Step 1. Identify what your performance goals are
One of the biggest mistakes we see with businesses adopting new software is they don’t really define what it is they’re trying to accomplish. Or the business goals don’t really lead to an outcome.
Often, we’ll hear, “We want better training.” But that isn’t a business goal. Neither is “We want better employee performance.”
A good business goal is something like, “Employees will process all new loans in the new system without any mistakes by the end of Q3.”
Another performance goal could be, “Our new call center reps will accurately identify system error codes and alarms that patients are calling about, and correctly troubleshoot those system error codes and alarms within four weeks of being hired.”
These goals articulate a measurable outcome.
Cathy Moore, an instructional designer who’s focused on helping departments improve operational outcomes, likes to articulate business goals like this: “A measure we already use will increase/decrease number % by date as people in a specific group DO something.”
When you work with a ScreenSteps coach, we lay the foundation with your performance goals. Then we build your content plan around those goals.
Step 2. Pinpoint what the employees need to be able to do
From setting the end-goal, we walk backwards to figure out what it is that employees must do to achieve that goal.
For example, if the goal were “We want people to handle troubleshooting calls within 5 weeks of being hired with a QA score of 90.” We would identify what they need to do in order to handle troubleshooting calls with a QA score of 90.
That’s different from focusing on what people need to understand or know.
What does a competent employee do when handling a troubleshooting call or processing a new loan?
What questions do they ask? How do they instruct the caller? What actions do they perform?
Pick apart what they are doing vs. what they understand. If you were to observe somebody who didn’t know what to do and compare them to somebody who did know what to do, what would be the observable difference between them?
Step 3. Determine what kind of skills and knowledge are required
Do you need employees to simply click buttons in the correct order? Or do you need them to be able to handle an irate caller?
Determine the types of skills and knowledge your employees need in order to complete the various tasks.
Sometimes, employees will need a combination of skills. For example, an employee may need to be able to hold a conversation with a customer while simultaneously following a guide, clicking through a screen, or referencing a list of insurance companies.
What skills and knowledge are needed?
Often, managers and trainers confuse what skills and knowledge are actually needed to perform a job. Think of a cook at a restaurant. As long as the head chef has figured out the recipes and written them down, then cooks only need to be skilled at following those recipes, not at creating them.
The same is true in your business. If people have already figured out the processes and procedures, then employees don’t need to be skilled at coming up with new ones — they just need to be skilled at following your existing procedures and adapting when things change.
The same is true for troubleshooting technical issues. As long as you have one expert who has come up with recipes for troubleshooting, then all you need are employees who are skilled at following the troubleshooting steps.
Step 4: Figure out which skills and knowledge are missing
Where are the gaps? Now that you know the skills and knowledge that are required to complete those tasks, you want to gauge what skills and knowledge your employees already have and what skills or knowledge they will need.
You want to get a handle on where your employees are at and what is preventing them from doing the things you need them to do in order to achieve your goal.
Can they apply basic policies? Can they use the technology?
Take note of these areas. There will be a wide range of skills and knowledge because your employees have all different levels of experience. As you move into Step 5, you can first focus on the areas that benefit the most people.
Step 5: Determine how to best fill that gap
Once you understand what your employees know and what they can do, you can create learning assets to fill those gaps.
The objective is to fill the gap with the simplest type of resource. If all that’s needed is a bulleted list of steps for refilling an ATM, then that’s the perfect learning asset to fill the gap. Or, if you need to create a guide that includes decision trees to help employees troubleshoot technical issues, then that’s the learning asset you should create.
These simple learning assets enable you to provide workflow learning opportunities to your employees.
Other times, you will need to fill the gap with formal classroom training or coaching. But even in these instances, you will want to create learning assets that employees can use during classroom training and continue to use while in the workflow. Here are three examples:
I. Job aids
If all the employee needs is some information, then you can create a job aid and send it out for people to use.
For example, say your call center reps are scheduling patients with doctors who do not take their insurance. To correct this, perhaps all that’s needed is an insurance sheet that reps can look at while scheduling to confirm that the physician does indeed take the insurance.
II. Help guides
If an employee needs guidance on the appropriate flow of tasks, then you can create help guides.
Example: Employees are not filing out new loan applications correctly in the new system. To correct this, you could create guides or checklists that clearly show the proper order and where to click in the system
III. Formal training or coaching
If the employee needs to develop a skill, then you may need to do some formal training and coaching.
For a call center, one indicator that agents need more formal training would be that call center reps are not taking control of the call, resulting in inconsistent caller experiences and longer handle times.
You can help solve this issue by first providing clear call flows that guide reps through a call and provide training that includes practice exercises. Then reps will practice taking control of the call and going through the call flow. They will then receive follow-up coaching.
Step 6: Build the learning assets
Now that you know where your employees need additional aid, you can build learning assets that will support employees. They can use these assets as they perform their job.
By creating learning assets, it alleviates the pressure to rely on memorization. Provide learning assets that will support employees as they perform their job.
These learning assets could be as simple as a:
- Bulleted checklist
- Help guide with screenshots
- Table with information on it
- Reminders on what to do if the call is not going the way a rep planned
During training, coaching, and supporting (via email or chat), teach your reps how to use your learning assets while they perform their job. This helps them form the habit of turning to your learning assets when they have a question.
Step 7: Continue to refine your learning assets
As employees perform their job using your learning assets, they will have feedback and need clarification. It’s normal to have revisions to your learning assets.
Plus, your guides will always have some form of changes. It could be as minor as adding a step or changing out new contact information. Or it could be more complex like you’ve changed your invoicing system. Either way, you aren’t done with your articles after you’ve written them.
We can help you devise a plan for keeping your articles up-to-date and accurate. Continue to edit and modify your learning assets so that employees can use them to perform their job perfectly every time.
Develop a plan to launch your ScreenSteps site
If you feel confident creating a plan with these seven steps, then you are ready to get started with your ScreenSteps site on your own. If you want more help, our coaches can help you build a plan to reach your performance goals.
ScreenSteps is an employee enablement system that provides a one-stop-shop for all of your learning assets and job aids. You can create, store, and share your documents throughout your company.
Customers that work with a ScreenSteps coach to launch their ScreenSteps knowledge base tend to launch faster and achieve their goals quicker.
If you’d like to work with a ScreenSteps coach to develop a plan for your ScreenSteps site, contact our reps below. Contact us to get an individualized quote that fits your needs and to get the coaching support you need to reach your performance goals.
