Before developing your training program, it’s important to ask yourself the following questions: What goals am I trying to achieve with this training program, and what do I expect my employees to accomplish once they’ve finished this training? Having clear objectives from the start will help you design your training program and ensure that it aligns with your organization's broader mission.
Once you’ve clarified the training goals, it’s time to think about the specific skills your employees need to develop to meet those objectives. Are you looking for them to expand their communication skills, leadership abilities, or product knowledge? Or is your focus on employees developing soft skills like empathy and active listening? With competency-based training, you focus on this very thing – developing the skills necessary to reach your training goals. In this blog, we’ll explore competency training, its foundational principles, and how AI-powered, video-based training tools can take this approach to the next level.
What is Competency-Based Training?
Competency-based training is a learning approach that focuses on developing employees’ skills and improving knowledge so they may perform their jobs effectively. After establishing your training program goals, it is essential to identify gaps in your employee’s skill sets and develop training to address these areas. This learning approach emphasizes the development of practical skills over just providing theoretical knowledge.
What sets competency-based training apart is its measurable outcomes. Unlike regular training methods, competency-based training requires employees to prove their proficiency through real-world applications, assessments, or role-play exercises, ensuring they can apply the learned skills.
The Benefits of Competency-Based Training
- Provides Employees with Practical, Job-Ready Skills
Competency-based training ensures that employees acquire the specific skills needed to perform their jobs effectively. Instead of broad, generic training, it targets the most relevant areas for their roles, allowing employees to apply what they’ve learned directly to their daily tasks.
For example, a customer service representative might focus on mastering conflict resolution and communication skills, which are critical for handling challenging customer interactions. - Aligns Employee Development with Business Objectives
By focusing on the required skill sets that drive business success, competency-based training aligns individual employee development with your organizational objectives. When a training program leads to higher productivity of employees, the organization as a whole benefits. - Delivers Clear ROI by Measuring Employee Competencies
Competency-based training provides a measurable return on investment (ROI) as the training is tied to specific, observable outcomes. Since employees must demonstrate their proficiency through assessments or performance evaluations, organizations can directly track improvements in employee performance.
For example, a sales team training on sales pitch techniques can show measurable results in securing deals and increasing revenue. - Offers Customized Learning Paths for Personalized Learning
Unlike traditional training programs, competency-based training offers a tailored, role-specific learning experience. Employees focus only on the skills they need to excel in their particular roles, avoiding unnecessary or irrelevant content. This training provides employees with a clear roadmap for growth and development.
Implementing an Effective Competency Training Program
Effective competency-based training should provide opportunities for employees to practice their skills and receive continuous feedback, allowing them to refine their abilities over time and at their own pace. Once you’ve identified the competencies you want to develop, it is important to choose the right method for delivering your training program.
Here are key elements to consider during implementation:
- Practice Skills in Real-world Settings
Employees should be given many opportunities to practice the required key skills in a realistic setting. By providing employees with the chance to rehearse in a real-world setting, prompting them with a realistic work scenario, and providing them with clear guidelines, they can practice at their own pace as if they were experiencing it themselves in real life. - Measure Progress with Custom Learning Paths
Establish metrics for success to track employee progress throughout the training. With custom learning paths, progress can be measured through qualitative and quantitative methods, ensuring that employees meet the desired standard before proceeding with the training program. - Provide Detailed Feedback
Feedback should be immediate and actionable, guiding employees on how they can improve. With the newest artificial intelligence (AI) tools, immediate feedback is available: peer feedback, mentor feedback, and examples for improvement. - Allow for Repetition till Perfection
The goal of competency-based training is not just to expose the employees to new information but to let them master the skills. Providing employees with the chance to keep repeating exercises and build upon feedback is essential for deep learning.
Introducing Rehearsal: An Asynchronous, AI-Powered Coaching Tool
One of the best tools for developing competency-based training is Rehearsal: ELB Learning’s AI-powered, video-based coaching platform. Rehearsal allows employees to practice their skills in real-world scenarios at their own pace by recording video-and-audio-based responses and receiving mentor, peer, and AI feedback.
With Rehearsal, you can get:
- Realistic role-play scenarios: Employees can engage in video role-play, practicing skills like communication, leadership, or customer service in situations that mimic their job requirements.
- AI-powered feedback: Alongside manager feedback, AI provides instant feedback on performance, focusing on areas such as average pace, key points, and call-to-action requirements.
- Repeated learning: Employees can continuously practice by recording multiple attempts at a task after receiving feedback from managers or AI, thereby tracking their progress and refining their skills until they reach competency.
- Personalized learning paths: Adjust your employees' needs with structured content branching tailored to their unique learning styles, needs, and preferences. Progress will be documented to track performance and see which assignments get the best results.
Competency-based training is about ensuring that employees are not just knowledgeable but have truly mastered skills. By focusing on setting clear goals and identifying employee skill gaps, you can build a training program that not only engages your employees but also drives real results.
Ready to implement a training solution that develops core competencies and boosts employee development? Learn more about how Rehearsal can help your organization build effective, competency-based training programs that lead to measurable success.
