Dr. Thompson, a senior leader in CapraTek, has asked that you guide the preparation of a strategic learning plan for the organization. There are a number of areas at CapraTek that represent strengths and other areas that need attention. Some areas provide unique opportunities to enhance organizational productivity and others to sustain the current demands.

You are an HR professional for CapraTek with a specialty in learning and development. Use the information in the scenario above to prepare an organizational strategic learning plan for CapraTek. Remember: while there are multiple communities of practice in every organization, this assessment focuses on the information technology and marketing community of practice only.

Below is a list of organizational goals, general information about the direction of the company, and recommendations from the communities of practice within the company. Please use this data to create an organizational strategic learning plan.

CapraTek Organizational Goals

• Enhance the company's capability to adapt to changing technological advances.
• Nurture an environment of innovation that will disrupt the markets we compete in.
• Significantly improve responsiveness to changes in customer demands and expectations.
• Develop new approaches to shorten time to market for all current and future product offerings.

CapraTek Information

• CapraTek is deeply involved in a new innovation and product development effort that introduced very new technology that was merged into the organization and will be combined with technology everyone at CapraTek uses every day. The research and development program is a major component of the company's strategy. Both information technology and marketing influence the organization's strategy. These new conditions require new learning strategy to support organizational objectives.

Community of Practice Information

Communities of practice are very active at CapraTek. Individuals from similar roles meet as a COP at least monthly to share common learning opportunities, discuss issues and innovations, and provide recommendations to the larger organization.

Recently, the following recommendations were collected from all of the COPs in the company and delivered to the HR department:

• Custom learning and development plans will be required for IT pros and marketing professionals in the organization.
• The community of practice lead for Information Technology (priority) has said that company information technology professionals will need learning and development opportunities in two areas:
  • New CLOUD provider certifications.
  • Software development content knowledge and development skills.
• The community of practice lead for marketing has indicated that the marketing team at CapraTek could benefit from:
  • Marketing certification.
  • Digital marketing content knowledge and development skills.

Instructions

Outline an organizational strategic learning plan in a 10-12 slide presentation with presentation notes that could be presented to the leadership team. Include the following in your presentation:

1. Consider the background information above in the HR Challenge. This assessment requires learners to weigh the material presented in the introduction, the CapraTek Organizational Goals, CapraTek information, and the Community of Practice information, and present a plan outline that integrates this information to form an effective strategic learning plan.
2. In the introduction, discuss the importance of the strategic learning plan and the contributions it makes to the organization and its membership.
   • What are the implications for learning and development?
3. Outline your strategic learning plan, including these minimum requirements:
   • Explain strategic learning plan alignment to organizational goals that will drive strategy.
   • Define the scope of learning:
     • What is covered by the strategic learning plan?
     • What are the highlights of the plan without getting too far into the details?
   • Prioritize community of practice requirements, considering information technology is the primary focus of this assessment.
   • Describe the learning approaches:
     • What learning capabilities are needed to support the learning (Moon & Ruona, 2015)?
   • Explain how the company will support learners working toward the five-year goals:
     • What is the coordination with the supervisors and the resource allocation?
   • Set periods of evaluation for five-year plan:
     • Ensure evaluation is conducted from both employee and management perspectives (Neal, 2012).
   • Consider how the learning function has impacts across other staff and programs (Leahy, Wegmann, & Nolen, 2016).
   • Learners are encouraged to use scholarly research to add to the template.

Sources

• Donaire, L. (2014). Enable business goals through L&D. Training, 51(4), 12-13.
• Leahy, S. K., Wegmann, S., & Nolen, L. (2016). Through the looking glass: Foundation evaluation and learning and the quest for strategic learning. The Foundation Review, 8(5), 23-37.
• Macpherson, A., & Antonacopoulou, E. (2013). Translating strategy into practice: The role of communities of practice. Journal of Strategy and Management, 6(3), 265-285.
• Moon, H., & Ruona, W. (2015). Towards a deeper understanding of strategic learning. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(6), 657-674.
• Neal, B. (2012). Designing and implementing a learning strategy plan. T + D, 66(6), 76-77.