This week the next phase of the Met Council’s initiative to build cultural competence included training for more than 500 Council managers and supervisors who are attending the 3-hour, instructor-led, virtual seminar “Foundations of Intercultural Competence: It’s Developmental.” Four sessions took place this week and the remaining are scheduled for mid-January.

During this important training, participants take a deep dive into culture, define terms to ensure shared meaning and understanding, and learn about the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and its theory of intercultural development. The training provides individual and organizational insight to the stages of development on the path toward cultural competence, where people can understand the impact of culture and appropriately shift perspective and behavior to improve diversity, inclusion, and equity outcomes. The aggregate results of the inventory will also help guide the decisions about additional training and skill-building that will be helpful in the future.

The Office of Equal Opportunity and we in Human Resources are excited to be collaborating to implement this important initiative to foster a more equitable, inclusive organization. This effort is sponsored by Chair Charlie Zelle, our organizational senior leadership and the Council’s articulated strategic priority to reduce racial disparities. All Council employees will be part of this initiative as the plan progresses in 2021.

The Learning Institute is pleased to offer new Career Enrichment classes for 2021. The classes are open to those interested in enhancing their professional skills and are not part of a certificate path. The Career Enrichment offerings for the first half of the year include: 

• Servant Leadership - new
• Writing for Results
• Interviewing Skills - new
• Delivering Feedback (for managers and supervisors only) - new
• Responding Well to Feedback - new
• Emotional Intelligence

The Career Enrichment classes start with Servant Leadership on Jan. 21. For more information, access the schedule of Career Enrichment classes offered the first half of 2021.

To enroll in instructor-led classes:

• Log into Learn
• If you are not in MTPD: Go to the Talent Hub Page in MetNet and click on Learn.
• If you are in MTPD: Go to the MTPD MetNet site and click on Learn.  Log in using your 5-digit employee ID and your Learn password.
• Click the library book icon at the top of the page and scroll down to “A-Learning Institute” and click the arrow pointing to the right.
• Scroll to “LOD Classes Open for Registration.”  
• Locate the class and register.