EDUI 6705 Final Project

Running head: DEVELOPMENT OF ABC ORIENTATION AND 90-DAY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM 1

Development of ABC Orientation and 90-Day Certification program

By

Liliana Lucy

Alice F. Moore

Nancy B. Velasco

Elizabeth Zeiger

California State University East Bay

June 5, 2010

DEVELOPMENT OF ABC ORIENTATION AND 90-DAY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM 2

Abstract

ABC’s laser focused vision includes becoming well-known within its six

territorial regions of the United States as the number one provider of widget services to

educational institutions, corporate training departments, and community development

services providers.

It is critical that each employee commit to ABC’s vision, mission, and values. To

help strengthen this position, each employee is required to complete the ABC Orientation

and 90-Day Certification program prior to completing their first 90 days of employment.

The students in this program are the newly hired employees and the teachers are the

subject matter experts throughout the organization or outside consultants called in to

assist. The new employee must complete the certificate and also successfully be deemed

to have performed well and met expectations of the hiring manager. The hiring manager

will conduct a formal 90-day review with this employee after the new hire has worked for

one quarter of the year.


Rationale for ABC’s Certificate Program

Introduction

Welcome to ABC! Here, the students are the employees or staff in the organization. The

teachers are the subject matter experts throughout the organization. Outside consultants are also

called in to assist.

New Employees and Retention

ABC employees undergo a great deal of prescreening and are carefully selected for

fulfilling predetermined roles and needs within ABC. By the time a job offer is extended to a

new hire candidate, ABC management and Human Resources have a good sense of the

candidates fit with ABC’s culture. It is critical that each employee commit to ABC’s vision,

mission, and values. To help strengthen this position, each employee is required to complete the

ABC Orientation and 90-Day Certification program prior to completing their first 90-Days of

employment. However, completion of this certificate program does not guarantee employment

pass the initial 90-Days. The new employee must complete the certificate and also successfully

be deemed to have performed well and met expectations of the hiring manager. The hiring

manager will conduct a formal 90-day review with this employee after the first the new hire has

worked for one quarter of the year.

Attrition for new employees certainly is a factor to consider. By the time an employee has

reached the point of beginning employment for ABC, much has already been invested

throughout the rigorous screening and interviewing process. The first 90 days are the most

critical because new employees and their managers will discover if this role and organization are

a good fit. We need to make sure the online learning and welcoming process is beneficial and a

positive experience for the new comer. Engagement is a factor that impacts attrition (Angelino,


& Natvig, 2009). By designing activities online that engage the learner, retention rate is higher.

Engaging activities can include a welcoming discussions, virtual ice breakers, online chatting,

and online collaboration types of activities.

One feature that sets this program apart is that it explores ABC’s culture, mission, values

and so forth in an online rather than traditional learning environment so the learning is more in

the hands of the learner (Howell, Williams, & Lindsay, 2003). It is no longer focused on going to

an on-ground classroom, sitting in hard chairs, and listening to a professor lecture. With online

learning, employees go through a process of self discovery and assessing. They are free to

explore and reflect on their own personal values and mission and ask if they will feel

comfortable at ABC. In the case of ABC, employees are free to ask the tough questions

surrounding their commitment to align with the organization's mission and vision and carry out

the duties associated with their role assignment.

ABC’s Vision

ABC’s laser focused vision includes becoming well known within its six territorial regions

of the United States as the number one provider of widget services to educational institutions,

corporate training departments, and community development services providers.

ABC’s Mission

ABC’s mission is to continuously improve upon and provide widget services that enable our

customers to deliver educational content online seamlessly.

ABC’s Values

ABC values align with the organization’s culture, mission, and vision while recognizing our

talented employees’ role in defining and fostering an environment conducive to progressive

growth.


1. We value our employees and respect their contributions individually and as a team.

2. We value our customers and desire for them to become our raving fans.

3. We value creativity, experimentation, and thoughtful development of ideas in our ever

evolving development of widget services.

4. We value embracing life and uphold personal commitments to work, family, and

community.

Student Learning and Assessment

Student Learning

ABC’s learning development team advices the following for new employees. To get the

most of the online learning students should:

1. Be open-minded about sharing life, work, and educational experiences as part of the

learning process.

2. Be able to communicate online.

3. Be self-motivated and self disciplined.

4. Be willing to "speak up" if problems arise.

5. Be able to think an idea through before responding.

6. Be able to complete assignments on time.

(Illinois Online Network, 2010)

Facilitators

Facilitators are the guides for the start of the new hires' journey at ABC. As such, they will

guide the students in learning how to learn online. They will keep discussion on track, create a

social and friendly environment, and use various learning options to stimulate learner

participation such as small group discussions and small group assignments (Berge, 1995).


Each instructor is certified as an instructor at ABC as well as being certified within their

own area of expertise. Not only are they learning professionals who are recognized by their

colleagues in the learning arena, but they can perform in the top quartile of the business process

as well (Summerfield, 2008).

ABC encourages all its training professionals to seek development opportunities through

colleges and universities and corporate training programs. Fees are paid for professional

development organizations where facilitators can take classes to keep up with the latest

techniques.

Assessment

Evaluation is important to gauge the success of a program and to learn where we can make

improvements. We continually evaluate the design of the courses we offer so that could be up

to date with materials and to make improvements to the program.

In each of our courses, Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation are followed. Each class is

sent an online questionnaire “smile sheet” to measure Level 1. Reactions are important because

if learners react negatively to a course, they are less likely to transfer what they learned to their

work (Shepherd, 1999). Assessment exercises are used to measure Level 2 Learning. During

the course, materials are continuously being reviewed through role plays and other exercises to

keep the information fresh in the students’ minds and to help them better retain the information.

Simulations are also used to test for practical skills. Levels 3 and 4, Application and Business

results are done once the employee has ended their 90-day trial period. Performance coaches are

used to help the students transition from training to the work environment. By using

performance coaches, the employees are ready to move ahead on their own at a faster rate. The

PCs provide positive reinforcement where the results are successful and constructive feedback


and encouragement where they are not. Managers are asked to complete a questionnaire listing

what is working with the new employee and what can be improved or we what emphasize more

in the training.

Additional Assessment Tools

In considering the design our assessments for ABC, the learning group has identified a

resource that provides already prepared assessments. We are considering the staffing capacity

savings associated with using some of these pre-crafted assessments versus designing our own.

The Kenexa (2009) Job Fit, Cultural Fit, and Career Fit Assessment are a set of ready-to-use

exercises to examine if new employees are a fit for ABC incorporation. The assessments are

made up of presentation exercises, role playing, group exercises, and both written and practice

interview sessions. The tools are designed to help the company identify candidates who job

skills, individual needs, and values will match the mission and vision of the company. These

tools also decrease the turnover in the company as well as match the right employee with the

right position. With the three assessment tools this will enhance overall employee commitment

and job satisfaction.

Other relevant assessment tools are utilized in some of the courses that pertain specifically

to the subject attainment being measured. For example, Franklin Covey assessments are used in

the ABC102 Focus Workshop. Overall, careful thought and planning have transpired for each

course. ABC’s assessment methods will continue to evolve with each group of new employees.

Culture and Support Services

Creating culture and a sense of community

It is common for people to feel nervous as they begin a new position in a new organization.

In the beginning, feeling a part of the organization - feeling like a part of the community and


embracing the culture- takes some time and support of others. As we develop the program for

helping new employees feel comfortable, we do want to create a sense of community. Battista,

Forrey and Stevenson (2008) explore ways of creating community by promoting collaboration.

