Situation:

According to the department VP, the leadership and development (L&D) function of a large Chicago-based hospital system was “in turmoil.” A quick pivot was needed to revamp the training for the five business units (BUs).

The five business units included:

  • Nursing
  • Hospital Operations
  • An aging regional hospital
  • Corporate functions
  • University & Research

Current development offerings “were not hitting the mark” due to:

  • No established competency models
  • Sparse executive support
  • Off-the-shelf modules that were not tailored to individual business unit needs

According to the VP of L&D, “There is no doubt that each of the internal client groups is not getting the most bang for their training dollar.”

TrainSMART was tasked with conducting a Rapid Assessment of each business unit’s training and development needs. Specifically, to:

  • Determine “who needs help”
  • Listen carefully to “what they need.”
  • Gauge the “most dire needs.”
  • Identify other skill/knowledge gaps

Action:

TrainSMART quickly developed Assessment and Project Management plans detailing the various levels of staff to be interviewed and how the two TrainSMART principles would collect the data.  Project milestones and a target completion date were also stated.

Several vital decisions made data collection run smoothly:

  • The Assessment Plan would be reviewed with each business unit’s top leader to:
    • Convey the value of the project
    • Attain their buy-in and endorsement
    • Incorporate any questions they wanted data-based insights around
  • Internal liaisons recruited participants at different levels of the organization:
    • Directors
    • Managers and supervisors
    • Front line workers
  • A standardized set of focus group questions allowed TrainSMART to compare the development needs of each business unit to the others. It allowed us to identify both the common and unique needs of each organization
  • All the focus groups were virtual and included the use of an interactive whiteboard to capture participant insights
    • Importantly, all the participant’s responses were anonymous so they could give us honest, candid answers without fear of retribution

The number of focus groups varied based on the size of the business unit. TrainSMART always did at least two focus groups with each BU segment so that the facilitators could see any anomalies and further clarify them via follow-up personal interviews.

TrainSMART conducted weekly drumbeat meetings with our key L&D clients. And, once the interview phase of each BU was complete, the facilitators analyzed the findings, created a presentation of insights, and delivered them to the principal stakeholders in that organization.

Once all the BU interviews were complete, TrainSMART built and delivered a presentation outlining the needs of all the BUs.

Results:

TrainSMART delivered the following recommendations:

  • There was one development topic that was universally needed. Each business unit was also able to select on topic that was a high priority for them alone. This was called and “1 and 1” learning strategy.
    • TrainSMART provided learning objectives and delivery channel options for each course
  • High-level stakeholders gained insight into the current needs of their organization – what was working as well as the urgent development needs both now and, in the future
  • Staffing recommendations for L&D were shared
  • The status and trust of the L&D function increased. The department was viewed by the business units as a valued development partner. L&D had a greater influence
  • Course development and pilot testing were completed ahead of schedule
  • New learning modules were well attended and highly rated

What our internal customer said post-engagement:

“TrainSMART did a great job facilitating this very demanding leadership group.”

“Greg and Anna – the two TrainSMART facilitators – did a stellar job.”

“The insights TrainSMART drew from each business unit will be our development roadmap for future courses.”

“We got so much more than we expected from the Rapid Assessment.”

“We now have a seat at the table of all future training opportunities.”