My department does some open enrollment trainings for a large company and we desperately need to evaluate if these offerings are aligned or supportive of company vision and goals.

That being said, I would like to conduct an exercise or activity with my team where we take fresh eyes to the company objectives and evaluate how supportive and alligned we are. If anyone could describe such an exercise that has worked, that would be great.

An exercise would work better than a discussion because we've tried discussions and they get unfocused or turn to broad speculations about what we can or can not do. Help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Good Morning Brian,

What you are describing is generally associated with the analysis process that preceded the development of the training currently offered.

Is the assumption correct that this front-end analysis may not have occurred or that the paper trail that leads back from training to corporate objectives is not available?

If so, I would not spend much time trying to make the match-up. Unfortunately, when you start with the existing training and seek linkage to goals and objectives...they mysteriously appear. I'd rather see you use the time and energy as an opportunity to revisit the need...determine the appropriate learning and development mix...and then see to what extent your offerings fit. (Probably a good bet that open enrollments are not firmly anchored to mission critical skills.)

In all of this look for ways to involve other stakeholders...not just your department.

entropy -

I agree with you completely overall. If we were to look for linkage, I'm sure it could appear. That's why I wonder if anyone has a structured process for identifying gaps in an open enrollment curriculum. My concern with the open enrollment is not that the initial analysis did not occur, just that it has been outdated and yes... that the paper trail has evaporated. To clarify, I'm not the leader or director of the team and have not gotten much when requesting an overall strategy tie in for this curriculum. I would intend to involve outside stakeholders but would have to create some internal momentum - in a non threatening manner.

Thanks for the additional background.

A couple of questions....

Who would you need to sponsor this effort (the person to move aside barriers for your team)?

Will the outcome of your effort produce changes that do not need anyone else's permission to execute?

Whose turf would you be trampling on by moving on this project?

See this a lot. Company around for a long time with a large catalog of courses that are maintained but not really ever properly considered for retirement or true redevelopment to align with goals.

If your company has felt issues that are most pressing- start there to get buy in - find what fits, what's lacking, and fill gaps- fast. Build trust to get lattitude to dig more. Be as objective and metric as possible. Involve stakeholders in defining the key criteria.

I have a very loose shell spreadsheet for a somewhat similar purpose (prioritizing development) that I could share.