Award Readiness Assessment - Assessment + Companion Guide

  • Are You Award Ready?

    Welcome to your Award-Readiness Assessment (Beta Version)

  • Assessing award-readiness requires gathering key information about your learning initiative so Deb can evaluate your chances of winning. Easier said than done! Which information? How can you clearly identify the details that matter?

    Through this form, you'll answer a series of questions--open text, fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice; some easy, others challenging--to surface the details that matter to award judges. 

    Along the way, you'll be introduced to key concepts on what makes an initiative award-worthy: The Four Fundamentals of a Winning Program.     

    While gathering details to assess your award readiness, you will hopefully also gain a richer understanding of what it takes to win an L&D award and a deeper appreciation of your own program and its impact.

    Good luck and enjoy the process! 

    To get started, download and keep open for easy reference the Award Readiness Assessment Companion Guide.

  • Learning Program Summary

    Just the Facts.

  • Let's start by capturing program basics. 

    Not sure about certain details? Not a problem. You can update your answers as you work through this assessment. You can also come back later - your answers are saved automatically as you go. 

    To get started, click the arrow in the circle below on the right.

    Companion Guide Tip: See a completed learning program summary on page 4.

     

    • Begin Learning Program Summary Questions 

    • Below, answer the fill-in-the-blank, open text and multiple choice questions to create a basic program profile.

      Tip: For learner audience(s), include role, seniority, and other context relevant to the learning initiative. Examples: the company's top 50 executives; senior account leaders responsible for selling cloud solutions to C-level clients; newly hired people managers.

    • The was designed to help in   .   

    • It is:

    • This program launched in.

    • This program impacts about learners each year (approx. programs x    learners per program). 

    • The program includes...

    • On the next screen, you’ll see a program summary based on the input you’ve just provided. Please give it a read and let us know how well it captures the basics of your program.

  • Learning Program Summary

    Review and Self-Assess Your Program Profile

  • The {division:1} was designed to help {division:2} in {division:3} to accomplish these learning objectives: {shareYour216}.

    Achieving these learning objectives would enable the following key business results: {theLearning}. 

    A {input220:1} program that launched in {input220:2}, it is delivered via {Components}. It will impact {input222:1} learners each year ({input222:2} programs X {input222:3} each). 

    The {division:1} is {ProgramType}.

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  • The BCOP

    The Business Challenge, Opportunity or Problem that sparked your learning initiative

  • As a general rule, learning programs win awards because they measurably address a specific Business Challenge, Opportunity or Problem (BCOP, aka the "BEE-cop"). Something broken needs to be fixed--costs are too high; sales are too low; turnover must improve--or perhaps new growth opportunities await. But there's always a catalyst - at least one key performance indicator (KPI) that needs to move up or down.

    No BCOP? No need for a learning program.

    Identifying the BCOP is critical to helping award judges understand your program’s origins and objectives.

    Note: Keep distinct your BCOP (Business Challenge, Opportunity or Problem) from any TCOP (Training Challenge, Opportunity or Problem). A TCOP might be undersubscribed courses, learner no-shows, low feedback scores, tight turnaround times, etc. Solving a TCOP can be part of a winning L&D solution, but landing the BCOP--addressing an important business issue--is essential to a winning submission.

    The questions in this section will help you document your program's BCOP.

    Companion Guide Tip: Discover more about BCOPs on page 14.

    • Begin BCOP Questions 
    • What catalyst(s) LED TO the creation of your learning program? Check all that apply. Later on, you’ll share how your solution successfully ADDRESSED your BCOP(s).

    • Companion Guide Tip: See a detailed BCOP example on page 21.

  • BCOP Summary

    Review and Self-Assess Your Program's BCOP(s)

  • The BCOP

    The {division:1} was created in response to this BCOP: {succinctlySummarize}

    Learning Objectives

    Given the above, the learning solution was designed to help {division:2} in {division:3} to {shareYour216}.

    Intended Business Results

    This would enable {theLearning}. 

    Program Profile

    A {input220:1} program that launched in {input220:2}, it is delivered via {Components}. It will impact {input222:1} learners each year ({input222:2} programs X {input222:3} each). 

    The {division:1} is {ProgramType}. 

  • Four Fundamentals of a Winning Program

    Alignment, Intelligence, Innovation, Impact

  • Now that we have captured the essentials of your initiative, we start to dig into what makes a winning program. Your next move is to switch over to your Companion Guide and read about the Four Fundamentals.

    The explanations there--about Alignment, Intelligence, Innovation and Impact--will be essential context for you to answer the questions that follow, so head on over to the Companion Guide, read up and then come back here to dive into Alignment.  

    Next up in your Companion Guide: Read about the Four Fundamentals on page XX.

