David Knapp, TRAIN Administrator (Kentucky), and Jane C. Jones (Kentucky)

Public Health Accreditation discussion inevitably finds its way to the topic of workforce development. Quickly, plans of new employee orientations, training matrices, and ideas of how to use existing courses are tossed around in the search for a solution. As details begin to settle in the conversation, the enormity of the project begins to surface and the tone of conversation changes. What if a workforce development system was in place which was structured around the Council on Linkages Public Health Core Competencies? Take that thought one step further. What would a health department personnel performance system look like that utilized these same competencies?

Public Health Foundation, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a number of State Health Departments, began to explore what such a workforce development system would possibly look like. This system, the TRAIN learning management system (LMS), is being presented for thought and conversation through a series of three interactive webinars, the first and second of which have already taken place with the third being broadcast on March 20, 2012. 

One answer to these questions was found by leveraging TRAIN's functions and tools, beginning with the pilot of an electronic self-assessment. This self-assessment was piloted in a health department district with approximately 350 employees. The self-assessment presented was not a standard process of answering questions and hitting submit. In fact, the health department employee rated their competency level and submitted, within the password-protected LMS, their answers for peer review; which, in most cases was their next-level supervisor. The supervisor then had the opportunity to comment, creating a constructive exchange between supervisors and employees. These virtual conversations led to an agreed-upon prioritization of competencies that both the employee and supervisor believed would strengthen skill sets. A plan that would improve individual workforce performance was formulating.

The next step after the self-assessment concerns itself with populating an electronic twelve-month training plan. Now, we ask, is there a function or feature in the learning management system that can handle delivery of a twelve-month training plan? This LMS, TRAIN, is capable of delivering courses through a training plan. An important feature is that the training plan can first, be easily accessed by the employee, and second, plan progress can be monitored by the employee and those in the Human Resources vertical chain, including the employee's supervisor. Of course the training plan needs to be populated by courses and training opportunities.

A nationwide database of training opportunities aligned and searchable by competency began making more sense among participants around the accreditation table who monitored and analyzed this self-assessment pilot. As the focus turned to competencies, the stress of identifying those key courses to include in the workforce development plan lessened as searches in the TRAIN database began turning up vetted curricula in delivery modalities that fit individual learning styles and preferences. But, not all courses within the training plans were left to the fate of a course search of a nationwide database. Over time, commonly known courses created and accessed by the health departments, that were evaluated and aligned with core competencies, were introduced into training plans based on employee job descriptions and, in part, length of service. Those plans may look different from an employee on the job for a year as opposed to a seasoned public health professional. 

Overall , TRAIN is taking on the air of a one stop shop for workforce development.  Implementation through a LMS is compelling, especially a system with advanced features. We invite you to our third webinar in this series as we continue this conversation and explore the impact of all these systems in regard to their effectiveness and efficiency as we move towards our accreditation goals and our workforce development needs.