Elliot Jones | ISDeaX

Learning Strategy and Organizational Development

Background

The client had several executive team members who had been with the company for decades and had not documented any of their knowledge for the next generation of leaders. The company didn’t have a formal training program. They also desired to increase sales performance and to expand the member base.

Challenges

1) Convince the c-suite of the need for a formal training program.

2) Determine the specific needs and goals of each department.

3) Develop an enterprise-wide training program while still being responsible for developing training and quick reference guides on several software applications, some of which were updated frequently.

Common Mistake

Apply a one size fits all approach, i.e., create training without considering the company’s culture or strategic goals.

Approach

My approach was to evaluate the association's strategic goals, culture, and knowledge, skill, and performance gaps through a company-wide survey and one-on-one interviews with executive team members. I also researched best practices in talent management and evaluated learning management software and talent management software. I then authored a white-paper/cost-benefit analysis report that laid out my evaluation of the organization’s training program and how a talent management plan and talent management software can benefit an organization and included my evaluation of learning management systems.

In conjunction with my report, I developed a company-wide talent management plan. The plan included:

1) Ways to identify skill and knowledge gaps;

2) Competency maps for various roles to aid in succession planning and developing career paths;

3) An incentive program for documenting and sharing processes and knowledge via social learning, as information was often shared informally without being documented;

4) A performance management plan that tied back to the learning and development plan; and

5) A learning and development plan that included implementing a learning management system, procuring rapid eLearning development software, creating a learning lab where employees could practice using the various software applications with simulated data on a sandbox server.

I also proposed analyzing sales and customer service calls and data to determine the most common questions and objections then developing a CBT that simulated sales and customer service calls based on the data.

My Role

Senior Instructional Design Consultant and Learning Strategist.