Competencies
Needed for Success
Competencies
encompass clusters of skills, knowledge, abilities, and behaviors required
for people to succeed. In this case, it refers to success across the jobs
in the workplace learning and performance field. The new workplace learning
and performance competency model includes three layers: 1) foundational competencies,
2) areas of professional expertise, and 3) roles performed in the workplace.
Foundational
competencies are those competencies that are linked to successful performance
in the workplace learning and performance field. Those competencies are desirable
regardless of an individual's area of expertise (specialization) or role though
not all workplace learning and performance practitioners will need each of
them to the same extent. The model divides the foundational competencies into
these clusters: Interpersonal, Business/Management, and Personal.
Interpersonal
competencies
*
Building trust--interacting with others in a way that gives
them confidence in one's intentions and those of the organization.
*
Communicating effectively--expressing thoughts, feelings, and ideas
in a clear, concise, and compelling manner in both individual and group situations;
actively listening to others; adjusting style to capture the attention of
the audience; developing and deploying targeted communication strategies that
inform and build support.
*
Influencing stakeholders--selling the value of learning or the recommended
solution as a way to improve organizational performance; gaining commitment
to solutions that will improve individual, team, and organizational performance.
*
Leveraging diversity--appreciating and leveraging the capabilities,
insights, and ideas of all individuals; working effectively with individuals
having diverse styles, abilities, motivations, and backgrounds, including
cultural differences.
*
Networking and partnering--developing and using a network of
collaborative relationships with internal and external contacts to leverage
the work place learning and performance strategy in a way that facilitates
the accomplishment of business results.
Business/Management
Competencies
Analyzing
needs and proposing solutions--identifying and understanding business
issues and client needs, problems, and opportunities; comparing data from
different sources to draw conclusions; using effective approaches for choosing
a course of action or developing appropriate solutions; taking action that
is consistent with available facts, constraints, and probable consequences.
*
Applying business acumen--understanding the organization's business
model and financial goals; utilizing economic, financial, and organizational
data to build and document the business case for investing in workplace learning
and performance solutions; using business terminology when communicating with
others.
*
Driving results--identifying opportunities for improvement and
setting well-defined goals related to learning and performance solutions;
orchestrating efforts and measuring progress; striving to achieve goals and
produce exceptional results.
*
Planning and implementing assignments--developing action plans, obtaining
resources, and completing assignments in a timely manner to ensure that workplace
learning and performance goals are achieved.
*
Thinking strategically--understanding internal and external factors
that impact learning and performance in organizations; keeping abreast of
trends and anticipating opportunities to add value to the business; operating
from a systems perspective in developing learning and performance strategies
and building alignment with business strategies.
Personal
Competencies
*Demonstrating adaptability--maintaining effectiveness when
experiencing major changes in work tasks, the work environment, or conditions
affecting the organization (for example, economic, political, cultural, or
technological); remaining open to new people, thoughts, and approaches; adjusting
effectively to work within new work structures, processes, requirements, or
cultures.
*Modeling
personal development--actively identifying new areas for one's own
personal learning; regularly creating and taking advantage of learning opportunities;
applying newly gained knowledge and skill on the job.
Areas
of expertise
In
the second tier of the pyramid are the Areas of Expertise (AOE). AOEs are
the specific technical and professional skills and knowledge areas required
for success in the workplace learning and performance field. The AOEs are
specialized areas that build and rely upon the focused application of the
foundational competencies.
Although
some workplace learning and performance practitioners are highly specialized,
the bottom line is that learning and performance practitioners often cross
over multiple areas and must apply a broad range of skills. Most demonstrate
expertise in more than one AOE.
Further,
the AOEs are supported by and leverage specialized learning technologies.
Learning technologies have had a profound influence on the evolution of workplace
learning and performance. Knowledge and skilled application of specific
learning technologies are critical for many jobs, and are embedded in each
AOE.
*
Coaching--using an interactive process to help individuals and
organizations develop more rapidly and produce more satisfying results; improving
others' ability to set goals, take action, make better decisions, and make
full use of their natural strengths.
