WLPD 2024 EOY Report

WORKPLACE LEARNING & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT YEAR IN REVIEW

2023

A MESSAGE FROM THE TEAM

The Workplace Learning & Professional Development (WLPD) team exists to help Georgia Tech faculty and staff model the core values and competencies required for individual and organizational success. This statement underscores our motivation to develop and facilitate meaningful, relevant, and innovative learning experiences for the campus community. The team is dedicated to advancing Georgia Tech's mission and our community members' career potential through engaging and applicable learning that can be immediately integrated into your day-to-day activities. The foundation of our learning and development opportunities are centered around the Institute’s mission, vision, and values. As our team reflects on what made 2023 a special year, we wanted to take the opportunity to share some of our most memorable moments. We are proud of our work this year and equally excited about the opportunities and projects ahead in 2024. We hope to see many new and familiar faces in our next session!

Sincerely, The Workplace Learning & Professional Development Team LaTrese Ferguson, Rachel Watts, Bryan Harber, Kala Taylor, Tim Edmonds-King and Lauren Novak

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ABOUT WLPD

MISSION STATEMENT To partner with Institute entities to enable performance through transferable learning focused on organizational goals. VISION STATEMENT Trusted to develop a highly skilled, knowledgeable, and engaged workforce.

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We facilitated instructor-led open enrollment professional development sessions.

2,224

participants attended open enrollment instructor-led sessions.

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910

Over

participants attended

intact team and special sessions.

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We have partnered with over departments across Georgia Tech and units of the University System of Georgia to consult, develop, and deliver learning experiences.

180

We have hosted over active online learning tutorials, including the Newly Hired & Newly Promoted People Leaders Learning Paths.

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AWARDS & RECOGNITION

This past year, the WLPD team was recognized by several entities for the caliber of our work and partnership in the field of learning and development.

GEORGIA TECH STAFF AWARDS

At this year’s Staff Awards, WLPD was recognized and received the Excellence Award . This award goes to a team or individual who — consistent with the Institute’s mission, vision, and goals — has been a game-changer for Georgia Tech. This award is given in

recognition of transformative, larger-scale efforts. Being recognized by our peers for achieving results that impact a large constituency of Georgia Tech employees was a great honor!

ONCON ICON AWARDS At this year’s annual OnConference Summit, which is an organization and conference supporting the world’s top executives, WLPD was recognized as one of the Top 50 Learning & Development Teams . We received this honor alongside Charter Communications, Dell, Spotify, and UC Berkeley.

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ONBOARDING & DEVELOPING NEW TALENT

As one of our core learning programs, the New Employee Experience (NEE) helps prepare employees for a successful career at Georgia Tech. The sessions, delivered both in-person and virtually are designed to accelerate productivity by instilling a sense of community and personal connection to the Institute. The experience spans the employee’s first six months. It includes the following sessions: Welcome to Tech , Managing Your Performance the Georgia Tech Way , Leaders Panel , and Seizing Your Career the Georgia Tech Way, with 680 in-person and 37 virtual participants in Welcome to Tech alone! Upon completing the four sessions, participants are awarded a limited edition Georgia Tech Campanile pin.

111 completed the New Employee Experience

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ONBOARDING & DEVELOPING NEW TALENT

“I have used the information from these sessions to understand the inner-workings and culture at GT. I am using the tools as a way to reach out across campus to better not only the college that I am working in, but the community as well.”

“Information from all of these sessions has helped me to better understand the culture at Tech. I found it easier to think about and formulate my goals. The information provided from 'Managing Your Career' and 'Seizing Your Career' helped me to facilitate a meaningful conversation with my supervisor about my career aspirations and what I need to do to continue being successful in my role.”

“These sessions really helped me to get acclimated to campus, meet new people to develop relationships, and really learn how to get the best out of my experience here at Tech.“

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PROMOTING LEARNING & FOSTERING RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS THE INSTITUTE

INTACT SESSIONS

One of WLPD’s foundational strengths is our strategic partnerships with departments and groups to equip the campus community better to meet their performance-based learning needs. This past year, we partnered with departments across the Institute to deliver content specifically for their departmental needs. These requests range from providing customized course content to facilitating brainstorming sessions, leading activities, and more.

COACHING In May of 2023, WLPD launched a coaching practice available to Georgia Tech employees to support similar Institute-wide initiatives. This effort was intentionally kept small, with four members of the WLPD team serving as available coaches. Intake and evaluation processes were also developed to aid the team in determining the best professional development solution for those expressing interest in coaching, including coaching, mentoring, training, or other potential options. As a result of this effort: 15 employees submitted interest in coaching 1 was referred to training resources 2 were referred to mentoring (and both signed up to be mentored) 12 were referred to coaching 8 coaching referrals engaged in the coaching process

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MENTORTECH

Beginning in 2018, MentorTech allows campus staff and faculty the opportunity to connect with a professional partner to complete a year-long mentoring partnership. Connecting participants from all over campus, this program has 111 employees currently participating with 508 contact hours reported.

