W orkplace learning competence is the ability to be effective in learning inreal time in workplace settings. Use this instrument to rate the competence of aworkplace learner who is known to you. There is not a scorecard – it is up toyou to use this as you best see fit.
For each competency listed, rate his or her level of perceived competence. Usethe following scale:
1 = Not applicable.
2 = I perceive him or her to be functioning at a less than effective level inhis or her present workplace on this workplace learning competency.
3 = I perceive him or her to be functioning at a somewhat effective level inhis or her present workplace on this workplace learningcompetency.
4 = I perceive him or her to be functioning at an effective level in his orher present workplace on this workplace learning competency.
5 = I perceive him or her to be functioning at a highly effective level inhis or her present workplace on this workplace learningcompetency.
Then, place a number from 1 to 7 to indicate how important you believe it tobe for this person to improve this workplace learning competency. A 1 indicatesthat taking action to build this workplace learning competency is of highestpriority. A 7 indicates that improvement on the competency is of lowestpriority.
FOUNDATIONAL COMPETENCIES
Reading skill: Read to a level of proficiency appropriate for learning in aworkplace setting.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Writing skill: Write to a level of proficiency appropriate for learning in aworkplace setting.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Computation skill: Apply mathematics to a level of proficiency appropriatefor learning in a workplace setting.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Listening skill: Listen effectively and to a level of proficiency appropriatefor learning in a workplace setting.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Questioning skill: Pose appropriate questions to others and obtain meaningfuland unambiguous answers to those questions.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Speaking skill: Speak to individuals or present to groups with a level ofproficiency appropriate for learning in a workplace setting.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Cognitive skills: Think, draw conclusions, think creatively, make decisions,and solve problems.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Individual skills: Demonstrate a willingness to accept responsibility anddisplay self-esteem.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Resource skills: Allocate such resources as time, money, people, andinformation appropriately to learn in the workplace.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Interpersonal skill: Work cooperatively with others, carry out formal orinformal training or mentoring of others, and maintain effective interpersonalrelations with customers.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Informational and technological skill: Acquire and analyze data from varioussources.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
INTERMEDIATE COMPETENCIES
Systems thinking: View organizations and work from a systems perspective.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Personal mastery: Show willingness to learn and take pride in learning.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Mental modeling: Create, communicate, and critique ingrained (and otherwisetaken-for granted) assumptions, beliefs, or values.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Shared visioning: Formulate, communicate, and build enthusiasm about sharedviews of the future.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Team learning skill: Participate effectively and actively in workplace groupsand use dialogue and other approaches to formulate, communicate, and test ideasgenerated by himself or herself or others.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Self-knowledge: Demonstrate awareness and understanding of self aslearner.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Short-term memory skill: Remember facts, people, and situations for shorttime spans, usually about 48 hours or less.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Long-term memory skill: Remember facts, people, and situations for longertime spans, usually exceeding 48 hours.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Subject matter knowledge: Possess a solid foundation of background knowledgeon the issue or subject that he or she sets out to learn about in theworkplace.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Enjoyment of learning and work: Display joy in the learning process itselfand in the work that he or she performs.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Flexibility: Show a willingness to apply what he or she knows in new ways asconditions warrant their application.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Persistence and confidence: Show determination to pursue new knowledge orskill, even when finding it or mastering it proves more difficult than expected.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Sense of urgency: Display sensitivity to the importance of time to self andothers.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Honesty: Give information in a straightforward manner, free of deception, andelicit similar behavior from others.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Giving respect to others: Defer to others with more experience or knowledge.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
THE PERCEPTIVIST ROLE
Work environment analytical skills: Examine work environments for issues orcharacteristics affecting human performance.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Sensory awareness: Show sensitivity to stimuli received from the outsideworld based on the use of any one or all of the five senses.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Open-mindedness: Demonstrate a willingness to see, to observe, and tointernalize what the world presents and reinterpret it afresh.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Humility: Display modesty about what he or she does or does not know, awillingness to listen to fresh perspectives without pretending to know when heor she does not know.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Analytical skill (synthesis): Break down the components of a larger whole andreassemble them to achieve improved human performance.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Intuition: Show sensitivity to stimuli generated by him or her from memory orfrom the application of nonverbal logic.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
THE INFORMATION-GATHERER ROLE
Information-sourcing skill: Identify the kind of information needed tosatisfy curiosity and show an ability to locate such information from crediblesources.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Information-gathering skill: Collect information by talking to others, askingquestions of others, facilitating groups to answer questions, and findinginformation from other sources.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Information-organizing skill: Organize or structure information obtained fromone or many sources and categorize it into schemes that permit recall,comparison, or creative reexamination.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Feedback solicitation skill: Display an ability to solicit feedback on whathe or she has learned from others.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
THE ANALYST ROLE
Willingness to experiment and gain experience: Show an openness to try outnew ideas or approaches, even when they are untested or their results areunknown.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Internalization skill: Translate general knowledge or information intospecific information that can be immediately applied or tested.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Application of new knowledge skill: Use new knowledge or skill in harmonywith the way it was described or characterized from the original source(s).
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Ability to adapt knowledge to new situations or events: Use new knowledge orskill in creative, unusual, or novel ways.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
THE EVALUATOR ROLE
Critical examination of information skill: Reflect on what was learnedcritically, offering follow-up questions or new ideas based on the information.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important
Learning how to learn skill: Reflect on how he or she acquired newinformation or knowledge and find ways to improve the acquisition andapplication of new knowledge or skill in the future.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Self-directedness skill: Display a willingness to be proactive about hisor her own learning, to take action without needing to be directed to learnor to act by other people.
Not applicable: 1
Less than effective: 2
Somewhat effective: 3
Effective: 4
Highly Effective: 5
How important do you believe it to be to improve this workplace learningcompetency? (Rate from 1 to 7, with 1 = Most important)
Excerpted from The Workplace Learner by William J. Rothwell. Copyright @ 2002William J. Rothwell. Published by AMACOM Books, a division of AmericanManagement Association, New York, NY. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
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