The Challenge: Design a complete results-oriented curriculum that will have long-term impact on achieving the organization’s goals and objectives.

The Solution: Introduced EPA’s Successful Leaders Program, which incorporates Blanchard assessments, content, and coaching in an ongoing, 1½-year process.

The Results: Managers at all levels are supported in their learning, practice, and application of new skills and behaviors, thereby creating an environment of collaboration, cooperation, and commitment.

For more than 30 years, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people, employing and utilizing 18,000 people across the country. Post 9/11, the Environmental Protection Agency, like many other government agencies, experienced budget cuts and reorganizations. Eventually, after back-to-back reorganizations and hiring more staff members, EPA was grappling with how to create agency-wide alignment, collaborative work processes, and a shared mind-set. Its internal structure was not designed to bring on and train new managers. And it needed a process that would allow people to take charge of their careers and ask for what they need, while aligning employees across the nation.

There was an obvious and growing need for a powerful training initiative. Unfortunately, there were also some obstacles. As Sharon Ridings, National Training Manager noted, approximately 70% of senior executives in government were either moving into different industries or retiring. Although there were numerous leadership positions to fill, there was some difficulty in motivating frontline managers. The transition from using technical skills to using people skills was a major challenge that needed to be addressed. EPA also experienced a recent change in their formal Performance Management System. The organization wanted to show value for demonstrated performance, but the road that linked “what we do” to performance monitoring was a bumpy one.

Fortunately, Sharon and her EPA partners were ready to take on these challenges. Integrating some preexisting training programs, she collaborated with The Ken Blanchard Companies on the products and services that would best suit EPA’s needs. Situational Self Leadership was a clear choice for helping EPA achieve its goal of empowering its employees. Situational Frontline Leadership would be instrumental in transitioning people into new supervisory positions. And Blanchard’s flagship program, Situational Leadership II, rounded out the curriculum. As a bonus to managers, EPA insisted on providing coaching to all Frontline and SLII participants. Each participant received three, one-to-one Executive Coaching calls, which, as Sharon says, “allows them to reflect on what they’re doing and how it affects others.”

With these offerings in place, Sharon and EPA introduced the Successful Leaders Program. This was not just a training event, but a year-and-a-half-long training process. This ongoing process helped establish EPA’s commitment to its leaders and truly engaged the leaders in the process of learning new skills and behaviors. New supervisors began this process with a self-assessment and the creation of an individual development plan. Each participant completed three online pre-work modules to prepare for two nonconsecutive weeks of training, received three coaching calls, and had a senior staff member assigned as a mentor. After ten months and at the end of the 18 months, 360-degree assessments measured the improvements. Throughout the training process, leaders were continually involved in coaching, following up with their supervisors, mentoring, and updating their individual development plans.

The Successful Leaders Program has been just that—a success! One of the best results is “having the supervisors know they have a posse,” says Sharon. The continual support eased their ambiguous transition process. Thousands of employees at all levels across the nation have learned that what matters most is communicating your message to others, building relationships with others, and networking with others. By integrating Blanchard assessments, content, and coaching into its new process, EPA is able to achieve its goals of creating organizational alignment, establishing a measurable, effective Performance Management System, and ensuring that everyone can work cooperatively and collaboratively within all EPA communities.