PRACTICE–UPGRADE Let's talk

← Ideas · Field note 005

Pack for the move.

Reskilling is on a lot of agendas. Roles are changing, new ones are emerging, and practitioners are being asked to get people job ready, often quickly.

Request#005

For
People moving into new roles
Need
Job-ready pathways
Format
Content they can work through
When
Before the new roles open

A conversation I keep having

Me

What should the pathway help people do?

A practitioner

Get ready for their new role.

Me

What will they be doing in their first month there?

A practitioner

That's still being worked out.

Me

Then let's start there.

Before you build the pathway, define the job.

Start with the person

Sit in their chair for a minute.

Human-centred design starts with the experience of the person making the move, before anyone builds a pathway.

Thinks

"What will the new role actually ask of me? Where do I even start?"

Feels

Uncertain about what's next. Keen to show what they can do.

Does

Keeps doing the current job, because it still needs doing. Fits learning in around the edges.

What they need from us

  1. 01Clarity

    What the new role asks of them, in plain terms.

  2. 02Practice

    Chances to do the new work before it counts.

  3. 03Momentum

    Visible progress, week by week.

  4. 04Skills that travel

    Value that holds wherever they land.

Jobs to be done

Define the role by what it gets done.

Start with the outcomes the new role exists to deliver. Break each into tasks. Agree both with people already doing the work.

The new roleClient adviserIllustrative

Help clients make good decisions

  • Run a discovery conversation
  • Write a clear recommendation

Keep accounts healthy

  • Review an account
  • Spot and raise a risk early

Find what's next

  • Manage a pipeline
  • Follow up with purpose

Now the pathway has something to aim at: tasks someone can be seen doing.

Sort the move

Compare the old role and the new one, task by task.

Already do itCredit it

Recognise it, and leave it out of the program.

Do something closeBuild it now

Stretch it in the current job, starting this week.

Brand newPractise it

Bridge tasks and rehearsal, closer to the move.

Must unlearnName it

Old habits are the hardest part. Say them out loud.

Why it works

01Jobs are bundles of tasks

Roles change task by task, so the clearest view of a move is at the level of the work itself.

02Skills travel best over short distances

Learning transfers most reliably to situations that look like where it was practised.

03Meta skills grow inside real tasks

Problem solving and influence are built by doing specific work with feedback.

Design for performance

The pathway is a good start. Now pack for performance.

Keep the pathway light

  • Short, searchable guides
  • Reference people pull when a task needs it
  • Released close to first use

Pack for performance

  • A job previewTime with the new team, so people see the work up close.
  • Bridge tasksSmall pieces of real work for the new team, signed off by them.
  • Practice circlesSmall groups who rehearse the hard parts together each week.
  • A mentor in the roleSomeone already doing the job, to ask and to watch.
  • Proof of performanceWhat they've done, who saw it, and what they said.

Job ready

Ready is something you can see.

Ready means they can do the critical tasks of the new role, to standard, on their own. Agree what that looks like at each checkpoint, then design backwards.

  1. Now

    Building the close tasks in the current job. Has seen the new work up close.

  2. Before the move

    Bridge tasks signed off. Has rehearsed the hardest conversations.

  3. First month

    Does the core tasks with support, and a head start on the ladder.

  4. Ready

    The critical tasks, to standard, on their own.

Track tasks done well. That's the evidence people need, and the evidence the business is looking for.

Design for both outcomes

Roles won't always line up one to one.

Be open about that early, and design so the effort counts either way.

If they land the role

They arrive with a head start: tasks already practised, a mentor they know, proof of what they can do.

If they land somewhere else

They take skills that travel, real evidence of their work, and people who'll vouch for them.

The takeaway

Define the job. Practise the tasks. Pack what they'll need wherever they land.

To close

Pathways help people learn about the new role.

Practice helps them perform in it.

Pack for the move.

Bring me a request Back to Ideas

A composite of conversations. Examples are illustrative.

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