How to Determine your ODA

Staff’s Training Needs

Jessica Sawyer

MoDOT

The Objective

The objective of training is to upgrade an

individual’s skill to carry out their job tasks both

effectively and efficiently.

Facts:

You will be hard pressed to find a degree or field

of study in outdoor advertising control.

We usually train ourselves (school of hard

knocks) but there are other solutions.

Barriers

• Maintenance issues – software, hardware

• Procedural confusion – Do you have an

effective method to disseminate decisions

that affect procedures? ex. new legislation,

court decisions & management decisions

• High turnover

• Unclear objectives

• Lack of resources

The Keys

The keys to determining training needs include:

1. Know your present situation

2. Identify required competencies

3. Involve employees

4. Survey, discuss and analyze data and results

5. Prepare specific employee development plans

6. Implement the plans

Organization Analysis

What does your organization or DOT require?

• Compliance training: safety; CPR, Defensive

Driving, equipment training

• Cross-training, Right of Way or Traffic specific

training, Quality Improvement, personal

development classes

• EEO, Diversity

Task Analysis (ODA specific)

What does this job require and what training

will help?

• FHWA training, peer training, sign inventory

program training, media training, GPS or

distance measuring device

• Job description – Is it

still relevant now?

Person Competency Analysis

Does the employee know all they need to know

to do their job?

• Are they a new employee? Transfer?

Promotion?

• Existing employee that missed some training?

• Example: New equipment, no training offered

by manufacturer, employee learned on their

own; Is there a newer/faster way to operate?

Person Competency Analysis cont’d.

• What training are the employees asking for?

• Yearly/Quarterly reviews – What seems to be

difficult for them to accomplish or complete?

Solutions• Employee-created training

• Partnership training – FHWA/DOT

Letting FHWA know what training is needed

and they develop; webinars, on-site training

• Using other states’ training ex. bonus states

• On-line training

• Dropping outdated training programs

• Get feedback on training to see if it was

effective and to make improvements

Benefits of Effective Training

• Confident & knowledgeable employees

• Better customer service

• Less “do-overs”

• Less legal issues (hopefully)

• Effective control

Excerpts from: Required Competencies to Effective Training Or,

How to Determine Training Needs

By: Davis Woodruff, PE, CMC, Management Methods, Inc.

Jessica Sawyer, MoDOT

Jessica.Sawyer@modot.mo.gov

417-895-7648