    Remember: Your program does not need to be outstanding in all Four Fundamentals to win an award, but the more boxes it checks, the stronger an award candidate it will be.

  • Four Fundamentals: 1-Alignment

    How your initiative aligns with strategic priorities and senior leaders.

  • Winning programs demonstrate ALIGNMENT with strategic priorities by helping a company move in the right direction and advance important objectives. They also signal their strategic ALIGNMENT through stakeholder involvement. Typically, the more strategically important the program is, the more senior the stakeholder(s) and the deeper their involvement. 

    The following questions explore how your program is aligned with key strategies and stakeholder interests. 

    To read more about Alignment, see page 16 in your companion guide.

    • Begin Alignment Questions 

    • Strategic Alignment

    • A learning program may reflect strategic alignment on three major levels: enterprise level (like a five-year plan or a major transformation), business unit level (such as a growth target or product expansion), and/or a corporate framework (mission, values, leadership behaviors, etc.). Thinking about the BCOP(s) you identified and your program's intended outcomes, what level(s) of alignment do you see? (Check all that apply; you can provide details below.)

    • If you'd like a detailed example to help you answer the questions below, see page 22 of your companion guide.

    • Stakeholder Alignment

    • Which stakeholder(s) supported your learning initiative? List their titles below.
    • Thinking about all the business stakeholder(s) who supported your learning initiative, what did their activities include? Check all that apply (it's fine to check boxes for multiple stakeholders; you can provide details in the next question).

  • Alignment Summary

    Review and Self-Assess Your Program's Alignment

  • Our initiative reflects the following alignment with strategic priorities: {forEach8}

    Business leaders including the {whichStakeholders} supported our learning initiative: {forEach12}

  • Compared to the involvement of stakeholders in the *average* L&D program at your company, would you say the stakeholders you described above are?

  • Intelligence

  • Winning programs are wisely designed in two key ways: first, by methodically collecting Intelligence (researching the BCOP and more), and then using an L&D team's collective Intelligence (being smart) to incorporate the findings into the program and learning experience design. 

    The questions below explore how you learned about what was needed, and how your findings informed design.

    To learn more about Intelligence, see page 16 in your companion guide.

    When you're ready to answer the questions below, click on the arrow to begin.

    • Begin Intelligence Questions 
    • Which methods did you use to research the business need, learners, target key performance indicators and/or other key details for your learning initiative?

  • Intelligence Summary

    Review and Self-Assess Your Program's Intelligence

  • The following research methods were used to better understand the business need, learners, and/or key performance indicators associated with our learning initiative:  {succinctlySummarize225}

    We applied our findings from these efforts in the following ways: {nowDo}

  • Compared to how intelligence is gathered and applied for most learning programs at your company, was your process:

  • Innovation

  • Innovation can take many forms in L&D. Let's explore two broad categories:

    Intrinsic Innovation (Program/Learner Experience): Winning programs go beyond the ordinary to make the learning effective and the learner experience memorable.  

    Extrinsic Innovation (Logistics/Operations): Winning programs can also creatively address operational challenges in the design and/or delivery of a learning program.

    Innovation doesn’t have to involve a hot trend or technology - it can simply be a smart, creative solution that hasn't been tried before or isn't typical.

    Important: Innovation is not equal across industries. If your program features something that isn't new overall but IS for you/your competitors, it counts (just be sure to state so clearly). 

    To learn more about innovation, see page XX in your companion guide.

    To capture your program's innovation, begin answering the questions below by clicking on the arrow.

    • Begin Innovation Questions 
    • Intrinsic Innovation: In what ways were the program and learner experience innovative? Indicate areas where your program was especially creative/novel.
    • Extrinsic Innovation: How did you creatively address operational/logistical challenges in designing, developing and/or delivering your learning program?

  • Innovation Summary

    Review and Self-Assess Your Program's Innovation

  • Our program reflected "intrinsic" innovation (program/learner experience) in the following ways: {forEach26}

    The program also demonstrated "extrinsic" innovation (operations/logistics): {yourTeam28}

  • Reflecting on other programs within your organization overall, do you consider your program to be:

  • Impact

  • The 4 Realms of Impact are meant to complement Kirkpatrick and any other evaluation measurement system you may be using. They simply provide another way to think about and capture all the elements of success that can help you win an award. Below are a few results tied to the leadership development program example used throughout this assessment.

    Winning programs demonstrate powerful outcomes for participants, for the team or group, and also for the business.

    To learn more about impact, explore page XX in your companion guide.

    The following questions explore the four realms of impact from your program.

    • Begin Impact Questions 

    • L&D Team Impact

      How was this a win for your team? Did you gain credibility, clout, stronger partnerships, budget, etc.?

    • How did you turn your success into a win for your team?
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