(Email early if interested as capacity limited)
HR and Payroll professionals at UW–Madison serve over 20,000 employees in capacities that we may not all have in common given our decentralized environment. What we do have in common, however, is how we can serve our employees and one another as partners.
The HR-CoP Office is pleased to announce that a second HR Competencies Cohort – aimed at shifting HR at UW–Madison to more of a partner model – will be launched late Summer/early Fall 2017. The cohort program will continue to offer in-depth opportunities for campus HR and Payroll professionals to deepen HR Competency-centric knowledge and skills, while incorporating lessons learned from the Pilot Cohort.
The current Pilot Cohort includes thirteen (13) HR and Payroll Professionals from different departments and divisions across campus who began meeting in February. While there are aspects of the pilot that these participants would recommend changing for future cohorts, at a recent ‘midpoint’ feedback session, participants enthusiastically shared that they’d recommend the program to others . Many expressed sadness that it ‘ends’ in July – along with a desire to explore opportunities for continuing to meet as a cohort.
The cohort experience is currently organized around five (5) full-morning sessions scheduled over a span of six months, with each session focused on our ‘foundational’ competency, Engagement, Inclusion and Diversity, and one of the ‘facilitative competencies’: Collaboration, Ethics & Integrity, Change Management, Problem Solving, and Execution. The cohort program is complemented by training opportunities designed to expand HR Technical Knowledge and Expertise.
Prior to engaging in the cohort, participants and their managers and colleagues complete a 360 inventory based on defining behaviors of each of the UW–Madison HR Competencies. The 360 provides a foundation for thinking about which of the seven competencies to focus on in the six month cohort period. Participants engage in self-directed learning around one to three of the competencies, and have an opportunity to share what they’re learning through participant-led presentations.
The HR Communities of Practice Office will work through early summer to map and implement proposed changes to the cohort program, and will offer a late Summer/ early Fall 2017 Cohort for up to eighteen (18) participants. You are eligible if you handle HR and/or Payroll functions as part or all of your role at UW–Madison, and have completed your initial probation period. Department Administrators, and HR and Payroll professionals at the department- and division-level are encouraged to participate.
If you are interested in learning more and potentially being part of the second cohort, please email hr_communities_of_practice@ohr.wisc.edu. Capacity is limited to eighteen (18) on a first come, first served basis.