Transferable Skills: What do you want to learn today (and tomorrow)?
Connecting people with ideas, and with each other
Hey there.
So I am incredibly excited to be helping lead the new Transferable Skills team at the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS). I thought I’d introduce the team and reach out to start a conversation about learning.
Our job is basically to help GC employees develop and expand the skills that are relevant WITHIN, ACROSS, and OUTSIDE government. Our name says “skills” but we also think a lot about mindset. And behaviours. And connecting. And just doing. So what exactly is a transferable skill? We have lots of ideas, but we would also love to hear yours.
Why do public servants need transferable skills?
We are living and working in disruptive times (you already knew that). I have heard people say that the public service isn’t able to respond to the challenges that come with this. I disagree. I actually think the current environment provides an amazing opportunity for governments to work with citizens to help shape how we collectively harness this disruption for the public good. But to seize this opportunity, we need a public service that is kinetic, connected and collaborative. Welcome to Transferable Skills. We hope to be able to help with this.
Building on expertise that CSPS has already established, our team will source, curate, partner, design, develop and/or deliver transferable skills learning in three areas to help public servants work within, across and outside government to respond to these challenges:
- Leadership Fundamentals: Empowering leaders at all levels, with a focus on mindsets, behaviours, agility, and enablement (e.g., coaching, change management, emotional intelligence, leading virtual teams, etc.).
- Business Acumen: Dynamic business administration skills to develop and deliver projects or initiatives within government and with partners (e.g., project management, communications, entrepreneurship, de-risking, etc.).
- Enabling Skills: Equipping public servants with the creative knowledge and skills to respond to and embrace disruption and emerging trends (e.g., experimentation, engagement, leveraging social media, working in the open, partnering etc.).
We are excited to connect people and ideas using a variety of channels, be it hands-on workshops, team training, accreditation programs, armchair discussions, online modules, podcasts, and — my personal favourite — “any new ways we haven’t thought of yet.” We want to offer this where there is a demonstrated need, and in doing so, test some assumptions about learning. How can we support team-based learning? How can we bring our offering to learners and support real projects? How can we develop learning roadmaps that help public servants purposefully upskill?
We’re planning to try lots of things to understand people’s needs. Some may work, and others won’t. Regardless, we plan to share our journey, our designs, and our questions along the way.
Over the next month or two we’ll be reaching out to colleagues across the GC to introduce ourselves, ask people about their needs and listen to their questions and ideas. Want to chat? We’d love to hear from you.
@John_Medcof
