Innovative Human Resources Project Grant ApplicationMasterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Grant Application for Innovative Human Resources Project
DATE: August 11, 2010
Dubuque
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Human Rights Director KeIIy Larson is recommending submittal of a grant to the
International Public Management Association for Human Resources for funding to assist
with the City's Intercultural Competency efforts
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
MCVM:lw
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Kelly Larson, Human Rights Director
Michael C. Van Milligen
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
August 11, 2010
TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Kelly Larson, Human Rights Director
Andre Lessears, Training and Workforce Development Coordinator
SUBJECT: Grant Application for Innovative Human Resources Project
Attached please find an application to the International Public Management Association
for Human Resources and CPS Human Resource Services for a grant in the amount of
$25,000. The purpose of the grant is to recognize innovative human resources
practices that contribute to quality, fairness, equity, and organizational needs in public
sector human resources.
We are proposing an addition to our intercultural competence efforts within the
organization. The grant would allow us to do one -on -one development work with
managers, including developing strategic plans and performance measures related to
intercultural skills, conflict management, and recruitment and retention that are
personalized to each department. This would better equip managers to lead
intercultural efforts within their individual departments. In addition, the grant would
provide funding to measure our progress since One Ummah Consulting first
administered the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) in 2006. We would measure
these changes both by again administering the IDI and through a questionnaire. If
awarded, we will be required to implement the grant and begin measuring results within
eight months of the grant award. We also would be obligated under the grant to publish
our results in sufficient detail to allow others to use it as a model, and to present our
results at the IPMA -HR International Training Conference.
We recommend that the City submit this grant application.
cc: Randy Peck
Dubuque
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Please fill in the following information, and attach your proposal. Please mail or email (email
is preferable) by August 13, 2010 to:
CPS Human Resource Services
Attn: Connie Champnoise
444 North Capitol Street, NW
Suite 544
Washington, DC 20001
cchampnoise @cps.ca.gov
(608) 536 -3590 Phone
(916) 561 -8446 Fax
Email submissions are strongly encouraged. If using mail or fax, include an electronic copy
on a CD or 3.5 inch disk.
Personal Data
Name Andre Lessears
Title Training and Workforce Development Coordinator
Agency City of Dubuque
Size of Jurisdiction (Number of Employees) 527 FT; 129 PT
Address 50 W. 13 Street
Address 2
City Dubuque State IA Zip Code 52001
Telephone Number ( 563 ) 690 -6126
Fax ( 563 ) 690 -6025
Email alessear@cityofdubuque.org
Web Address www.cityofdubuque.org
Proposal Title City of Dubuque Guided Intercultural Development for Managers
Project Title: City of Dubuque Guided Intercultural Development for Managers
History and Mission Statement of the Agency: The City of Dubuque is a unit of local
government in a community of approximately 60,000 people on the banks of the
Mississippi River in Iowa. Historically known for button making, boat building and
logging, Dubuque today is known for its riverboat excursions and tourism, and offers
career and business opportunities in pace with today's technology — driven economy.
Dubuque is often recognized by national organizations for its leadership, business
climate and quality of life.
The City of Dubuque has a City Manager who reports to the Mayor and City Council, a
seven - person group representing the wards in which they live. Our mission is to ensure
that residents of all backgrounds have an equal opportunity to be served by their local
government and to be actively engaged in the democratic process. Our work is guided
by the following management principles: 1) we plan our work and work our plan; 2) we
take advantage of the valuable input of employees and residents for department
decision - making; 3) we approach issues by focusing on what can be done to solve the
problem; 4) we develop partnerships across departments and with outside
organizations; and 5) we act with a sense of urgency. We strive to embody our City
Council's vision of Dubuque as an inclusive, progressive, sustainable city with a strong,
diversified economy and expanding global connections.
