City of Canton Hosts Supervisor Training by UGA – Carl Vinson Institute of Government
29 participants from The City of Canton, City of Woodstock, and Cherokee County completed the program.
Leaders from across the County recently joined together at the City of Canton to participate in a leadership training class. Over the course of five weeks, Ms. Carrie T. Hamilton, from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, instructed students in the “Succeeding as a Supervisor” course. Twenty-nine participants attended on behalf of the City of Canton, the City of Woodstock, and Cherokee County.
“Many supervisors rise through their organization from good employee to supervisor without any training,” explained Hamilton. “The roles and responsibilities of a supervisor are complex and varied, and the skills they need should be learned in a systematic manner focused on improving supervisory performance.”
The introductory five-day program was developed to provide the knowledge and skills one would need to be effective in their role as a supervisor. The ideal participant for the training is a supervisor who has been in his or her job two years or less, someone who is not currently a supervisor but is interested in developing those skills, or a long-term supervisor with no formal supervisor training.
“The City of Canton is committed to Leading with Excellence, as identified in our award-winning Roadmap for Success,” noted City Manager Billy Peppers. “Offering continued learning experiences for our team ensures that personal growth in our local government is achievable. We want our colleagues to grow with city.”
Course topics include building trust, performance evaluation, leading teams, handling conflict, and planning and delegating. Module One (two days) of the training discusses the many jobs of a supervisor, communicating with employees, leading the work team, and building trust and respect. Module Two (two days) covers motivation performance evaluation and coaching, developing and maintaining discipline, and handling conflict.
At the end of Module Two, each participant selects a course topic and develops a plan to improve his or her skills in that area, and then for Module Three (1 day), participants discuss what they practiced, how it worked, reaction from employees and what they intend to do during the subsequent six months to improve their supervisory practices. On the last day, participants also present their plans of action and leave with a plan of improvement from the instructor.
City of Canton employees graduating from this training include: Alejandra Cortes-Kull, License & Permit Clerk; Andria James, Public Works Administrative Assistant; Audrey Musil, Custodial Technician, City Hall; Brittany Chambers, Utilities Customer Service Rep.; Clint Jeans, Parks Supervisor, Public Works; David Floyd, Downtown Maintenance Supervisor, Public Works; Captain Jeff Tucker, Canton Police Department; Sgt. Jesse Hamilton, Canton PD; Jon Warrix, Utilities Customer Service Rep.; Karen Murphy, Executive Admin. Asst. to the Chief, Canton PD; Kristin Norton Green, Theatre Events and Facilities Director; Sgt. Mary Turner, Canton PD; Capt. Matt Baldwin, Canton PD; Cpl. Matthew Naliwajka, Canton PD; Cpl. Ryan Mueller, Canton PD; and Sam Snell, Records Supervisor, Canton PD.
Participants are provided with a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the training program, and leave with the foundational knowledge and skills to succeed as a supervisor. The City of Canton plans to host another opportunity to complete the program in fall 2023.
“Our facilities give us a great opportunity to host training locally,” said Peppers. “We enjoy the opportunity to open training to our other local government partners, keeping their staff closer to home as they grow and defraying travel costs.”
