Growing, Learning, and Innovating: A Public Health District’s Path to a Healthier Georgia
Abstract
With funding under the program, “Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce and Data Systems,” one public health district established an Office of Growth, Learning and Innovation (GLI) with aims to engage employees through workforce development opportunities. Thirty-eight listening sessions were conducted over the course of several months, affording employees opportunities to provide input to improve district policy and practice.
Subsequent actions to the listening sessions were far-reaching, as qualitative data were categorized into fiscal, personnel, programmatic and clinical areas and discussed with respective members of the Executive Management Team. Management responded with support for a variety of policy and practice changes (e.g., expanded clinic hours, telework opportunities, call center changes, educational offerings, changes in clinic/program operations) and continued to report progress to all staff over several months. Additionally, resources were allocated for recruitment strategies to increase diversity of the workforce and target specific sectors for hard-to-fill positions.
With managerial support, the GLI team devised a Workforce Learning and Development policy which set parameters for offering Development Series where qualifying employees applied for opportunities, completed deliverables after selection, and contributed back to the organization’s mission. Successful completion of pre-determined requirements resulted in monetary and other incentives with the primary goal of increased employee engagement and sustainability of efforts. The new policy also allowed any employee to submit a learning opportunity for consideration to be adapted into a Development Series offering.
Samples of Development Series have resulted or will result in:
- 20 trainers to facilitate DiSC Assessments (i.e., a tool to measure personality traits as a means of understanding behavior in the workplace) for all current and future employees in the district.
- Newly trained and certified colposcopy clinicians for succession planning for retiring clinicians.
- Expanded employee wellness team members with training and expertise in mindfulness guided meditation.
- 8 Customer Service Representative Trainers responsible for precepting and training newly hired administrative support staff.
- An identified outreach team equipped to reach potential clients and community partners for education on various public health topics.
Participants in this session will receive examples of development initiatives, sample policies and forms, data summaries from assessment and evaluations, etc. Participants will gain knowledge of a systematic approach to effect change and promote growth within its workforce.
Keywords
Growth, Learning, Innovation, Development Series, Workforce, Strengthening Infrastructure
Growing, Learning, and Innovating: A Public Health District’s Path to a Healthier Georgia
With funding under the program, “Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce and Data Systems,” one public health district established an Office of Growth, Learning and Innovation (GLI) with aims to engage employees through workforce development opportunities. Thirty-eight listening sessions were conducted over the course of several months, affording employees opportunities to provide input to improve district policy and practice.
Subsequent actions to the listening sessions were far-reaching, as qualitative data were categorized into fiscal, personnel, programmatic and clinical areas and discussed with respective members of the Executive Management Team. Management responded with support for a variety of policy and practice changes (e.g., expanded clinic hours, telework opportunities, call center changes, educational offerings, changes in clinic/program operations) and continued to report progress to all staff over several months. Additionally, resources were allocated for recruitment strategies to increase diversity of the workforce and target specific sectors for hard-to-fill positions.
With managerial support, the GLI team devised a Workforce Learning and Development policy which set parameters for offering Development Series where qualifying employees applied for opportunities, completed deliverables after selection, and contributed back to the organization’s mission. Successful completion of pre-determined requirements resulted in monetary and other incentives with the primary goal of increased employee engagement and sustainability of efforts. The new policy also allowed any employee to submit a learning opportunity for consideration to be adapted into a Development Series offering.
Samples of Development Series have resulted or will result in:
- 20 trainers to facilitate DiSC Assessments (i.e., a tool to measure personality traits as a means of understanding behavior in the workplace) for all current and future employees in the district.
- Newly trained and certified colposcopy clinicians for succession planning for retiring clinicians.
- Expanded employee wellness team members with training and expertise in mindfulness guided meditation.
- 8 Customer Service Representative Trainers responsible for precepting and training newly hired administrative support staff.
- An identified outreach team equipped to reach potential clients and community partners for education on various public health topics.
Participants in this session will receive examples of development initiatives, sample policies and forms, data summaries from assessment and evaluations, etc. Participants will gain knowledge of a systematic approach to effect change and promote growth within its workforce.