Current Human Resource Problem or Concern:
The City of Dubuque employs 527 full -time and 129 part-time employees. The average
age of our employees is 46, and over 14 percent of our employees are nearing
retirement age. The gender, race, and ethnicity demographics of employees are as
follows:
City of Dubuque: Guided Intercultural Development for Managers
1
Pay Group
Sex
Race
Total
Full Time
Female
Black/African American
1
White
120
Female Total
121
Male
Black/African American
2
Hispanic
3
American Indian /Alaskan
1
White
400
Male Total
406
Full Time Total
527
Part Time
Female
Black/African American
5
White
72
Female Total
77
Male
Black/African American
1
Hispanic
1
White
55
Male Total
57
Part Time Total
129
Project Title: City of Dubuque Guided Intercultural Development for Managers
History and Mission Statement of the Agency: The City of Dubuque is a unit of local
government in a community of approximately 60,000 people on the banks of the
Mississippi River in Iowa. Historically known for button making, boat building and
logging, Dubuque today is known for its riverboat excursions and tourism, and offers
career and business opportunities in pace with today's technology — driven economy.
Dubuque is often recognized by national organizations for its leadership, business
climate and quality of life.
The City of Dubuque has a City Manager who reports to the Mayor and City Council, a
seven - person group representing the wards in which they live. Our mission is to ensure
that residents of all backgrounds have an equal opportunity to be served by their local
government and to be actively engaged in the democratic process. Our work is guided
by the following management principles: 1) we plan our work and work our plan; 2) we
take advantage of the valuable input of employees and residents for department
decision - making; 3) we approach issues by focusing on what can be done to solve the
problem; 4) we develop partnerships across departments and with outside
organizations; and 5) we act with a sense of urgency. We strive to embody our City
Council's vision of Dubuque as an inclusive, progressive, sustainable city with a strong,
diversified economy and expanding global connections.
Current Human Resource Problem or Concern:
The City of Dubuque employs 527 full -time and 129 part-time employees. The average
age of our employees is 46, and over 14 percent of our employees are nearing
retirement age. The gender, race, and ethnicity demographics of employees are as
follows:
City of Dubuque: Guided Intercultural Development for Managers
1
These employees are responsible for serving an increasingly diverse public as our
community demographics shift. From 2000 to 2005/2007 the American Communities
Survey estimates a 72.3% increase (from 700 to 1,206) in the number of African -
American residents, a 48.5% increase (from 390 to 579) in Asians, a 43% increase
(from 553 to 791) in community members of 2 or more races, and a 23.1% increase
(from 911 to 1,121) in the Hispanic population of Dubuque. We anticipate that the 2010
census will continue to show significant shifts in our demographics, as we witness a
more national and international focus amongst some of our largest employers (John
Deere, IBM, Prudential, McKesson, Sedgwick). In addition, more than one million
tourists visit Dubuque annually.
As a local government whose primary goal is to serve residents of all backgrounds living
in our community, we recognize that it is critical for our workforce to reflect the
community we serve and to develop the skills to interact effectively across cultural
differences. We also anticipate that as baby- boomers retire in larger numbers, we will
be competing to attract, recruit, and retain new workers who will likely be younger, more
culturally and individually aware, and more racially, ethnically, and regionally diverse
than our current workforce. We expect these employees to be Tess hierarchical in their
work habits and more input- oriented. Finally, we are concerned that systemic barriers
remain in some of the procedures and structure of our organization, interfering with the
ability of traditionally underrepresented groups to be successful in our workplace and
community.
These factors raise the question of how best to address diversity issues in an
organization and a community. Traditional approaches to diversity have focused either
on forcing complete assimilation of the newcomer or assuming everyone is the same,
thus masking cultural differences. We are pursuing what we believe is a more effective
approach premised on developing intercultural skills. Our approach is research based
and focuses on the point at which cultures interact. The approach suggests that as we
learn more about cultural differences, we can improve our ability to predict when
miscommunication and conflict might arise and adapt our behavior accordingly to
improve communication and problem solving. In short, such an approach focuses on
mutual adaptation and on creating systemic change so that the benefit of cultural
differences is maximized. We see development of these skills as a necessity in a
pluralistic democracy, particularly amongst public servants. The challenge facing us is
the development of these skills which will, in turn, permit us to better serve the public
and to attract, recruit and retain a diverse workforce.