They suggest having various activities and support services that students may voluntarily

participate in while establishing that sense of community. Having a book club, a mentoring club,

a walking club, and hosting a toast master’s group were some ideas given for communities to

consider even doing online. In our ABC organization, it will be important to pass down the

culture of life balance and also community. The culture of balance does speak to finding hobbies

and activities, family and community involvement to enjoy in addition to the work done in the

organization itself.

Another challenge expressed by hiring managers and the HR Department is the need to

create an atmosphere that promotes personal engagement and provide individual attention. A

similar type of program was offered previously as an on campus requirement. ABC is hoping

this new online approach will help increase enthusiasm for the program and also prove effective

in acclimating new hires to ABC.

Technology innovations have proven fruitful in spurring the advancements of online

learning. Portal based provisioning as seen in the use of Blackboard, SharePoint, Moodle,

CRTeacher, and others make hosting online learning and communicating geographically

commonplace. Wikis, blogging, and social media applications such as Second Life, LinkedIn,

Twitter, My Space, and Facebook serve to blur the lines between personal and business usage

and spread the acceptance of online collaboration. Telecommunications and computer-based

technology solutions have merged to form Unified Communications (UC) -- technology that


consists of teleconferencing, web conferencing, video conferencing, instant messaging (IM), and

voice over IP (VOIP).

The Internet provides a means for connecting the world together. ABC does plan on

incorporating these technologies to create a feeling of cohesion among the participating

employees. Employees will have opportunity to explore some of these technology software

applications and services within this program. Others are targeted for coverage as elective

course offerings in the future.

Requesting technology and other resources

By default, all new employees receive a computer workstation with core software

application installed. However, the hiring manager may opt to request a variety of other

equipment and software through ABC’s Support Services page in the ABC Portal. In addition to

standard computer equipment, provisioning is available for ergonomic keyboards, speech and

auto movement types of devices, e-readers, smartphones, various blue tooth devices, screen

readers, hearing amplifiers, and more. Hiring managers may also request special cubicle

configurations and other accommodations, especially if there is a medical order on file from the

new employee’s physician.

Once the employee is onboard, that same portal page is used by the employee to request

additional items and services. However, where budget approval is needed, these requests are

forwarded by the portal to the hiring manager for digital signature approval.

Administrative Aspects

Cost Considerations

One other concern expressed by hiring managers and upper management was that of costs

associated with implementing and maintaining ABC's certificate program online. Encouragement


of online open source software offerings, share ware, and freeware software, tools, and services

have resulted in drastically lowering the costs associated with joining the online development

bandwagon. Werry (2001) is a leader in lobbying around the idea of having an open source free

software consortium to openly access materials for classes and share ideas. He applauds the

concept of partnering for the purpose of advancing use of online portal style for a learning

environment. Open source software is becoming more common place today. ABC may benefit

from different software tools and save initial and ongoing operating expenses. Even the planning

for this program was mostly done using the GoogleDocs platform. GoogleDocs is a free “in the

cloud” type of application that has allowed the learning development team to create, edit, and

share documents.

ABC Policies

ABC’s policies are easily accessed by every employee as they are all located on the

organization’s portal. In fact, printed policies are not considered valid unless printed in a timely

manner as required for use by a court of law. Otherwise, the official policies are digitally stored

and located on the portal.

Levy noted that having policies from the beginning represents one of the keys to having a

high quality online learning course (Levy, 2003). Many of the policies are communicated during

the employee’s Orientation and 90-Day Certification Program. Employees agree to periodically

review and stay informed of changes to policies, particularly as relevant to their particular area or

responsibility. Critical and massively important changes are communicated at organizational

wide staff meetings. Most of these meetings are held online using ABC’s video conferencing

system. Communicating area-specific changes to policies fall under the responsibility of the

management teams in the specific areas impacted. The communication means at that level has


not been dictated specifically. However, emails, team meetings, and in some cases digital text

messages are common mediums used across the organization. Policies changes that are relevant

to examination and accreditation requirements sometimes require staff to sign either manually or

digitally acknowledging that they have read and agree to follow the policy in question.

Creating a legacy and sustainability

Having a legacy type of organization that lasts and serves the community is part of our

vision, and it is interwoven deeply in how we operate from day to day. It has become an attitude

and spirit that ABC hopes to continue handing down for generations to come. One of the

challenges with any company is the transfer of culture to new employees. Additionally, within

each organization there are certain procedures and policies -- ways of going about doing things.

These impact decision making and outcomes as well.

Levine (2009) makes some interesting observations about how historically story telling does

allow for handing down culture from one generation to the next. In today’s society, instead of

writing on a cave wall, these handed down stories are often in the form of expressive clips posted

to YouTube or various social media outlets such as Facebook or My Space. As we seek to

design the pieces of this new comer’s certificate program in which our new employees learn of

our organization’s history and culture, it would be good to think of including those who have

been employed here for many years. As we capture their stories and share them with those new

to the organization, our culture too can travel via such story telling pathways.

As new employees start in our organization, we do not want a bunch of warm bodies that

are simply going through the motions. We want them to catch the vision of where this

organization is heading. We want them to catch the mission, what we are here to do. We want

them to adopt our values and take them to heart. As Farcht (2010) reminds us, we want every


employee to embrace the organizational vision, mission, and values. Additionally, we invite

employees to create their own vision, mission, and values statement and seek way to live those

out in the workplace. This article speaks to the challenge of working with purpose and

identifying with that which is important such as the organization’s vision and mission. One key

note is that with employees onboard and committed to the direction of the organization and part

of that direction, then weathering storms that come up is possible. We certainly understand that

not every day is filled will rose petals. However, even in the days of challenges, employees can

participate and engage in work with an upbeat steadiness, determination, and enthusiasm in

performing their duties.

Beyond the walls

Is time and space a limiting factor? Vision wise, at least, one of the hiring managers bravely

asks if ABC has the potential to expand beyond serving just in the United States. Having a vision

for the future is a must for the success of this organization (Levy, 2003). Mobility,

transportability, flexibility across time zones have all led to development of various

technological improvements that reflect embracing the “anytime, anywhere” concept. Modern

laptops, smart phones, encrypted USB sticks, portable drives, iPods, iPhones, and various digital

recording apparatuses further propel communication online, thus ultimately lessening the earlier

bitterness associated with even the thought of offering learning and working online. Today,

ABC needs access to secure computers that connect to the Internet. Yes, this organization could

evolve to serve learning institutions scattered throughout the world. Though ABC

currently views its six regions of the United States as target markets, strategic teams within our

organization are brainstorming ways of branching out world-wide.


Curriculum and Presentation Considerations

Why online teaching and learning?

At ABC, we want to create an atmosphere of continued learning. This is in recognition to

the fact that technology and modifications for services rendered do change. Our employees need

to have a heart for learning and adapt readily to address and keep up with the change. In doing

so, ABC benefits for the growth in intellectual capital and new solution sets to deliver to our

customers.

One barrier that the leadership at ABC has identified is that employees have various

responsibilities placed upon them, and attending on-ground and on campus classes every month

would not work. Many do travel as a result of their role in the organization. Others are in

positions that require them not to leave their desk or environment in order to obtain new learning

opportunities. Thus, creatively, ABC management tasked the learning and development team to

explore means for bringing learning to our employees and doing so in a manner that is most

flexible. Out of that discovery process came recommendations for developing a program that

gets employees off to a strong and positive start by cultivating a desire to learn and making that a

part of ABC’s culture. ABC101, the orientation class for ABC, is the first impression of our

organization to these new employees, and it is also their first chance to get a taste of learning

online via ABC’s portal.

