The currics test: 10 steps towards better skills development

How well does your machine work?

Do you wonder how well the skills development at your company stacks up? Answer yes or no to these questions and check how many yes you get. You'll have your answer in no time.

How many yes did you get? Ten is perfect, nine is tolerable, but eight or lower and you’ve got to act now. The truth is that most companies are running with a score of two or three, and need urgent help. At least one company in your niche is always operating at ten.

1. Is every employee expected to keep learning?

In a true learning organization, everyone must continue to grow. It is common for managers to become immune to learning. They think they know everything that is worth knowing or never take the time to get better. Such companies stagnates after a while.

Both the trainee and CEO needs to set aside time for learning. They will learn different things, in different ways, but everyone needs to set goals and work towards them.

2. Are your learning methods based on modern research?

Previously, people thought that effective learning was about adapting to learning styles, rehearse often, and focus on one subject at a time.

Research in cognitive psychology has shown that those tactics are often counterproductive and ineffective. There are lots of good examples and studies that show how we learn best, how memory works and how we make knowledge useful.

Skills development that dares to question the school model and use what science has come up with is both more fun and effective.

3. Can you work with skills development when it suits you best?

Is the training always available on days and times that suit you?

Or are you doomed to wait a year because you happened to miss that scheduled inspirational lecture that takes place once a year?

4. Do you get approved for doing the right things? (not through theoretical tests)

In school, the goal is to get the highest score on a test. Unfortunately, the school model does not work for professional development. The customer will never ask you to take a knowledge test during a meeting.

If you are trying to up your presentation-game, the only way to know if you have succeeded is to actually give presentations. Picking five correct answers on a knowledge test doesn't say anything.

You should get approved for something you do consistently, not something you know but never apply.

5. Do employees have a clear next step in terms of learning?

Is it clear what skills you should learn next to become better at what you do?

A functioning skills development forces companies to think through what things are important. And in what approximate order it makes sense to learn things. There is always a clear next step for those who want to learn more. When the path is clear people walk it.

6. Can you create your own education plan? (decide order and pace)

Can you influence what to practice at and at what speed? Or do you need to follow a schedule that someone else set up for you?

Autonomy and mastery are two of the three factors that lead to satisfaction at work. The third one is meaning.

7. Does the main responsibility for learning lie with the employees? (not the manager)

The desire to learn, relearn and unlearn must be intrinsic to be sustainable in the long term. Thus each individual must be self directed when it comes to learning. We value what we have strived for more than the things that were just given to us.

The opposite is a system where the boss must stand with the whip in hand for any practice to happen. That doesn't build intrinsic motivation and only works until the boss needs to focus on something else.

8. Do managers tag along to see what employees face and how they handle it?

Do managers know what employees face in real situations and how they handle it? There is often quite a gap between managers and the everyday life of employees? That creates problems throughout the organisation.

It isn't possible to make a fair assessment of someone you have never seen in the field. In addition, managers lose their most important sources of input, to see employees work, and meet customers.

9. Are managers acting as coaches to their employees?

The main responsibility lies with the individual. But the rest of the organisation must still be there to support and help. Unfortunately, many employees doesn't receive any real feedback besides their annual performance review.

To be able to grow employees needs continuous feedback. Managers need to act as coaches and help employees forward. The manager who does so gets a good idea of where the employees are and where they want to be.

One of the manager's most important tasks is to help employees out of the comfort zone where they grow. Being challenged is hard, growing is painful, yet people start looking for a new job when they plateau.

10. Is each employee's skills used as part of a team?

Is the manager trying to build a team where each unique individual is an important part, or trying to find clones who act in the same way.

A manager who knows the team members strengths can build a team where everyone can contribute and do what they are good at, while at the same time stepping out of their comfort zone.

What now?

Contact us if you want to brainstorm any ideas. We’d be happy to help you forward over a call, email or video meeting.

You could also read the summary of perfect skills development, or have a look at the blog.

The things we didn’t ask about

We do not care if you have apps for learning, how many conferences you attend, if you have your own podcast, and how much money you spend on skills development.

Those things also matters, but only if you have the basics in place. It's nice to go to a ski resort with colleagues, listen to a lecture, and then hit the slopes. But if that is the only skills development that exists, don't expect a real change.

The test measures if you are in the game at all.