Conducting Evidence Based Career Conversations

Design Document

Presented to
Dr. Clare Carey
by
Lesley Knapp, Laura Horton, and Sumbal Ayaz
June 17th, 2017

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Project Overview
This project represents the clients efforts to provide a user friendly and engaging set of
tutorials to Department of Defense (DoD) managers on how to enhance their
interpersonal skills and hold meaningful career conversations with their employees. Due
to major organizational changes and a high mission tempo, managers are mostly
providing routine performance feedback. However, some managers need to cultivate
meaningful dialogue beyond annual evaluations with their employees. By teaching
managers how to engage their employees in career conversations to address their
professional goals, both parties will be better able to collaborate more effectively in
generating diverse developmental opportunities.
The scope of this project has been determined by the schedule and objectives of the
CSUMB IST 626 Advanced Instructional Design course. The team will create a variety
of instructional PowerPoint tutorials and reference guides for DoD military and civilian
managers, providing them with step-by-step guidance on how to hold Evidence Based
Career Conversations with their employees.

Client and Organizational Goals

The client is the Director of Workforce Development who has a goal of cultivating a
People-focused organization where members of the workforce are supported and
inspired by one another. The ideal organization will be led by managers who, by holding
meaningful career conversations, are able to discover hidden talents, skills and
competencies in their employees. The ultimate client goal is to help managers shape
employee behavior and inspire. This course will not only support the career growth of
employees, it will motivate both managers and employees because they will feel like a
vital part of a team.

Learner Analysis
The target learners for this project are highly intelligent, mission focused, DoD military
and civilian managers. They are experts in their field, with some being introverted and
many being task oriented. They limit time and investment with interpersonal skills due to
the daily pressures of their jobs and schedule constraints. They are reluctant to deviate
from their duties to hold conversations that make them feel uncomfortable and/or they do
not perceive as valuable. They are analytical, detail oriented, and prefer to see evidence-
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based research that shows them why building personal relationships will improve the
organization and mission.

Primary Concerns and Attitudes

The challenges of this project will be to create materials that are easy to access, evidence
based, and ready for rapid implementation. Due to security and network restrictions,
these tutorials will not be multimedia-rich, however they will be practical, convenient,
and include proven methods to create more engaged and career-savvy managers who are
committed to the success of their employees. To foster positive attitudes regarding career
conversations, this training will not be mandatory. However, it will be offered frequently
via short chili sessions which combine social interaction with mini lessons on valuable
managerial skills.

Prior Knowledge and Experience with Career Conversations

Prior to the September 2016 organizational change initiative, there was no formal system
for employee career guidance. Employees needed to take individual initiative to research
job opportunities and career paths. Many employees benefited from invested mentors
who offered their personal insights and facilitated unique career opportunities. However,
many other employees, who did not cultivate their own mentor network, did not have
such benefits. Realizing this gap, the organization established its first enterprise-wide
Career Guidance Center (CGC). The CGC serves as an entry to exit career guidance
resource for all members of the workforce. The CGC offers individual and group
counseling, employee assessments, and a wealth of career development resources. The
proposed Career Conversations tutorials will fortify the skillsets of managers,
complement the CGC services, and add to the Workforce Development teams repertoire
of professional tools. The fast and easy tutorials will have great appeal to time pressed
managers.

Content Analysis
This project will be comprised of five, 10-minute PowerPoint tutorials that can be viewed
individually or presented as a topic in a small discussion group. These tutorials will focus
on improving conversational skills, to include active listening, questioning techniques,
and career exploration. They will include research on why these conversations are
important, tips on how to break the ice, ideas on how set the stage for career
development, and cues on how to take action and follow-up with employees. These
tutorials will be supplemented with PDF handouts, checklists, and small brochures that
managers can post in their work centers and keep on their desks to reference daily to
ensure they are on the right track to becoming engaged and invested supervisors.
The five main topics (PowerPoint modules) for this program include:

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 1. Why are these conversations important? - Declarative Knowledge
2. Ice Breakers/Building Rapport - Procedures
3. Setting the Stage for the Discussion - Procedures
4. Taking Action on Employee/Employer Goals - Procedures/Problem Solving
5. Following Up - Procedures/Problem Solving
Each tutorial can stand alone or may be given as an entire presentation. Following each
tutorial, there will be a list of supplementary materials available. These will include
posters to hang in the workcenter, portable job aids to carry in the wallet, checklists, and
links to additional online references.
Note: All production files, original media files, and a complete reference citation list for
other media will be provided to the client for future course development.