Frankola (2001) addresses why corporate orientations often have low completion rates, even

if the online programs are mandatory. She reports that corporate e-learners said their top reason

for dropping a course was lack of time. Many had also trouble completing courses from their

desktops because of frequent distractions from co-workers, and some said they could only access

the courses through the company's intranet, so they couldn't finish their assignments from home.


Frankola suggest strategies to ensure a high course completion rate and advise an institution to

develop a culture that takes online learning just as seriously as classroom training, do individual

comparisons, and/or hold managers accountable for the success of their employees. Other

strategies include using managers as role models, creating a social dimension to e-learning,

making expectations clear up front, providing formal rewards, tracking performance, holding a

team competition, and launching a communications campaign.

Curriculum Design

Even though the article, “Preparing for Distance Learning: Designing an Online Student

Orientation Course” (Bozarth, Chapman, & LaMonica, 2004) focuses on a student orientation

course, it provides some useful advice for an online business tutorial. The authors found that

there is a need for online learners to understand the time commitment required of an online

course and possess or develop strong time management skills. Their research also found

surprising differences between instructors of online courses and their students of what an

orientation to online learning should include. The paper concludes by recommending specific

design, development, and implementation practices for creating an online orientation.

ABC’s learning and development group took these thoughts into consideration and

developed each course’s offerings based on a template which led the group to carefully consider

the course descriptions, learning objectives, teaching methods and strategies, competency

attainment level, and learning outcome. The learning activities also took into consideration the

dynamics of learning in an online environment in which employees are not physically located in

the same place or time zone. It also took into consideration the need to bring employees current

with Net 2.0 technology tools that ABC embraces as a means for communicating key strategies

and also staying in touch with our customers.


Frank White (1999) urged a paradigm shift from a one-size-fit-all traditional educational

system. He encouraged the critics and inspectors of online learning to evaluate the strengths and

assess the benefits to society. On the horizon of White’s challenge came innovative learning

designers such as Robert H. Lytle (1999) who insightfully challenged educators to objectively

integrate learning systems to encompass the needs of corporations and real world situations.

Bringing flexibility, choices, and ABC's culture to new employees individually via online

learning benefits them individually and ABC as a whole. ABC, like White and Lytle, leverages

the strengths of online technology, delivering learning carefully designed to meet real needs,

while being mindful of expectations expressed by key stakeholders. The key stakeholders are

the hiring managers, the new employees, our security officer, and the Human Resources

Department.

Curriculum selection and continuous improvement cycle

ABC’s new employee Orientation and 90-Day Certification Program is offered completely

online. However, the design has flexibility woven into it. For example, there are materials that

can easily be exported to PDF and stored on a laptop, e-reader, smart phone, or even printed out.

ABC’s learning development group took into consideration that employees learn in unique ways

in the overall design of courses. Additionally, technology changes rapidly and ABC as an

organization continues evolving and transforming as well. Therefore, the program is evaluated

after each cycle and each group of employees, and is assessed for relevancy, accuracy, and

practical acceptance from the ABC employees. Changes are made often in a “just in time”

fashion to capture the most current material possible for new hires. Periodic review of

curriculum is best practice at ABC and in the industry as well.


The curriculum designed for ABC makes use of a variety of different content building

software applications. Content presented online appeals to our ever increasing multi-sensory

audiences as it more frequently than not has construction rooted in the use of tools such as

Dreamweaver, Flash, Captivate, Camtasia, Photoshop, iMovie, Movie Maker, Final Cut Pro,

Premiere, Finale, MS Presenter, and even the traditional MS PowerPoint. Online learning and

online training programs today really have moved away from the “one size fits all” framework.

ABC embraces this growing perspective as it seeks a new way to reach out and help new

employees feel more at home at ABC.

CEUs

We are pleased to announce that this program looks primarily eligible for receiving

Continuing Education Units (CEUs) through our association with the junior college having a

physical location near ABC. Current plans include incorporating CEU advisors and consultants

as part of this certificate program's stakeholder team. By including them in the planning process

early on it is hopeful that the program will meet CEU requirements during the review process for

accreditation purposes. It also helps to ensure a more solid program that will be of benefit to

these new employees and to ABC as a whole.

ABC’s Learning Portal and LMS Platform

The learning group is currently reviewing hosting provisions for housing of the learning

portal. We are considering various Internet third party hosting possibilities given that many of

these new employees will already be asked to work remotely during their first 90-Days.

However, scoring and progress tracking records will tie back into our in-house Learning

Management System (LMS). Today we are using Lectura for our LMS solution. However, as

communicated in other company wide announcements, there is the possibility of us moving away


from Lectora in favor of a system that will support a more graphical reporting ingenuity for the

various management teams. The evaluation of the appropriate LMS for ABC is beyond the

scope of the certificate program project and is being scoped separately as part of the LMS

Alternatives Enterprise Project.

Infrastructure Security Considerations

Despite advances and growing acceptance for online learning, the technology water grows

murky as Internet doorways provide opportunity for Internet bullies, intrusions, thievery,

stalking, spoofing, phishing, worms, viruses, malware, and other unwelcome hotspots. Trouble

purposefully targeted to personal computers were at one time just out of spite and often delivered

in joking fashion by some devious computer nerd wishing to wreck havoc to work environments

of others. Over time, attacks have grown to take advantage of sophisticated hacking and other

means of causing destruction or stealing identity and intellectual property for purpose of

deceitful profit.

ABC's technical staff oversees the portal maintenance and safeguarding and take

precautions to safeguard the residing servers from these invasive attacks. Curriculum content

development takes place on computer systems that also have protective measures in place. The

weak link in the chain remains at the employee's computer. Each employee should keep virus

detection and intrusion detection software current to further protect her individual computer.

This protection requirement reflects standard procedures associated with surfing the Internet.

Suzzane Levy (2003) advises to having technical support services available to help students with

such problems is a key component to designing a program of instruction. The participants can

receive full support by phoning ABC's technical hotline or by accessing the Support Services

page from ABC's portal from a computer that is functioning properly.


Timing Factor

The actual building of this certificate program will take several weeks to complete and fine

tune. We are anticipating piloting with the first group of new employees beginning fourth

quarter of this year. During second quarter the learning group will finalize the course templates.

Third quarter is designated for identifying curriculum content and actually building out the

learning portal. Budget considerations are already under consideration for developing out

additional elective courses in response to input from our hiring managers (stakeholder group).

This is discussed further down in this document.

Program Planning

Program planning took into consideration various inputs from stakeholders. Also,

employees were randomly surveyed to learn of areas throughout ABC that could benefit from

coursework. A dedicated learning and development team spent a considerable number of hours

planning out the courses and sequencing for this program. ABC101 through ABC105 are core

offerings. ABC101 is a prerequisite for the rest of the courses. ABC105 is the capstone, taken

last unless special approval is granted. ABC104 emphasizes travelers. Though some employees

may never be called upon to travel on behalf of ABC, it is anticipated that most employees will

at least interact with other employees who are assigned traveling responsibilities. ABC104

technically is considered as an elective. While most employees will be required to complete

ABC104, hiring managers of new line employees who will have little to no interaction with

employees who travel may opt to have their new employees exempted from taking this particular

course.


Course Planning for ABC101: Orientation to ABC

The following represent the planning for the orientation course. This course is the

prerequisite for all other courses. One of the reasons HR publishes orientation and “hiring in”

dates on their online calendar is to encourage hiring managers to use the first day or orientation

as a hire in date. The thought being is that the more that start together at the same the better in

terms of creating that sense of online community.

Name of Course

ABC 101: Orientation to ABC

Prerequisite(s)

None

Course Description

The orientation course is required of all new employees and is normally attended within the

first week of starting at ABC. In the orientation course, employees will be introduced to the

culture and makeup of ABC, especially its mission, vision, and values. They will also become

familiar with the benefits package under their starting terms.

