Your Chief Virtual Learning Architect

Learning to Performance

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Custom Design & Delivery

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Predictive Evaluation

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Enterprise Learning Strategy

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Dave Basarab Consulting has elevated the training experience, offering an end-to-end comprehensive approach that includes training strategy, instructional design, development, delivery , post program training transfer, and evaluation (via the unique Predictive Evaluation methodology). Virtual Chief Architect Dave Basarab has combined all of these individual training elements with his user-friendly, comprehensive Learning to Performance approach, which significantly increases companies' training ROI.

Why we are different

Innovation: Our primary focus is creating learning programs using a Learning to Performance approach.
Expertise: Dave offers the depth and breadth of his experience, including working internally at prestigious companies (Motorola, Ingersoll Rand and Pitney Bowes) as well as his knowledge and expertise as a highly-respected, sought-after consultant.
Partnership: Basarab collaborates with companies, serving as their own Chief Learning Officer whenever they need to plan, strategize, or implement training initiatives.

Training Services

Enterprise Learning Strategy

Enterprise Learning Strategy

At Dave Basarab Consulting, we're experts in creating Enterprise Learning Plans. We work with you to develop your company's learning strategy and direction.

Custom Design, Development, & Delivery

Custom Design, Development, & Delivery

Custom training is an effective way of developing the capability required to execute your strategy. We are a custom design house that creates programs specific to your business.

Learning Burst Development

Learning Burst Development

We can create and deliver your courses via our unique Learning Burst Method - keeping your employees at their jobs while receiving world-class training.

Predictive Evaluation

Predictive Evaluation

We predict the ROI for your courses and establish success gates. We then evaluate the course against the success gates to show value realized and continually improve results.

Leadership Development

Leadership Development

Turn-key virtual custom leadership development program that combines world-class leadership speakers/educators with post-event personalized coaching to provide you with a cadre of highly skilled leaders.

Predictive Evaluation

Building a Competency Model That Drives Performance Reviews

A competency model gives an organisation a shared definition of effective performance. When it is linked directly to performance reviews, it turns broad expectations such as “show leadership” or “communicate well” into observable behaviours, evidence-based ratings and targeted development actions.

For Australian employers, this connection is especially useful across hybrid teams in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and regional locations. A well-designed model can support consistent standards while respecting enterprise agreements, Fair Work obligations, work health and safety expectations and the practical realities of a tight local talent market.

Start With Business Outcomes

The strongest models begin with the results the organisation needs, rather than with a generic list of desirable traits. Business leaders might prioritise customer retention, safer operations, faster project delivery, regulatory compliance or stronger frontline decision-making. Each priority should be translated into the capabilities employees need to demonstrate.

For example, a logistics business may require planning discipline, hazard awareness and stakeholder communication. A professional services firm in Melbourne may place greater emphasis on commercial judgement, consulting skills and digital collaboration. These differences make a tailored capability framework more useful than an off-the-shelf dictionary.

Define Observable Workplace Behaviour

A competency should describe what people do, not simply what they know. “Strategic thinking” is too broad to rate consistently, while “connects team priorities to customer and financial outcomes” gives managers something they can observe and discuss.

Each competency can include proficiency levels such as foundational, proficient and advanced. The descriptions should use Australian workplace language and realistic examples. A foundational people leader may hold regular one-to-ones and address issues early; an advanced leader may build succession capability across several sites.

This approach also improves instructional design. Learning bursts, coaching activities and formal programmes can be mapped to specific gaps instead of being offered as disconnected training events.

Build Reviews Around Evidence

The performance review should use the same language as the competency framework. Employees can record examples, outcomes, feedback and lessons learned throughout the review period, rather than relying on memory during an annual meeting. Managers then assess both the result achieved and the behaviours used to achieve it.

A useful rating scale distinguishes demonstrated performance from potential. Someone may exceed a sales target while still needing development in compliance or team conduct. Clear behavioural anchors help reduce recency bias, personal preference and inconsistent standards between a Sydney head office and a regional branch.

