State of Utah Department of Workforce Services

Challenge

Utah’s Department of Workforce Services underwent tremendous change during the late 1990’s as all employment related functions in five separate state agencies were consolidated into one department. During this time DWS also implemented a 36-month time limit on their customers’ financial assistance to comply with new federal legislation. Customers with complex employment barriers struggled under the time limit. Barriers were not being found until late in their assistance lifetime, if found at all. When DWS requested outside expertise in developing skill-building training modules, they wanted to improve the progress of their most challenging customers through early identification of employment barriers and more effective service delivery.

Solution

LetterPress Software collaborated with DWS administrators and staff to determine the most important knowledge and skills to be addressed by the training. Analysis activities included:

• Review of departmental audits
• Review of existing training materials
• Compilation of best practices in the field
• Workplace observations, interviews, telephone conversations, questionnaires, small-group discussions, and job shadowing
• Consultation with outside experts who reviewed working documents for accuracy, relevancy, and opportunities to incorporate current research and practices.

LetterPress pulled from a variety of scientific theories, including Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction and Gagne’s Conditions of Learning, to create an innovative, scenario-based e-Learning design that would meet the motivational and learning needs of DWS counselors. Macromedia Flash and other low bandwidth media technologies were utilized so the final product would deliver across the existing technology infrastructure to both urban and rural locations.

The development and implementation of each training module included separate reviews and revisions by (1) social workers and career counselors for lesson content, (2) employment center staff for workplace compatibility and usability, and (3) managers and supervisors for policy accuracy. LetterPress delivered the final version of each module across the state’s secure intranet to over 1400 employees in nearly 50 employment centers.

Results

Comments from DWS personnel include:

“This module, by far, is the most accurate in addressing the content of the situations we deal with on a daily basis as employment counselors. I felt the scenarios were all VERY realistic and good reminders of how to react in certain situations.”
DWS Office Lead

“Lesson Three was excellent because it deals with Employment Counselor issues that we frequently experience but don’t often talk about.”
DWS Office Lead

This module was GREAT!!! Now we are starting to get into the stuff (information) that we have been wanting training on for over 5 years!”
DWS Employment Counselor

“I tried to view the material with the skeptical eye of an overworked Case Manager who has little tolerance for wasted time, being preached to or being fed information she already (thinks) she has a grasp of. That being said, I LOVED IT.”
DWS Program Specialist

“Wonderful! Thank you for all your efforts with this project… I believe these modules will truly prove to be a terrific asset for all our DWS personnel.”
DWS State Lead

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