Course Objectives

1. Employee should comprehend ABC's mission statement and values well enough to recite

it through a teleconference or web conference.

2. Employee will gain an overall understanding of ABC's organizational structure, and

demonstrate locating a specified employee in the online organizational chart.

3. Employee should access the ABC Portal and identify 5 supportive services available and

best means for contacting each.


4. Employees shall comprehend the written goals their hiring manager has given them for

the first ninety days' expectations and establish steps towards completing them in the 90-

day probationary period.

5. Employee will ascertain understanding of the comprehensive orientation program by

completing a policy and procedures test to a grade of 75% or higher.

Objective 1

Employee should comprehend ABC's mission statement and values well enough to recite it

through a teleconference or web conference.

Teaching strategy

ABC’s mission and values are held with upmost importance. Throughout the entire

certificate program employees are encouraged to regard mission and values as more than just

words hanging on the wall. They are encouraged to interweave these into the very fabric of

decision making. Content selection is at a concept attainment level.

Teaching method

1. Employees print out job aid printable cards containing mission and values.

2. Employees watch a "raving fan" customer clip, and then join in a discussion forum

sharing what they observed that matches the info on the job card.

3. Employees watch another clip in which company employees at various companies are

asked if they know the mission of the company. (In the clip, many do not know the

mission.)

4. Employees take time to journal why they feel knowing the mission and values are

important.


5. Employees then are presented with a commitment challenge to commit to learning the

mission statement and the value statements. Employees click to acknowledge their

agreement to the challenge.

Assessment

Employees are required to recite the mission statement and the values by means of

teleconferencing or web conferencing. Alternately, their manager can sign a statement noting

they listened to the employee cite these.

Competency level

Knowledge, Application, and Evaluation

Objective 2

Employee will gain an overall understanding of ABC's organizational structure, and

demonstrate locating a specified employee in the online organizational chart.

Teaching strategy

ABC’s culture includes an emphasis on relationships and understanding the needs

throughout the organization. Our goals work best when employees know each other and work

together. Our online organizational chart serves as a resource to help staff in getting to know

names, positions, and departments. It is hopeful that employees will see opportunities to

embrace our mission statement as they work together. The content style is one of applying the

concept of mission in getting to know others in the organization.

Teaching method

1. Employees will log in to the ABC Portal and find and launch the ABC Org application.

2. The employee will find his or her own photo and profile depicted in the org chart.

3. The employee will find and the names of the rest of the team members.


4. The employee will go up the org chart and find his manager’s photo and profile.

5. The employee will continue up the organization structure and find the top branch of the

chart that is directly above those already discovered.

6. Then, the employee will be asked to look up and find the profiles for each of the

employees that were introduced during the second interview.

Assessment

1. Employees do not have to commit to memory; however, they do need to know how to

look up the names of each of ABC’s divisions.

2. Employees should be able to recall the names of each member on the immediate team.

3. Employee should know the name of the person that his or her manager reports.

Competency level

Knowledge and Synthesis

Additional notes

Most second interviews do include a variety of employees at various levels of the

organization. If this particular one ended up being an exception, think through how to modify

the assessment section so that it will still be meaningful for the new employee.

Objective 3

Employee should list 5 supportive services available and best means for contacting each.

Teaching strategy

One observation of employees who have worked here for more than a year is that there is

difficulty obtaining supportive services because they were unfamiliar with the choices of services

available. ABC leadership has decided that it would be good to introduce these services to our


new employees from the beginning. Content style is primarily focused making sure employees

are aware of these services.

Teaching method

1. Employees will explore supportive services as found on the HR page of the ABC portal.

2. After doing so they will participate in the online forum and discuss if there are any clubs

that look like something they would like to join. If they do not find any from available

options, then they are prompted to give suggestions as to a club to add.

3. Employees view some online clips regarding the fact that emergencies happen, conflicts

happen, and life happens. They are then asked to participate in a discussion and given

opportunity to share a time when they faced a difficult experience and needed some help

at a prior position.

4. After engaging in discussion, the employees view a welcoming clip from our employee

relations specialist as she describes ABC’s supportive services and offerings.

5. Employees are then instructed to print out a job aid card that they can keep at their

fingertips that contains brief summaries of services that they can call upon.

Assessment

Employees meet one-on-one with their manager, the employee relations specialist, or other

HR employee to make sure the job card was printed out correctly and to answer any questions

the new employee might have.

Competency level

Knowledge and Application

Additional notes


Listen for any special needs that the employee may share. Make sure to direct the employee

to the appropriate support service.

Objective 4

Employees shall comprehend the written goals their hiring manager has given them for the

first ninety days' expectations and establish steps towards completing them in the 90-day

probationary period.

Teaching strategy

ABCs has a standard among its leadership of establishing performance objectives for the

first ninety days of employment. This process gives hiring managers opportunity to get to know

the new employee and establish expectations. The goal is to help the new employee feel

comfortable during their first ninety days.

Teaching method

1. Online tutorial on expected steps towards completing the ninety-day review.

2. One-on-one meeting with hiring manager via web or teleconferencing and reading

through a description of the 90-day performance objective that the hiring manager has

prepared.

Assessment

Completing a full time line listing all the dates for expected completion of tasks required for

the first ninety days of employment, reviewed by the supervising manager.

Competency level

Comprehension and Evaluation

Additional notes


A copy of the employee’s first 90-day objectives should be stored in ABC’s portal -- HR

employment records section.

Objective 5

Employee will ascertain understanding of the comprehensive orientation program by

completing a policy and procedures test to a grade of 75% or higher.

Teaching strategy

Core policies and procedures are reviewed through the orientation process. ABC holds

employees to the highest standards and requires that they abide by the policies and procedures.

It is important that ABC keep policies and procedures current. It is healthy for the operation of

our organization and also reviewed during various examinations conducted by our outside

accountability groups. Content style is primarily concept attainment and awareness of policies

and their location on the portal.

Teaching method

1. Employees will become acquainted with the online policies and procedures as found on

the HR page of the ABC portal. These topics include overall company policy on vacation

days, security protocol, annual reviews, and other procedures.

2. Each employee will receive a series of case studies and will be asked to refer to the

policies and procedures in the HR page to answer them.

3. After doing so they will participate in the online forum and discuss each of the case

studies to see how others handled them.

Assessment


An online test proctored through the HR website.

Competency level

Knowledge and Comprehension

Course Planning for ABC102: Focus Workshop

This course will help new employees connect to the culture of ABC and gather life skills

that will help with life balance and priorities. The course leans heavily on Franklin Covey

materials as some of our trainers are Franklin Covey certified as Franklin facilitators.

Name of Course

ABC 102: Focus Workshop

Prerequisite(s)

ABC101

Course Description

In this course employees explore the alignment of the organizational, team, and personal

mission and values. They also define their personal roles and reflect on their life purpose.

Employees walk away with a planning system for assisting with weekly and daily planning with

the goal being to better align action -- daily and weekly routines to what matters most.

Course Objectives

1. Employees shall use the Franklin Covey mission building tool, explore and build a

personal mission statement.

2. Using Franklin Covey’s Stress Assessment tool, employees will assess their own typical

stress level and demonstrate use of Franklin Covey’s Time Matrix in prioritizing daily

tasks.


3. Employee will explore Franklin Covey’s online Time Management Fundamentals

material, and then demonstrate use of learned weekly planning steps inside of MS

Outlook.

Objective 1

Employees shall use the Franklin Covey mission building tool, explore and build a personal

mission statement.