The model should also fit existing HR processes. Where enterprise agreements or consultation requirements apply, organisations need to involve relevant stakeholders before changing rating criteria, role expectations or development consequences.

Link Capability To Development

A review has limited value if it identifies a gap without providing a practical response. Each competency should connect to development options such as guided practice, manager coaching, peer learning, job rotations, learning bursts or formal programmes. The selected intervention should match the level and nature of the gap.

For instance, a new supervisor who struggles with difficult conversations may need role-play, observation and feedback rather than a self-paced module alone. A technical specialist preparing for a broader role may benefit from commercial exposure and project leadership. This is where the business-learning connection keeps development focused on operational performance.

Measure Adoption And Business Impact

A competency framework should be evaluated at several levels. Organisations can track whether managers use the model, whether employees understand expectations, whether review quality improves and whether targeted behaviours appear more often at work. Business measures might include productivity, customer outcomes, safety incidents, retention or internal mobility.

Predictive Evaluation helps leaders forecast whether a learning and performance initiative is likely to be adopted and produce value before major investment is made. The Predictive Evaluation book provides a useful reference for connecting programme design with adoption, impact and return on investment.

Measurement should be proportionate. A small Australian business may use quarterly manager check-ins and a few operational indicators, while a national employer may combine survey data, review calibration, workforce analytics and customer metrics.

Select A Model That Managers Can Use

Complexity is a common reason competency frameworks fail. If managers need a lengthy manual to interpret every behaviour, the model will rarely survive a busy review cycle. A concise structure with a small number of enterprise-wide competencies and role-specific capabilities is easier to apply.

Model feature	Practical application	Value for performance reviews
Core competencies	Behaviours expected across the organisation	Creates a consistent baseline
Role capabilities	Skills linked to a job family or function	Makes expectations relevant
Proficiency levels	Increasing scope, independence and complexity	Supports fair development conversations
Behavioural indicators	Observable examples of effective practice	Improves rating consistency
Evidence prompts	Questions about outcomes and behaviours	Encourages specific review discussions
Development links	Learning, coaching and experience options	Turns ratings into action

The framework should be tested with managers and employees before a full rollout. Feedback from a Perth operations team may reveal different application issues from those raised by a corporate group in Sydney. Pilots make it possible to simplify language, identify rating problems and confirm that the model reflects real work.

Embed The Framework In Manager Practice

Managers determine whether a competency model becomes part of everyday performance management or remains a document on an intranet. They need practice in setting expectations, giving behavioural feedback, documenting evidence and separating capability assessment from personal style. Calibration sessions can help leaders compare examples and reach a shared view of performance.

Organisations with varied workforces should also check for cultural, accessibility and role-design issues. The model must work for office-based professionals, field teams, contact-centre employees and workers operating under different rosters. Examples should reflect Australian workplace conditions, including safety responsibilities and geographically dispersed teams.

Practical priorities include:

Limit the framework to a manageable number of core competencies.
Define behaviours at each proficiency level using real work examples.
Add competency evidence to regular one-to-one conversations.
Train managers in feedback, calibration and fair assessment.
Map each common gap to coaching, experience or learning support.
Review adoption and business outcomes after each performance cycle.

A competency model directly tied to performance reviews gives employees clearer expectations and managers stronger evidence for decisions about development, recognition and progression. The experience of organisations across different industries, reflected in Dave’s client experience, also shows why the framework must be adapted to the work rather than copied from another employer. What readers should remember is simple: define the behaviours that drive results, assess them with evidence and connect every identified gap to a practical next step.

Learning to Performance

Learning to Performance, a complete training approach, gives companies world-class training to drive significant return. This approach includes upfront work (Impact Mapping, design), training (for staff and company executives), and post-training efforts to ensure training transfer. This unique recipe - the key for successful training and adoption - is changing the way companies implement training. This methodology could work with any content for organizations in any industry.