What is Capability Assessment?

Capability Assessment is a structured and standardised framework for evaluating the capabilities and competencies of job seekers and your current employees. Capability assessments are carried out regularly—rather than intermittently—to find your workforce's strengths and capability gaps.

You can use the information gained from your assessment to define an action plan, such as potential training opportunities for closing capability gaps and building focus for capability development programs.

Within Acorn LMS, we've broken down your assessment process into four main areas:

Self-Assessments — Evaluating one's own skills and abilities in particular capabilities. This is where users can see their proficiency, view their assessment history and conduct a self-assessment. 

Supervisor Assessments — Supervisors can evaluate their team members and view their team's assessment history.

Assessment Campaigns — The administrator's tool for scheduling and alerting users to complete a self-assessment.

Reporting — Identify capability gaps in teams or business areas. 

Self-Assessment

Capability self-assessment is like putting on your superhero cape and taking a good look at what you can do (and what you need to work on). It's a great way to assess your skills and abilities, but without all the boring stuff. Go on a journey of self-discovery and—who knows? You might even surprise yourself and discover that you're a master at something you never even knew!

Self-assessments are available for any individual under Capability Assessment. They will find everything under the My Learning → My Capability → Capability Assessment Tab. 

This page has two main sections, and here, users can see My Assessment and My Rating.

Self-Assessment | My Assessment

Users can access their pending assessment requests and start a pending assessment. These pending requests are generated by your assessment campaigns, which we'll talk about later on. Additionally, they'll find a convenient button on the right-hand side to Start a Capability Assessment. 

Self-Assessment | My Rating

Users can view a chart that displays their assigned and assessed capabilities, accompanied by a table view. In addition, the My Rating allows users to easily compare their assigned level of proficiency with both their supervisor's assessment and their self-assessment.

It provides a clear and concise overview of their capabilities and helps track their progress.

Supervisor Assessments

With Capability Assessments, Supervisors get to take a peek at their team's superpowers and see how they can help them be even more amazing! This assessment is essential because it allows the supervisor to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each team member and develop a plan to help them reach their full potential. 

Supervisors will find Supervisor Assessments under Capability Assessment - from the Supervisor Dashboard → Supervisor Actions → Capability Assessment. Once here, supervisors will have several tabs. 

Supervisor Assessments | My Team

Supervisors have a dashboard to view pending team member assessments and the assessment history of team members. 

Supervisor Assessments | Assess by Capability

Assessing by Capability allows the supervisor to select a Capability and then view their team's proficiency against the capability. 

Suppose there's an initiative from upper management to understand what their organisational capability is for Change Management. Supervisors can readily Assess by Capability and with a few clicks, assess their whole team! 

Supervisor Assessments | Assess by Team Member

Assessing by Team members is the faster way to view a team member and assess all that team member's capabilities. 

This works great for 1-on-1s where the supervisor can assess the team members' capabilities and sit down with a team member and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. 

Assessment Campaigns

Assessment Campaigns are your most important tool to schedule notifications and request users in bulk to assess capabilities. Then, with just a few clicks, you'll be able to send out a mighty call to action to all your troops.

Administrators will find Assessment Campaigns from the Admin Panel → Capability Dashboard → Capability Assessment tab. 

From here, you can Send Assessment Campaigns and schedule them to be sent out in the future as well as view the progress of your campaigns!

Reporting

Reporting | Capability Assessment Report

One great way to preempt where training opportunities need to be made is with the Capability Assessment Report. Use this report to see whether there are large gaps between proficiency levels. The Capability Assessment Report gives you a distribution of where people are positioned along the proficiency line. 

Suppose I run this report for my Data Management Capability, and find the majority of the workforce sitting at level 2 or 3 with no one at levels 4, 5 and 6.  There might be any roles within the organisation that need 4, 5 or 6 but there are a handful of people at level 7 and we need people at level 7. 

If these few crucial level 7 staff suddenly leave, I have to decide to train a level 2 or 3 all the way up the proficiency line or find talent outside the organisation. 

This report is available for Administrators and Supervisors to see the distribution of their teams. 

Reporting | Capability Gap Analysis Report

The gap analysis report gives you the power to find the strengths and weaknesses of your organisation. This is important for identifying skill and ability gaps within teams and business areas. 

The report will outline, based on the supervisor's assessment of the team member, whether people are: 

• Above the assigned level 
• At the assigned level
• Below the assigned level

This report is available for Administrators and Supervisors to see the gaps within their teams. 