Teaching strategy

ABC values each individual employee and desires to provide outlets for its employees to

grow both personally and professionally. Traditionally, ABC’s leadership team has discovered

that employees embrace the concept of organizational and team mission after they have

developed personal mission statements. Content type focuses on concept attainment and seeks to

relay the concept of “mission” to its employees.

Teaching methods

1. Use of Franklin Covey’s online mission building tool located at

http://www.franklincovey.com/msb/

2. (Optionally) Go through Franklin Covey’s Begin with the End in Mind Liveclick online

training session -- located here online

http://www.franklincovey.com/tc/publicworkshops/liveclicks-webinar-workshops/habit-

2-begin-with-the-end-in-mind--defining-your-contribution-and-leading-with-purpose

3. Discussion forum for posting and sharing personal mission.

4. Job Aids with ABC’s mission, vision, and values listed.

5. Job Aids with employee’s relevant team’s mission statement.


6. Discussion forum provided to revisit ABC’s organization level mission and opportunity

for employee to share what they like about the organization’s mission statement.

7. Discussion forum provided to share what the employee likes about the team’s mission

statement.

8. Journaling opportunity for employee to share the extent to which personal, team, and

organization missions align or do not align as well as thoughts regarding commitment to

these mission statements.

Assessment

Reviewing the discussion postings and the journals that the employee has posted to see if

there is an understanding of how to construct a mission statement.

Competency Level

Knowledge, Application, Synthesis

Objective 2

Using Franklin Covey’s Stress Assessment tool, employees will assess their own typical

stress level and demonstrate use of Franklin Covey’s Time Matrix in prioritizing daily tasks.

Teaching strategy

ABC leadership recognizes that new employees need some help in developing prioritization

skills for use both inside and outside of the workplace. Stress can be triggered by not having a

sense of how to go about prioritizing life challenges. Franklin Covey has developed learning

tools to assist in this area. It is believed that ABC benefits by equipping employees with the

understanding and skills needed for assessing and prioritizing around the most important.

Content type is that of bridging concept to process. It takes the concept of mission and helps the


employees gain steps and overall process to prioritize with mission in focus.

Teaching methods

1. Completion of Franklin Covey’s online stress assessment located online at

http://www.franklincovey.com/stress-assessment/.

2. Discussion forum opportunity for sharing surprises and realization employee may have

encountered as a result of the assessment.

3. Four quadrant resulting report depicts employees prioritizing habits as revealed through

the stress assessment -- employees review directions on how to interpret the report

4. Franklin Covey’s online Time Management for Outlook Liveclick training piece located

online here http://www.franklincovey.com/tc/publicworkshops/liveclicks-webinar-

workshops/time-management-for-microsoft--outlook-increasing-your-productivity-

through-the-effective-use-of-outlook

5. Employees can individually practice daily planning as presented in the Franklin Covey

online Liveclick.

6. Those needing additional assistance may contact ABC Support Services for one-on-one

instruction in the use of MS Outlook.

Assessment

1. Outlook tasks are shareable between the employees and their hiring manager. The

employee’s calendar and tasks should demonstrate understanding of prioritizing tasks to

distinguish high important tasks from medium and lower importance task.

2. Outlook calendars are also shareable and should demonstrate thought in daily planning in

noting required meetings and assigned project tasks (if applicable).

Competency Level


Comprehension, Application, Analysis

Objective 3

Employee will explore Franklin Covey’s online Time Management Fundamentals material,

and then demonstrate use of learned weekly planning steps inside of MS Outlook.

Teaching strategy

ABC leadership realizes the value of planning ahead in a proactive manner and believes it

important to equip each employee with skills for initiating such planning across the organization.

Weekly planning is a natural next step to daily planning. Content type continues on from the

process development expressed in objective 2, thus it is process focused.

Teaching methods

1. Franklin Covey’s Time Management Fundamentals: Achieving your Highest Priorities

Liveclick training session located here online

http://www.franklincovey.com/tc/publicworkshops/liveclicks-webinar-workshops/habit-

2-begin-with-the-end-in-mind--defining-your-contribution-and-leading-with-purpose

2. Job Aid listing out the Weekly Planning steps

3. Employees will use MS Outlook and walk through the Weekly Planning steps following

the job aid (and the Franklin Covey Liveclick)

4. Discussion forums provide opportunities for employees to share new discoveries and

insight experience through the weekly planning process.

5. Journaling opportunity for employees to share the areas of the weekly planning process

that they individually find most challenging and how they hope to smooth out that

challenging spot.


Assessment

Weekly planning can most certainly contain personal items. Therefore, for this particular

objective employees will be held to an honor system to express to their hiring manager if they

have or have not completed at least one cycle of the weekly planning process steps. Employees

will not be required to show the actual weekly planning materials themselves.

Competency Level

Application, Synthesis and mostly Evaluation

Course Planning for ABC103: ABC’s Technology

ABC long-time employees have often suggested developing a course that will help acquaint

new employees with our core systems. Thus, this course actually came together as a result of

employees participating in a discussion forum and sharing struggles they each had initially.

Name of Course

ABC103: Introduction to ABC’s Technology

Prerequisite(s)

ABC101

Course Description

Employees gain a working understanding of logging in and basic uses of ABC authorized

and assigned technology systems and software applications relevant to assigned roles. They

explore technology resources and support services and place services requests as applicable to

personal need.

Course Objectives

1. Given tutorials on ABC Technology policies, employees will gain understanding of

applicable ABC technology and complete discussion board postings.


2. Given self-paced modules on the applicable duties of his or her role at ABC, employees

will explore basics of each of the core ABC systems and demonstrate mastery by

completing online exercises.

3. Given training resources relevant to technology available on the ABC Intranet Portal,

employees will learn how to use the support services area and will exercise mastery by

submitting an online requests for copies of the orientation materials on DVD and signing

up for their next course.

Objective 1

Given tutorials on ABC Technology policies, employees will gain understanding of

applicable ABC technology and complete discussion board postings.

Teaching Strategy

While ABC has too many policies to cover all of them during orientation, ABC leadership

feels there are some basic key policies that must be reviewed and understood by all new

employees. These are considered as the core policies for orientation and are in a folder for new

employees inside the ABC Portal’s Policy Page. Content Style is once of concept attainment and

ability to apply policy to various situations, so process would also be appropriate.

Teaching method

1. Employees will be directed to the ABC portal to find tutorials on technology policies and

procedures.

2. Questions will be posted in the Discussion Board to check for understanding of the

policy.

Assessment


Three scenarios will be posted and employees will be asked to respond based on ABC's

technology policy. The supervising manager will evaluate the responses.

Competency Level

Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application

Additional Notes

Those hiring in as managers have additional policies which are located under the manager

folder inside the ABC Portal on the Policy page.

Objective 2

Given self-paced modules on the applicable duties of his or her role at ABC, employees will

explore basics of each of the core ABC systems and demonstrate mastery by completing online

exercises.

Teaching strategy

Hiring managers in the past have expressed the need for new employees to understand

sections of our core ABC systems that apply specifically to their assigned role. The curriculum

design team carefully crafted these customized modules based on the various roles through out

the organization. They created these modules to feel much like simulations of the real working

environment for our ABC employees.

Teaching method

1. Employees will be directed to the self-paced modules for each of the applicable systems

in his or her role.

2. After each self paced module, employees will be given exercises to complete to help

them practice using the systems.


3. Employees could access ABCs micro-blogging tool, which allows employees to

communicate with each other and to a broader employee audience in an open forum, to

ask questions about the systems.

Assessment

Once the employee has completed all of the modules necessary, they will be given a set of

exercises designed to test their knowledge of the systems. An 80% grade will represent

understanding of the role.

Competency Level

Knowledge, Application, Synthesis

Additional Notes

Encourage the employees to contact Support Services for technical assistance. The Support

Services team is fairly familiar with all of the modules.

Objective 3

Given training resources relevant to technology available on the ABC Intranet Portal,

employees will learn how to use the support services area and will exercise mastery by

submitting an online requests for copies of the orientation materials on DVD and signing up for

their next course.

Teaching strategy

ABC leadership wants to make sure every employee knows right up front helpful services

available to each employee. Additionally, it is less time consuming to have the employees

requests some services themselves.

Teaching method


Employees will be shown a self paced module explaining where and how to access the

training materials including ordering business cards, requesting a company credit card, noting

any problems with computer equipment, and requesting for an ergonomic evaluation, and more.

They will be directed to the optional classes relevant to their roles.

Assessment

Employees will be submit an online request to order business cards, request a company

credit card, set a date for an ergonomic evaluation, and enroll themselves in relevant classes.

Employees will submit requests for all four tasks accurately.

Competency Level

Comprehension, Application

Course Planning for ABC104: Technical Equipment for Travelers

ABC leadership suspects that one reason there is more turnover in employees amongst those

that are required to travel is that many of these same employees find themselves miles away from

the main office and struggling with technology. Without the knowledge and comfortable use of

computer equipment and various devices and without knowing how to obtain help, many just get

so frustrated that they quit. This course was designed to meet those challenges. Though not

everyone travels, each employee is encouraged to take this course because we want everyone to

feel like community and be able to fully support those that are scattered in dispersed locations.

Name of Course

ABC104: Technical Equipment for Travelers

Prerequisite(s)

ABC101 and ABC103

Course Description


Employees gain advice on use of laptops, smartphones, and secured storage devices,

webcams, and eReader devices. Emphasis is placed on understanding how to use the equipment

and seeking help when assistance is needed.

Course Objectives

1. Employees explore tutorials that introduce them to basic operations of various ABC

technology equipment assign to them and digitally acknowledge completing the tutorial.

2. Employees gain understanding of ways to gain after hours support by accessing ABC

portal and by demonstrating placing a service request.

3. Employees practice traveling with assigned technology software and equipment and

communicating back to the main office using available resources.

Objective 1

Employees explore tutorials that introduce them to basic operations of various ABC

technology equipment assign to them and digitally acknowledge completing the tutorial.

Teaching strategy

These tutorials are important for each employee to complete so that if they are a way from

the office they are able to maintain use of each piece of equipment comfortably.

Teaching method

1. Employees will go to the ABC Portal to gain an understanding of how to use smart

phones and laptops by selecting the link corresponding to their equipment and reading

through the applicable documents. User manuals and help tips are available there for

each device and model.

2. Employees will go to the ABC Portal, launch and complete hands on training online via

the tutorial for each device.


3. Employees access the ABC Portal, and review the required learning areas for each device

in the ABC Knowledge Center or contact the IT desk for further assistance.

4. Familiarize each employee with how to use their smartphone through video clips for the

ABC selected standard smartphone. Links are provided on the ABC Portal Support

Services Resource page.

5. Test each employee to see how well they can use their phone and find resources. Make

sure they know how to leave and respond to voice mail messages, etc. Employee must

score at least 80% on the phone test.

6. Employee will download digital books from ABC’s portal and from Amazon’s site as

needed and send a link to the file location that they used for storing a small book to their

hiring manager.

7. Employees will walk through different scenarios that require them to locate resource

tools provided by ABC and find links related to the device in question.

Assessment

1. Review with each employee their smartphone voice mail accounts and email addresses.

2. Employee will pass a phone assessment test and score at least 80%.

3. Check portals and tutorial to make sure employee have digitally signed completing each

relevant module.

Competency level

Knowledge, Comprehension, Application

Objective 2

Employees gain understanding of ways to gain after-hours support by accessing ABC portal

and by demonstrating placing a service request.


Teaching strategy

Though some departments designate a liaison to contact IT for support for their particular

area, ABC leadership wants to make sure every employee is comfortable placing support

requests. This is especially important for those who travel and may not have the benefit of

having someone else place the request on their behalf.

Teaching method

1. Allow employee opportunity to role play and practice online placing requests by

providing various scenarios and asking them how they would go about placing requests

for each one.

2. Prepared specific scenarios that simulate the employee residing in a different time zone

and allow the employee opportunity to practice how to submit a request during non-

working hours.

3. Employee will participate in a discussion forum with others in the class to further

enhance learning. They will discuss different obstacles encountered when placing service

requests.

Assessment

Employees will score at least 80% on a scenario based test in which they will be required to

submit various service request to our testing IT help desk.

Objective 3

Employees practice traveling with assigned technology software and equipment and

communicating back to the main office using available resources.


Teaching strategy

In order to make sure that employees are comfortable with ABC equipment, hiring manger

will have them travel to different locations, connect remotely to the ABC Portal, demonstrate

that they can get from one link to the next, check voice mail on each smart phone, use webcams

and participate in video conferencing (if applicable), correspond via email, conduct file saving

and file transfers as needed. It is hopeful that these test scenarios will help prepare our

employees for future encounters in which employees will be asked to travel and meet with

customers.

Teaching method

1. Access ehow.com to find answer for questions regarding smart phone

instructions http://www.ehow.com/how_2012173_synchronize-treo-computer.html

2. Use PowerPoint with web conferencing to give employees examples and instructions

3. Provide an ABC job aid manual online for easy access. Employees may print the job aid

manual or download it to their e-reader device.

4. Employees will participate in several surveys to determine areas that they still need

assistance. Assistance will be provided on a one on one basis.

5. Employee will participate in online discussion forums with other classmates and

exchange tips regarding use of smartphones and other devices.

Assessment

Employees have passed their solo test of connecting to the home office from a different

location and performing various operations covered in the course. The simulation test must be

passed with a score of at least 80%.


Competency level

Knowledge, Comprehension, Synthesis

Additional notes

At the hiring manager’s discretion, the simulation testing may include more involved steps

depending on the extent the employee is going to be traveling and representing ABC.

Course Planning for ABC105: Creating and Leaving a Legacy

Name of Course

ABC105: Creating and Leaving a Legacy

Prerequisite(s)

ABC101, (Ideally this is the capstone course and should be taken last. Exceptions are

considered by the Director of Online Teaching and Learning.)

Course Description

In this capstone course, employees are challenged to find their voice, "their seat on the bus”.

Employees explore ingredients of successful organizations and the development of Wildly

Important Goals (WIGs). Employees explore ABC’s WIGs -- both at a top level and team level.

Course Objectives

1. After exploring Good to Great materials, Employees explain the importance of his or her

role in terms of ABC’s vision and mission and complete the Kenexa Job Fit assessment.

2. Employees identify the location of ABC’s Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) and

associated scoreboards as well as demonstrate an understanding of how his or her role

and responsibilities align to support ABC’s WIGs by completing Kenexa’s 4 Step

assessment.


3. Employees break up into subgroups by ABC division and gain more detailed

understanding of WIGs for their given areas and what is expected from them individually

and complete Kenexa’s goals

Objective 1

After exploring Good to Great materials, Employees explain the importance of his or her

role in terms of ABC’s vision and mission, and complete the Kenexa Job Fit assessment.

Teaching Strategy

Overall goal of this objective is concept attainment, thus concept type of content is

incorporated. ABC’s leadership style has trickled throughout the organization and is based on

the Good to Great “right seat on the bus” concept. We want the employees to understand what

that means and to assess individual commitment to each take “their assigned seat" and journey

along the “vision pathway” of ABC together having unified direction and purpose. Various

methods are incorporated to drive the concept home for our new employees. An assessment is

used to determine if this objective was achieved.

