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Features

Published May 2009

Portfolios: A Learning and Development Tool

  

  Greg Williams

While widely used in public education, portfolios have yet to gain widespread acceptance in enterprise learning and development. Learning practitioners may be missing out on a valuable tool for employee development.

Learning professionals face a number of challenges. The list includes aligning the learning function with organizational goals, developing and retaining staff, linking learning to job performance, measuring learning and performance, and recruiting and hiring quality staff.

These challenges are not new, but using employee portfolios to address these issues may be a novel idea. While portfolios may not be the Swiss Army knife of learning, they can serve as a valuable tool for supervisors and managers.

When most people think of a portfolio, they normally think of photographers, models, musicians or artists. These professionals use their portfolios as a career tool to showcase their work. At a basic level, portfolios provide documentation and evidence of individual performance.

The use of portfolios is not limited to these creative professions. Teachers in the K-12 arena have used portfolios for years, and their use is expanding in workplace learning. Many learning professionals, such as trainers, instructional designers and instructional technology specialists, have begun to use portfolios, as well.

A portfolio is a collection of items that documents and demonstrates an individual’s professional knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies in a tangible way. Items in portfolios are called artifacts. An artifact is concrete evidence of a person’s knowledge, a person’s skill or a demonstration of his or her expertise. Above all, portfolios should demonstrate how the individual helps the organization solve business problems.

Portfolio Contents
Besides basic information, such as a resume, bio, references and performance evaluations, portfolios must include samples of the employee’s work. These items are the heart of the portfolio. Here are some sample categories of documented portfolio items for learning and training professionals:
• Bio (multimedia production).
• Course design plans.
• Courses designed or developed.
• Courses taught.
• E-learning modules designed or developed.
• Evidence of training delivery, such as videos.
• Instructional technology productions.
• Job aids and performance support tools.
• Multimedia productions.
• Online tutorials or Web-based performance tools.
• Reports from projects managed.
• Reports, memos or any other evidence that documents performance.
• Surveys, evaluations or other assessment tools.
• Training needs analysis.
• Writing sample within a professional context (e.g., how training delivers value to organization, role of training in the organization).

Portfolio Organization
Besides solid contents, it is important to organize portfolios for maximum effectiveness. Portfolio items work best when they identify a problem in an organization and then explain how the item helped to solve it using measurable criteria. Ideally, you should briefly explain each item and its significance, the business problem it addressed and what occurred as a measurable result from implementing the item.