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Director's Message
Dec. 14, 2007
To: All DHS employees
From: Bruce Goldberg, M.D., director
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"The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking."
~John Kenneth Galbraith
We need more good leaders! If we are going to continue to improve on the outcomes we get and the services we deliver, we need to develop new and better ways of doing our work, and we need more people to lead that change. The good news is that we are engaged in making this happen.
I recently had the pleasure of attending a session of the Aspiring Leadership Program during a visit to Bend. I was impressed both with the enthusiasm and dedication of our staff who were participating, and with the philosophy of bringing staff development opportunities to the locations where our staff live and work. We clearly need to bring more training and development opportunities to the communities where we do our work.
We have talented employees in all parts of the department and all regions of the state who want to learn additional skills, prepare for advancement and become future leaders. I believe it is our obligation as an agency to our employees and clients to make development opportunities ongoing and accessible, and the Aspiring Leadership Program sets an excellent example of how to do that.
It's one of many programs that help develop leadership capacity within DHS. We also offer development opportunities through the Leadership Academy and the Managers Accelerated Program. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with the Leadership Academy participants and was gratified to see such a robust curriculum and a very engaged group.
All of these courses help us advance our careers and do a better job of meeting our mission.
Another reason it's particularly important to develop staff and build leadership capacity within DHS is to be ready to address the impacts of the demographics of our workforce. Half of our employees are eligible to retire within five years.
But I believe we will be ready. As I travel the state and meet our staff I constantly hear well-thought-out and concerned comments from employees at all levels and in all locations about the need to look forward, to develop new ways of thinking about service delivery, to lead change.
I applaud our staff who design and continually enhance our workforce development tools and the many employees who are choosing to benefit from the development opportunities being offered. Your combined efforts will be the key to helping us succeed in the changing world ahead.
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Here are some links to professional development information:
To provide feedback email: DHS.Directorsoffice@state.or.us
This message is intended for all department employees. Please read it electronically, if possible. Managers and supervisors are asked to share the message each week with employees who do not have email access.
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