Learning Objectives
Managers will be able to:
1. Identify the why and importance of holding career
conversations with their employees.
2. Use a series of given ice breaker questions to initiate effective
career conversations.
3. Demonstrate effective active listening techniques while discussing the
short-term and long-term career goals of their employees.
4. Use given resources to identify the skills and expertise of the
employees and to offer tailored and specific guidance and mentoring.
5. Use given resources to assess the usefulness and impact of the career
conversations on their employees.

Evaluation Strategy

Level IParticipant Reaction

The teams project manager will develop a reaction form for the course to determine the
if the managers were satisfied with the training and find out how they are planning to use
what they learned on the job.

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Level IIPerformance
Using checklists, role playing activities, and peer feedback forms, managers will be able
to determine if they can effectively conduct career conversations with their employees.

Level IIITransfer to the Workplace

Dr. Careys Workforce Development team will conduct a Level III evaluation to measure
which concepts, procedures, tools, and skills are being used by managers three to six
months after they have taken this course.

Levels IV & VBusiness Impact and Return on Investment

Over the next five years, Dr. Careys team will be conducting on-going investigations
and assessments with managers and employees to assess the relevance, value and
usefulness of Workforce Development products and services.

Design

Course Title
Conducting Evidence Based Career Conversations

Agenda and Teaching/Learning Activity Descriptions

Introduction
Activating Schemata - Each manager will be asked to Consider a previous positive or
negative manager/employee interaction, how did it make you feel? Was the conversation
valuable? Why or why not?
Introduce the Course Objectives

Activities
These are the lessons that will be included:
Lesson 1) Why are these conversations important? - Declarative Knowledge
Lesson 2) Ice Breakers/Building Rapport - Procedures
Lesson 3) Setting the Stage for the Discussion - Procedures
Lesson 4) Taking Action on Employee/Employer Goals - Procedures/Problem
Solving

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 Lesson 5) Following Up - Procedures/Problem Solving
Each of the five lessons will have a similar format and will include the following:
1. An overview of what will be covered
2. A realistic scenario (read aloud by the facilitator) that will make the material relevant
to the managers
3. One to two questions for discussion
4. The evidence-based principles or rules related to the topic, showing the managers why
this is important
5. A checklist to remind the managers of the steps
6. A role-play scenario that allows them to pair up and practice their conversation skills
based on each topic
7. Informal feedback/reflection session to assess their own performance and their
partners

Summary
Review of key points. The facilitator will then refer the managers to the participants
guide where they can find additional resources, printable materials, and a bibliography.

Development Notes
References
Carroll, B. S. (2010, July 1). Conversations that Change Employee
Behavior. Retrieved May 25, 2017, from
http://www.payscale.com/compensation-today/2010/07/conversations-that-
change-employee-behavior
Corso, A. (n.d.). Conducting Effective Career Discussions With
Employees. Retrieved May 25, 2017, from
https://www.workitdaily.com/conducting-effective-career-discussions-
employees/
Engagement, I. E. (n.d.). Talk The Talk: How Ongoing Career
Conversations Drive Business Success. Retrieved from
http://www.right.com/wps/wcm/connect/728860eb-e39f-4d31-a75c-
aae2810e8864/RM_TalkTheTalk_Whitepaper_lo.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
Forbes Coaches Council. (2017, February 2). Three Powerful Coaching
Conversations Every Manager Should Have With Their Millennial
Employees. Retrieved May 25, 2017, from

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 http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/02/02/three-
powerful-coaching-conversations-every-manager-should-have-with-their-
millennial-employees/
Hardaway, F. (2012, September 7). What Career Conversations Do
Employees Want? Retrieved May 25, 2017, from
https://www.fastcompany.com/3000979/what-career-conversations-do-
employees-want
Kaye, B., & Giulioni, J. W. (n.d.). Career Conversation Starts with a
Single Question. Retrieved May 25, 2017, from
https://www.td.org/Publications/Blogs/Career-Development-
Blog/2012/09/Career-Conversation-Starts-with-a-Single-Question
Nicole Fallon, B. N. D. M. E. (2015, March 13). 4 Conversations You
Need to Have with Your Employees. Retrieved May 25, 2017, from
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7836-manager-employee-
conversations.html
Staff, I. (2015, March 11). 9 Crucial Rules to Remember When Having
Difficult Conversations with Employees - Insperity. Retrieved May 25, 2017,
from http://www.insperity.com/blog/9-crucial-rules-to-remember-when-
having-difficult-conversations-with-employees/
How to Conduct One-on-One Meetings: Guide for Supervisors | Human
Resources Department. (n.d.). Retrieved May 25, 2017, from
http://hr.smcgov.org/how-conduct-one-one-meetings-guide-supervisors
16 Questions to Ask Your Employees in Development Discussions
(With Focus on Current Job). (2009, October 5). Retrieved May 25, 2017,
from https://talentive.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/16-questions-to-ask-your-
employees-in-development-discussions-with-focus-on-current-job/
Five Surefire Tips for Great Career Conversations - Without Fear. (n.d.).
Retrieved May 25, 2017, from
http://www.masteryworks.com/newsite/clientimpact/impact_archives_july09.
htm

