This is the last post in a series of articles i have been writing on how to create a learning and development strategy using six strategy questions. This post shows an example of a completed learning and development strategy.

Meanwhile here are links to all the previous posts:

• Learning and development strategy, not again!
• What is a learning and development strategy?
• Creating a learning and development strategy
• Six strategy questions - one to three
• Six strategy questions - four to six
• Creating an L&D strategy with the questions
• Creating and L&D strategy with the questions - part 2
• Creating an L&D strategy with the questions - part 3
• Creating an L&D strategy with the questions - part 4

Introduction

The goal of the learning and development function is to support Datr to achieve it’s strategic objectives. To do this the function has created a learning and development strategy which will support the organisation to achieve the top priority strategic objectives. The learning and development strategy was created by asking and answering six questions to identify what the most important objectives for the organisation currently are. The top priority for the organisation at the moment is rebuilding our online analytics platform with more up-to-date technology.  This strategy identifies:

• What actions the organisation is taking/will be taking to successfully rebuild the platform.
• What capabilities we need as an organisation to take those actions successfully.
• What relevant staff need to be able to do in order for us as an organisation to have the right capabilities.
• How the learning and development function will support relevant staff to acquire the right mix of skills and knowledge.
• How we will identify whether the support from the learning and development function is supporting or not supporting the platform to be rebuilt successfully.

Following are details of the learning and development strategy.

Top Priority Goals for Datr over the Next 12 Months

To rebuild our online analytics delivery platform with more current and better technology.

Success Criteria

90 percent of our current customers will be able to use the platform successfully without problems  3 months after release.

Actions Necessary to achieve priority goal

• Design prototype and specifications for the new platform.
• Decide what technology to use.
• Adopt an agile project management framework.
• Ensure we have the right staff with the right skills.
• Develop and test the platform using the lean methodology.
• Release version 1.0 of the platform with minimal bugs.

To carry out these actions successfully these are the capabilities we need as an organisation:

• Agile project management
• Software prototyping
• Ability to use lean software development methodology
• Back-end Web development with Python related technologies
• Front-end web development with JavaScript related technologies.
• Effective software testing.
• Leadership and management skills for managing projects.

We have identified that for us to have the aforementioned capabilites as an organisation, staff need to know and be able to do the following:

• Appropriate theoretical knowledge in all the technological areas mentioned under skills.
• Clear knowledge of the vision for the new platform.
• Manage projects using the agile project management methodology.
• Effective team and personal communication skills
• Design software prototyping for platform
• Apply the lean methodology to design and develop software
• Use the Python and Django framework and MySQL to development backend
• Use unit testing to test software

A bit of caution

While learning and development can be used to support people to acquire knowledge and develop skills, it cannot necessarily change people’s attitude’s or help people to develop the right levels of motivation to do their job. These two are mostly down to good leadership and management and creating an engaging environment for people to work in. So managers and team leaders will play a major role in ensuring that people are engaged to be motivated and have the right attitude. This is crucial to achieving the priority goal.

Which staff members need which skills and knowledge?

Though the skills and knowledge that people need to know in general has been identified, this section outlines which job roles need to have which skills and knowledge specifically.

Project Manager (this role will be bought in)

• Agile project management
• Leading and managing project teams

Software Engineers (back-end developers)

• Effective team and personal communication skills
• Design software prototyping for platform (back-end)
• Use the Python and Django framework and MySQL to development backend
• Use unit testing to test software

Web Designers (Front-end developers)

• Effective team and personal communication skills
• Design software prototyping for platform (front-end)
• Use the JavaScript, CSS and HTML5 to develop front-end of platform.
• Use unit testing to test software

Supporting people to acquire the right skills and knowledge

These are the steps we will take to support people to acquire the right mix of skills and knowledge

• Employ project manager with right mix of agile project management skills who will manage the project and introduce agile ways of working to the team.
• Employ four new experienced developers (two back-end, two-front-end). These developers will acts as mentors to existing staff as they acquire the required skills and knowledge.
• Ensure mentors are in place and run introductory face-to-face sessions.
• Subscribe to online learning websites offering access to video tutorials and ebooks.
• Identify key question and answer websites for support.
• Set development goals and assign measurable tasks to every one.
• Meet each morning for 30 minutes to discuss progress and identify where people need support from mentors and other sources.
• Meet for 1 hour on Fridays to discuss learning
• Learning and development manager or one of his team members will attend all the meetings to collect information that will help them to gather progress of the project and how the learning delivery strategy is supporting the developers.

Assessing impact

It is important that any learning and development we provide supports the original goal of rebuilding our online platform successfully. We don’t want to spend time investing in learning and development that has no positive impact on the project.

As a result of this we will continually evaluate the learning and development provided and how it is supporting people to acquire the right skills and knowledge so they can develop the platform to the required specification within the set deadline. We will continually evaluate the learning and development intervention by:

• Gathering progress information from weekly meetings including stories on how the learning has helped.
• Collect development feedback from the mentors to see how learning and development support is helping.
• Monitor progress of the project to ensure each person is completing planned tasks as scheduled and to the right standard.
• Identify any areas where the learning delivery strategy might need to be amended.
• Prepare top level summary weekly progress review reports for the leadership team to show how learning and development investment is supporting the progress of the project.