Purpose:

“Project GO” was commissioned in the summer of 2014 to develop a multi-level training program for supervisors, managers, and executives that is aligned with state’s leadership competency model, enhance performance, and better prepares our leaders to guide a dynamic and diverse workforce.  State leaders recognize that the state lacks an established and consistent set of leadership behaviors and competencies that are promoted, supported, and measured across the state and supports effective succession planning, as well as a philosophy that guides all state leadership initiatives.

Opportunity:

Improve the performance of leaders at all levels of civil service by creating a sustainable comprehensive statewide infrastructure for analyzing, designing, developing, implementing and evaluating the leadership development training curriculum, tools, and resources available to agencies and departments and supports succession planning.

Objectives:

Phase 1

An overall leadership philosophy – “Our leaders develop and inspire our workforce to deliver great results for Californians” is the leadership philosophy, supported by a set of core values, that will guide all leadership development initiatives.

• Statewide leadership values – The core values are the guiding principles in our lives and possess the power to energize, motivate and guide individuals and teams to do the right things and achieve great results.  

A leadership competency model – The core values inform the application of  leadership competencies and  identify the desired behaviors and skills that will establish clear expectations of performance, drive that performance through training and  program development design, and lead to measurable improvement of manager quality and competencies.

80-Hour Supervisory Training – Finalize the 80-hour curriculum and align the training program with the leadership philosophy, values and competencies.

Phase 2

Development strategies for each level of leadership in State government – The Strategy will be comprised of an integrated plan for how the State will assess and respond to the unique development needs of:

• Those considering a management classification
• Continuous training and development to ensure succession planning at all levels.

Desired Outcome:

To develop and embed a model that (1) provides sustainable statewide oversight for leadership development, (2) institutes an evaluation process designed to continuously identify needs and measure outcomes, and (3) becomes a standard of excellence in government leadership.

Key Points:

• The leadership philosophy and values transcend state service and are designed to underpin departments existing values, not replace them.
• The leadership philosophy, values and competencies will be incorporated into recruitment, onboarding, training, and performance management for leaders across state service.
• Incorporating the leadership philosophy and values at multiple points, through multiple channels and by multiple people will help weave the philosophy and values into the fabric of the state’s leadership culture.

To learn more about Project GO, please contact CalHR’s April Nielsen at 916-324-3860 or email her April.Nielsen@calhr.ca.gov.

Recent Accomplishments:

• Finalize leadership philosophy and values.
• Created Statewide leadership model that aligns philosophy, values, and competencies.
• Finalized curriculum changes for 80-hour supervisory training pilots, which launched in October 2015
• Completed 3 pilots of the updated 80-hour supervisory training program as of December 4, 3015.