A SHIFT ON THE TRAJECTORY OF CITY GOVERNMENT TRAINING EXPERIENCES
IDT-590 COURSE
AUTHORS BACKGROUND
Summer D. Richardson a highly motivated, enthusiastic, creative mission and vision driven professional. She is a superb communicator who is passionate about enriching the lives others through training and development. She is accustomed to managing multiple projects while collaborating with other team members, trainers, supervisors, managers and directors on various projects.
Summer has a Bachelors in Sociology with a Minor in Political Science and a Master's in Mass Communications with an Emphasis in Training & Development. She is currently pursing a Master's of Science in Instructional Design.
My ultimate goal is to own a successful Training & Development/Life Coach Consultant Business.
overview
I chose the scenario where I am responsible for all training at my organization. The problem is, it has become more and more apparent that the staff lack motivation to participate in the required training. Currently most of the training is designed with text-based manuals, traditional PowerPoint presentations and lengthy outdated videos.
I am a Supervisor at the St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners and a huge part of my job role is training both full and temporary staff on an ongoing basis. The Scenario I choose was befitting to where my organization and other city entities feel about training and engagement. Training and engagement for employees has been an ongoing struggle for over ten years. Many job roles within city government are meticulous, repetitious and mundane. It is my goal to change the trajectory of city government training experiences by creating innovative tech forward engaging training for a diverse population rather your a seasoned veteran or a new employee.
RESEARCH
According to a 2016 Gallup Poll, 71% of local and state employees are unhappy and disengaged. As a result of this disengagement they never go passed meeting their job expectations, they have no passion or energy for their work. As the economy expands, government agencies do not and this places a lot of pressure on the employees to serve a more demanding population with less resources. Things like learning and development are last on the priority list for leadership and staff. "In 2016, Gallup estimated the cost of growing skills gaps and disengaged workers to state and local governments to be up to $100 billion. In both the public and private sectors, learning cultures have continued to emerge as a key differentiator in the competition for talent" (Burkett & Holiday, June 2018). The lack of engagement cost the taxpayers $18 billion per year. We can no longer afford to ignore this issue.
First, state and local leadership must view public servants as vital stakeholders to their success. Public Servants are on the front lies day in and day out they know and understand the needs of the community. It's the responsibility of leadership to make sure their employees are fully equipped and prepared to assist those residents without hesitation.
SOLUTION
"Leaders need to be thinking on a daily basis how they can create and sustain a culture where employees can flourish, where they can have the tools and resources they need, and innovation and creativity are rewarded" (Dobberowsky, April 2018).
I have chosen two unique solutions to solve the unmotivated and disengaged employee training issue.
First: Start a Leadership Training Institute Program
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All leaders from the Directors to the Supervisors would be required to attend 20 hours of training yearly.
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10 of the 20 hours would be mandatory required courses the other 10 are regular professional development courses of your choice
"The reality is that the only way change comes is when you lead by example" (Anne Wojcicki)
Second: Start an Incentive Program for All Public Servants
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Every 10 hours of mandatory learning and development sessions you attend, you will receive five hours of comp-time or paid leave time to use at your discretion.
New Training Method
Interactive E-Learning & Micro-Learning Modules Using Articulate Storyline
Incorporating the following
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storytelling
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peer problem solving
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peer teaching
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role-play
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allowing participants to earn rewards and points by competing with others
"Common drivers of high employee engagement include frequently praising and recognizing employees' accomplishments, offering personal and career development opportunities, incorporating employees' ideas, and connecting workers' tasks to overall city goals"(Bosacker& Bibb, May 2017).
EVALUATION
To evaluate if the new training methods have increased employee engagement and motivation, I would use a pre and post survey assessment using the Likert Scale and asking employees to provide additional feedback.
Both surveys would use the Likert Scale using numbers 1-5
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1= Strongly Disagree 2= Disagree
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3= Neutral
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4= Agree 5= Strongly Agree
I will compare the pre and post survey assessment answers and continue to adjust the training modules based upon the survey assessments, the evaluations, job performance and learning and development research.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bosacker, S., Bibb, J. (2017, May 16). Most City Employees in the U.S.
Not Engaged Gallup.
Lavigna, R. (2014, November 28). Why Government Workers Are Harder to Motivate Harvard Business Review
Dobberowsky, S. (2018, April 27). The Top 5 Employee Engagement Challenges That Government Agencies Face
Burkett, H., Holiday, T. (2018, June). Can Government Organizations Really
Be a Magnet for Talent?
Association for Talent Development (ATD)