1. Staff Development Thomas P. Holland, Ph.D., Professor
Institute for Nonprofit Organizations

2. When should staff development be done?
Performance evaluations indicate improvement is needed (reduce performance gaps)
As part of an overall professional development program
To help employees or volunteers prepare for planned change in organizational roles (fill growth gaps)
To train about a specific topic, such as
Communications
Computer skills
Client/customer service
Diversity
Ethics
Human relations
Safety
Discrimination, harassment

3. Performance Diagnostic Questions
Mission/goals: Are the mission and goals of the individual congruent with those of the organization?
System design: Do individuals face obstacles that impede their job performance?
Capacity: Does individual have the mental, physical, and emotional capacity to learn?
Motivation: Does individual want to perform well?
Expertise: Does individual have the knowledge, skills, and experience to perform well?

4. Needs Analysis
For whole organization: What knowledge and skills are required for organization to meet its goals? Should we hire or recruit volunteers for needed competencies or train existing staff or volunteers?
For projects: What demands will this project place on our staff? What gaps exist between current competencies and those required by project?
For individuals: What is needed for this person to improve work performance (in existing role or in new one)?

5. Web sites for Training Needs Assessments
www-group.slac.stanford.edu/esh/…/trainingProcedAssessment.pdf
Search for other resources by putting “training needs assessment” in Google search site.

6. Common forms of Development
On-the-job experience
Formal or informal learning
Apprenticeships, internships
Career counseling
Coaching, mentoring
Continuing education
Professional conferences
Job rotations, cross-training
Peer learning, feedback

7. Forms of Learning for Individuals
Training: helping person learn specific knowledge or skills.
Coaching: guidance on mastering skills or solving interpersonal problems (using, for example, 360 assessments, Johari’s window, Myers-Briggs, stress management techniques)
Goal setting: helping people formulate goals and priorities for improving their own effectiveness
Performance appraisal: modifying ways of assessing employee performance more carefully and using feedback to improve.
Job descriptions: useful when job duties are ambiguous and expected results unclear.
Cross-training: rotating individual to other positions in organization
Career planning: for individuals who have outgrown their roles and want new skills and challenges.
Procedures manual: formalizing the approved methods for handing common problems in work.
Process improvement: steps to improve the effectiveness of ways people do their work and interact.

8. Andragogy vs Pedagogy Addresses current, real-world problem
Person highly motivated to solve current problem
Involves actual applying new ideas and materials
Exchange ongoing feedback about trial experiences
Self-directed, learner centered
Based on competence and trust
Addresses pre-formulated problems
External motivations by rewards and penalties
Involves applying ideas already provided
Periodic feedback via tests
Learner is dependent on the teacher
Based on power and control

9. Requirements of Adult Learners
Must be willing to grow, take risks, face new experiences
Openness to ongoing feedback from trials of new ideas
Trust instincts, engage in self-directed learning
Requires high internal motivation to pursue growth, mastery of new skills, self-improvement

10. Phases of Adult Learning
Adults engage in determining their own learning needs based on their goals, based on experiences and feedback.
Adults want to create and implement their own learning processes.
Adults try/test their own earning in work (or outside) to evaluate its usefulness.

11. Phases of Adult Learning
Adults engage in determining their own learning needs based on their goals, based on experiences and feedback.
Adults want to create and implement their own learning processes.
Adults try/test their own earning in work (or outside) to evaluate its usefulness.

12. Requirements of Supervisors
Include learners in development planning to build engagement and ownership
Schedule regular times to discuss progress and concerns
Provide ongoing feedback and support
Maximize opportunities for feedback focused on successful applications of new ideas

13. How Supervisors Help Staff Learn
Help person identify needed improvements in performance
Encourage person to see knowledge as contextual, created together
Create partnership via learning contract
Foster atmosphere of trust, openness
Offer ideas about inquiry, critical thinking, making decisions, personal choice, self-assessment
Recognize individual learning styles
Use job experiences as opportunities to learn
Promote learning networks, learning exchanges

14. Roles of Coach and Mentor
Coaching focuses on a specific job skill
Agenda set by supervisor
Short-term engagement
Provides specific feedback to improve skill
Tell person how to do task
Watch as she tries
Give feedback to fine-tune
Person tries until she gets it right
Mentoring focuses on overall career development
Agenda set by mentee
Long-term engagement
Provides more general, non-directive interactions
Explore work issues together
Discuss options, possible consequences
Offer suggestions, support, encouragement

15. Kinds of Learning Single-loop learning: following the rules
Double-loop learning: changing the rules. Requires thinking beyond instructions, understanding why one solution works better than another to achieve a goal
Triple-loop learning: learning about learning. Understanding our own patterns of learning how to deal with problems

16. Styles of Learning
People have different approaches to learning, such as
Visual, auditory, tactile
Reflective, experiential
Explore the differences by searching the Internet for “learning style.” Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory is very useful.
Make use of several of the questionnaires to identify your own style and to understand those of others.
Identify the implications of these differences for the performance of work teams.
Identify approaches to staff development activities that would take into account the differences among participants.

