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Alice Springs NT 0871
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Dear [NAME]

Here is the latest edition of HRD Alert! to which you subscribed.

If you have trouble reading this, an online copy is available here. You can load it into your browser or save and read it off line.

This issue is released much later that I had intended; I've been very busy, especially with the impending launch of my new fee-for-service newsletter Important Updates for Human Resources Specialists. Some times there are just not enough hours in a day or days in a week.

In the last decade in Australia, we have moved from norm-referenced assessment ie, assessment where each individual's performance is compared with every other individual's performance within a group, to criterion-referenced (or competency-based) assessment. More recently we have seen increasing emphasis on capability than qualifications and this is discussed in the first article, Capability Curricula.

When we organise presentations, we have numbers of options about how we will deliver it. One method, the Audience Reaction Team has potential to be useful when we deliver to large audiences. The item below explores ARTs, what they are and what they do.

Because one of my pet topics is business communication I thought I'd introduce you to a few sites I visit to help keep my communication in order. If you feel your English expression could do with some improvement or your memory needs refreshing every so often - visit this month's 'Worth a Look' sites.

Finally, when I called for subscribers to provide a bio, several people responded, but the first to do so was Tanya Griffiths. You can read all about Tanya in the Subscriber Bio section below. If you are keen to be in the next issue, send me your details.

Yours in HRD

Robin Henry

PS: I'll send everyone on my subscriber list a free copy of Important Updates for Human Resources Specialists when it goes to wire.

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In the last few years we have seen an increasing focus on capability, in particular, improving organisational capability. Courses are now appearing across the marketplace to help managers and others improve their capability, understand capability, assess organisational capability and so on. Now, some of the leading tertiary institutions are considering rewriting their curricula to be capability-based.

What does this mean and how different is it from the traditional curriculum model?

Essentially, the traditional model focused on people learning facts, skills concepts, and theories (FSTs). While all the facts, concepts and theories were ideal, graduates  went to work and found that they weren't immediately productive because they lacked  the following skills which were required by employers (Identified by ACNeilsen 2000):

• creativity and flair
• communication
• problem-solving
• interpersonal
• business practice

A capability-based approach addresses these issues and is seen as '... the integration of knowledge, skills, ethics and judgement in a given context for action (Stephenson, 1998 in Doncaster and Lester, 2002).

An example of successful integration of abilities written into educational curricula is Alverno College in the US. The college has identified eight (capa)abilities that are central to all professional and liberal education programs:

• communication
• analysis
• problem solving
• valuing in decision-making
• social interaction
• developing a global perspective
• effective citizenship
• aesthetic responsiveness

The essential thrust of capability-based curricula is that content and learning processes in an educational program need to reflect what graduates need at work to deal with existing and novel problems at work and their lives as citizens. Therefore, during curriculum development, designers establish what capabilities are needed (probably most commonly aligned with the above) and the integrate them with the content of disciplines.

By modelling the performance of high performers in particular disciplines, designers can identify the capabilities they demonstrate and then attempt to convert them into assessable learning objects. Assessment in workplace settings or simulated settings is preferred to achieve that integration.

I recall doing an in-basket exercise assessment while in the Air Force. That was years ago, but is an example of the type of in-office simulation that is used in capability-based learning. For those unfamiliar with this type of exercise, a manager is presented with a number of incoming 'challenges' that appear in the inbasket. How you deal with them is assessed to determine whether you have handled them properly. It's an interesting process.

With capability-based learning curricula will imitate workplace activities and be assessed using real-to-life workplace functions. Given the focus during the past few years on outcomes over outputs, this makes a lot of sense.

Keep your eyes on the university marketing materials and real soon you are sure to see some adverts for leading edge capability-focused programs.

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Reference: Doncaster, K and Lester, S (2002). Capability and it's Development: Experiences from a work-based Doctorate. Studies in Higher Education 27, 1, pp 91-101

Next time you are responsible for arranging a conference or information session, think about using an Audience Reaction Team (ART).

