A new framework for supporting learning and performance in the social workplace | Learning in the Social Workplace.

Jane Hart of C4LPT fame has posted the 3rd version of the Workforce Development Services (WDS) Framework, which is usable under the Creative Commons license.  If what you want to accomplish is a high-level, dynamic learning & development strategy, this is your starting point.

Hart and colleagues approach this effort by focusing on 4 key service areas:

1. Training/Instructional Services – These are what we usually envision when we think about the traditional L&D service line – instructor led training, eLearning, etc..
2. Performance Support Services – What good is training that is not tied to workplace performance?  As Bob Mosher might point out, a L&D strategy is not complete without considering essential “moments of [learning] need” that occur in the flow of work.
3. Social Collaboration Services – To complement and reinforce training, and to leverage learning conditions that are already occurring, this effort incorporates intentional use of social processes (enhanced with social media technologies) to maximize learning in the workplace.
4. Performance Consulting Services – Not all well-developed strategies will iterate into the exact same tactic, deployed in every situation.  Consulting services are required to assist departments to analyze their unique learning needs and create innovative combinations of learning events that are grounded in corporate strategy, but are flexible to local needs.

I like to talk about “employee enablement” (thanks to Tom Hill).  Hart et al‘s approach to developing a learning strategy is consistent with enabling employees to nudge up their competencies, within the flow of work, to the betterment of their employer and themselves.  This is a framework well worth reviewing, and incorporating into your L&D strategy process.

Thanks, Jane!