organization’s Human Resources Department contracted Enterprise Knowledge to: 

• Conduct an analysis of the learning landscape;
• Provide an assessment of the competencies and skills their Workforce would need to help the organization achieve the transformation; and
• Recommend a training plan that would enable the organization’s Workforce to attain those target state competencies.

While there were many existing Workforce training offerings, attempts to make them into a cohesive program had faltered in the past due to silos among the dispersed workforce. Additionally, oversaturation of change prevented progress. The organization lacked a clear training plan built upon a competency and skills gap analysis, as well as the comprehensive change management strategy to promote adoption of the plan – and the subsequent achievement of necessary Workforce competencies.

The Solution

EK identified key organization roles and conducted interviews and focus groups with diverse members of the organization’s Workforce. EK Enterprise Learning experts also observed instructor-led courses, and analyzed additional instructional materials including job aids and performance support tools. The instructional content analysis transcended training documents and also included job descriptions, performance assessments, and policy documents. 

The result of this work was a Competency and Skills Gap Analysis and a Training Plan and Roadmap. A research-based competency framework provided the foundation for the organization of over 80 role-based, cross-functional competencies. 

EK then went further to develop the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) for competencies, accompanied by measurement criteria. KSAs, initially compiled from EK’s research, were successfully piloted by surveying Workforce members (including employees and their managers). Because managers have the high-level view of their teams’ efforts and achievements, they provided a holistic assessment of not only the effectiveness of the KSAs and measurement criteria, but the relevance to their teams. This provided valuable feedback for iterative improvements to KSAs. 

EK’s Enterprise Learning consultants then produced a Training Plan & Roadmap which provided a clear and actionable timeline for the application of the Learning Landscape and Competency and Skills Gap Analyses to transform instructional content and processes, and to leverage educational technology more effectively in order to upskill the organization’s Workforce.

The EK Difference

The EK team leverages over 30 years of Learning and Development experience to implement comprehensive organizational learning analyses and training solutions for organizations undergoing significant transformations. Enterprise Knowledge utilized its signature Enterprise Learning benchmarking tool to rapidly assess the efficacy of the organization’s learning landscape. The benchmark is used to examine five factors: an organization’s People, Processes, Instructional and Competency Frameworks, Educational Technology, and Culture. Under these analysis categories are over 30 total indicators each with their own success criteria. This benchmarking tool enables EK to rapidly understand the business drivers and organizational context which necessitate a training plan to close competency and skills gaps.

Armed with this knowledge, EK was able to identify the role-specific knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for the organization’s Workforce to achieve its transformation. This holistic approach further enabled EK to be true partners to the organization as it implemented the Training Plan and Roadmap – putting the plan into action and achieving learning and business outcomes.

The Results

EK’s collaborative and transparent style of working resulted in positive reviews from faculty and instructional support staff all the way up to executive leadership. Our client went as far as to say, “We cannot do this without EK.” With the training plan’s implementation, the Human Resources Department will have standardized mechanisms for evaluating performance and a framework to strategically anticipate training needs. In addition to a competency-based framework, the training plan also provided sound technological guidance which will optimize the search experience of the organization’s learning management system and related technical ecosystem. Implementing this training plan will result in an upskilled workforce ready to deliver instruction in a virtual environment.