June 24, 2021

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got.” This is a thought-provoking line from the book “Working Together: 12 Principles for Achieving Excellence in Managing Projects, Teams, and Organizations” written by James P. Lewis, author and transformation coach.

It very simply summarizes what happens if you don’t adapt to your changing surroundings. There have been few incidents in our lifetime that have prompted as much change as the COVID-19 pandemic. And while we as a society will hopefully soon emerge into the sunshine from a 15-month tunnel, change is still taking place, which makes for uncertainty among our workforce.

How will we bring our employees back to work? How will we all be working differently once back? How much remote work will we maintain? What will be the mental health of our employees once they come back? What lessons have we learned about their jobs? And how may their jobs be different?

It’s not just the pandemic that is shaping our workplace and impacting our employees.  Other ongoing significant incidents, ranging from wildfires to civil unrest, have created unsettling and unpredictable scenarios for many.

California County leaders, as well as leaders throughout every sector of the workforce, are dealing with these issues to name a few. Recognizing the key challenges that lay ahead, the CSAC William “Bill” Chiat Institute for Excellence in County Government has been developing courses to help county officials find answers to these core questions.

In May, the Institute rolled out “Reimagining the World of Work.” With an emphasis on the workforce and employee safety, the course examined what counties should consider when they start the complex task of returning virtual employees to the office and creating the workplace of the future.

The course titled “Beyond Survival: Best Practices for Personal Readiness and Resilience” debuted recently and was attended by representatives from numerous counties around the state. The interactive seminar presented relevant knowledge and tools for going beyond merely surviving to thriving in the context of global pandemics, civil protest, outreach to underserved communities, wildfires and the daily challenges of county government.

Another course slated for this summer will focus on self-care in a world fraught with stress and the unknown. Participants will learn how to formulate a sustainable plan for regular self-care that manages stress, prevents burnout, and creates productive and energized teams and organizations.

Instructors of long-running courses are also adapting content to fit the “new normal.” For example, a course on managing conflict taught by Dr. Laree Kiely now takes the pandemic’s impact into account. In a recent class, Dr. Kiely discussed how returning employees may be dealing with a host of new issues and pressures that could result in workplace conflict.  And in another example of a longtime instructor adapting a class to meet the moment, Jack Pellegrino, San Diego County’s Director of Purchasing and Contracting, enhanced the course Effective Performance and Outcome based Contracting based on lessons learned in procuring goods and services during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Californians have proven to be a resilient bunch – and our county leaders are at the top of that list. At the same time, it’s crucial to provide them with the tools they need to succeed – and to ensure their employees succeed – in this world of unpredictability. “Building the airplane while you fly it” is a commonly used phrase these days. It’s the CSAC Institute’s goal to ensure our county leaders have the wings that will allow them to soar.