LeadingAge Kansas and Missouri came together last week to host a Joint Workforce Summit featuring Cara Siletto and Dr. Robyn Stone. Dr. Stone has been researching and championing workforce issues for over 15 years. The work of the LeadingAge Center for Applied Research under Dr. Stone’s leadership has produced many useful research-based solutions to this crisis. In her presentation last week, she referenced a publication called “Mid-Level Manager Competency Development Guide”. The goal of this guide is to help employers identify training needs of individuals in their organization and provide relevant training to move them toward possessing all of the competencies needed in aging services.
It is well documented that individuals leave organizations because of the relationship with their direct supervisors. To that end, there is an inherent responsibility of the employer to assure that supervisors at all levels are trained in leadership/effective management and possess competencies to be good managers.
Nurses make up a significant portion of the supervisors in our organizations and LeadingAge has developed a low-cost leadership training program just for them. For only $35/person, Nurse LEAD is a 7-module online training platform that can be taken at the individual’s own pace. The program is affordable and rooted in evidence-based practices. Organizations beware however, sending individuals through any leadership training without being prepared to support the information and individual change that will occur can cause frustration for all involved. It’s not just about the individuals learning and changing, but the organization has to change as well to support the individual.
