1. Overview – Staff Development
The Staff Development component defines the implications of the transition on staff capacity and people’s ability to perform in their new roles. It is used as a guide to conduct a needs analysis, develop a training plan and knowledge transfer plan.
Purpose
The success of any transition relies on people being able to perform in their new roles. In addition to staff development through training, there are several benefits for conducting knowledge transfer from people moving into another role or leaving the organization.
Increase staff morale and job satisfaction
Appropriate and role specific skills and knowledge among staff
Lower dependency on specific individuals
Maintain key business process, policy and program knowledge
Work collaboratively between teams to successfully transfer the knowledge required to effectively support both current and future programs
Quality documentation of existing skills, knowledge and information are developed and retained for future use
Maintain support levels and minimize disruption during the transition period
Roles & Responsibilities
It is important that the people who have designed the new organization structure are also involved in analyzing and determining the staff development activities (likely to be several members of the SMT team).
If a person is leaving the organization, it is common that he or she will take the lead role in developing the Knowledge Transfer Plan. The person leaving the role and the person taking over the tasks will own the plan together and will ensure knowledge transfer events are taking place.
CARE Resources
CARE Tajikistan / Bolivia – Becky Myton (ACD-Program) for Knowledge Transfer
CARE Angola – Daniel Miji
Inputs
Organization structure
Job Descriptions (old and new)
Templates
Knowledge Transfer Plan template
Samples
Angola Capacity Building plan and overview of capacity building elements
Tajikistan Knowledge transfer plan
Agenda for Staff Development Planning Session
Hints and Tips for Coaching and Mentoring
Timeframe & Dependencies
Start the analysis once the new organization structure has been defined and people have been confirmed in their new roles.
Start early, the more training that can be done prior to transitioning, the better.
If staff development involves knowledge transfer of someone leaving the organisation as part of transition – be sure to leave enough time to capture all knowledge before the staff departs the organization.
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.

2. Guide – Staff Development
High-Level Process Flow:
1 Getting started
2 Determine staff development needs
3 Develop training plan
4 Develop knowledge transfer plan
5 Manage and execute plans
Step
Description
How do I do it?
1 Getting started
As part of transition, the CO needs to determine the skills and competency levels of the employees in the organization, and identify ways to help employees master their responsibilities in the new or changed organization structure.
Before starting the skills analysis, the scope needs to be determined. Conduct a meeting to prioritize and develop a plan for addressing all necessary capacity building needs. Then identify individuals for managing the staff development.
2 Determine staff development needs
A needs analysis identifies the learning needs that staff require. It bridges the identified gaps between the current skill set of the impacted employees and the future requirements. The results of the needs analysis serve as the basis for the content of the training solution.
Assess staff competency through a high level skills analysis. Use this task to develop an understanding of the staffs’ current competency levels and performance levels in specific areas compared to what is needed in the future.
Conduct meeting to compare current role description with future role description. Identify and document the added/changed responsibilities in new role and review against current capacity of person taking on the role.
Determine the capacity gap and identify the most suitable approach for filling the gap (Training or Knowledge Transfer)
Tip: If roles associated with the new capability will be significantly different from the present employee roles, look for individuals whose present responsibilities and/or skills best match the new capability's requirements.
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.

3. Guide – Staff Development
Step
Description
How do I do it?
3 Develop training plan
The objective of this step is to determine and define, training and knowledge transfer solutions that will meet the learning-related needs.
The Training Plan includes the objectives and scope of the training (the "why"), the audience to which the training will be delivered (the "who"), the vehicles or medium that will be used in the training (the "how"), the specific curriculum (the "what") and the evaluation approach.
*Can be stand-alone solution or combined with Knowledge Transfer as in step below.
Conduct a meeting to review needs analysis (who needs the training, why, when, who else?)
Discuss and confirm training method (what is the best option, existing course, does anyone else have the knowledge, can we run a peer training session, is it possible to coach?)
Investigate training courses (what is available, what are the comparative prices?)
Determine prerequisites (what does the participant need to know prior to the course – how can they learn this?)
Plan for ongoing support (identify a good coach, mentor etc.)
Tip: Understand the parameters of budget constraints on training.
4 Develop knowledge transfer plan
The objective of this step is to determine and define, knowledge transfer solutions that will meet the learning-related needs.
Knowledge transfer is more applicable if a person is leaving a role and there is a strong dependency on that person’s knowledge. (eg. Strong relationship with donor or local governments)
*Can be stand-alone solution or combined with training above.
With the Job Description as a basis, fill in the major responsibility areas in the knowledge transfer template Knowledge Transfer Plan template.
Document key knowledge and information needed for each major responsibility area on a separate page (refer to sample Knowledge Transfer plan from Tajikistan).
Be sure to include estimated time commitment from both parties in the plan.
Tip: General guidelines below for estimated time commitment (depends on complexity of role):
Planning activities approx 50% of time
Overview and Discussions 20% of time
Overlap and Hands-on 20% of time
Coaching (ongoing for X months from off site) 5% of time
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.

