You onboard a new candidate, they sign off on all their training and competencies, you pat yourself on
the back. But wait how are you measuring and documenting their skills on an on-going basis? What
about the employee who has been working for you for five years? They may know what to do with their
respirator, but more than likely they have not looked at the policy since they were hired.
Employers have a responsibility to ensure they are providing on-going opportunities for learning and
refining skills. Many skills and policies simply need an acknowledgment, sign-off, or a quick test to
document competency. Examples could be your attendance policy, where to locate safety data sheets,
or a refresher on ladder safety. To protect the company, an annual check-off on the company’s sexual
harassment policy, discrimination in the workplace, and how to proceed if injured on the job should be
completed. These are just a tiny sampling of examples.
Gone are the days of printing off paper quizzes and getting ink pen signatures. When you partner with
CVC Coaching, we give you the ability to upload your competencies electronically, assign them to your
employees, and monitor their progress. You can set a deadline for them to be completed and send
reminders. If you were to ever experience a workplace injury you could quickly pull the documentation
from our system showing your competence test history. For competencies such as ladder safety, CVC
recommends creating a short 5–10 question quiz. In the event your employee does not pass the quiz
the first time, you will be able to see what questions they missed and where there is room for learning.
The attendance policy could simply be a “yes” acknowledgment that they have read the policy and
understand it.
Setting an annual competency window during your slower season of business is recommended. The
window should be no more than a few weeks. Each year you can keep the competencies the same, mix
them up, or re-do the quizzes to fit the needs of your company at that time. Choose your top 10-15
competencies or policies. This is not meant to be an acknowledgment the companies entire policy book.
If you have 30 top competencies it is recommended you do 15 each six months, or better yet, rotate 15
every other year.
If you would like to learn more about moving your company’s competencies to the CVC platform, would
like help developing your competencies, or just have general questions, send me an email at
Brandi@cvccoaching.com
Edited by Sarah E. Perkins