FAQ

Okay, now that you've got the hang of Capability Assessment, you might have questions before sending your first campaign. Well, wonder no more! We've got the scoop for you.

Will users be bombarded with multiple emails when I send a Campaign? 

• Users only receive a single email per campaign. No need to worry about bombarding users with multiple emails, even if they were asked to assess various capabilities or belong to numerous cohorts in the campaign. No overflowing inboxes; it's all about keeping the inbox sleek and stylish, just like you!
• If you are sending multiple campaigns, there is a chance that users will receive multiple emails. This depends on the recent assessment period and when they last assessed those capabilities. Still, one email per campaign.

How does the recent assessment period setting work for my Assessment Campaign? 

The recent Assessment Period is an important setting when setting up a campaign. This setting acts as a grace period for users who assessed the selected capabilities prior to sending the campaign.

As a following example, I've set up a campaign to send out in April with a recent assessment period to cover March. The campaign is asking my team members to assess the following Capabilities:

• Analytics
• Data Literacy
• Project Management
• Resourcing

Sam, one of my team members, had previously assessed all 4 of these Capabilities but let's examine a timeline of when Sam evaluated these Capabilities:

Sam's Project Management and Data Literacy assessments took place during the recent assessment period. Therefore, Sam will only be requested to assess Analytics and Resourcing when the Assessment Campaign goes out.

Alexa, another team member, has yet to assess any of these capabilities before, so she will be requested to evaluate all 4. 

I have yet to send out a campaign. Can users still do self-assessments?

•  Users will be able to do self-assessments at any time. They won't have any "pending" assessments, but they can assess any capability should they wish!

Below you can find a glossary of all commonly used terms within the system and the community. If you have a recommendation for a term to be added, please submit a request.

This article will take Admins through the steps for assigning a completion badge to a course. The badge is awarded to users when they complete the course.

1. Navigate to the course you want to add the badge to by clicking on the 'Catalogue' menu.

2. Select the course by clicking 'View Course'. 

3. Click the icon and select 'Completion Badge'. 

4. Select and crop your image.

5. Click . 

You have now successfully applied a Course Completion Badge! Any badges that a user obtains can be viewed in their 'Training History'.

This article will guide Admin's through the process of update course completions.

Note: Once a user has been marked complete for an activity or course, this cannot be removed by Administrators.

1. Navigate to the course you intend to update the course completions for.

2. Click the icon and select 'Course Completions'. You will see a list of the user(s) who are currently enrolled in the course.

3. Identify the user you wish to update the completion for.

4. To mark the user complete for a specific activity, tick the box under the corresponding activity. You will be prompted to input a date and time, as well as a comment. Remember to click 'Save'.

5. To mark the user complete for the whole course, tick the box under the 'Time Completed ' column. You will be prompted to input a date and time, as well as a comment. Remember to click 'Save'.

You have now successfully updated the completions for the course!

This guide will take Admin's through the steps for creating a Live Learning shell. To create a Live Learning, this feature must first be enabled for your LMS site. Reach out to the Pursuit Technology Support Team if you require this feature to be turned on.

1. Access the Administrator menu by clicking 'Admin' at the top righthand corner of the page.

2. Go to the 'Live Learning Management' dropdown.

3.  Go to the Create Live Learning page by selecting 'Create Live Learning'.

4. You are now on the Create Live Learning page. Update the following:

• Live Learning Name - Enter the name of your Live Learning.
• Access - If you are an Acorn Admin, you will have the option to define the type of access for the Live Learning. You will not have this option if you are a Tenancy Admin.
  • 'Tenancy Live Learning' means that the Live Learning will only be available to a specific tenancy on the Acorn Site.
  • 'Open' means that the Live Learning will be available to all tenancies on the Acorn Site. 
• Category - Live Learnings can be assigned to Categories which can allow for users to find the content using the filters provided in the Catalogue.
• Tag - Live Learnings can also have Tags. This is another filtering option for users when they are accessing content in the Catalogue.
• Cost - If payment is required to access the Live Learning, you can identify the cost to the users with this field. This is not a payment barrier. You will need to apply a Payment Method to the Live Learning in order to accept payments.
• Duration - Adding a Duration will indicate to users how long it will take to complete the Live Learning. This can be set in hours, minutes and seconds if required. 
• Live Learning Description - The editing tool allows you to provide a textual or visual description of the Live Learning. This can be plain text, or HTML and include links, images, media files etc. 
• Enable Completion Certificate - Enabling this toggle will allow for users to obtain a Completion Certificate once they have completed the Live Learning. This certificate can be downloaded by the user from the Live Learning or Training History page. Custom Completion Certificates can be uploaded to Acorn. Visit the Custom Certificate page for more information.
• Hidden - Enabling the Hidden toggle will hide the Live Learning within the Catalogue. A hidden Live Learning is only accessible to users who have been registered for a Session by an Administrator, or have accessed it via a Program.
• Bypass Hidden Link - Using this secret link, users can access this live learning even if it's hidden. Re-generating the link will invalidate the old one.
• Prerequisites - Adding a Prerequisite will allow you to select a range of content such as Courses, Live Learnings, Videos, Resources or Programs a user must complete before allowing them to access this Live Learning.
• Live Learning Image - Drag and drop, or browse your files to upload an image. Use the slider to select the portion of the image you wish to display. The image will be cropped to an aspect ratio of 16:9.

