| The purpose of this study was to investigate Pakistani Workplace Learning and Performance (WLP) practitioners' perceptions of the importance of WLP competencies at the present time and in the next five years. The goals were to: (1) identify and characterize a profile of Pakistani WLP practitioners; (2) analyze perceptions of the current and future importance of WLP competencies in Pakistan; (3) measure the relationships between the perceived importance of foundational and technical competencies currently in terms of education levels; and (4) compare the existing competencies of Pakistani practitioners with those recommended by the 2004 American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) model in terms of current expertise and future expertise in terms of importance.;Findings revealed that Management Development/Leadership Development/Executive Development was the primary discipline (21.5%) and Training (19.3%) was the secondary discipline in this research. With regard to the professional levels of the practitioners, 17.8% identified "manager" as their job title. About two-thirds of the respondents had received at least a master's degree (e.g., Master of Science, Master of Arts, or Master of Business Administration) (163, 60.6%). The majority reported academic degree programs to be the predominant source of education and training for gaining WLP positions. A total of 219 (81.4%) Pakistani practitioners identified academic degree programs as the most effective sources of professional development programs (PDP).;Participants viewed two items on knowledge Areas---career development theories and approaches and coaching approaches ---as important in the future. They also reported facilitating career transition to be an important action Area in the future compared to the current time on the Career Planning and Talent Management (CPTM) Survey. They pointed out that Individual learning styles, e.g., audio, visual, is the most needed knowledge Area relating to Delivering Training. They also rated the evaluating solution(s) action Area as being of future importance relating to Delivering Training in the workplace. With regard to the Designing Learning Knowledge Areas, e.g., cognition and adult learning theory, various instructional methods and various delivery options were viewed as important, while analysis and selection of technologies implied a gap in importance to this action Area in instructional design. Looking at Measuring and Evaluation, the fact that interpretation and reporting of data was selected most often highlighted the gap in importance for this competency, while reporting conclusions and making recommendations based on findings was selected as a future competency.;Since this was the first WLP research study in Pakistan and involved only practitioners accessed through convenience and snowball sampling approaches, further studies of WLP practitioners are recommended using random sampling approaches at a larger scale. Through findings offered here, Pakistani WLP practitioners, HR departments, research organizations, businesses, and educational institutions in Pakistan will become aware of the possible implications of this research for self-assessment, organization development, recruitment, development, promotion, and retention. Trainers, instructional designers, curriculum developers, and academia can use these findings in designing, developing, teaching, and evaluating WLP competencies in Pakistan. According to the reported perceptions of practitioners, they endorse the importance of WLP competencies in closing the performance gap. The actions needed to close this gap include recognizing WLP programs at the university level. Future research is needed on the roles, competencies, and technical Areas of expertise of WLP practitioners in Pakistan because this Area of research has been relatively unexploited to this point. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