*
Delivering training--delivering learning solutions (for example,
courses, guided experience) in a manner that both engages the learner and
produces desired outcomes; managing and responding to learner needs; ensuring
that the learning solution is made available or delivered in a timely and
effective manner.
*
Designing learning--designing, creating, and developing learning
interventions to meet needs; analyzing and selecting the most appropriate
strategy, methodologies, and technologies to maximize the learning experience
and impact.
*
Facilitating organizational change--leading, managing, and facilitating
change within organizations.
*
Improving human performance--applying a systematic process of discovering
and analyzing human performance gaps; planning for future improvements in
human performance; designing and developing cost-effective and ethically justifiable
solutions to close performance gaps; partnering with the customer when identifying
the opportunity and the solution; implementing the solution; monitoring the
change; evaluating the results.
*
Managing organizational knowledge--serving as a catalyst and visionary
for knowledge sharing; developing and championing a plan for transforming
the organization into a knowledge-creating and sharing entity; initiating,
driving, and integrating the organization's knowledge management efforts.
*
Managing the learning function--providing leadership in developing
human capital to execute the organization's strategy; planning, organizing,
monitoring, and adjusting activities associated with the administration of
workplace learning and performance.
*
Measuring and evaluating--gathering data to answer specific
questions regarding the value or impact of learning and performance solutions;
focusing on the impact of individual programs and creating overall measures
of system effectiveness; leveraging findings to increase effectiveness and
provide recommendations for change.
Roles
Roles
are broad areas of responsibility within workplace learning and performance
that require a select group of competencies and AOEs to perform effectively.
Roles are not the same as job titles; they are much more fluid depending on
the work or project. For the workplace learning and performance professional,
playing different roles is analogous to maintaining a collection of hats:
When the situation calls for it, the practitioner takes off one hat and dons
another. Roles are depicted at the top of the pyramid on page 29 (and upclose
on page 34) because a vast body of underlying skills and knowledge supports
their execution. The following is an example how roles might apply to a chief
learning officer.
Role
Example: How the Roles Might Apply to a Chief Learning Officer (CLO). The
CLO might focus on the Learning Strategist and Business Partner roles and
rely on other people to carry out the Project Manager and Professional Specialist
roles. Because the CLO is likely to direct individuals in all AOEs, he or
she probably needs some expertise in most--if not all nine--areas of expertise.
In fact, the CLO might have had to gain sufficient expertise in several AOEs
before rising to the executive level. It would be logical to assume that the
CLO has strong skills and knowledge in most, if not all, of the foundational
competencies. And because of the nature of the job, he or she might be particularly
strong in two areas in particular: Thinking Strategically and Applying Business
Acumen.
Following
are the definitions of the roles in the model.
Four
roles
*
Learning strategist--determines how workplace learning and performance
improvement can best be leveraged to achieve long-term business success and
add value to meet organizational needs; leads in the planning and implementation
of learning and performance improvement strategies that support the organization's
strategic direction and that are based on an analysis of the effectiveness
of existing learning and performance-improvement strategies.
*
Business partner--applies business and industry knowledge to
partner with the client in identifying workplace performance-improvement opportunities;
evaluates possible solutions and recommends solutions that will have a positive
impact on performance; gains client agreement and commitment to the proposed
solutions and collaboratively develops an overall implementation strategy
that includes evaluating impact on business performance; uses appropriate
interpersonal styles and communication methods to build effective long-term
relationships with the client.
*
Project manager--plans, resources, and monitors the effective
delivery of learning and performance solutions in a way that supports the
overall business venture; communicates purpose, ensures effective execution
of an implementation plan, removes barriers, ensures adequate support, and
follows up.
*
Professional specialist--designs, develops, delivers, or evaluates
learning and performance solutions. Maintains and applies an in-depth working
knowledge in any one or more of the workplace learning and performance specialty
areas of expertise, including career planning and talent management, coaching,
delivering training, designing learning, facilitating organizational change,
improving human performance, managing organizational knowledge, managing the
learning function, and measuring and evaluating.