5. Once you have completed the Live Learning details, click the 'Create Live Learning' button. 

You have now successfully created a Live Learning and will immediately be taken to the View Live Learning page. You will now need to create an Event and populate it with Sessions.

This article will take Admin's through the steps for updating a Live Learning. To create or update a Live Learning, this feature must first be enabled for your LMS site. Reach out to the Pursuit Technology Support Team if you require this feature to be turned on. To discover how to Create a Live Learning please read this article.

1. Navigate to the 'Catalogue' and select the 'View Live Learning' button of the Live Learning that requires to be updated. 

2. Click the icon and select 'Update Live Learning' from the menu.

In the Update Live Learning page, complete the following: 

• Live Learning Name - Enter the name of your Live Learning.
• Access - If you are an Acorn Administrator, you will have the option to define the type of access for the Live Learning. You will not have this option if you are a Tenancy Administrator.
  • 'Tenancy Live Learning' means that the Live Learning will only be available to a specific tenancy on the Acorn Site.
  • 'Open' means that the Live Learning will be available to all tenancies on the Acorn Site. 
• Category - Live Learnings can be assigned to Categories which can allow for users to find the content using the filters provided in the Catalogue.
• Tag - Live Learnings can also have Tags. This is another filtering option for users when they are accessing content in the Catalogue.
• Cost - If payment is required to access the Live Learning, you can identify the cost to the users with this field. This is not a payment barrier. You will need to apply a Payment Method to the Live Learning in order to accept payments.
• Duration - Adding a Duration will indicate to users how long it will take to complete the Live Learning. This can be set in hours, minutes and seconds if required. 
• Live Learning Description - The editing tool allows you to provide a textual or visual description of the Live Learning. This can be plain text, or HTML and include links, images, media files etc. 
• Enable Completion Certificate - Enabling this toggle will allow for users to obtain a Completion Certificate once they have completed the Live Learning. This certificate can be downloaded by the user from the Live Learning or Training History page. Custom Completion Certificates can be uploaded to Acorn. Visit the Custom Certificate page for more information.
• Hidden - Enabling the Hidden toggle will hide the Live Learning within the Catalogue. A hidden Live Learning is only accessible to users who have been registered for a Session by an Administrator, or have accessed it via a Program.
• Bypass Hidden Link - Using this secret link, users can access this live learning even if it's hidden. Re-generating the link will invalidate the old one.
• Prerequisites - Adding a Prerequisite will allow you to select a range of content such as Courses, Live Learnings, Videos, Resources or Programs a user must complete before allowing them to access this Live Learning.
• Live Learning Image - Drag and drop, or browse your files to upload an image. Use the slider to select the portion of the image you wish to display. The image will be cropped to an aspect ratio of 16:9.

Once you have updated the Live Learning details, click the button. 

You have now successfully updated a Live Learning and will immediately be taken to the View Live Learning page.

This article will guide Admin's through the process of updating Live Learning completions. To create or update a Live Learning, this feature must first be enabled for your LMS site. Reach out to the Pursuit Technology Support Team if you require this feature to be turned on. To discover how to create a Live Learning please read this article.

1. Navigate to the 'Catalogue' and select the 'View Live Learning' button of the Live Learning that requires to be updated. 

2. Click the icon and select 'Live Learning Completions' from the menu.

3. Search for the user you want to update the completions for. Select the box under the 'Live Learning Completion' column. You will be prompted to enter a date and time, as well as a comment. 

You have now successfully updated the Live Learning completion!

Venues are where Face to Face Live Learning sessions take place. Each venue has a capacity that carries over to the Live Learning session. Venues cannot be double booked.

Venues created when setting up a session will be shown on the 'Live Learning Venues' page. Admins can also create a new venue on this page which can be selected when setting up a session.

