For community colleges, providing customized training for employers in the community makes good business sense. Riverside Community College District’s Customized Training Solutions (CTS) and Office of Economic Development recently developed a unique training program for employees of the Superior Courts of California.

The 58 Superior Courts of California will see a significant number of court employees retire in the coming years. That could create a leadership vacuum. To stave off that concern, the court, Customized Training Solutions and the Office of Economic Development developed Leadership Education Advancement Program (LEAP). The ability to replace senior supervisors quickly will keep the organization functioning at optimum performance, said Mark Mitchell, director of business and corporate innovation and customized training solutions at the district.

The classes include coaching and career development in order to assist individuals to be successful in transitioning to an entry-level supervisor or manager role within the courts. The program objectives are to develop future leaders; prepare supervisors and managers for their new roles; encourage career development plans; prepare and provide a candidate pool for succession planning; transfer institutional knowledge; improve employee retention; increase teamwork, motivation, and morale; and most importantly, increase competencies at the supervisor and manager level.

“This is the first time that the Superior Courts of California or Riverside County used RCCD for a training of this nature,” Jayson Villaflor, deputy executive officer, Human Resources, said. “What made this such an exceptional training program was the trainer (Mike Brady) had leadership knowledge mixed with first-hand management experience from the private sector.”

On August 8, 20 court employees graduated from the program. Moving forward, there’s a possibility for the three RCCD colleges to explore using the program in order create a business skills leadership curriculum.

“This program could expand the relationship between CTS and the colleges,” Mitchell said, “while creating a guided pathway for employees/students moving directly from a workshop series into a for-credit program at the colleges.”