Workforce transformation toolkit
As part of a major operating model redesign effort, a US government organization was transitioning more than 1,500 employees from “jack-of-all-trade” jobs into specialist roles. As employee experience levels and skillsets for their new roles varied widely, a significant amount of change management and training was required. To support the employee transition, a transformation toolkit was created which included both introductory and deep functional training, as well as onboarding and sustainment materials.
A US government organization was transitioning a group of over 1,500 unionized employees from their current “jack-of-all-trade” jobs into specialist roles. The employee transition was planned to take place over 3 months, beginning with role training, followed by onboarding and post-implementation support phases. To be successful, employees needed to understand their new roles and new processes, as well as how their roles related to the rest of the functions in the organization.
Moreover, many employees were long-tenured, performing jobs that had remained largely unchanged in the organization for over 30 years. As a result, a key first step was for leadership to build the case for change with the full workforce.
Development of the transition toolkit was informed by extensive data collection and analytics that had been used to select employees in their new roles. This included a time survey and competency survey which identified which responsibilities employees were performing today (and therefore which were new or unfamiliar), as well as the capabilities of employees in each skill area. This information helped to focus the specific messaging and content of the transition toolkit materials.
As WP&C had worked closely with leadership and key stakeholders to design the new operating model, we were uniquely prepared to create the transformation toolkit. Working with technical experts, WP&C developed materials to build the case for change, train employees on the technical aspects of their new role and provide reference materials to sustain execution after implementation. Key components of the toolkit included:
Next, WP&C reviewed and fine-tuned the materials with a group of over 60 government representatives in a 3-day “Validation and Verification” event. The government representatives assembled in one location to attend full-day review sessions specific to their functional expertise to provide feedback and approval of materials. Union representatives were part of the review to ensure their perspectives and any concerns were addressed in the material that would be used to transition the workforce.
After revisions were made, all materials were approved for delivery to the workforce. To maximize the efficiency of training deployment, WP&C developed a “Train-the-Trainer” approach. This involved WP&C training a cadre of select first line supervisors on the material which enabled the organization to train all employees on their new roles over a 90-day period.
To optimize the effectiveness of the organization transformation, WP&C recommended the following:
A US government organization was transitioning a group of over 1,500 unionized employees from their current “jack-of-all-trade” jobs into specialist roles. The employee transition was planned to take place over 3 months, beginning with role training, followed by onboarding and post-implementation support phases. To be successful, employees needed to understand their new roles and new processes, as well as how their roles related to the rest of the functions in the organization.
Moreover, many employees were long-tenured, performing jobs that had remained largely unchanged in the organization for over 30 years. As a result, a key first step was for leadership to build the case for change with the full workforce.
Development of the transition toolkit was informed by extensive data collection and analytics that had been used to select employees in their new roles. This included a time survey and competency survey which identified which responsibilities employees were performing today (and therefore which were new or unfamiliar), as well as the capabilities of employees in each skill area. This information helped to focus the specific messaging and content of the transition toolkit materials.
As WP&C had worked closely with leadership and key stakeholders to design the new operating model, we were uniquely prepared to create the transformation toolkit. Working with technical experts, WP&C developed materials to build the case for change, train employees on the technical aspects of their new role and provide reference materials to sustain execution after implementation. Key components of the toolkit included:
Next, WP&C reviewed and fine-tuned the materials with a group of over 60 government representatives in a 3-day “Validation and Verification” event. The government representatives assembled in one location to attend full-day review sessions specific to their functional expertise to provide feedback and approval of materials. Union representatives were part of the review to ensure their perspectives and any concerns were addressed in the material that would be used to transition the workforce.
After revisions were made, all materials were approved for delivery to the workforce. To maximize the efficiency of training deployment, WP&C developed a “Train-the-Trainer” approach. This involved WP&C training a cadre of select first line supervisors on the material which enabled the organization to train all employees on their new roles over a 90-day period.
To optimize the effectiveness of the organization transformation, WP&C recommended the following: