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52 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2022 rent challenges in upskilling, is this 50-year-old method still meaningful? Upskilling normally refers to training current staff to be competent in more highly skilled work. A careful read of the Mager/Pipe flow- chart reveals that upskilling as we know it resides along the le side of the flow—when the answer to "Is there a skill deficiency?" is a definite "yes." e next two triage questions, "Could they do the work previously?" and "Did they do that work oen?" determine the next steps to be taken. If this is a new skill for the individual, then formal training followed by practice is in order. It is interesting that this model even has room to accommodate continuous improve- ment or total quality management ideas. For example, the flowchart reminds us to ask, "Is there a simpler way?" Remembering to be mindful of process improvement as well need not be a process expert's role alone. Staff who are upskilling can oen provide great insight into the efficiency and appropriateness of your current process. In a former life as a trainer, my students would sometimes make suggestions to a process and I would regularly watch how they learned the process, looking for places to shorten the procedure. e next phase of the upskilling process, of course, takes place once the skill has been learned and demonstrated. Now the process experts are watching the right side of the flow- chart. If it's not a skill deficiency, then chances are good that the process itself is not reward- ing in some way. Rarely is it that the employee doesn't want, or isn't able, to do the job prop- erly. When that is the case, then the lack of potential can be identified, and the employee removed in one way or another. Most of the time staff members want to succeed. is puts the spotlight on figuring out what's wrong with the process to keep it from being self-enforcing and self-rewarding. Some careful thought on the implications of this flowchart and some interesting points start to emerge: • e solutions to most performance problems are not training • While upskilling has a definite place in organizational improvement, it should not be considered the reflex response to a performance gap • Even when training is necessary, proper attention to process efficiencies can amplify the training benefits for your employees In my time as a corporate training man- ager at a capital equipment manufacturer, we used this flowchart to assess our field service personnel's skill level and developed training only for the specific skills needed. e rest of the internal training program's attention was spent on improving the processes and proce- dures, identifying hurdles, and inadvertently punishing outcomes to the processes. Oh, and eliminating the things that weren't important aer all. Analyzing Performance Problems is still in print. You can find a copy at any number of booksellers. PCB007 References 1. Adapted from Analyzing Performance Prob- lems (Second Edition, 1984), by Robert F. Mager and Peter Pipe, Lake Publishing Company, Belmont, Cal- ifornia. Upskilling normally refers to training current staff to be competent in more highly skilled work.