Pre-Supervisory Development Programs

Our Nation’s future and the future success of our individual organizations depends on the leaders we develop today. Top talent looks for organizations that will provide them with the best leadership development programs—flexible and dynamic careers, challenging work, and opportunities to innovate, create and work towards outcomes that will meet the organizations mission. Why Our Organizations Need Effective Leadership Development Leadership development is getting a lot of attention these days! The “Baby Boomers” are retiring and we need to build a new cadre of leaders to take on the responsibility of moving our organizations forward. Competition for talent is fierce even in today’s economic situation. Organizations who display leadership savvy and offer development opportunities to their employees have the edge over all competitors who are recruiting for the same talent, and it sets the foundation to expect sustainable success.

The Environmental Protection Agency is no different than any other large organization when it comes to needing strong capable leaders to move the primary goals and objectives forward. Filling positions and preparing individuals to take on the challenges of leading people is not always easy. Ensuring employees focus on building capacity and strengthening the core competencies necessary to lead.

Finding the right person for the right job at the right time becomes one of the primary challenges of both the senior leadership team and the training and development community. Identifying gaps in skill and experience to improve employee “readiness” to take on challenges associated with formal leadership roles. Partnering with the Agency Strategic Workforce Planning, and Executive Development teams helps us focus our direction and selection of development activities

 Stepping Up To Supervision ◦ Review of Agency Leadership Model ◦ Discuss and review various leadership roles available in federal service ◦ Review core competency model ◦ Engage in a full 360° ۫ skills assessment ◦ Discover the power and importance of emotional intelligence ◦ Build developmental action plan ◦ Discuss options for mentoring and other development activities  Program aligns with EPA’s Successful Leader’s Program

 Leadership and Professional Development Rotation Program ◦ Allows high potential non-supervisory GS13-15 engage in a 120 day development rotation assignment ◦ Experience first hand supervisory tasks and assignments ◦ Shadow senior executive ◦ Mentor assigned throughout to guide and provide feedback

 Career Path Planning ◦ Discuss career fit ◦ Identify core values ◦ Review results of Interests assessment ◦ Mentoring and Feedback ◦ Identifying your personal network ◦ Visioning for the future ◦ Development/Action planning

 Coaching, Mentoring and On-Line Learning ◦ Employees also have access to a variety of learning activities:  One-on-One Coaching services (internal and external sources)  Formal and informal mentoring opportunities  Access to on-line development programs through two different vendors

 Stepping Up To Supervision ◦ Offered at Headquarters 2x’s annually ◦ Offered in Regions and Laboratories as requested  Leadership and Professional Development Rotation Program ◦ Annual engagement – up to 24 participants per year  Career Path Planning ◦ Offered at Headquarters 2x’s annually ◦ Offered in Regions and Laboratories as requested

 Based on research, feedback and testimonies, the most difficult professional transition for employees is the step up to supervisor. Are you ready to step up?  Prior to any promotion, employees are usually looked upon as the technical expert, a dynamic individual contributor. Suddenly, with the stroke of a pen and a few words of congratulations, the new supervisor is expected to make a fundamental shift in their outlook and begin to accomplish great amount of work done through the cooperation of others. Instead of having a work schedule set by someone else, the new supervisor must set schedules for others, delegate work assignments, provide effective feedback and so much more.  Do you have the skills to make that happen? Will you be able to find job satisfaction as you guide and direct the work of others? These are just a few of the questions that an individual should be exploring as they outline their career path, either as a technical expert who shares valuable information to others, or as a formal leader, supervisor or manager in any organization.  Stepping Up To Supervision is designed to help employees identify the core skills/competencies necessary to become a confident, prepared, knowledgeable leader at the EPA. Are you ready to "Cross the Bridge" from being the technical expert to formally leading a team of professionals?

You will engage in activities relating to:  Receiving feedback from your supervisor, colleagues, peers and customers through a formal 360 assessment process  Meet a current supervisor and hear about their role, best practices, lessons learned and practical advise on next steps to success  Actively participate in group discussions and exercises that help to stimulate new ideas and share experiences to help outline your development activities  Begin to create an action plan using the feedback from your 360 assessment to focus on core skills that will help you to meet your professional goal

instruments that will give you the most reliable results for you and your organization (measures your identified competencies) 2. Reporting options that allow you to view reliable results easily and clearly at an individual level, as well as at a group or organization level 3. Data presentation shown in multiple formats 4. Embedded development tools 5. Group/Organization benchmarking 6. Flexible coaching options that complement the 360 process. (internal and or external) ◦ One-on-One Coaching ◦ Group Facilitation 7. Development tools that aid your participants through the 360 process and the development that follows ◦ Development Tips ◦ Behavioral Examples ◦ Action Planning Forms/Tools 8. Participant Workbooks