Module 3: Case Study – What’s The Plan?

Description

The information technology (IT) unit at a state university manages all of the varied computing activities of the university campus community, including computer networking, campus websites, student computer labs, technical support, and graphic design. In order to accomplish such a diverse set of tasks, employees within the unit work in specialized groups and need different skills to complete their jobs. The IT unit was asked by the administration to enhance its training and development process after a thorough campus review of their practices. The review identified as an issue the lack of a coordinated strategy for training and development for the staff in the unit. The IT unit had a good vision to foster growth at the various career stages of its employees but did not have well-designed plan for accomplishing its vision. Part of the problem was a lack of communication about training and development at all levels of the unit. Also, staff training was not keeping up with the rapidly changing IT environment, which hampered the ability of staff to meet changing IT needs on campus. Although the IT unit had used a number of strategies to assess the training needs of unit employees, including asking employees to request training in which they wished to participate, surveying employees, and discussing training at meetings, the unit was still experiencing challenges in assessing the training needs of their employees as they worked in the dynamic and interactive campus environment. A small team, consisting of two trainers, the director of human resource development, and an outside adult learning and training consultant, was formed to develop a new approach to staff training and development in the IT unit. The new approach would need to address training needs in an employee’s current position and development needs for employees’ career advancement within the unit, as well as forester communication about the training and development process. Case Study Questions: 1. What data collection methods would you use to identify learning needs of IT professionals? How would you know that the process is conducive to the unit? 2. What plans would you create to maintain training and development and enhance communication about training within the unit? 3. How would you evaluate the impact of the work you have done with the team after it has been implemented?