Teaching Method

1. Viewing abridged clips highlighting Good to Great concept “The right seat on the bus”

2. Participating in forum discussion sharing why determining each person’s role and part is

important in propelling ABC forward

3. Personal journaling opportunity to reflect on the new position and thoughts regarding

personal commitment to fully embrace role described in individual job description

received from HR

4. Reading entire Good to Great book which is available in various formats for the

employee to choose from: hardback book, digital book for smartphone, Kindle device,


iPad, laptop, audio CD, or PC reading pleasure. (It’s a lengthy read, but core to many of

our organization’s concepts and culture)

5. Availability of online glossary of terms that ABC has picked up on from the Good to

Great book

Assessment

1. Consideration is given to Kenexa’s services and administer a “job fit” assessment via

their online testing portal.

2. Prior to completing a Kenexa assessment employees are required to read a statement

certifying that their responses are their’s alone and they are not completing the

assessment with assistance unless authorized by HR. They then are prompted to enter

their employee id to confirm digitally.

3. The employee’s discussion postings and journal will also be taken into consideration.

Competency Level

Application, Comprehension, Evaluation

Objective 2

Employees identify the location of ABC’s Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) and associated

scoreboards as well as demonstrate an understanding of how his or her role and responsibilities

align to support ABC’s WIGs by completing Kenexa’s 4 Step assessment.

Teaching Strategy

At this point, employees are beginning to gain insight into the tools used for keeping ABC

moving forward towards vision. Thus, content approach is to bridge concept to principle.

Employees will be introduced to the WIG building blocks that help ABC maintain alignment.

Teaching Method


1. Viewing abridged clips highlighting each of the 4 Disciplines of Execution concepts.

2. Participating in forum discussion sharing why establishing WIGs and having alignment

throughout ABC is important.

3. Personal journaling opportunity to reflect on the new position and thoughts regarding

personal commitment to fully embrace role described as it aligns with ABC’s WIGs.

4. Reading entire 4 Disciplines of Execution book which is available in various formats for

the employee to choose from: hardback book, digital book for smartphone, Kindle

device, iPad, laptop, audio CD, or PC reading pleasure. (It’s a short read, and core to

many of our organization’s goal setting habits)

5. Availability of online glossary of terms that ABC has picked up on from the 4 Disciplines

of Execution book

Assessment

Consideration is given to using Kenexa’s services and administering a “4 Steps” related

assessment via their online testing portal. We need to assess the employees’ ability to remember

the steps involved at this point, and ability to define WIGs.

Competency Level

Knowledge, Comprehension

Objective 3

Employees break up into subgroups by ABC division and gain more detailed understanding

of WIGs for their given areas and what is expected from them individually and complete

Kenexa’s goals assessment.


Teaching strategy

The closure piece seeks to drill down WIG development to a team level and helps the

employee see the steps and tools utilized more at a team level to provide goal alignment

throughout ABC. Thus, the content style focuses on identify processes and learning those

processes.

Teaching method

1. Explore introductory materials “ManagePro” from Performance Solutions Technology,

and complete the online training session provided by Performance Solutions Technology

2. Participate in discussions to identify steps to process through in establishing and

monitoring goals.

3. Break up into practice groups online, and use the ManagePro software to simulate a

group selected goal. The purpose is to gain the skill associated with going through the

identified goal steps using ManagePro.

4. Journal thoughts regarding experiences associated with working in an online group and

also thoughts regarding walking through the goal formation and monitoring steps.

Assessment

Consideration is given to using Kenexa’s services and administer a “Goals” related

assessment via their online testing portal. We need to assess the employees ability to actually

create a goal and demonstrate applying the 4 main disciplines to that process. We also need to

see that the employee is able to link goals created to an overall higher level goal.

Competency Level

Application, Synthesis, Evaluation


Program Planning Phase 2

As noted earlier, the learning development team had opportunity to gain valuable input from

stakeholders and employees. Given the extent of the feedback, the learning development team

presents the following preliminary course ideas for consideration. Granted, these ideas need

more work and the course planning for these still need developing. However, the learning and

development group feels it important to present these ideas early for a couple of reasons. One, it

is important that our stakeholders know that we have listened to their expressed concerns and are

working to find solutions. Also, each of these courses will require some unknown budget

amount. The learning and development group would like to propose budget planning

considerations for 2011. The recommendation is to scope a phase two project that would seek to

build out a number of elective offerings. These elective courses would then be attended by both

new and existing employees. The recommendation is to budget for and scope staffing capacity

to begin phase 2 planning efforts in first quarter of 2011.

Elective Draft for ABC106: The Power of Teams

Hiring managers have expressed some struggles over finding ways of motivating and

inspiring their employees to work together without grumbling and to stop with comments such as

“that’s not in my job description”. This course may be just the thing. The learning group seeks

to build this course out and develop the rest of the planning for this as part of phase 2.

Name of Course

ABC106: The Power of Teams

Prerequisite(s)

ABC101

Course Description


Employees explore their strengths, dynamics in working in a team, and turning our

customers into raving fans.

Course Objectives

1. Employees are encouraged to read through the online book Raving Fans and explain

ways for ABC to treat our customers so as to create raving fans and then may participate

in ABC’s Raving Fans Comments Contest.

2. Employees take the Strength Finders online inventory, discover their top five strengths,

and share with their team as they explore and explain how their strengths can best be

utilized at ABC.

3. Employees view team building clips and come up with their top five ingredients for

effective teams and as a team set goals for their area.

Elective Draft for ABC107: Security Considerations

The security course is particularly important for our traveling employees and others

working in geographically dispersed location. It is proposed to begin this course as an elective,

yet consider offering it as a required core course as need is assessed.

Name of Course

ABC107: Security Considerations

Prerequisite(s)

ABC101 and ABC103

Course Description

The course emphasis security precautions for those who work remotely and for those called

upon to provide assistance.

Course Objectives


1. After watching specially prepared security video clips and participating in forum

discussions, employees will demonstrate understanding of various security measures

relevant to travelers, laptops, smartphones, data files and storage devices, and

surroundings by completing ABC’s security test with a score of at least 80%

2. After reviewing an educational webinar on document classification located in ABC’s

Portal, employees simulate traveling “encounters” and distinguish between information

that is shareable and non-shareable and successfully share appropriate content with online

testing capturing avatars.

3. Employees explore relevant security policies and pass a security policy test with a score

of at least 80%

Elective Draft for ABC108: ABC Conferencing Tools and Best Practices

Initially, this course was under consideration for inclusion as a core part of the core

certificate program curriculum. However, ABC leadership has opted for the learning and

development group to consider this course for inclusion as an elective instead. This decision

came as leadership realized that only a fraction of the organization will use conferencing

resources. However, as conferencing services mature and expertise also travels with that

maturity ABC anticipates revisiting conferencing as possibly a resource for organizational

deployment. Until such a wider spread deployment occurs, this course will be offered as an

elective. Thus, the learning and development group proposes moving it to the elective build out

associated with phase 2. The learning and development group actually started building on this

course prior to the leadership decision. Therefore, some of the teaching methods have been

planned as depicted below.


Name of Course

ABC108: ABC Conferencing Tools and Best Practices

Prerequisite(s)

ABC101 and ABC103

Course Description

The course covers use of ABC’s web conferencing, teleconferencing, and video

conferencing services. Beyond understanding use of conferencing resources, employees explore

best practices in communicating to geographically scattered locations.