Budget
There are no costs associated with this project. Dr. Carey has generously offered us her
time and we will use it efficiently and effectively.

Implementation Notes

Training Delivery
Initially, the team will review the deliverables with the client and go over the process for
individual training and facilitator based training. The director of Workforce Development

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 will instruct the facilitators and brief managers on uses within the workplace. It will be
key to have senior management buy-in to help market and encourage participation since
the training is voluntary.
Facilitator based training will be conducted in short brown bag type sessions while self
paced training will have instructions located within the manager's guide.

Materials
The team will create a managers guide, which will include:
Definitions, tips, and scenarios within a PowerPoint/PDF format
Job Aids
A reference list, including links to information available on the internet
The team will also provide reference materials and marketing posters for the facilitators.
They will consist of prepared posters, portable job aids, checklists, PowerPoint slides,
and the managers guide.

Project Contributors and Schedule

Training Blueprint Contributors

Role Name Title

Instructional Designer Sumbal Ayaz Graduate Student, CSUMB
Project Manager Laura Horton Graduate Student, CSUMB
Client Dr. Clare Carey Director, Workforce
Development DoD
Subject-Matter Experts Dr. Clare Carey Director, Workforce
Development, DoD
Editor Lesley Knapp Graduate Student, CSUMB

Project Schedule

Week Date Milestone Comments

3 6/3/2017 Project Definition Client to provide feedback by 6/6

submitted to client for (morning)
review

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 4 6/13/2017 Complete content Client (and other SMEs) to provide
and task analyses requested content and demonstrations of
and finalize learning tasks
objectives
Begin Design
Document
5 6/17/2017 Design Document Client to provide feedback by 6/19
submitted to client for (evening)
review
Begin drafting
Storyboard and sample
materials
6 6/24/2017 Submit developing Client to provide feedback by 6/27
storyboard and (evening)
sample materials to
client for feedback
7 7/1/2017 Final Storyboard Client signs off on storyboard by 7/3
submitted to client (evening)

8 7/8/2017 Usability testing plan Client recruits testers

is defined and testers
are recruited
9 7/18/2017 Usability testing
complete
10 7/22/2017 Product delivered to Begin Design Project Report
the client with a report
of findings from
usability testing

Critical Success Factors

Project scope: Given the short timeline, focusing on getting the weekly deliverables to the
client early is the key to our success. The client also emphasized the importance of
keeping the project as simple as possible and to not get distracted by flashy or fancy
multimedia options.

Content: Dr. Carey is the primary SME for this project because she is the expert on the

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needs of the learners and what kind of design will work best for this organization. She
has made several resource recommendations but has also given us free reign to seek out
our own content, provided it is evidence based and recent.

Delivery: Each PowerPoint tutorial will be delivered to Dr. Carey through Gmail
or through our Google Drive. She will then access them from her home
computer to make sure there are no issues with access due to size, images, or
format. She will also transfer any of the posters and resources and apply them in
her organization as she sees fit.

Client involvement: Dr. Careys feedback is critical to the success of this project because
she knows the learners the best. She has committed to providing us frequent feedback and
guidance and will let us know if we are getting off track. We have set a schedule of when
we will provide deliverables and when she will respond with her changes and
recommendations.

Team commitment: Each team member has committed to communicate clearly and often,
checking in daily if necessary. We have all agreed to submit our deliverables early to
reduce unnecessary stress. While we each have our own specific roles in this project, we
are committed to helping out one another if needed. Finally, we will remain respectful of
all opinions and do our best to come to a group consensus or to reach out for client or
professor guidance if required.

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