Scope of Work:

The State of North Dakota Central Personnel Division desired a supervisory management development program that would provide training for first-line supervisors and serve as a refresher for middle managers.  Management training was not conducted consistently within all 80 agencies in the State; most agencies did not provide management training at all.

The program desired was to provide a foundation to guide employees as they moved into management roles, or to strengthen skills of middle managers. This would be a statewide program so that, regardless of geographical location, each individual would have the same basis on which to develop his/her management skills.

The State conducted a needs assessment of all the agencies to determine the issues they deemed most relevant and important to be covered in management training and issued a Request for Proposal.  Through a competitive bid process reviewed by a committee made up of designated agency representatives, Sterling Institute won the contract to provide this statewide supervisory/management development training.

Accomplishments:

The program Sterling designed was state government specific and designed in modular format.  It is a five-day program that can be presented in five consecutive days or in various combinations of one, two and three day modules.  The modules include Communicating Effectively, Managing Conflict, Developing People and Performance Management.  Transfer of knowledge was a condition of the RFP and Sterling's process for leveraging the impact of training is one that increases the readiness and ability of participants to apply their learning.  This process includes an up-front "contracting" process between participants and their managers and follow-up surveys to both the manager and participant ninety days after the program assessing behavior changes.

The program was launched in the spring of 1995.  Hundreds of supervisors have participated in the program, which is being conducted by State employees who were certified by Sterling Institute.  Evaluations have been excellent and enthusiasm for the program remains high.  Follow up sessions have revealed improved effectiveness in the employee development and performance management practices of those supervisors who have completed the program.