Dale,
The following is a quick (?) response. If you want to pursue this
further please give me a call.
Regards
PHIL RUTHERFORD
robnphil@ozemail.com.au
Response:
Dalecros wrote:
>
>
> 1. Briefly describe your training and education curriculum for management and
> executives. How many managers and executives do have across the organization?
> How many people participate in development opportunities per year? In
> addition, what other developmental activities do you engage in? E.g., work
> assignments, IDPs, Special Fast Track Programs.
We provide such training to a number of organisations, concentrating on
all levels of management but starting from the top and working down. The
main idea is to get senior management committed first with the outcome
of their training being a major program to infiltrate the same down
through the ranks below.
Major concentration is on two areas: management and team leadership and
project management (program management, project management and project
coordination). These two cover every aspect of management in today's
organisation.
>
> 2. What drives your training curriculum? E.g., strategic plan, competition,
> grass roots needs assessment, future competency or skill requirements, etc.
> What is your philosophy for executive, management and team leader development?
The training curriculum is based on the skills and knowledge needed to:
(a) achieve corporate goals and objectives, (b) support and enhance the
appraisal system, (c) and determine the requirements for recruitment,
succession planning,and career advancement. An accurate definition of
the requirements found here gives (a) the training curriculum (including
training and development), and (b) the curriculum for education and
self-development. In other words, all training is measured by whether or
not the corporate goals and objectives are being achieved, enhanced or
affected.
>
> 3. How often do you re-establish the training and educational objectives?
They are continually being re-established because everything is centred
on participants actually applying the skills and knowledge on the job,
within their particular environment, and in the contexts and conditions
they normally find themselves. The achievement of the objectives is
measured by whether or not each person (not the average person or the
greater bulk of participants, but each person) can show evidence of
where and how she/he actually applies the concepts on the job and in
line with her/his immediate and longer term objectives. As the needs of
the job change (and they can sometimes change hourly) so too do the
objectives. In fact, one could say that the training objectives centre
on the application of skills and knowledge important to the
participant's role or function - not the application of any particular
training or education outcome - and as these change so too does their
learning.
>
> 4. What levels does your training and educational curriculum focus on?:
> -executives, directors, managers, supervisors, team leaders, etc. Is the
> curriculum for individuals or do you address intact teams?
>
Focus is on all levels. Individuals as well as teams benefit because the
competencies against which the curriculum are based include, where
applicable, how the skills and knowledge are applied in a team
environment.
> 5. Do you have an articulated description of the behaviors that would be
> associated with your ideal, executive, director, manager, supervisor, team
> leader, etc.? If so, can you share this?
Yes. Contact me for details. These are not my 'ideal' but the
description of what the most effective and successful executives,
managers and supervisors are doing. In other words, participants are
being measured against the best in the world, not against the curriculum
(which is often out of date by the time it is written) or the
presenter's opinion.
>
> 6. For each level, what content does the training and educational activities
> target? (program titles and general objectives of courses for each level).
>
This will become clear when you see response to your previous question.
> 7. How do you ensure linkages between corporate and field sites?
From the relevant goals and objectives. If corporate and field have the
same objective then only one is concentrated on (with appropriate
adjustment for field work), but if they are different then obviously the
two become the centre of focus.
>
> 8. What use does your organization make of external university programs for
> executive or management development?
>
See above. We are the external provider (linked somewhat tenuously to
the University of New England) and are beginning to find that more and
more organisations here and overseas are adopting our philosophies - if
not our curriculum and presentation methodology.
> 9. What non-traditional types of training and educational delivery methods do
> you use and for what levels? (Distance learning, computer based training, GE
> workout sessions, just in time learning). How do participants receive them?
> How effective do you believe them to be? How do you know?
We present very little except for the underpinning knowledge and
philosophies behind the skills and knowledge each person is going to be
required to demonstrate on the job. We more or less workshop the
curriculum, helping each person put it into the context of their work
environment. At the moment we provide half of the curriculum by both
face-to-face and distance and the other half by face-to-face only
(although that can change). The actual assessment of application can be
done either by distance (over intra- or internet) or face-to-face using
in-house expertise (which we can train) or external.
Even though there is an option, either of these can be enhanced by
adopting parts of the other. In effect we have five ways of acquiring
the full qualification: fully face-to-face, by distance, by recognition
of current competency and skills/knowledge, by any two of these or by
all three. The choice is up to the individual.
Feedback from all participants over the past two years has been
astounding. I actually researched this methodology back in 1974 and have
only had the wider tools and methodology as a result of further research
in the UK in 1992/93 and application back here since. One participant
said that applying these processes gained a project she was working on
another $3million dollars seed money. Another said that in half an hour
his team was able to save over $75K. There are numerous stories such as
this. We don't care for 'happy sheets' or 'reactionnaires' because the
bottom line savings/profit is where the organisation measures our
effectiveness, and that is more important than whether or not
participants liked the biscuits or our silly jokes.
>
> 10. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of training? (e.g., levels, 1-4
> evaluations).
Simple. I can send you some information on this. (By the way, we look
also at level 5. Call for details).
>
> 11. Would you or other members of your industry like to participate in a
> NASA/industry shared experience program regarding executive/management
> development? Do you belong to such a forum now? If so, can NASA participate?
>
Absolutely. One of my first jobs on leaving the military in 1972 was
with NASA at Honesuckle Creek here in Australia. I was working on the
last (was it Saturn??) shots and for the duration of Skylab.
> 12. Do you have your own residential training facilities? Do you allow
> external personnel to attend classes?
Yes but we prefer to visit.
>
Hope that helps.