Innovative Human Resources Program: Our innovative human resources program
would provide guided development of intercultural skills for our management team
members. In 2006, we hired a consultant to conduct an initial assessment of the
intercultural skills existing throughout our organization, and to provide us with an
Intercultural Sensitivity Report and Recommendations. A baseline of our staffs
intercultural skills was established using the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a
City of Dubuque: Guided Intercultural Development for Managers 2
statistically reliable, cross - culturally valid measure of intercultural competence adapted
from the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. The Report and
Recommendations contained long term goals around developing staff skills and
addressing systemic issues that are affecting our ability to attract, recruit, and retain
employees reflecting the diversity of our community. We define diversity as any
difference that might make a difference to productivity, safety, cost, legality, and serving
the public. Since 2006, our internal Steering Committee has worked with the report and
recommendations to develop a strategic plan and to develop support from the top of our
organization. The focus of the new project proposed in this grant would be to build
support and skills amongst department leadership within each individual department.
In order to meet our goal of an inclusive work environment, managers must intentionally
promote skill development and inclusivity, rather than simply assuming that diverse
groups of people will automatically know how to work successfully with one another.
There is research that indicates that diverse groups often perform worse than
homogenous groups unless those leading the groups have strong intercultural skills.
With strong skills, the value of diverse groups is maximized and they outperform
homogenous groups. With that research in mind, the project we would undertake with
this grant would be specifically designed to develop the intercultural skills of managers,
recognizing that until our managers feel confident in their own intercultural skills, they
are limited in their ability to provide the leadership we expect of them on elements of the
strategic plan.
Methodology, Results and Measurement: We will use the following methodologies to
develop, implement and promote the program. The Intercultural Development Inventory
and the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity are the primary foundational
elements of the work we will be doing with managers. This methodology is cross -
culturally relevant, meaning that the approach and measures have application beyond
race and ethnicity to various demographics (gender, sexual orientation, disability, socio-
economic status, etc.).
Our work under this grant would include the following pieces: 1) we would administer
the IDI to as many of the original 150 employees as possible in order to measure the
progress we have made across the organization since the 2006 baseline measure; 2)
we would administer the IDI to all of our management team members; 3) we would offer
each management team member individual feedback on their individual IDI profile and
on the group profile for their department, making suggestions for personal development
to improve their skill levels and the skills department -wide; 4) after providing this
individual feedback, we would meet with managers within each department as a group
and develop a strategic plan for the department based on the skill levels of the
managers and the overall profile for that department. This strategic planning piece
would include performance measures to track progress on meeting intercultural goals,
as well as recruitment and retention goals, within that department. We will promote
these efforts with a management team meeting prior to beginning the process, and a
second reporting session when the IDI group profile becomes available.
City of Dubuque: Guided Intercultural Development for Managers 3
We expect the following outcomes from this program: 1) improved intercultural skills
throughout the organization, particularly amongst managers; 2) more employees
developing the ability to accept and adapt to culture differences over time, as measured
by the IDI; 3) a more diverse applicant pool, and more successful hiring and retention of
employees from traditionally marginalized communities; 4) a shift in the culture of our
organization beyond compliance only and towards actively working to create a more
inclusive work environment around issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, age,
disability, etc.; 5) improved employee relations across differences; 6) an increase in
staff ability to deliver culturally appropriate service; 7) an increased understanding of our
intercultural development program and the ability to work actively towards goals and
objectives established by our steering team.
These outcomes relate to our goals and strategic plan in the following ways. First, this
approach allows us to meet our goal of engaging individual department and
organization leaders in our systemic change efforts. We know that our intercultural
program can only be successful if it is understood and implemented at all levels of the
organization. Second, this approach will help us meet our goal of more effective conflict
management in the organization, whether between employees or with members of the
public, by increasing the understanding and skills around communication and conflict
skills that are culturally influenced. Third, this approach will meet our goal of effectively
responding to discrimination and harassment issues at the lowest possible level of the
organization, increasing the ability to intervene before conflict escalates to the point of
needing disciplinary action. Fourth, this approach will help us meet our goal of having a
workforce that reflects the community we serve, because it will help us create an
inclusive environment where the contributions of members of diverse backgrounds are
valued, thus making it more likely that we can recruit and retain a broad range of
individuals. Finally, this approach brings us closer to our goal of creating a learning
organization, because it allows us to work proactively with managers on leadership and
skill development.
We will measure and quantify the program's success in a variety of ways. First, the IDI
will provide a measure of progress that has been made since the first IDI was
administered in 2006. In addition, the IDI will help us identify strengths within various
departments, allowing us to target development of additional leadership. Second, we
will conduct qualitative interviews with managers towards the end of this project to
determine: 1) their view of the progress that has been made overall since we began
working on intercultural skills generally in 2006; 2) how helpful they have found the
guided development we provided during the year and how they expect that to impact
their department; and 3) ways in which they have specifically changed their way of
operating in order to be more interculturally competent. If possible, we will add
qualitative interviews with employees asking similar questions, and also asking whether
they have witnessed any change in the management within their department. Third,
because an element of this plan includes the creation of a strategic plan for each
department, the progress made on meeting the elements of the strategic plan items will
provide us with another measure of success moving forward into the future. Finally, we
are in the process of implementing an on -line application and recruitment system that
City of Dubuque: Guided Intercultural Development for Managers 4
PROJECT ITEM
AMOUNT
DESCRIPTION
Intern Stipend
$10,000
Scheduling, logistics, printing,
report writing, administrative
work
Intercultural Development
Inventories
$6,000
Purchasing of on -line
inventories and associated
profiles and reports
Goal Setting Sessions
$3,000
Food /location costs for
individual goal setting session
for approximately fifteen
departments
Printing /Binding
$2,000
Goal setting binders, surveys,
reports, presentation
proposals
Qualitative Survey
Development
$2,000
Work with local college
statistician /sociologist to
develop qualitative survey
Miscellaneous
$2,000
Additional training needs,
overtime, unforeseen
expenses
will ultimately enable us to run reports measuring changes in the diversity of the
applicant pool, interviews, and hiring for various positions over time.
Start and End Dates: The project will begin on 10/01/10, or as soon as the grant is
awarded, and end on 9/30/11, or one year from the date of the award. Within eight
months of receiving the award the program will have been designed and implemented
to obtain measurable results.
Publicity Plans: Upon receipt of the grant, we will issue a media release outlining the
grant award and the program details. We also will place this information on our City of
Dubuque website and our local government cable channel. Upon completion of the
project, we will submit a presentation proposal for at least one of the following
conferences: 1) Intercultural Development Inventory Conference; 2) Summer Institute
on Intercultural Communication; 3) Iowa League of Cities; and /or 4) League of Iowa
Human Rights Agencies.
Project Budget:
Additional Funding: Additional funding for this project will come from the City of
Dubuque. The City allocates an annual budget of $10,000 for intercultural work that can
be used to continue to train our training team, to cover costs of associated employee
training, and to pay community members who assist our training team. In addition, the
City will contribute the salaries of four staff members who will lead these efforts, as
follows.
• Training and Workforce Development Coordinator (1/3 time): $17,624
• Human Relations Specialist (1/4 time): $14,721
• Human Rights Director (1/4 time): $22,588
• Intake Specialist (1/8 time): $5,684
City of Dubuque: Guided Intercultural Development for Managers 5