FEW’s National Training Recap

Management Concepts was a proud Emerald Sponsor of this year’s Federally Employed Women’s (FEW) National Training Program (NTP) held in New Orleans, Louisiana from July 13-16, 2015. I have been a lifetime member of FEW for more than 10 years and when possible, I always want to support the mission of FEW especially the commitment to and “for the advancement and professional growth of women in Federal Service.”

Now ironically I have never served in the Federal government but much of my career has been as a strategic partner within many agencies, helping them shape and achieve their missions.

There were more than 870 attendees in New Orleans, and we were excited to have Jamie Neidig, Practice Director for Human Resources & Human Capital present two training sessions to 200 of those individuals. They included:

• What all Feds Need to Know about the Workforce: Workforce planning is critical to achieving individual and organizational objectives. During this session students explored the changing attributes of the Federal workforce and learned how to prepare as an individual, as a leader, and as part of an organization.

• Introduction to Systems Thinking for the Federal Workforce: During this workshop participants learned how to skillfully conceptualize, apply, analyze, synthesize, and/or evaluate information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

I also had the pleasure of working with Ms. Wanda Killingsworth, Ms. Naomi Bell, Ms. Linda Patrick, Ms. Karen Rainey, and Ms. Robin Sutton to develop the inaugural Leadership and Supervisor Certificate Program Scholarships.

Criteria included:

• Applicant must be a member of FEW in good standing.
• All applicants must be current Federal government employees.
• Application must complete an essay
• Applicant must submit one letter of reference.

As you may have suspected this was a highly competitive process and we had some very good applicants to choose from, making it a tough decision. The winners of this year’s scholarships were:

• The Leadership Certificate Program winner – Sandra Warstler, Analyst/Liaison, Small Business Administration

• The Supervisor Certificate Program winner – Marsha Grant, Administrative Case Manager/Courtroom Deputy to the Honorable Harvey E. Schlesinger and Honorable Henry Lee Adams, Jr., U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

This year’s NTP theme was Journey to Excellence, and those who have applied for the scholarships were given the theme as the topic for the essay submitted with the application.

I would like to share a couple of statements extracted from the essays:

• “One of the most important qualities of a leader is to never rest on what you know and what you have done, but instead to strive to improve yourself and provide opportunities for ”

• “The late Maya Angelou said that ’people will never forget how you made them feel,’ and truly great leaders instinctively know that what matters most is how you treat people.”

What’s the underlying theme? People, how you treat them, and… providing opportunities for others.

We all know that organizations are better positioned to meet their missions when they have the support and dedication of an engaged, motivated, and innovative workforce. Transforming an organization to achieve this success requires proactive assessment and planning, consistent and holistic opportunities for workforce growth, and sustained support of people and programs.

Finally, I leave you with the FEW NTP Chair Karen Rainey’s words mentioned in a recent press release:

“Investing in our Federal workforce is an investment in the future – not just an individual’s future career path, but the future knowledge, skills, and abilities of the American government. Training is the cornerstone of a skilled workforce and is necessary for all agencies and departments.”

See you next year, FEW!