View, create or update a Live Learning venue:

1. Navigate to the 'Live Learning Venues' page by clicking Admin > Live Learning Management > Live Learning Venues.

2. View all existing venues on this page. Open a venue to view the past and future sessions held at the venue.

3. Create a venue by clicking "+ CREATE VENUE", filling out the venue address and capacity, then confirm by clicking "CREATE VENUE".

You can choose from International venues for Country/State outside of Australia like New Zealand, Canada and the United States.
A global timezone selector is present. This timezone selector aids Administrators and Facilitators when creating a session. You can ensure the session start and end times are local to the venue.

Tip: Venues can be shared across tenancies by turning on the "Open Venue" toggle. This option is only available to Acorn Admins.

4. Update an existing venue by opening the venue and clicking the icon.

5. Delete a venue by opening the venue and clicking the  icon.

You have now successfully viewed, created and update a Live Learning venue!

This article will enable you to configure a Checklist activity.

1. Add a new activity within a Course or Live Learning. Or update an exiting activity within a Course or Live Learning.

2. Select 'Checklist' from the Activity Type dropdown menu. 

3. Enter the Checklist name and provide a description if required.

4. List the items required in the checklist.

5. Complete other details and settings if required. 

6. Click 'Create Activity' at the bottom of the page. The new check list activity will now appear in the Course or Live Learning view page. 

You have successfully configured a Checklist activity!

This article will enable you to configure a Page activity.

1. Add a new activity within a Course or Live Learning. Or update an exiting activity within a Course or Live Learning.

2. Select 'Page' from the Activity Type dropdown menu.

3. Enter the Page name and provide a description if required.

4. Enter your page content. The page activity allows for the use of a text editor to create headings, paragraphs, embedded links, videos, images and other web content. 

5. Complete other details and settings if required. 

6. Click 'Create Activity' at the bottom of the page. The new check list activity will now appear in the course view page. 

You have successfully configured a Page activity!

The new Capability Library, Dashboard and Development Plan are live! Please contact support to turn the feature on.

Watch the video below for a walkthrough of the feature:

More content to come!

Discounts is a new feature we have added into our LMS that enables Admin to discount the prices of select Courses! This feature is super handy to use on Cohorts or different levels of staff.

If you are interested in Discounts, please follow the guide bellow to set them up.

1. From your Tenancy Homepage, click on the following items. Admin > Payments > Discounts.

2. On the Discounts page, you will have two categories: Tenancy Discounts and Shared Discounts.

If you would like to know more on Tenancy Discounts vs. Shared Discounts, please click here.

3. Once you've selected which Discount you would like to use, click 'Create Discount'.

4. Once in the pop-up menu, give your discount a Name and Code. You can acquire a code by clicking' Generate Discount Code'.

5. You will have the option to 'Auto Apply To Eligible Users'. 

• Unticked - When the checkbox is left unticked, the users who have access to this discount will have to specifically use the code generated to apply the discount.
• Ticked - When the checkbox is ticked, the users who have access to the discount will not need the code. The discount will be automatically applied to the price.

6. Set the discount type, amount, and when you want the discount to take effect. If you're unsure on Discount Types, please click this link.

7. You also have the option to restrict to Cohorts and select which courses you want the discount to apply to.

8. Click on 'Create Discount'.

You have now successfully created a Discount!

When creating a discount, you'll notice that there are two distinct types.

This article will further elaborate on each type so you can select the appropriate discount!

Tenancy Discounts

Tenancy Discounts are exactly as the name implies, they are discounts allocated specifically to your tenancy. This means that other tenancies on the platform can not use the same discount from your tenancy.

This feature is handy when you only want your employees to have access to these benefits.

Shared Discounts

Shared Discounts are almost the opposite of Tenancy Discounts. They apply to multiple tenancies on the Acorn LMS. However, these are only the tenancies that the user/ admin selects and wishes to share the discount with.

When creating a discount, you will have the option to choose from 'Set Amount' and 'Percentage Based'. This Article will explain what each do and how to use them.

Set Amount

Set Amount means that the value you put in will be subtracted from the full price of the course. For example, if you are trying to discount $5 from a $20 course, you would enter '5' in the 'Discount Amount' section. This method is a lot more straight forward and easy to use!

Percentage Based

Percentage based is exactly as the name implies. This type of discount takes the value you input and subtracts that as a percentage from the full price.

For example, if your course is $30, and you would like it to be $15 (half price), you would simply type '50' in the 'Discount Amount' section.

Now you know what the discount types are. So get out there and start creating discounts!