Overview

In Chapter 2, several practical scenarios were introduced where an industrial need called for a training intervention. The final such scenario demonstrated the case in an engineering organization where mechanisms were needed to support the development of advanced proficiencies in a small number of employees. This example served as a springboard for the topic of Chapter 3 involving management in clearly defining a progression of expected proficiencies. The resulting learning matrices, and proficiency expectations, provide a framework of career development goals for all technical employees. It was also suggested in Chapter 3 that management must then take the responsibility for providing guidance to their employees on where to turn for the requisite advanced learning. The purpose of this chapter is to take a detailed look at how new learning is acquired, and the types of learning interventions appropriate for supporting development of advanced proficiencies.

As has been emphasized since Chapter 1, the continuing education of a company s technical workforce must focus on the development of advanced proficiencies and capabilities. It is here that a company must support technical employee development efforts in order to remain viable in an environment of rapid technological advance and increasing international competition. Let s now look again at the example from Chapter 2:

A critical aspect of a particular company s product durability is ensuring against fatigue failure under certain commonly seen operating conditions. There is a small group of engineers dedicated to this problem, and they have developed some very effective techniques. However,...