Course Objectives

1. Employees use ABC conferencing services and host and participate in web conferences

and demonstrate use of the web conferencing, teleconferencing, and video conferencing

services and relevant equipment.

2. Employees participate in forum discussions, share best practices regarding collaborating

remotely and discuss meeting and relational etiquette, then score a minimum of 80% on a

Meeting Best Practices assessment.

3. Employees participate in forum discussions, explore, exchange ideas, and communicate

effectively across time zones utilizing ABC conferencing services.

Objective 1

Employees use ABC conferencing services and host and participate in web conferences and

demonstrate use of the web conferencing, teleconferencing, and video conferencing services and

relevant equipment.


Teaching method

1. Employees will attend three Webinars where they will become familiar with the

technology, learn the basics of how to run a web conference and how to integrate relevant

equipment.

2. Employees will make use of teleconferencing services in at least one of the webinars.

3. Employees will make use of voice over IP (VOIP) in at least one of the webinars.

4. Employees will integrate video conferencing into at least one of the webinars.

Alternatively, employees may be called upon to separate out video conferencing from

web conferencing and use ABC’s professional video conferencing equipment.

5. Employees will use webcams with at least one web conferencing session.

6. Between Webinars, employees will be asked to share their "Aha" moments in the

discussion board. They will also be asked to share best practices and how they have

handled challenges in the past.

Assessment

Employees will be given a 30 minute meeting to conduct using ABC's technology.

Competency Level

Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application

Additional Notes

Make sure arrangements have been made for new employees to receive conferencing

accounts prior to this course.

Elective Draft for ABC109: Social Media Tools

The ideas behind this course actually developed from gathering input from ABC’s

employees. ABC has a suggestion box online for employees to deposit their creative ideas.


Several employees in one department got together to submit some of the ideas represented here.

Their department also won a free pizza party, but that’s a different story!

Name of Course

ABC109: ABC Social Media Tools

Prerequisite(s)

ABC101 and ABC103

Course Description

The course emphasis social media tools for use by various ABC departments with emphasis

placed on marketing ideas.

Course Objectives

1. Employees participate in webinars and discussion forums and gain hands-on

understanding of the use of social media tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter

and are required to demonstrate using these for communicating ABC’s services.

2. Employees review relevant policies on ABC’s Portal and demonstrate understanding of

policies relevant to marketing and customer communications by scoring at least 80% on

ABC’s Customer Communication test.

3. Employees communicate with pilot customers using readily accessible ABC documents

located on the ABC Portal that have been carefully designed for customers and potential

customers.

Elective Draft for ABC110: Leadership Development

The learning and development group propose this course in response to the stakeholder

group that represent hiring managers. Some managers feel that our hiring and review practices

could benefit from adopting a standardized approach across the organization. Additionally, some


of the managers have expressed that they still are not familiar with some of the services available

on the ABC Portal. The thought is to develop this as a course for new managers, and include

existing managers initially.

Name of Course

ABC110: Leadership Development

Prerequisite(s)

ABC101, management position or recommendation by ABC Leadership required

Course Description

Employees accepting a managerial or leadership role at ABC are required to attend this course.

ABC Leadership VPs may recommend and grant approval for those being mentored for

leadership roles to take this course as well. This course reviews standards required for ABC’s

Leadership and explores resources and available supportive services.

Course Objectives

1. New managers will explore the ABC Intranet Portal and make use of the support services

area to request services relevant to personal needs. (Ordering business cards, requesting a

company credit card, noting any problems with computer equipment, and requesting for

an ergonomic evaluation, and more)

2. New managers will explore, digitally sign acknowledging their responsibility, and

successfully review policies relevant to the ABC’s Leadership team and pass the ABC

Management Policies test by at least 80%.

3. New managers will participate in the online ABC’s Hiring Practices Workshop and pass

the associated assessment test with a score of at least 80%.


4. New managers will participate in the online ABC’s Performance Review Workshop and

pass the associated assessment test with a score of at least 80%.

Conclusion

ABC will benefit from investing in new employees. As we invest in new employees ABC’s

culture is handed down, standards are established, and our vision continues. Additionally, new

employees have much to offer ABC. It is hopeful that by helping new employees get a good

start during their initial 90-days their transition will go well. Additionally, phase two of the

proposed curriculum build will provide electives that can benefit all employees.


References

Angelino, L.M., & Natvig, D. (2009). Conceptual model for engagement of the online learner.

The Journal of Educators Online, 6 (1), 1-

19. http://www.thejeo.com/Archives/Volume6Number1/Angelinoetalpaper.pdf viewed

20 May, 2010.

Battista, L., Forrey, C., & Stevenson, C. (2008). It takes a virtual community: Promoting

collaboration through student activities. Online Journal of Distance Learning

Administration,11(2), http://www.westga.edu/%7Edistance/ojdla/summer112/battista112.

html viewed 21 May 2010.

Berge, Z. (1995). Facilitating computer conferencing: Recommendations from the field.

Educational Technology. 35(1) 22-30.

http://www.emoderators.com/ moderators/teach_online.html

Bozarth, J., Chapman, D. D., & LaMonica, L. (2004). Preparing for distance learning:

Designing an online student orientation course. Educational Technology & Society, 7 (1),

87-106.

Career Momentum Inc. (2010) Assess expert system. Retrieved from

http://www.careermomentum.com/job-seeker/assessments/assess.php

Farcht, J., (2010). Leadership principles in a changing workplace. ArticleSnatch.Com

http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Leadership-Principles-In-A-Changing-

Workplace/202545 viewed 21 May 2010.

Frankola, K. (2001). Why online learners dropout. Workforce, October 10, 53-63.

http://www.kfrankola.com/Documents/Why%20online%20learners%20drop%20out_Wo

rkforce.pdf Viewed 20 May, 2010.


Howell, S.L., Williams, P.B., & Lindsay, N.K. (2003). Thirty-two trends affecting distance

education: An informed Foundation for strategic planning. Online Journal of Distance

Learning Administration, 6(3). Retrieved from

http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/howell63.html

Illinois Online Network What Makes a Successful Online Student?

http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/StudentProfile.asp

Viewed 20 May 2010

Kenexa (2009). Assessment. Kenexa Government Solutions Retrieved

from http://www.kenexagovernmentsolutions.com/us/assessment Viewed 20 May 2010

Levine, D., (2009). Story telling links diversity training and problem solving. Diversity in the

Workplace - Leading Association for Diversity Conferences and Collaboration.

http://www.workforcediversitynetwork.com/Article_0609_Storytelling_Levine.aspx

Viewed 21 May 2010

Levy, S. (2003). Six factors to consider when planning online distance learning programs in

higher education. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 6(1), 1-

21. Retrieved from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring61/levy61.htm

Lytle, R.H. (1999). Asynchronous learning networks for knowledge workforce

learning. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN), 3(1), 67-76. Retrieved

from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.125.448&rep=rep1&type

=pdf

Nordli, Wilson Associates (2010 May 22). Pre-hire Assessment of Executives. Retrieved from

http://www.nordliwilson.com/serv01.htm Viewed 20 May 2010


Summerfield, B. (2008). American Express' Jeanette Harrison: Learning as a service. Chief

Learning Officer, 7(3), 26-29. Retrieved from Business Source Corporate database.

Werry, C. (2001). The work of education in the age of e-college. First Monday: Peer Reviewed

Journal on the Internet, 6(5). Retrieved from

http://131.193.153.231/www/issues/issue6_5/werry/index.html

White, F. (1999). Digital diploma mills: A dissenting voice. First Monday: Peer Reviewed

Journal on the Internet, 4(7), 1-8. Retrieved from

http://131.193.153.231/www/issues/issue4_7/white/index.html