FORT EUSTIS, VA -- Developing leadership and management competencies is at the heart of a new Training and Doctrine Command pilot supervisory program.
The Supervisor's Development Course-Supplemental, which was created by TRADOC's G1/4, took place Aug. 31-Sept 3 at the Maritime Training Campus, on Joint Base Langley-Eustis. As part of a beta test, 26 TRADOC military and civilian supervisors took part in the three-and-a-half day pilot for the new developmental program, which addressed issues in leadership and engagement through interactive, scenario-based training consistent with the Army Learning Model.
At the beginning of the course, Lt. Gen. Kevin W. Mangum, TRADOC deputy commanding general, thanked the group for their participation and stressed the importance of continuing professional development for the civilian and military supervisors who lead our Army.
Mangum said the pilot was important because, once finalized, it will help enhance the development of the overall organization -- its leaders, people and management processes.
The program provided facilitated learning as well as opportunities for students to share their knowledge and experience. TRADOC senior leaders served as management practitioners for each of the interactive learning modules, then students discussed the key principles, regulations and processes to address the real-life scenarios that may be encountered in a work environment.
The pilot program was designed to address workforce challenges. In recent years, the Army has seen a decline in employee engagement scores on the Federal Employment Viewpoint Survey conducted by the Office of Personnel Management. In fact, the Army as a whole ranked near the bottom among 19 large federal organizations in terms of best places to work in 2014.
"Leading Army civilians successfully is both an art and a science to optimize workforce productivity while taking care of people, within policy and resource constraints," said William F. Moore, deputy chief of staff G-1/4 (Personnel and Logistics). "Improving supervisor and employee engagement is a recognized need across the Army, and this pilot course is a TRADOC initiative to better prepare supervisors for success."
Currently, all Army supervisors must take the 40-hour SDC-Distributed Learning online course within a year of their appointment as a supervisor and repeat this training every three years as a refresher. SDC-DL meets all federal regulatory requirements for supervisor training, but lacks face-to-face interaction.
SDC-S is interactive, leverages case studies, small group activities, role playing and employs relevant media tools. Civilian and military personnel worked together to resolve contemporary challenges including hiring, performance management and developing a diverse workforce. The pilot was designed to be compliant with TRADOC Pam 525-2, The Army Learning Concept 2015.
The SDC-S pilot program has drawn the interest of a number of organizations who see the merits of face-to-face interactive training. Representatives from the Army Auditing Agency, Medical Command, the Army Management Staff College, and the Office of the Administrative Assistant, Department of the Army, participated as observers.
To further refine the program and formalize course content, a second pilot is slated to take place before the end of the calendar year.
Upon successful completion of the pilots, TRADOC G-1/4 plans to submit SDC-S to the Department of the Army for consideration of this program to satisfy required refresher training requirements of the National Defense Authorization Act.
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