March 2018 Statewide
Learning and Development Solutions
In This Issue:
  1. New Statewide Competency Guide
  2. Featured Workshops
  3. New Course Offering
  4. Learning Lessons
New Statewide Competency Guide
COE is proud to announce the distribution of the Statewide Competency Model!

The purpose of this Statewide Competency Model is to provide a structure that agencies in the State of Colorado can use to design, complete, and measure learning and development experiences for teams and individuals. These competencies were developed based on analysis of common knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors that are necessary for success at three levels of organizational performance: workforce competencies, leadership competencies and senior leader competencies.
 
When competencies are clear, targeted and standardized they provide the foundation of a learning strategy which can be tailored to the specific needs of agencies and departments. Competencies can be aligned with organizational initiatives to drive individual performance and organizational improvement. Without competencies, organizational learning solutions can be difficult to connect to an overall strategy for improvement and growth.

A competency is an area of knowledge, skill, ability or behavior that is associated with or necessary to the successful performance of a task or a job.  A job or position has multiple competencies which include all the related knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors that are necessary for success within a job.  This model provides guidance on global or general competencies common to many positions.  The technical skills or positional competencies that are required for specific jobs are not addressed in this model.

The Statewide Competency Model is designed to:
  • Help identify and modify performance requirements based on competencies necessary for success in positions at different levels throughout the State.
  • Provide a structure to account for differences in level of proficiency required for these competencies.
  • Define the competencies and provide a description of performance at each level of proficiency.
  • Identify specific courses that can be completed to increase performance for teams and individuals.
You can find information and register for courses through the Center for Organizational Effectiveness (COE) website. The Statewide Competency Model can be accessed through this site, at the bottom of the page in the Employee Resources section. 
Featured Workshops


COE has discounted prices on four courses that have had high demand in the past to encourage participation. Let us know if there are other courses that you would like to see in the Featured Workshop space.

Courageous Conversations


Published Rate - $370.00
Discount Rate - $225.00

Course Overview
In this workshop participants will gain a better understanding of what a Courageous Conversation is and how to approach situations in which you need to hold such conversations. You will be more effective at communicating with others around you in moments where tension is high and opinions may differ. 
 
Learning Outcomes:
  • Hold conversations from a "we" perspective.
  • Overcome communication barriers when emotions and stakes are high.
  • Be able to develop a strategy to navigate a Courageous Conversation. 
The Nuts & Bolts of State Supervision - 1 Day Workshop

Register Here

Published Rate - $450.00
Discount Rate - $325.00

Course Overview
This course is designed to assist supervisors and managers supervise their employees according to the policies and procedures of the State of Colorado.  This ONE DAY workshop is open to any statewide supervisor or manager who supervises at least one direct report. Successful supervision is all about preparation. The Nuts and Bolts of State Supervision provides participants with a foundational understanding of the processes essential to supervising within the State of Colorado. Participants will obtain the resources and practical skills necessary for supervising day to day situations to become a successful supervisor.
 
Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
  • Utilize tools and techniques to lead employees within the State of Colorado effectively, efficiently and elegantly.
  • Increase the confidence, knowledge and competence when handling day-to-day employee situations, issues and questions.
  • Resources and where to find support when handling issues such as hiring, on-boarding, performance management, employee issues and leave.
  • A foundational understanding of the nuances of supervising within the State of Colorado.

Leading With Influence


Published Rate - $370.00
Discount Rate - $275.00

Course Overview
This course is designed to help employees, leaders and supervisors lead with influence and persuasion. Influence! Why do some people have it and others don't? Successful leaders have influence and use it rather than power to achieve higher level results. In this one day workshop we will explore how this happens.
Leaders with influence focus on how to "be" in order to inspire others to accomplish tasks, create powerful teams, and combine forces to complete goals. Influencing others requires leaders to be fully engaged at a high level in order to influence those around him/her. This workshop will invite you to assess how you interact with others when desiring a course of action so that you become a more influential leader. We will explore a variety of principles and tools that will help you become more influential in your leadership.

Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
  • The impact of a leader with influence.
  • The art of persuasion.
  • The principles of influence and the hard science behind them.
  • The power of an inspiring, clear shared vision.
  • The importance of attitude, trust, and respect in one's ability to influence others.
Unconscious Bias - The Art of Blinders


Published Rate - $250
Discounted Rate - $225

Course Review
In this half-day workshop, participants will learn how to maximize four sightless principles to improve communication and avoid visual distractions.

Learning Outcomes:
Avoid visual distractions. The visually impaired community has no visual distractions when listening.  Distractions, even subtle ones, can interfere with listening, understanding and successfully completing tasks.  How much better would your team actively listen if they learned to ignore visual distractions? 
 
