Helping today's workers prepare for tomorrow's workplace: a competency based workplace education project at Fairchild Semiconductor

In our industry, every worker and every workforce needs to learn to adapt quickly to oncoming waves of change. In 1994, leaders at Fairchild Semiconductor in South Portland, Maine, (then operating as National Semiconductor) sought a methodology that would tap and cultivate the fundamental desire in adults to learn and grow and would target key competencies for learning and development. This paper describes a highly successful two-step project, which they initiated to promote continuous learning in their workplace.