FOR THE COUNCIL MEETING OF DECEMBER 5, 2023
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
TO: City Council
FROM: Interim City Manager Alex Posada
BY: Interim Chief Human Resources Officer Dawn Jackson
SUBJECT: Receive a Presentation and Present a Certificate of Recognition to the GROW Initiative Cohort II
To receive a presentation regarding the Alignment Project’s staff development phase and present a Certificate of Recognition to the GROW Initiative Cohort II graduates.
BACKGROUND:
The City Council has established the organizational direction for the City of Santa Maria to build a more efficient, effective, and accountable governance model that strives to achieve the highest level of customer service at every level of the organization.
The Alignment Project is the City’s workforce management system that anchors business practices and initiatives to allow the City to meet its talent needs and close critical gaps in competencies. The Alignment Project’s main objectives are as follows:
Administer and support business approaches to ensure the City’s long -term leadership needs are met. Leadership is at all levels of the organization. Assess the competencies needed to support and grow the City and identify gaps. Forecast future workforc e needs and plan strategies to develop workforce competencies that support the City’s goals, vision, mission, and values. Provide the workforce with continuous learning opportunities, including opportunities for upskilling and reskilling.
Develop strategies to maintain a robust workforce that has the talent to implement the City’s current and future strategy and goals.
The Alignment Project provides exciting opportunities for employees. The focus is on continual learning and development, and recognition of performance.
DISCUSSION:
A high-performance organizational culture is a culture in which the City strives for their employees to perform exceptionally well because they are engaged, valued, and continually learning. This gives their work a sense of purpose, instilling in them a continuous improvement mindset, and a dedication to the City’s mission that drives performance. The GROW Initiative is a building block of this learning and development 2 built on a set of competencies that are encouraged by learning and translating learning into action to achieve public service and create greater value.
The City and the University of California, Santa Barbara Professional and Continuing Education (UCSB PaCE) began a partnership in June 2022 to plan, design, and develop the Management Training for Public Administrators (MTPA) certificate program . The program courses includ e project management; building high -performing teams; collaborative dispute resolution; negotiations and influence strategies; foundations of leadership; foundations of accoun ting; budgeting; marketing principles; organizational and personal branding; decision making; foundations of human resources; and ethics.
The City’s second class, Cohort II, completed the 15-week, instructor-led program whose work culminated in a capston e project designed to engage local students in city government through participation in a youth government day event. Each cohort member completed a minimum of 120 hours of instruction. Factoring in the time dedicated to homework and the capstone project, the cohort devoted an estimated 1300 hours to completing the GROW Initiative. On November 20, 2023, Cohort II graduated from GROW and received a professional certificate in Management Training for Public Administrators from UCSB PaCE. To further recognize their outstanding accomplishment, GROW Cohort II will also receive a Certificate of Recognition from City Council.
The following City staff graduated from the GROW Initiative in Cohort II: Jennifer Alvarado (Utilities), Adriana Delgado (Community Develo pment), Yvette Fuentes (Community Development, Code Enforcement), Cody Graybehl (Community Development, Planning), Maria Gutierrez (City Attorney’s Office), Angela Oslund (Recreation and Parks), David Rodriguez (Recreation and Parks), Michelle Ruiz (Utilit ies), Lazaro Sanchez (City Manager’s Office, Information Technology), Neville Smeda (Recreation and Parks), Eustaquio Valdez Jr. (Public Works, Transit)