What is Workplace Learning and Performance?

What does the Workplace Learning and Performance profession encompass? The American Society for Training and Development has conducted extensive research on workplace learning and performance and developed a competency model for our profession. The Model depicts nine (9) Areas of Expertise for our profession that are based on three Foundational Competencies.

Foundational Competencies

The foundational competencies are

personal: how well you adapt to change and make personal decisions to enhance your career interpersonal: how well you work with, manage, and influence people, policy, and change. business: how well you analyze situations, make decisions, and implement solutions.

It is essential that Learning and Performance professionals build and continually enhance this foundation with resources that build and refresh these skill sets. Belonging to a local ASTD chapter is one way to do this.

Areas of Expertise 1. Designing Learning - Designing, creating, and developing learning interventions to meet needs; analyzing andselecting the most appropriated strategy, methodologies, and technologies to maximizethe learning experience and impact. 2. Improving Human Performance - Applying a systematic process of discovering and analyzing human performance gaps;planning for future improvements in human performance; designing and developingcost?effective and ethically justifiable solutions to close performance gaps; partneringwith the customer when identifying the opportunity and the solutions; implementingthe solutions; monitoring the change; evaluating the results.

3. Delivering Training - Delivering training solutions (for example, courses, guided experience) in a manner thatboth engages the learner and produces desired outcomes; managing and responding tolearner needs; ensuring that the learning solution is made available or delivered in atimely and effective manner. 4. 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. 5. Facilitating Organizational Change - Leading, managing, and facilitating change within organizations. 6. Managing the Learning Function - Providing leadership in developing human capital to execute the organizations strategy; planning, organizing, monitoring, and adjusting activities associated with the administration of workplace learning and performance. 7. 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. 8. 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 knowledge sharing entity; initiating, driving, and integrating the organizations knowledge management efforts. 9. Career Planning and Talent Management - Ensuring that employees have the right skills to meet the strategic challenges of the organization; assuring the alignment of individual career planning and organization talent management processes to achieve an optimal match between individual and organizational needs; promoting individual growth and organizational renewal. Feeling overwhelmed by the shear breadth and depth of our profession? Well, don't! No one among us is an expert in all of these areas of expertise. Your career goal is to become as knowledgeable as possible about all the areas of expertise and then gain expertise and experience in the areas on which you want to focus your career. Click here to see a full-size image of the ASTD Workplace Learning and Performance Competency Model. For more information on the Competency Model, see the competency model pages at ASTD National.