May 10, 2007
Strategic Leadership Program relaunched with LCVI in mind
The Strategic Leadership Program has been reborn. The popular program that has helped new UW supervisors obtain leadership skills since its launch in 2000 reappeared on the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) schedule in April after a three-month hiatus.
“It was a good program, but it had just lost some of its focus,” said Heidi Lang, special programs manager for POD. “We wanted to better align it with the principles of the Leadership, Community and Values Initiative.”
The initiative, launched by President Mark Emmert in 2005, is an effort to ensure a positive environment at the University for faculty and staff and to create a common vision of the University’s goals and values.
“Before the initiative, we didn’t have ‘executive sponsorship’ for the SLP,” said Beth Warrick, director of POD. “We designed a program to impart supervisory skills, but it wasn’t tied to a goal or a vision for the University. Now, with the LCVI, we have that.”
Lang was hired six months ago knowing that she would be spearheading the redesign and relaunch of the SLP. In fact, on her first day on the job she attended the program as a participant. She subsequently taught it twice in its previous incarnation.
Supervisory training is nothing new to Lang, who came to the UW after six years of designing leadership and management programs for the national office of Planned Parenthood. Such training is, she believes, key to achieving the goals of the LCVI.
“LCVI is focused on culture change at the University, and personally, I think our biggest point of leverage is supervisors,” Lang said. “They’re the people who have the biggest influence on the largest number of frontline staff. If you think about why you like your job or don’t like it, it usually has to do with your relationship with your boss. So that’s where I’ve always liked to put my energy.”
The SLP is a four-day program designed for people who are new to supervision, or new to supervision at the University. Previously taught on four consecutive days, it is now offered for two days each on two successive weeks. The program has a clear progression, Lang said, starting with looking at the self, then moving to one-on-one supervision, then to managing teams and then to thinking more organizationally.
Warrick said the section dealing with one-on-one relationships is new in this version of the SLP, because the employee survey done in connection with the LCVI showed that the relationship between an individual employee and his or her supervisor is crucial.
That’s why Lang believes people should see that “their daily interactions eventually have an influence on the whole culture of the University.”
The new version of the program weaves in the core values of the LCVI —diversity, integrity, collaboration, respect, excellence and innovation — into all of its sections. Take respect, for example. One of the elements of respect is recognizing employees for a job well done, so the SLP talks about that connection and lets the supervisors know about tools available at the University, such as recognition workshops, that they can take advantage of.
“Some supervisors know a lot about the LCVI and some don’t even know what it is,” Lang said. “So we share the results of the survey and try to provide resources that the supervisors can use in their role in improving the UW’s culture.”
One element that was removed in the new version of the SLP is the information about policies and procedures of the University’s Department of Human Resources. Warrick said that although that information is important, it didn’t mesh well with learning the supervisory skills. So, supervisors will be offered a half-day “boot camp” on HR policies, procedures and resources. The first such session will take place this summer.
At least one UW supervisor has already had the experience of attending both the old and new versions of the SLP. Michael Campbell, employment manager of human resources operations in health sciences, said he noticed a definite difference in the program. He appreciated that the information on diversity was expanded, and he said more attention was being paid to presenting information both verbally and interactively.
“At the end of each section, we’re asked to go back to our binders and answer a few questions,” Campbell said. “You write down what was the key learning piece for you, how it could be applied and what resources are available to help you with it. By the end of the day you have three or four sheets like that and it helps you remember things when you get back to your work site.”
Lang and the team at POD, meanwhile, are already working on a Level 2 program for graduates of the SLP and for veteran supervisors in general. A pilot program is planned for fall, with official launch in the winter.
“I’ve been doing training for years now and I love doing it, I think people get a lot from it, but it’s just a piece,” Lang said. “A lot of times I think managers believe, ‘oh they went to a training and now they’re done. They have the skills and that’s it.’ It just doesn’t work that way. We’ve tried to build in follow up, and Level 2 is going to be an important piece.”
There’s even talk of a Level 3 someday. But in the meantime, POD plans follow-up e-mails and brown bags to keep supervisors engaged after the initial training is over. The first brown bag is scheduled for this summer.
SLP graduates, however, don’t necessarily need any incentive to get together after the training is over. Lang said she’s attended two happy hours that earlier classes have planned on their own. That’s no surprise to her. “I always tell people during the SLP, ‘The wisdom is in the room.’ Our trainers are great, but participants really benefit just by being together and trading experiences.”
For more information on the SLP, go to http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/pod/slp/index.html.
