Citywide Training Center Tour
DCAS Expands Straw Courses

By REUVEN BLAU

Amorphous towers made from pink, green, and purple straws were placed at the sides of a Citywide Training Center conference room, a unique symbol of the Bloomberg administration's efforts to provide added instruction and managerial courses for city workers.

JOSEPH P. ADDABBO: New outlook on straws.

The straws were used as part of a competition among teams of city employees to build the best structure in a set time period, said Ouida Y. Vendryes, who leads many of the training courses at the center located near Battery Park.

Increased Interest

"I don't know if I'll look at straws the same again," said City Councilman Joseph P. Addabbo, the chair of the Civil Service Labor Committee, which toured the facility late last year.

Officials from the city's Bureau of Personnel Development used the excursion to highlight the city's continued emphasis on expanding its adult education and certification courses.

According to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, the total number of employees trained in Fiscal Year 2007 was 14,087, up from the 12,166 in 2006, and the 11,712 in 2005.

The courses range from computer certification to instruction on best practices for procurement. The top open-enrollment classes by the number of employees attending at the training center are the Action Grammar class and the New Employee Orientation course, which covers benefits, pension, and conflict-of-interest rules.

'A Passion for Teaching'

"We have a passion for training people," said Michael Forte, the Assistant Commissioner for Personnel Development, as City Council Members straggled in for the start of the morning tour.

Many of the classes are actually administered on site and some are conducted via video conferencing, he noted. "We have a lot of different ways of training people," he remarked, standing in front of a large television screen, with a marker board to his left.

The center, located on parts of two floors in a lower Manhattan building, costs $4 million to operate each year.

DCAS officials have worked to raise awareness of the programs and classes. Agency training liaisons in individual departments help notify personnel of existing instructional opportunities and assist them in registering for the classes. The courses are free, but the departments must pay the centralized training center for some of the costs, which are typically several hundred dollars.

The expense, however, is well worth it, DCAS officials asserted during the tour.

The most popular classes include training in writing memos, letters, and e-mails, as well as time management and the fundamentals of supervision. "We focus on bettering the workplace," Mr. Forte said before he walked the group of Council Members and their aides through the center.

Some courses are specifically designed for agencies seeking to help educate or train employees in a particular area such as resolution management or customer service training, he added.

'Big Commitments'

The top agencies and number of employees who took classes in FY 2007 were: Human Resources Administration, 1,033; Department of Homeless Services, 848; DCAS, 827; Department of Buildings, 812, and Administration for Children's Services, 737. "This list reflects large agencies that are supporting their programs with a big commitment to employee training," DCAS spokesman Mark Daly said. "This is not to say they are the only ones doing training - other large agencies may do more specialized training and may do it in-house."

The top classes in FY 2007 by agency were: HRA, Investigative Interviewing Techniques; DHS, Performance Discussions; DCAS, New Employee Orientation; DOB, Successful Conflict Management; and ACS, Structured Interviewing.

The center was established in 1993, noted Michael Salomon, the Director of Client Services. With interest in the courses rising, DCAS has recently started to centralize and better publicize all the classes it offers, he said. "And that makes all the difference in the world," he asserted.

City workers can now browse through a detailed catalogue of classes offered. The booklet listing the new courses, however, has not yet been finalized.

'Can Try on a Skill'

There are multiple computer classes and courses designed to teach workers how to create Power Point presentations and other important business skills, including how to evaluate subordinates. "We ensure that our participants can try on a skill and see if it fits," Mr. Salomon said.

The most-often held classes are for: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Word, Successful Letter/Memo Writing, Managing Multiple Priorities, and Dealing With Difficult People.

As for the straw exercise, Ms. Vendryes said it really helps people understand the frustrations of working on a team.

Mr. Addabbo and the other Council Members who participated in the tour appeared particularly interested in the "Dealing with Difficult People" course that's regularly offered. "That could really help our staff," Mr. Addabbo said.