Certification Tracker

Certification Tracker helps you assign, track, and manage initial and recurring industry-critical certifications for your team. Just like any other content item, Certification Trackers are reported on in the dashboard history, the Individual Training Status Report, and all content and learning program reports. In addition, certifications recorded in Certification tracker can be reported on uniquely in the Certification Tracker Status Report.

Certification Trackers can be created, added to learning programs, and assigned to learners by users who have Manage Content permissions. Anyone with Sign Off permissions can sign off certification Trackers.

Note: In order to obtain optimum results when tracking certifications and assigning any recurring content items, your learners should have skill positions assigned and each of your stores/locations should have store type and state assignments. If you have questions about this, please contact your CrunchTime! TalentLink Client Services team.

How it Works

Path: Manage Content, +Content, Select Content Type, Certification Tracker

1. Enter a title (usually the name of the certification to be entered and tracked)

2. Create instructions for the learner

3. Check Provide Certification Number Input if there is a number that goes along with the certification that needs to be recorded and saved (optional)

4. Check Sign Off if you want the certification signed off by a manager, supervisor, or trainer who is present with the learner (optional)

5. Check Remote Entry & Remote Sign Off to allow the option to have entry of certification data and/or supervisory sign off occur from the Manager’s Dashboard (optional)

6. Set the certification item to recur and indicate the number of days prior to the due date you want the item to be available (optional)

7. Choose the type of certifying organization to display the corresponding list of organizations and then Ctrl + click select all that apply from that dropdown (optional)
   

Special Characters

When creating the title or instructions or when the learner is providing information:

• The double quote (") is not allowed

• The following special characters are allowed:

!  exclamation point "  double quote #  number sign $  dollar sign %  percent sign &  ampersand '  apostrophe (  left parenthesis )  right parenthesis *  asterisk +  plus sign ,  comma -  hyphen .  period/decimal point /  forward slash :  colon

;  semicolon <  less than sign =  equal sign >  greater than sign ?  question mark @  at sign [  left bracket \  backward slash ]  right bracket ^  caret _  underscore `  accent grave {  left curly bracket }  right curly bracket ~  tilde

Sign Off Options

Certification Tracker has three sign off options:

• Remote Entry & Remote Sign Off: can be signed any time, any place, via the Manager’s Dashboard

• Sign Off: must be signed upon completion, on same device the learner is using  

• No sign off

Remote Entry & Remote Sign Off

DiscoverLink Talent gives you the ability to setup a Certification Tracker that allows remote entry of data and remote sign off. Remote Entry & Remote Sign Off are combined to give you the option of signing off at the same time you enter certification data.

Use of these features is optional even when they are enabled. A Certification Tracker item with Remote Entry & Remote Sign Off enabled still also appears on the learner’s My Training page in the normal manner and the learner can open and interact with it. In addition, immediate sign off is still an option when Remote Entry & Remote Sign Off is enabled.

Remote Entry

Remote entry allows a manager, supervisor, or trainer to remotely enter certification details for individual learners. This is extremely useful for group training because the trainer or administrator can work at the Manager’s Dashboard and quickly and efficiently enter certification details for all who attended.

When remote entry is enabled, the manager, supervisor, or trainer can complete the Certification Tracker without requiring any action from the learner.

Remote Sign Off

When remote sign off is used, the item can be signed off via the Manager’s Dashboard when the manager, supervisor, or trainer is remote (not near the learner when the item is being completed).  

This feature gives you all the of the oversight that is needed to ensure that certifications are completed promptly, and details recorded uniformly, without requiring that the proctor be in the same location or working the same shift as the learner.

Note: Remote Sign Off is also available for Checklists but without a remote entry option.

Sign Off and No Sign Off

Sign Off  

The Sign Off option requires that the item be signed off by a manager, supervisor, or trainer on same device the learner uses to complete the item. Sign Off is also referred to as Immediate Sign Off.

No Sign Off  

You have the option to allow a Certification Tracker item to be completed by a learner without sign off by a manager, supervisor, or trainer. There is no checkbox for this – when creating a Certification Tracker, just do not check the Sign Off or Remote Entry & Remote Sign Off boxes.

Recurrence

Certification Trackers can be set to recur Never, in 1-5 years, or Upon Expiration. The default is never. If Upon Expiration is selected, the leaner is asked to input the actual expiration date. That date will be the due date for the item when it recurs.  

When setting a recurrence, you can also set the number of days prior to the due date you want the item to appear in the learner’s My Training page and on the Manager’s Dashboard. The yellow donut (circle) icon is used on the Manager’s Dashboard when an item is recurring and not late. The number of days prior to the due date that the yellow icon appears on the manager’s dashboard (and the item appears on the learner’s My Training page) are sometimes referred to as the “donut days.”

When a Certification Tracker with a recurrence is added to a learning program, a condition is automatically created for it. You will see that condition on the Details tab of the learning program screen. If you change the condition in the learning program, the changes take precedence over the settings on the Certification Tracker item itself. If you change recurrence details on the Certification Tracker item after the condition has been created in the learning program, the changes are not carried forward to the learning program.

Certifying Organization Type & Certifying Organization

You can optionally use the Certifying Organization Type and Certifying Organization dropdowns to include this information in the certification record.  

When you select a Certifying Organization Type, the Certifying Organization dropdown displays with a selection list of certifying organizations to select from for that certification type, making it easy for the learner to enter the information and easy for you to keep the information uniform in your tracking.  

Each list also includes an “Other” selection that, when chosen, gives the learner a text box to fill in the name of the organization.

What Happens on the Manager’s Dashboard

When a Certification Tracker is ready/available for supervisory data entry and/or sign-off, an “A” icon appears on the dashboard.  

When a learner has completed the data entry portion of a Certification Tracker and has requested remote sign-off, a checkmark icon is shown on the dashboard.

Both icons have yellow and red versions to indicate due soon and late.

Ready/available means that Remote Entry & Remote Sign Off is enabled and the Certification Tracker item is not locked by enforced sequence within the learning program or by the need to complete prerequisite learning programs.

What the Learner Sees

A Certification Tracker goes on the learner’s My Training page and, until the manager, supervisor, or trainer opens the item, the learner could go in and enter the data herself. This is what the learner would see:

Once the certification information data is entered the, the learner can choose Immediate Sign Off if there is someone there who can sign, or she can choose Remote Sign Off. When Remote Sign Off is selected, the Certification Tracker is locked so the learner cannot make any further changes. Then the checkmark icon appears on the Manager’s Dashboard, alerting that there is an item waiting to be signed.

Entering the Data and Signing Off

When an ”A” icon appears on the Manager’s Dashboard, a Certification Tracker is available for data entry or sign off.  

Edit Assignment Panel

Click the icon to display the Edit Assignment panel with the Entry/Sign Off option.

Entry/Sign Off Link

Next, click the Entry/Sign Off link.  

If the learner has completed the necessary information, the Sign Off box will be there and ready for you.  

If the learner has not yet entered anything, the Certification Tracker fields are ready for your input. Once you enter the required information, the Sign Off box will open up for your signature. This screen capture shows you the Certification Tracker ready for supervisory data entry and sign off (the learner has not entered anything on the form):

Simply enter the data, sign off, and the Certification Tracker completes as expected.

The following screen capture shows a completed Certification Tracker record. Learners see this from the View link on their My Training page history and managers see this from the View link in the dashboard history.