Enhancing Public Health Workforce Excellence in Tough Times: Building team morale and creating a positive work environment through effective leadership training

The financial losses of ineffective leadership are enormous. Research shows that disengaged employees are a direct result from ineffective leadership. The cost to American businesses is over 300 billion dollars a year. Over the past decade, leadership in public health has become a major concern. Many supervisors and managers in public health come into their positions with no formal training or real experience in leadership. The recent challenges to the U.S. economy have not helped either. It is anticipated that tightening budgets in the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health, will produce workplace negativity, a decline in work quality, and an increase in customer complaints. This forecast is a wake-up call. If the County wants to work efficiently and have their employees work to the best of their ability, there must be change. As part of the Department of Public Health's ongoing commitment to one of the County's Strategic Goal of Workforce Excellence, the purpose of the “Building a Positive Work Environment” training program is the first step to providing new supervisors with easy-to–use techniques for assessing employee situations, identifying options and reactions, and determining the most appropriate actions. The four-day intensive seminar develops the supervisor's responsibility for building team morale, sharpening management skills, teaching performance assessment, building productive working relationships and creating a positive work environment. This training program was developed to provide new supervisors and managers consistent training throughout the department. The curriculum will teach them to model expected leadership values and behaviors, strengthen the organization and motivate the workforce to achieve their full potential, thereby creating a high-performance organization.