Clear up ambiguity. Effective communication is paramount to the visually impaired community's success. Instructions and other communications can be easily misinterpreted by teams without clear and concise directions. In fact, poor communications can cost an organization over 20% of their annual budget on wasted worker time alone,to say nothing of the impact of late and over-budget projects. Honing clarity and heeding urgency can elevate success.
 
Remove unseen obstacles. Knowing about obstacles is key to the visually impaired community successfully moving about. Clearing away obstacles is also key to successful teams.
Eliminate competitive behavior. The visually impaired community knows that collaboration is more effective than individual efforts. For example, collaborating with a sighted person to cross a busy street. How might your team's results increase when you collaborate more often?


New Course Offering
New Course Offering
Project Management for New PMs and Department Leads 1-Day

Register Here

Published Rate - $500
Discounted Rate - $450.00

The one day BLCN Project Management course provides practical, effective techniques and tools to help individuals be successful in facilitating the project structure and managing a project to completion.  Participants will learn the fundamentals on how to effectively size, plan, monitor, and close a project.  The course payback is immediate by reducing cost and resource needs due to ineffective project sizing, structure, and managing the project to closure.

The course audience includes new Project Managers, team or department leads, or others that will be managing a small team to complete a smaller project, or are a team lead on a larger project that is managed by a separate Project Manager.   

The course participants perform exercises, in teams, using an actual project from one of the team members.  The course content is based on the PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOKĀ®), client input and BLCN consulting experiences.

Learning Objectives:
  • Clarify the Project Manager (PM) role and skills to others 
  • Explain the differences between a Project Charter, Project Plan and Project Schedule 
  • Perform the basic ways to monitor, control and status your project
  • Manage the completion of the primary project implementation phases
  • Build confidence in using a standard project management framework
  • PMPs will receive 7 PDUs for completing this course
Learning Lessons
Support Performance Improvement with Transfer of Learning Strategies
When analyzing which components of a learning experience contribute to change in behavior, it is generally accepted that the training event by itself accounts for about 20% of behavior change, while the actions that occur after a training event account for 80% of behavior change.

It is part of our job to collaborate with our partners (Leaders, Trainers, Quality, Policy, Safety) to develop and support strategies that ensure learners are using the knowledge, skill, and abilities we introduce through training in a way that accomplishes organizational goals. The term, transfer of learning, describes the strategies and outcomes that result from focusing on changing behavior after a learning experience has been completed
Why is transfer of learning important? Because learning is intended to improve performance by changing behavior. If no learning occurs, then no change of behavior has occurred; which means we don't get better.
We recommend that you use one or more of the following six transfer of learning strategies the next time that you send your employees to a training or development experience.

Reminders: Send out a tip of the week via email to reinforce the new behavior. Conduct a pop quiz after learning events during team meetings.

Reflection: Schedule time to debrief with employees immediately after returning from training. Employees who attended the event can post on discussion boards/participate in group discussion to reflect on key learning and ideas about implementing new behaviors. Have learners schedule time to reflect with others, conduct one on one debrief sessions.

Accountability:  Set performance expectations and goals before learning begins. Schedule expectation check-in meetings before and after learning events. Hold learners accountable for meeting goals that were defined before the learning event.

Coaching: Have coaches ready within your department at the beginning of implementation, schedule coaching meetings as part of the transfer of learning strategy. Communicate who the coaches within your department are and how they can be reached.

Collaboration: Set up peer learning teams and send groups of employees to training together. Have the teams conduct group debrief sessions and/or establish communities of practice to leverage blogs, wikis and meetings for knowledge sharing.

Content: Leaders should partner with the training group to confirm that learning objectives and activities align with expected outcomes. Leverage blended learning (combined online, face to face, self-paced and group learning) for maximum accessibility.
Statewide Certificate Programs: Supervisor and Leadership Certificates 
Supervisor Certificate
The State Supervisor Certificate program consists of five (5) Core Competency based workshops and one elective. This certificate is focused on developing individuals skills and aptitudes in the areas of: Building and maintaining relationships, coaching, emotional intelligence, professional development and teamwork. 
Leadership Certificate 
The Leadership Certificate program is designed to provide leaders with in-depth experiences and targeting learning that focuses on growth on five (5) Core Competencies: Accountability, Conflict Resolution, Change Management, Coaching, and Team Leadership.
Center for Organizational Effectiveness
Department of Personnel & Administration
Division of Human Resources
dpa_prsnltraining@state.co.us
303-866-2439