17. Kolb’s Learning Styles
Accommodator: feeling and doing
Strengths: getting things done, leading and risk-taking
Weaknesses: impractical, staying focused
Diverger: feeling and watching
Strengths: imagining, brainstorming
Weaknesses: seeing opportunities, generating ideas
Converger: thinking and doing
Strengths: making decisions, solving problems
Weaknesses: focusing, assessing ideas
Assimilator: thinking and watching
Strengths: making plans, creating models
Weaknesses: learning from experience, seeing the big picture

18. Formal vs Informal Learning
Informal: Occurs naturally as people deal with issues of work. Tends to be experiential, unstructured, no specific goals, casual assessments. Depends on individual motivations.
Formal: Based on standards, including
Explicit goals and objectives
Variety of learning methods
Systematic assessment of accomplishments
Guided by supervisor

19. Steps in formal, systematic staff development
Assessing what knowledge, skills, abilities are needed by learners
Designing the learning activities, including goals and objectives, methods for implementation, and criteria for evaluation
Developing the training methods, materials, schedule, budget
Implementing them
Evaluating whether goals and objectives have been reached (and may address the quality of the training itself)

20. Self vs Other Directed
Self-directed development: learner decides about goals, what experiences are to be sought, and how to do so
Other-directed: Supervisor responsible for setting goals, planning activities, applying criteria.
Mixes are common.

21. Combinations
Formal, other-directed: typical courses, focused on instructor as expert
Formal, self-directed: learner voluntarily follows pre-formulated plan
Informal, other-directed: instructor identifies goals and tasks while learner sets own pace, explores other resources
Informal, self-directed: casual learning through work experiences

22. Planning for Staff Development
Determine goals, based on assessments, gaps in performance or job requirements, participants’ interests
Identify competencies needed, set goals
Specify knowledge, skills needed to reach goals; formulate each into learning objectives
Identify resources, activities, methods, and persons needed to complete each objective
Formulate learning activities for learning styles of participants
Specify criteria and procedures for assessing completion of each goal and objective
Set out the sequence steps for implementation, timetable
Identify the costs for each step; formulate into budget

23. Implementation Principles I
Test out the plan with participants, incorporate their expectations
Design seating to encourage discussions, eye contact
Test out audio-visual materials and equipment in advance
Be clear about expectations; invite formulation of some “ground rules”
Keep participants involved, energized, contributing
Use stories, examples, practical applications
Encourage participants to collaborate, share, give feedback

24. Implementation Principles II
Challenge and support participants, give constructive, non-judgmental feedback, encourage others to do so too
Keep the structure informal, keep climate open
Let things unfold naturally without heavy control
Use open-ended questions and demonstrations; avoid lecturing at length or giving uninvited advice
Call on everyone; don’t let a few dominate discussions or avoid discussions
Build flexibility and free time into agenda
Review and summarize at end of each section
Ask for (and use) evaluative feedback often, monitor the climate, pay attention to nonverbal cues, invite ideas for mid-course corrections

25. Design Options by Learning Style
Accommodators: coaching, debate, demonstration, games, being on panels, practice, behavior modeling, dialogue, role playing, leading
Divergers: watching demonstrations, listening to panels, listening to stories, field trips, imagining possibilities
Convergers: case studies, projects, discussions, programmed instruction, solving problems
Assimilators: lectures, developing plans, quizzes, reading, study guides, analysis of problems, reflections, examining polarities, Q & A, creating models or theories

26. Aspects of Training to be Evaluated In order of difficulty
Reactions: how does learner feel about the training?
Learning: what facts, knowledge did the learner gain?
Behaviors: what skills did the learner develop?
Results or effectiveness: how well did the learner apply new skills to work and what results are seen in productivity?

27. Times and Ways of Evaluation
Before training: What evidence is there that identified methods will really result in participants’ mastery of needed knowledge and skills?
During implementation (formative): monitor engagement; collect feedback from participants; use short tests
After completion (summative): compare current skills with prior levels; supervisor observes work performance; use outside expert evaluators

28. Examples of Assessment Tools
www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/assmt/resource.htm
Search internet for other tools for evaluating staff development programs.

29. Discussion Exercise
Let’s assume that this course is a staff development program.
What ideas about learning have you seen
Demonstrated
Missing
What suggestions do you have for making the course more effective/productive for you?