Perspectives  Dallas Chapter of ASTD Membership Newsletter  -  August 2007  << Table of Contents <<

Assessing Your Training Street Cred

by David McFeely, Ph. D.

Last month I wrote an article called Building Street Cred from the Classroom to the Boardroom, which outlined four different levels of building credibility in your organization. This month I am following up with a self-assessment that you can use to diagnose your department’s current Street Cred level. Once you’ve taken the assessment, you may want to revisit the article that was in last month’s newsletter to understand ways to improve on each level.

 

What’s Your Street Cred?

 

Directions: For each of the following statements, rate your training department on a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 means you Highly Disagree with the statement and 5 means you Highly Agree with the statement.

 

 

 1-5

People in my organization have very high opinions about the quality of our training materials and facilitation skills.

 

We are trusted implicitly for achieving results through training.

 

If I stopped employees in the hallway, they could explain what our department does on a daily basis.

 

All training requests must come through our department. (in other words, there aren’t any “rogue” trainings occurring without your knowledge)

 

My department is actively sought out for our expertise in designing/delivering training, creating job aids, or designing on the job training programs.

 

 Classroom Credibility TOTAL:

 

Our training requestors are involved in the process of writing training objectives and identifying the observable behaviors that mark the success of the intervention.

 

We measure transfer of training and partner with managers to ensure it happens.

 

Our training requestors understand their role in the success of training.

 

Our training requestors understand what can and can’t be accomplished through training.

 

Our managers understand the time it takes to create high-impact training and consistently allow enough lead time for it.

 

Departmental Credibility TOTAL:

 

My department is valued for more than just training.

 

 

We are asked to attend departmental operational meetings because of our understanding of the business and their needs.

 

As performance consultants, we freely recommend and use tools, processes, incentive programs, and so forth to boost productivity and reduce errors.

 

We routinely receive more requests to help improve performance than to develop training classes.

 

My opinion and the opinions of our staff are valued and sought out.

 

 Inter-departmental Credibility TOTAL:

 

We have a regular “seat at the table” in executive meetings.

 

Senior management receives an annual report that includes a calculated ROI.

 

We are asked to present an annual strategic learning plan for the company.

 

Our department has grown (or hasn’t shrunk) when other areas in the organization are cut.

 

Our training programs are ready to be sold as a product to customers.

 

Executive Credibility TOTAL:

 

Street Cred TOTAL:

 

 

Scoring

Tally the scores for each section. Then, add the four scores together to get your Street Cred total.

 

90-100

Your Street Cred is high. Keep doing what you are doing to maintain it since changes often produce new challenges.  

80-100

You have taken the right steps so far and just need to push through some tough barriers to take your Street Cred to the next level.  

70-80

Progress has been made, but you may find yourself at certain impasses. Focus on developing the lower levels and seek out feedback from your trusted peers to ascertain where you can improve.  

Below 70

You may be new to the idea of developing credibility. Keep working on each level starting with classroom credibility, build the partnerships, and find areas to spotlight your department’s talent. Remember, it doesn’t happen overnight!

 

 

NOTE: If any individual level has less than 20, consider paying more attention to that level. Just make sure that you work on the lower levels first (classroom cred and departmental cred) as they are foundational for the other two levels.

About the Author:  David McFeely is president and chief learning innovator of Workforce Innovation, a consulting company dedicated to helping organizations create new dimensions of performance through workplace learning. For more than a decade, Dave has been helping companies of all sizes build innovative learning and development solutions that achieve business results. As a lifelong learner, he holds a Ph.D. in Training and Development and an M.A. in Communication. He is an author and frequent speaker on topics such as Training as a Business Strategy and Utilizing Learning to Cultivate and Retain Top Talent. For more information, please visit www.innovatework.com or call (682) 597-4249.