4. Guide – Staff Development
Step
Description
How do I do it?
5 Manage your plan, execute training and ongoing performance support
Execute on training plan and/or knowledge transfer plan. A training plan will only be useful if it remains relevant and is utilized as a tool. A regular schedule should be put in place to ensure that the training plan is up to date.
Identify key roles and responsibilities for managing the training plan.
Execute the training as planned. If training is being developed and executed within the Country Office:
Schedule training event and choose participants
Tailor training materials / obtain training curriculum (if training in-house, what updates do we need to make to materials, can we get support from Atlanta?)
Plan participant communications
Schedule facilities & requirements
Update training materials as needed
Evaluate training effectiveness
Execute knowledge transfer as planned.
Plan handover
Identify successors
Gain commitment from leadership by meeting and reviewing knowledge transfer plan
Communicate to all involved
Schedule meetings with key stakeholders / key relationships
In addition, while knowledge transfer is taking place, be sure to decrease dependency on individual staff by documenting key processes and documenting key contacts.
Tip: Establish an on-site coach for successors based on agreed support areas.
Tip: Utilize benefits of promoting internal candidates already familiar with ways of working, processes, and core values.
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.

5. Guide – Staff Development
Hints & Tips
Where possible, schedule learning so that you reduce staff time away from the job due to training.
Ensure that you address the content specific to the person or group being impacted by the change.
Provide material which is relevant to the audience and presented within their job context.
Conduct training at commensurate level of employee skill (set realistic expectations).
Enable users to understand the business benefits and the need for change (align training plans with change management and communications planning).
Provide on-going support at the time of need and in the right format, for example:
Quick reference cards
Specific instructions for common organization processes ("How-to manual")
Troubleshooting tips/frequently asked questions
Provide ongoing support through coaching and mentoring
Challenge
Mitigation
Not enough time to participate in training
Nobody available to back-fill activities when person on training course
Lack of sufficient planning and prioritizing skills among staff
Courses often “2 weeks away” or out of country
Lack of language skills
Most training courses are run in English
Majority of CARE documentation and training documentation are in English
Training is costly
Few local courses available – adding travelling expense to training cost
People leave organization shortly after training for better employment offers
Nature of the business and program staffing (people leave after program ends)
Training is not a prioritized activity
Training not widely recognized as value-add activity
Lack of personal commitment to training and improvement
Success plan / plan for backfill options
Run workshop for management to increase planning and prioritization skills
Investigate local courses / alternative options for training and run smaller workshops to increase knowledge not “all or nothing”
Conduct English training for key people
Investigate local course options
Translate key documentation into local language
Staff incentives, clubs and meetings in English
Group sessions rather than individual training
Investigate available scholarships
Investigate what training donors will pay for
Implement and enforce existing policy of employee reimburse training if leave CARE within 12 months
Leadership team to promote learning as key activity
Incorporate learning into CO culture
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.

6. Sample - Agenda for Staff Development Planning Session
Determine Training and Capacity Building Needs CO
Sub-Office
Functions / Specific People
Where could Knowledge Sharing be beneficial?
Where are they the same – can we group any of the needs (CO/SO/people)
Determine Available Training and Capacity building Methods
What has been used in the past?
What has worked well / could work better?
What is available in the country / outside of the country?
What are some other options / brainstorm?
Investigate Capacity Building Support
What support is available (ATL / RMU / Trainers, Materials, etc.)?
What support would we like?
Discuss Capacity Building Challenges and Barriers for Particular Area – determine mitigation activities
Assign Responsible / Accountable for Capacity Building
Who is responsible for the training plan?
Other Discussion topics
Should we set up an Experts Network (ie. for Procurement – what else?)
Do we need to implement policy that if person leaves and expensive training (then must pay back if leaves within 12 months)?
Draft Training Plan
Who, when and where
When is the training going to take place?
What activities are needed to organize the training?
Who is responsible for doing the action?
Align to CARE available tools and methods
Complete and agree on actions, next steps and who is responsibilities for what
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.

7. Sample - Capacity Building Overview (Angola)
< Insert CO Name > Capacity Building Program
Specific Capacity
Building
General Capacity Building
Knowledge
Transfer
Coaching and
Mentoring
Orientation Training
Language (English)
Finance
HR Management
Systems (eg SCALA)
Monitoring and Evaluation
Proposal Development
CARE Policies and Procedures (refresher / orientation)
Vision and Values (refresher / orientation)
Accountability / Responsibility
Conflict Resolution
Transparency – what does it mean
Etc.
New Roles
Promotions / Advancements
Succession planning
Existing Roles across CO/SO (ex. M&E)
Everyday coaching
Mentoring
High Level Components
Classroom training
External Training Courses
Workshops
Hints & Tips
Classroom training
External Training Courses
Presentations
Peer Sessions
Discussions
Hints & Tips
Regional / International visitors / Consultancies
Use existing CARE Approach and Materials
Scheduled meetings and works shadowing
Site and Field visits
Use existing CARE Approach and Materials
One on one sessions
On-the-job
Where performance issues have been identified
CARE Materials: Tips for Giving Feedback . Link to performance management
Sample Delivery Methods
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.

8. Sample - Capacity Building Elements (Angola)
Training Elements
Description
Specific Capacity Building
This training will focus on positions and ‘roles’ as per critical business processes. Participants will gain basic knowledge to perform their role in the organization.
General Capacity Building
The training will incorporate a variety of business, professional and general skills, and enable participants to apply these skills in their everyday job in order for them to better handle their own responsibilities.
Knowledge Transfer
Emphasis on “Learning by doing”. A scheduled overlap in activities, where the person taking over the role or a similar role spends time observing and working with the person who already knows the job. A safe learning environment will encourage and build confidence. Knowledge sharing can also be applied in groups and take the form of meetings for example to share knowledge within a function.
Coaching and Mentoring
One on one sessions to help and facilitate learning or manage performance improvements for individuals. It is important to promote and facilitate team building and culture development opportunities (in both formal and informal environments).
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.

9. Knowledge Sharing Overview
Objectives of Knowledge Sharing
Establishing key relationships
Identifying key information and knowledge required
Documenting key processes and contacts
Sharing success stories / hints and tips for improvement
In order to maintain continuity of business operations as well as transfer all relevant knowledge to the new person, a number of activities will be undertaken
Overlap in responsibilities between < enter weeks as per case by case basis > weeks
Overview / workshop / meeting
Detailed overview of key responsibilities
Relevant Processes Overview
Status Reporting
Individual responsibilities
Dependencies / issues
Other areas of key responsibilities
Overview meetings with relevant other people from the team/ organization
< Enter team names >
< Enter other key contacts >
Handover of Responsibilities (Planning, Reporting and Daily activities)
Ongoing for the next < Enter relevant timing> weeks, the new person will phone/meet weekly to validate approach, progress and issue resolution.
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.

10. Template - Knowledge Transfer Plan
Plan for < Enter Name of Participant > handover and knowledge sharing
Overlap in Activities /
Hands-on
Coaching
And Support
Planning
Overview / Discussions
< Enter Major Responsibility Area>
Plan handover
Identify Successors
Gain commitment from leadership
Communicate to all involved
Schedule Meetings with Key stakeholders / key relationships
Document of key processes
< Enter Major Responsibility Area>
< Enter Major Responsibility Area>
< Enter Major Responsibility Area>
< Enter Major Responsibility Area>
< Enter Major Responsibility Area>
Agreed timeline and objectives
Final Handover
1 week
<Enter timing>
<Enter timing>
1- 2 months
Successor Identified
<Enter Date>
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.

11. Hints and Tips for Coaching and Mentoring
Mentor Tips
Make your role as a mentor a high priority - make time and keep the commitment. Don’t wait for your mentee to call - be in regular communication.
Be positive and honest with your mentee.
Share your experiences and tell your stories - personal scenarios offer valuable, often unforgettable insight.
Share your failures and successes - both types of stories are powerful lessons that provide valuable opportunities for analyzing individual and organizational realities.
Build a relationship in which the mentee feels comfortable raising personal and professional difficulties openly.
Network with other mentors for ideas and support.
Respect confidentiality and at the outset, identify “ground rules” for confidentiality with your mentee.
Mentee Tips
Strive to gain the respect and trust of your mentor.
Show interest in the projects, ideas, thoughts and abilities of your mentor.
Give your mentor feedback on how your relationship is working.
Respect the confidentiality of mentoring discussions. Don’t repeat confidential or sensitive information about people, projects, or politics that your mentor may share with you.
Take responsibility for managing your career.
Be honest and realistic in your self-assessment of skills and knowledge and validate these with your mentors.
Be respectful of your mentor’s time and express appreciation. Learn from your mentor’s successes and failures.
Look for multiple mentors who can guide you in a variety of areas.
© 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved.