Introduction
There are unique knowledge sets, skills, and abilities associated with each role in an organization. Proactive documentation and planning for worker turnover and the associated knowledge loss can help an organization retain core knowledge over time and potentially avoid operational disruptions. Identifying critical roles, complementary jobs, and candidates for job succession provide a foundation for organizations to prepare for worker turnover. Creating learning plans to develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities of existing workers and prepare them for future roles will help build an organization’s resilience when changes in workforce occur. Learning may require intentional investment by the organization to ensure workers are given access to coursework and learning opportunities to facilitate professional growth and development on targeted topics. These learning plans can be incorporated into existing practices such as job descriptions and employee performance reviews.
Sub-Steps
- Develop Tasks and Learning Schedules: Break down job profiles into a teaching plan and schedule so other employees can learn the tasks. Customize learning plans to an individual’s knowledge and skill base; prioritize knowledge gaps. Use work-based learning, social learning, and formal learning processes. Include objectives, type/method of training, measurable outcomes, timeline, and related materials and tools in a training schedule.
Tools and Templates
Develop Tasks and Learning Schedules
Job profiles can be used to create learning plans and priorities within the plans. Learning plans require knowledge of the current skill levels of employees and an understanding of knowledge gaps, which are priority areas for training.
There are several ways of organizing learning: work-based learning, social learning, and formal learning. There are different philosophies on learning approaches, but in general, work-based learning has been found to be most effective, followed by social learning and formal learning. Learning by performing job duties with support from mentors or shadowing others can be extremely effective for sharing knowledge. Of course, this can be difficult if your organization has limited staff, especially for that specific occupation. In that case, formal learning, or classroom-based learning relying on written materials and formal instruction strategies, can be helpful. The strategies will differ based on the job (e.g., desk-based roles will have different knowledge sharing strategies than roles in operations). It can also be helpful to work cross-departmentally in sharing knowledge, when possible.
There are several parts to a training and learning schedule: the objective, the type/method, measurable outcomes, timelines, and related materials/tools. Training is based on addressing skill gaps and is personalized to individual situations. Training should have clear progression paths, be actionable, and have measurable results.
There are a range of methods that can be used to share knowledge:
- Stretch Assignments/Job Enrichment: project or task that is beyond an employee’s current knowledge level or skills that stretches the employee by placing them in a challenging position to learn and grow.
- Mentoring: “reciprocal and collaborative at-will relationship that most often occurs between a senior and junior employee for the mentee’s growth, learning, and career development.”
- Cross-Training/Job Rotations: “practice of training your people to work in several different roles or training them to do tasks that lie outside of their normal responsibilities.”
- Job Shadowing: “type of on-the-job training that allows an interested employee to follow and closely observe another employee performing the role.”
- Vestibule Training: “an approach to personnel training in which new employees, before starting their work duties, spend some time learning in a special section (vestibule), apart from the actual work environment that duplicates as precisely as possible the setting and conditions in which the employees will be working once their training is complete.”
- Classroom Training: instructor-led training that is delivered in a clean environment away from the noise and pressures of the work area.
- Process Documents/SOPs: “set of written instructions that describes the step-by-step process that must be taken to properly perform a routine activity.”
- Job Aids: “any tools, devices or guides that provide simple instruction on how to complete a task or achieve a goal. They’re used either to introduce new steps in a process or to help people remember how to complete tasks more efficiently.”
Regardless of the strategy used, it is important to give the learning employee adequate tine. A deadline that forces them to rush or not fully engage with the process may be more harmful than good in the long run.
The following Knowledge Sharing Strategy Matrix can be used to help determine which methods of knowledge sharing would be most relevant for different situations. Each of these are relevant strategies for career development and can be woven throughout an employee’s time in the organization.
Tool: Knowledge Sharing Strategy Matrix download form
Sample Knowledge Sharing Strategy Matrix:
| Is incumbent still in role? | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employee already in organization? | ||||
| Yes | No | |||
| Yes |
|
| ||
| No |
|
| ||
Then, you can use the Employee Development Plan Template from the Whatfix.com blog to organize development areas for particular employees.
Tool: Employee Development Plan Template download form
Sample Employee Development Plan:
Name _______________ Date _____________
| Training Area and Delivery Method
(List the skills to be focused on and their delivery methods) |
Resources | Time Frame | Funding | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skill | Delivery Method | Certification or Credential? | Mentor / Instructor | Software / Technology | Start Date | End Date | Funding Source | |
| Short term Critical development needs for present position (1 year or less) | Preparing more specific and complex cost estimates for mapping projects. | Vestibule Training, Stretch Assignments | John Johnson, Head Surveyor | 4/1/24 | 7/18/24 | |||
| Midterm Important for growth within present or future position (1–5 years) | Compute more detailed measurements and interpret survey data to determine positions, shapes, and elevations of features. | Process Documents, Job Aids, Stretch Assignment | John Johnson, Head Surveyor | GIS | July 2025 | Oct. 2025 | ||
| Develop criteria for the design and modification of survey instruments. | Classroom Training | John Johnson, Head Surveyor | Sept. 2025 | May 2026 | ||||
| Supervise all data, charts, plots, maps, records, and documents related to surveys. | Stretch Assignments, Mentoring | John Johnson, Head Surveyor | June 2027 | Oct. 2027 | ||||
| Long term Helpful for achieving future career goals (5+ years) | Determine specifications for equipment to be used for aerial photography. | Job Shadowing, Process Documents/ SOPs | John Johnson, Head Surveyor | Nov. 2029 | March 2029 | |||
This learning plan was taken from Jim Henderson, the surveying technician identified as a good fit for development into a surveyor. Using the competencies to grow, we split up the skills into different time frames and relevant training methods and identified individuals who have the expertise to train in that particular area. We also offer relative timelines for the learning plan with the idea of being ready for a surveying position in the spring of 2026.