Of the numerous options, ARTs have an important place to play when audiences are large and it would be difficult or impossible to take questions from the floor. In this case questions can be prewritten to preempt the types of questions listeners might ask - in the same way that Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are used on Internet sites to preempt user questions. Alternatively, the questions can be contextual, arising from the content delivered.

Three to five people sit on stage with the speaker and clarify points which might not otherwise be understood. Their questions can be asked during the presentation or at the end of it, depending on what is more suitable. The advantages of using an ART are that it can help a presenter who is not a skilled communicator get the message across and help to stimulate audience interest.

It is easy to organise ART members; they can be organised beforehand according to different types of expertise or they can be drawn randomly from the audience by selecting ticket numbers, birthdays, or perhaps seat numbers.

Of course, wherever they come from, you have to be careful you don't get a person who wants to be the centre of attention - he/she could take over the show! And you need to ensure the speaker has agreed to an ART beforehand otherwise it can be unsettling having someone interrupting while one is speaking. It could have unexpected results.

Before commencing the presentation the audience needs to be told how the session will proceed. The chairperson introduces the speaker and explains the routine. At the agreed time(s) the ART begins questioning.

Perhaps another method is to ask those who have indicated they are attending to submit questions by email. These questions can then be fed to the ART and raised at the right time.

With a little creativity, other methods of engaging audience and speaker can be proposed. The aim is to provide good content and try to answer anything likely to come from an audience. This is a big ask, but not impossible.

When will you have your next ART?

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The Elements of Style
This publication by Strunk and White is old (I used it when I first went to uni), but still a very handy site from which to check the rules of grammar and expression. You can access the whole publication from the Bartleby site here: http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html

Alternatively, if you wish to brush up on the Principles of Composition, look here:
http://www.journalism.org/resources/tools/writing/lessons/composition.asp?from=online

(Phew, that must be the longest URL ever!)

The King's English
HW Fowler's publication is also very old, but still useful if you can overcome the challenge of 'old English'. This is another freebie accessible on the Bartleby site here:
http://www.bartleby.com/116/index.html

If you also like to place some quotations in you writing, you can get them from the following site.

Simpson's Contemporary Quotations
At this site you can access an index by author or subject which is handy. You'll find thousands of quotes here: http://bartleby.com/63/

Writing Well for the Web
Most of us now have to be able to write for the web as writing for the web is different from other writing. Catherine Titta provides some Quick and Easy Tips for Non-writers here: http://www.webreference.com/content/writing/

26 Golden Rules for Writing Well
If you aren't interested in old English, quotations and writing for the web, take a look at this intelligently written list of Golden Rules. Each rule demonstrates the aspect of poor writing that the list highlights. It's here: http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/rules.htm

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Last issue I said I'd try to conjure up a subscriber biography for the next few editions so you can get an insight into the people who share our interest in HRD Alert!.

Tanya Griffiths volunteered to be first (would that make the Guiness Book of Records?) Tanya is a training coordinator with the Territory Insurance Office and works out of the TIO office at Darwin in the Top End of the Northern Territory.

Tanya has been in her present job for a little over 12 months and believes it has greatly extended her knowledge about the National Training Package in Financial Services and the regulations that govern the financial services and insurance industry.

'We're in the process of developing individual training plans for all staff, linking current job descriptions to required knowledge, skills and attitudes to assist in the development of competent and productive employees.

What I'm finding most enjoyable about my work is the involvement I have
with the Human Resources Department and the important communication linkage
between training processes and Human Resource issues', she said

Tanya had previously been a school teacher, St John Ambulance first aid instructor, workplace trainer and assessor, lecturer and Associate Dean at the Northern Territory University, before taking up her current position.

Born at Darwin, Tanya considers it a privilege to have lived there ever since. She is also proud of her association with St John Ambulance as a long serving volunteer. In that capacity she has been a volunteer ambulance officer, Cadet Divisional Superintendent and now holds the position of Territory Training Officer at a District Meeting level. Her key role is to report to the District Committee any issues related to training of volunteers in the Northern Territory.

Amongst her busy work a volunteer schedule, Tanya finds time for her family and follows Rugby union and football.

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