U.S. Office of Personnel Management www.opm.gov - Recruiting, Retaining and Honoring a World-Class Workforce to Serve the American People

Training Information

We are a continuing source for current human resource development trends and innovations. One of our goals is to provide you with up-to-date sources for training information and HRD issues. The following sites are just a few links to these resources:

• CAREER ASSESSMENT RESOURCES

• CORE COMPETENCY RESOURCES
• FACT SHEETS
• HUMAN CAPITAL RESOURCES
• INDIVIDUAL LEARNING ACCOUNTS
• KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT RESOURCES
• LEARNING TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES
• TRAINING EVALUATION
• TRAINING RESOURCES
• OTHER RESOURCES

CAREER ASSESSMENT RESOURCES

• America's Career InfoNet
  This website contains links to tools for career assessment, career planning, and career management.

CORE COMPETENCY RESOURCES

• U.S. Chief Financial Officers Council
• Information Technology Core Competencies
  This CIO Council website contains the Clinger-Cohen competencies for those in the IT workforce.
• Center for Disease Control
  This website lists core competencies for public health practitioners.

FACT SHEETS

• Fact Sheet on Continuing Service Agreements [3.1 MB]
  The purpose of this fact sheet is to assist agencies develop and implement their continuing service agreement policies.
• Fact Sheet on Certification and Certificate Programs
  The purpose of this fact sheet is to assist agencies with planning, implementation, and evaluation and reevaluation of certification and certificate programs.

HUMAN CAPITAL RESOURCES

• January 2000 GAO Report: Human Capital Key Principles from Nine Private Sector Companies
  This report provides case illustrations that offer practical examples for agencies to consider as they work to improve their human capital strategies. The report is a pdf file.
• September 2000 Human Capital: A Self Assessment Checklist for Agency Leaders
  This agency self-assessment checklist is a starting point for agencies to focus on valuing employees and aligning their human resource polices to support organizational performance goals. The checklist is a pdf file.
• January 2001 GAO Performance and Accountability Series: Major Management Challenges and Program Risks A Government Human Capital Key Principles from Nine Private Sector Companies
  This report addresses a range of Government-wide challenges and opportunities to enhance the performance and accountability of the Federal Government. It is part of a special series, first issued in January 1999, entitled, the Performance and Accountability Series: Major Management Challenges and Program Risks. The report is a pdf file.

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING ACCOUNTS

• Individual Learning Accounts
  Individual Learning Accounts are a 21^st Century learning tool that provides a flexible and innovative approach to developing Federal employees. ILAs were piloted in the Federal Government from March 2000 through September 2000.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT RESOURCES

• KM.GOV
  KM.GOV is a part of FirstGov and serves as a portal to websites, workgroups, events, and resources that address knowledge management issues.

LEARNING TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES

• Resources for Procuring the "Right" Learning Management System: [75 KB]
  The information included in this document provides some basic explanations, definitions, and questions for starting the conversation with your information technology group and e-learning supplier.  The document includes 8 basic tips along with references that provide additional information and best practices in selecting a Learning Management System.
• Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL)
  Learn about the Department of Defense ADL initiative which is about activities focused on instructional content, development, and delivery using emerging technology for online learning. Also learn about other learning technology activities that are being developed.
• Environmental Protection Agency's National Enforcement Training Institute (EPA)
  EPA's National Enforcement Training Institute trains Federal, State, Local and Tribal lawyers, inspectors, civil and criminal investigators, and technical experts in the enforcement of the Nation's environmental laws. The institute uses a balanced training approach using traditional classroom training, distance learning, and cooperative agreements with other organizations. This website also contains the proceedings of the Government Learning Technology Symposiums (GLTS) which are available for downloading through their clearinghouse.
  
• Federal Government Distance Learning Association (FGDLA)
  The FGDLA coordinates with the Government Alliance for Training and Education (GATE), the Government Education and Training Network (GETN), and the Government Resources and Capabilities Directory (GRCD) to provide information and promote distance learning within the Federal Government.
• General Services Administration On-Line University
  GSA hosts an on-line university for the Federal Acquisition Workforce. The university consists of multimedia tutorials, samples, forms, live audio broadcasts, on-line chat rooms for seminars, and instructor-led presentations.

TRAINING EVALUATION FIELD GUIDE  [2.3 MB]

Agencies are required to evaluate their training programs annually to determine how well such plans and programs contribute to mission accomplishment and meet organizational performance goals (5 CFR 410.202). This Training Evaluation Field Guide is designed to assist agency training representatives in evaluating training program effectiveness and in demonstrating training value to stakeholders and decision makers.

Field Guide Development Process

Data were gathered from fifteen federal agency representatives who volunteered their time to attend a one-day working meeting, participate in individual interviews and submit samples of their tools and case studies. This Field Guide reflects the input from the working group.

Key Audience and Usage

This Guide is designed for all federal employees who have a role in training evaluation and effectiveness within their agencies.
Specific users for this field guide are:

• Training managers and supervisors
• Training liaisons/coordinators
• Agency evaluators
• Instructional designers
• Training facilitators
• Any others who have a significant role in training effectiveness

TRAINING RESOURCES

• American Society for Training and Development
  The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) is the world's largest association dedicated to workplace learning and performance professionals. ASTD provides research, analysis, benchmarking, online information, books, and other publications.  ASTD also hosts conferences, workshops, and other professional development opportunities for learning professionals.
• Air Force Acquisition Career Management Center
  Through this website, the Air Force acquisition workforce is informed on important career development issues.
• Department of Energy Universal Catalog
  The Department of Energy's Universal Catalog is an on-line index that links training catalogs from DOE sites across the country. DOE employees and contractors are able to locate any training program available in the DOE system right at their computer.
• Ethics Training
  This website provides references to training seminars and computer-based training programs related to the executive branch ethics program.
• OPM's Federal Executive Institute
  For more than two decades, the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) has been charged with the development of generalist career executives. The FEI is an interagency residential learning center with a curriculum that addresses broad perspectives basic to effective performance in the senior executive service.
• The Federal Executive Boards (FEBs)
  FEBs were established by Presidential Directive in 1961. They are a forum for communication and collaboration among Federal agencies outside of Washington, DC. The need for effective coordination among the field activities of Federal departments and agencies was then, and is still, very clear. Approximately 88 percent of all Federal employees work outside the National Capital Region. Federal programs have their impact largely through the actions of the field representatives of the departments and agencies. In addition, Federal representatives are the principal contact with the Federal Government for the citizens of the United States. The National network of 28 FEBs serves as the cornerstone for strategic partnering in Government. The Federal Executive Boards web site contains unique training information for each of the Boards. User must select the regional jurisdiction of the preference in order to obtain the desired information on jointly-sponsored federal training opportunities.
• OPM's Management Development Centers
  OPM's Management Development Centers are exclusively dedicated to building the special brand of leadership required by America's dynamic and diverse workforce via seminars and instructor-led presentations.
• Federal Government Leadership Development Programs (Fed LDP)
  Fed LDP is an online catalogue of the Federal Government Leadership Development Programs. This website provides an electronic library of programs sponsored by the Federal departments and agencies to foster the development of employees' leadership skills.

OTHER RESOURCES

• Emergency Preparedness Training and Information 
  This webpage is your portal to some of the different kinds of training programs and general information that is available about emergency preparedness and terrorism awareness.
• Society for Organizational Learning
  Learn how Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline provides tools to improve organizational performance via this web site.