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Developing competencies
Robert Frost
defined education as "hanging around until you've caught on."
Poets can get away with that kind of schedule, but most of us can't. Seasoned
managers are aware that a competency is not merely cognitive knowledge
and a modicum of skill—the level that might be picked up with a little
hanging around. Anyone who has called an online help desk knows that.
Whether the subject be bloodborne pathogens,
cross-contamination in food preparation, regulations governing the sale
of variable annuities, or programming a digital key telephone system
(all topics we've worked on for clients), employees who lack what has
come
to be called emotional intelligence, for example, are not going
to be able to handle some tasks. It follows that some competencies cannot
be taught very well, or at all, by e-Learning—or by traditional
classroom instruction, for that matter, but may respond to coaching
and
other small group methods.
The task of developing competencies is often
not simply training, but involves assessment, direction and supervision.
Most of all, some competencies depend on real on-the-job experience (that
sounds a lot like hanging around, doesn't it?) and a feedback or coaching
system to support and shape those competencies.
Determining whether the competency (and the corporate
culture) is one that lends itself to
e-Learning, perhaps supported by
group interaction and/or coaching, is not always an easy task. Some competencies,
such as using a insurance ratebook to quote a premium for a relatively
complicated coverage such as Disability Income,
are easily accomplished
by e-Learning. Others are not. Our goal is to help you tell the difference.
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