In partnership with the Institute Research Faculty, a program was created specifically for this community. This brought 20 mentoring partnerships for research faculty to continue building their skills and network.

“The mentoring program reaffirms the value of building relationships within the Georgia Tech community. I have genuinely enjoyed getting to know my mentoring partner and learn from them. It has been an enriching experience.”

This year, the program increased and enhanced its communication efforts with monthly email campaigns, including topics and resources to discuss. As well as implemented strategic events where partnerships come together and connect.

EMPLOYEE LEARNING WEEK

Each year, during the first week of December, theAssociation for Talent Development celebrates workplace learning through its annual campaign, Employee Learning Week.

This year's theme was “Workforce Development is Everyone’s Business”. We partnered with several areas across campus to highlight 11 opportunities and over 100 resources available to faculty and staff to continue their development.

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DEVELOPING ASPIRING & CURRENT LEADERS

One of our signature programs, ASPIRE was offered during the fall semester. We received over 100 applications and accepted 68 participants.

ASPIRE began in 2018, and the learning experience creates the conditions for aspiring leaders to emerge with an increased awareness of themselves professionally and an understanding of how they can lead from their current role. This year, three cohorts completed six in-person and six online sessions over four months. We also hosted a networking session with ASPIRE alum participants. This year, with a Survivor-based theme, the participants were challenged. The cohorts were charged with finding a problem affecting a large campus sector and providing a viable solution to the problem identified.

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The cohorts were able to present their solutions to several leaders, including the Senior Vice President and chief of Staff, the Associate Vice President of Sustainability, the Staff Council, the Senior Director of Employee Experience, a Senior Director of Human Resources, and the Vice President of Administration & Finance.

“I learned how to lead myself more effectively so that I can better lead others. As well as skills to be a better leader and how to be my most effective self in my current role.”

“ASPIRE taught me that by effectively using the four tools of Collaborate, Compete, Control, and Create me and my team can work through challenges, problems and situations together. It’s all a part of the process to success.”

NEWLY HIRED & PROMOTED PEOPLE LEADERS This year, the Newly Hired & Newly Promoted People Leaders learning pathways were aligned with the Institute Leadership competencies for People Leaders. This lets participants directly correlate their learning opportunities with their goals and development plans.

DEMONSTRATES INCLUSIVITY

EXHIBITS SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE Possess the ability to understand, manage, and get along well with others.

Show awareness of their own biases & actively seeks different perspectives and opportunities to connect and collaborate in ways that foster psychological safety and belonging.

DEVELOPS SELF AND OTHERS Invest resources into professional development opportunities, creates a culture of feedback & manages team dynamics.

ACTS STRATEGICALLY Align work to Institute Strategic Plan, set priorities, make data-informed decisions, and take action to deliver results.

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LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY TO INCREASE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

INTERRUPTIONS PODCAST

We added seven episodes to the second season of our podcast series, Interruptions. We view interruptions as the space between a stimulus and your response to said stimulus, where if you have the appropriate skills and tools to respond positively, magic can happen. These additions rounded out our series on our Institute Values. This calendar year, we had over 1,016 plays. Our episodes on nurturing well-being, championing innovation, striving for excellence, thriving on diversity, and onboarding have been our top five tracks for the year.

VALUES BASED ASSESSMENT We have successfully incorporated the Values-Based Assessment into the Leading Congruently workshop to help participants write better, more relevant values based goals. In 2023, 166 people leaders and 141 individual contributors took the self-assessment and attended the Leading Congruently workshop to learn more about their assessment.

VIRTUAL REALITY Working with various campus partners, we used immersive 360-degree recording technology to produce a VR movie for participants to view through VR headsets. This immersive experience was designed to help leaders develop more empathic, inclusive, and self-awareness abilities to be seen as more trustworthy and effective. Still in the production phase, we hope to start enrolling participants to experience this innovative learning event in 2024.

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TOP LEARNING & LOOKING AHEAD

TOP OPEN ENROLLMENT COURSES

Giving and Receiving Feedback 1. Navigating Conflict & Challenging Conversations 2. Leading Congruently 3. Power of Writing 4. DiSC: Flexing your Style to Achieve Results 5.

WHAT’S TO COME IN 2024

We’re excited to continue advancing organizational and individual successes at Georgia Tech. Here are just a few programs and initiatives we are working to roll out in 2024: Multi-Rater Tool Assessment aligned with organizational values Virtual Reality based learning experiences Learning that supports building a Customer Service oriented campus culture Expanded coaching resources

We look forward to seeing you in a learning session soon!

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WORKPLACE LEARNING & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT