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2023 LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT LEADER
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In this Issue:
- Newsletter Feedback
- Equity Gives Me All The Feels
- Equity & Skills-Based Hiring
- June Training Spotlight
- Certificate Holder Celebration
- NEW - Brain Benders!
- NEW - Sudoku!
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To ensure the applicability, inclusivity, and relevancy of the Learning & Development Leader newsletter, the Center for Organizational Effectiveness needs your help! We ask that you please provide your feedback by completing the brief Google Form below.
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Equity Gives Me All The Feels |
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By Rosie McNeil-Cusick, MPA - Statewide Equity Office Director
"Equity" means so many things to so many different people, and some would argue it's hard to touch, feel, or measure. However, I disagree on that sentiment; after all I wouldn't have a job if that were true. I certainly argue that you can feel equity. I feel it when I see a sloped sidewalk curb, knowing people with disabilities now have access to enjoy our neighborhood like my daughter and I do on our walks. I feel equity when I wear my hair natural in the workplace, and am able to walk proudly without a relaxer or straightener now that the Crown Act has been passed. I feel equity when we can hire people at the State of Colorado based on skills, and not on their access to higher education.
But, just as much as you can feel equity, you can feel it's absence too. It's something I couldn't put a name to when I was little and I started this journey. It was something my family and I talked about...regularly. My mom talked about it, growing up with a single mom in a segregated town in Ohio, where she struggled to join law enforcement as black female in the 70's. We talked about it when my mom and dad mentioned how interracial couples were "new" to the United States during the 80s. We talked about it when I went to school and was the only girl that looked like me in my suburban Nevada neighborhood (until I was in middle school and yes there was ONE other mixed little girl in the 90's.)
However, those talks were not for naught. Those talks made me learn how to recognize equity when I saw it, and how to work for it when I didn't. This is why it is such a privilege to serve the wonderful State of Colorado in this capacity. We get to work with people on how things make them feel. It's amazing, vulnerable, and incredibly introspective. But along with those feelings has to come structural and systemic change. Equity, feelings, systemic change you ask? Yes, you're right! It's endless! But our commitment to Equity knows no bounds and as endless as this work is, so are the possibilities.
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Equity & Skills-Based Hiring |
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By Jennie Banta, Skills-Based Hiring Work Lead
As Juneteenth and PRIDE approach, we are reminded to recognize the importance of addressing inequities in the workplace that still exist today. One inequity identified in today’s current hiring process is the selection of candidates based on educational attainment alone, excluding applicants without a formal degree, or those without access to advanced educational opportunities. For example, according to Forbes in 10 DEI Strategies, “four-year degree requirements automatically exclude 76% of Black Americans and 83% of Latino Americans.” However, as described in Executive Order D 2022 015, skills-based hiring is the removal of educational barriers (when possible) in employment selection to allow the workforce to better represent the diversity of the people that call Colorado home.
Shifting to skills-based hiring allows employers to procure potential employees who have obtained applicable and valuable skills through paid work experience, associate’s degrees, internships, volunteering, certificate programs, specialized training, and so many other contexts. Preparing for my previous role as a secondary math teacher, I had the opportunity to directly compare the experience that comes from traditional education with the experience that comes from being a practicing teacher. I can attest that there were many scenarios I encountered as an educator for which my time as a student could not have prepared me. The knowledge gained from actively participating in a role and facing challenges in real-time provides persons with skills and insights that are invaluable to employers and organizations. Skills-based hiring refocuses the selection process to identify what measurable behaviors a candidate demonstrated in previous roles, not where those behaviors were acquired.
To become the Employer of Choice and attract a diverse workforce, we must value all experiences as equivalent to educational attainment whenever possible. To learn more about skills-based hiring for HR professionals, visit COTRAIN to register for the SBH: CO-Jobs Recertification for Skills-Based Hiring training, and attend the next Skills-based Hiring Office hours.
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Labor Relations Trainings
This course helps supervisors and other State leaders gain a deeper understanding of the Partnership Agreement. This curriculum will focus on common scenarios and how to best navigate them while maintaining neutrality. Please note: This training is for non-covered State employees only. Verification of employment coverage will be required at the time of registration. If you have further questions, please contact the Labor Relations Unit at dpa_laborrelations@state.co.us.
In June of 2020, Governor Polis signed the Colorado Partnership for Quality Jobs and Services Act (the Act) into law. Among other landmark terms, the Act recognized Colorado WINS (COWINS) as the certified employee organization for covered State employees, giving COWINS the right to bargain terms and conditions of employment on their behalf. Since then, the State and COWINS have negotiated the first statewide Partnership Agreement in addition to multiple State Entity Agreements, with more to come. These agreements will also be periodically renegotiated. As collective bargaining is now an integral part of State employment, it is essential to understand the key elements of negotiation. This course will review collective bargaining fundamentals, including: historical context, common negotiation principles, identification of parties’ interests, and common strategies and techniques used in collective bargaining.
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Upcoming Training Opportunity!
ASL-Supported Statewide Supervisor Certificate Program
To support the equity, diversity, and inclusivity of all Colorado State employees, COE is eager to offer an ASL-supported Statewide Supervisor Certificate Program. Similar to the current certification program, this cohort-based certification will be taught with the support of an ASL interpreter, and is designed to provide new State supervisors and leaders with essential skills and knowledge to be successful in their personal and professional lives.
COE aims to launch this certificate program in August 2023. If you are in need of ASL assistance, and are interested in participating in this course, please complete this brief survey. More information about this certificate program will be included in the next Learning & Development Leader newsletter.
Please note, this course is designed for State employees in need of ASL assistance, only. If you are not in need of ASL assistance, and are interested in participating in the current Statewide Supervisor Certificate Program, register through COTRAIN today!
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Certificate Holder Celebration
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Congratulations to our graduates of the Supervisor Certificate and Customer Service Certificate Cohorts!
2023 Certificate Graduates
Learn more about the Statewide Supervisor and Customer Service certificates by visiting COE's website or clicking the link below!
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Congratulations to the winners of May's Brain Benders!
Email DPA_PrsnlTraining@state.co.us with your answers to the brain benders above and to suggest new brain benders. The answers, a list of winners, and new brain benders will be published in the next edition of Learning & Development Leader.
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Download and complete the Sudoku puzzle above. The answers and new puzzles will be published in the next edition of Learning & Development Leader!
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