Certification Program | Professional Development

In 2015, I led an initiative to certify the editorial department on a flagship media product. The goal was to ensure that the entire team producing content was fluent in the functionality of the product that was going to the market. Such awareness allows for creation of content to think digitally first rather than converting a print product into a media product after the fact. Also, it allowed for strategic alignment to ensure cross-company understanding of the key features being promoted.

The initiative was done using modular badges that were given to each ​​employee based on specific competencies. Badges allow for easier release of new modular training as new features become available or old feature change in some way. The badges were granted using a performance management system to allow for reportability on competencies as well as to make them parallel with each employee's annual goals. ​​

In order to measure overall compliance and ensure we were on track to reach our goal, I created the following dashboard using Google sheets:

The names of individuals and products have both been removed for privacy. By tracking to a specific goal, we could ensure that we were certifying enough editors each week to reach our final goal. While there were a few straggling certifications in the final week, but in the end we reached 100% compliance!