TACE IV Newsletter - Spring 2009

TACE Region IV Plans for Leadership and Management Training

by Joe Skiba

The need for leadership and supervisory training has been consistently documented by State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies in TACE Region IV. In direct discussion with VR directors, nearly all see the VR systems in a state of stress requiring some major transformation in how their agency responds to the growing trends affecting their effectiveness with customers. Related to this is also the need to provide strong skill development for mid-level management and supervisory levels of staff who have the task of managing the day to day operations of agency activity in a time of major change.

Many state agencies have invested in a wide array of leadership and management training programs within the state via local university or state sponsored Certified Public Manager programs. A few have also benefited from Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) funded National Leadership Institute, as well as the previous Rehabilitation Continuing Education Program (RCEP) programs.

Within the framework of current travel constraints, TACE Region IV is now engaged in designing a two tiered leadership and management development strategy —
Executive Leadership and Management/Supervisory Skills Development.

Executive Leadership

Agency Executives face an array of challenges related to meeting the increasing demands for service in a time of reduced resources. Reduced state funding, increasing caseload sizes, implementation of an order of selection, and inability to fill counseling vacancies are some of the impacts of major fiscal turmoil.

State Directors and their management teams have detailed other strategic programmatic challenges. Current economic conditions have resulted in constricting commitments or availability of services across a broad spectrum of VR allies and partners.

Agencies are seeing significant cutbacks affecting transition programs, community mental health, Community Rehabilitation Providers, and Workforce systems. All of these dynamics impact availability of services essential to support employment outcomes for persons with disabilities.

Other systemic challenges relate to the difficulties the VR agencies are having in recruiting Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) eligible staff. Added to this is the concern regarding imminent or expected retirements at the mid management and executive levels.

TACE Region IV will conduct a series of executive leadership programs for state agencies that demonstrate the greatest need and commitment toward repositioning to meet the major strategic challenges they face. The sessions will focus on developing executive team skills and ability to assess the environment, create alternate scenarios and develop implementation strategies to realign and transform agency operations to meet the challenges of these chaotic times. These skill sets will be approached from an individual, organization and system level perspective.

The two-day sessions will be conducted on site by TACE Region IV staff with the State Director/Commissioner and his/her immediate reports that form the agency executive decision team. Each session will be customized to deal with the unique issues and concerns of the state agency. We expect to work with 2-3 agencies this calendar year and others next year.

Sample Topic Outline for Leadership Development Sessions

Strategic Repositioning of the VR System
- Managing change in chaotic times
- Valuing strategic thinking in contrast to strategic plans
- Mapping and analyzing the forces influencing your organization
- Revisiting core customer centered values
- Internal analysis of current performance
- Analyzing partnerships and external support
- Conducting a risk analysis
- Defining success
- Creating strategic scenarios for success
- Focusing on performance
- Understanding systems thinking and mental models as tools for leadership
- Establishing leadership norms across the organization
- Leadership styles
Understanding systems thinking and mental models as tools for leadership
Establishing leadership norms across the organization
Leadership styles
Human Resource Systems; Recruitment, Retention, Succession Planning
Managing staff toward performance
Stewardship- Choosing Service Over Self- interest
Partnership development; from collaboration to co-evolution
Managing Organization Culture through Innovation

Managerial and Supervisory Skills

State agency leadership and Human Resources Development (HRD) Directors have universally identified critical needs for supervisory and management training. The quality of day to day operations and agency effectiveness is tied in large part to the skill sets and success of supervisors and managers carrying out the VR mission and achieving high quality results. Current training available within states for supervisors is widely diverse.

TACE Region IV is committed to design effective supervisory and management programs to complement those currently available to state agencies. TACE Region IV staff will continue working with HRD staff to focus the development of these offerings in two distinct areas:

Managerial including program/staff positions and line service delivery positions. Skills around strategic planning, policy and program development, system and innovation design, quality management as well as managing micro and macro systems
Supervisory skills focus on the translation of agency policy, and procedures into meaningful service delivery. Thus issues around direct staff supervision, performance management, conflict management, delegation are examples of the skills sets at the center of the training.

The design of these program offerings has recently begun and will continue through this project year. Initial offerings should be available in late fall and next program year. Web based programs and face to face training modes are all being considered.

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