Your Chief Virtual Learning Architect

Learning to Performance

Read More
Custom Design & Delivery

Read More
Predictive Evaluation

Read More
Enterprise Learning Strategy

Read More

› ‹

1
2
3
4

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

The case for competency-based learning in technical roles

Technical roles are changing faster than many traditional training programmes can keep up with. New software, automation, safety requirements and operating procedures can make a once-reliable course catalogue outdated within months. For Australian employers, the pressure is especially visible across mining, construction, utilities, healthcare, manufacturing and fast-growing technology teams. Learn more about The Role Of Learning Consultants In Post Merger Culture Integration.html.

Competency-based learning offers a practical alternative. It focuses on what people can reliably do in the workplace, rather than how many courses they have completed. That shift helps organisations build capability, reduce performance risk and connect learning investment with measurable business results. Learn more about Designing Onboarding That Accelerates Time To Competence.html.

Why technical capability needs a different model

A technical employee may understand a process in a classroom yet struggle to apply it during a plant shutdown, a customer escalation or a high-risk field task. Knowledge is important, but competence also requires judgement, repetition, accurate execution and the ability to respond when conditions change.

This matters for Australian businesses managing dispersed workforces. A mining operation in Western Australia, a utilities provider serving regional New South Wales and a manufacturer in Melbourne may all need consistent standards while dealing with very different local conditions. Competency-based learning makes those standards visible and assessable.

Defining competence beyond course completion

A competency framework describes the capabilities required for a role, including technical knowledge, practical skills, behaviours and evidence of performance. It can distinguish between a new starter who needs supervision and an experienced operator who can diagnose problems, coach others and make sound decisions independently.

The framework should reflect real work. For someone “on the tools”, that may mean using equipment safely, following a permit-to-work process and troubleshooting faults. For a cyber security analyst, it may involve detecting threats, documenting decisions and escalating incidents within defined timeframes. The language should be clear enough for managers, employees and assessors to use consistently.

Comparing learning approaches

Course-based training remains useful for introducing concepts, policies and procedures. It becomes less effective when completion is treated as proof that someone can perform a task to the required standard. Competency-based learning connects instruction with workplace evidence and targeted practice.

Approach	Primary focus	Evidence of progress	Best suited to
Course completion	Content exposure	Attendance, quiz or certificate	Awareness and baseline knowledge
Skills-based learning	Practice and application	Demonstration or simulation	Specific tasks and procedures
Competency-based learning	Reliable workplace performance	Observation, work samples and assessment	Technical roles with defined standards
Experience-led development	Broader judgement and growth	Manager feedback and outcomes	Senior specialists and leaders

A blended model is often the strongest option. Short learning bursts can introduce a concept, simulations can provide safe practice, and workplace observation can confirm whether the skill transfers to the job. This approach supports both compliance requirements and deeper capability development.

Building pathways to time to competence

A well-designed pathway starts with the role, not the available course. Learning designers and subject matter experts identify critical tasks, common errors, risk points and the level of independence expected at each stage. New employees can then see what they must learn, practise and demonstrate during their first weeks and months.

This is particularly valuable where recruitment is tight or workforces include contractors, apprentices and employees moving between sites. A clear pathway creates a common standard without assuming everyone starts with the same experience. It can also support recognition of prior learning through TAFE, trade qualifications or verified workplace evidence.

Useful components of a technical capability pathway include:

A role-based competency profile linked to business priorities
Structured practice using equipment, systems or realistic scenarios
Coaching by supervisors and experienced team members
Assessments based on observable workplace behaviours
Refreshers triggered by process, technology or regulatory change

Onboarding should make the path visible from day one. Organisations can draw on faster time to competence principles to reduce unnecessary content and focus early learning on the decisions and actions that matter most in the role.

Measuring adoption and business impact

Competency-based learning creates a stronger foundation for evaluation because it identifies the performance that training is expected to change. Measures might include fewer rework events, faster fault resolution, reduced safety incidents, improved first-time quality or greater productivity after a system rollout.

Evaluation should operate at several levels. Completion and assessment results show participation and knowledge. Supervisor observations and work samples indicate application. Operational data reveals whether improved capability is producing value. Predictive Evaluation can help organisations forecast adoption, impact and return on investment before a major programme is fully scaled.

The people side also matters during organisational change. After a merger or acquisition, different teams may use different standards for the same role. A learning consultant can help align expectations, language and processes through post-merger culture integration, making capability part of the broader transition rather than a separate training exercise.

Making the model work across the organisation

Successful implementation needs active support from line managers. Supervisors must understand the competency standards, have time to observe performance and know how to give useful feedback. If assessment is treated as paperwork, employees will focus on passing rather than improving.

Leaders should also avoid creating an oversized framework that attempts to describe every possible behaviour. Start with the capabilities that affect safety, quality, customer outcomes, productivity or strategic change. Pilot the model in one technical population, refine the evidence requirements and then expand it across related roles.

Practical signals that the approach is taking hold include:

Managers using competency language in one-to-one conversations
Employees moving through pathways at different speeds
Assessments revealing specific skill gaps rather than generic training needs
Learning content being updated when work processes change
Business leaders reviewing capability measures alongside operational results

For an Australian organisation, the next step is to select one high-impact technical role, document five to eight critical competencies and agree on the workplace evidence required for each one.

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.