Learning and development catalogues
This is a general description of the use of learning and development catalogues. Guidelines for mapping training courses and certifications to SFIA skills and levels is being developed.
What is a Learning Catalogue?
- A learning catalogue is a collection of professional development opportunities available to employees.
- It helps managers and employees identify options to improve skills and support career progression for employees.
- It can also help organizations save time and money by making it easier to find the right courses and programs for their employees. It can reduce the amount of time spent researching and evaluating different options.
Benefits of a Learning Catalogue
- Provides an accessible overview of professional development opportunities, making it easy for employees to identify areas where they need to improve their skills.
- Can save time by making it easier to find the right courses and programs for employees, reducing the need for extensive research and evaluation.
- Promotes consistency across different functions, departments and teams by providing a clear understanding of the learning and development solutions that are available to employees.
- Ensures all employees have access to the same development opportunities, regardless of their role or location, fostering a culture of learning and development throughout the organization.
The business value and improved employee experience will only come from effective use of a learning catalogue to...
- Improve employee skills and knowledge, leading to increased productivity and job satisfaction.
- Help employees with career progression by providing them with opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge they need to advance.
This can be achieved by creating a balanced catalogue - one that provides more than training / technical certifications.
Components of a Learning Catalogue
Internal Development
Internal development opportunities are work experiences, courses, programs, and resources that are developed and delivered within the organization. These can include:
- 70% On-the-job learning experiences
- 20% Job-related training and mentoring
- 10% Off-the-job courses and programs
External Development
External development opportunities are courses, programs, and resources that are sourced from external providers. These can include:
- Certifications and training in specific technologies, tools, and programming environments
- Industry-specific conferences and workshops
- Online courses and resources
Implementation and Getting the Benefits
Here are some actions that learning and development professionals and technical managers and leaders can take to implement a learning catalogue:
- Identify internal and external development opportunities that align with the organization's goals and objectives.
- Develop a clear and easy-to-use system for cataloguing and accessing these opportunities.
- Communicate the learning catalogue to employees and encourage its use.
- Monitor and evaluate the catalogue's effectiveness and make adjustments as needed.
Combining with SFIA
- SFIA is an industry-standard framework that defines the skills and competencies required for different roles within the IT industry.
- Aligning a Learning Catalogue with SFIA, can support employees to develop the skills and knowledge they need to meet the demands of their roles and advance their careers.
- SFIA can also be used to assess employee skill gaps and create targeted development plans.
- Both of these are enabled with a SFIA skills profile for the jobs/roles in your organization.
Navigating Complexity
- The majority of external training and certifications in the world of digital, data and technology are based on specific technologies, tools, and infrastructure and software environments.
- The SFIA framework describes higher level skills and competencies based on work place responsibilities.
- By using a learning catalogue in conjunction with SFIA, we can ensure that employees are not only gaining knowledge in specific technologies, but also understand how they apply this new knowledge to develop the broader skills and competencies needed in the workplace.