All right, good morning, everyone.

Uh welcome to today's joint meeting.

No, it's not a joint meeting.

Uh welcome to today's committee meeting uh for the City of Houston Labor Committee.

We are called to order uh Thursday, April 9th at 1030 a.m.

on the dot.

Uh today we have a presentation from our amazing human resources department.

Uh the presentation is on upskilling the city workforce.

So we have with us Director Cheeks, um, who'll also be introducing Deputy Director Dr.

Bessex and Chief Learning Officer uh Dr.

Escobar.

Uh join me in chambers uh are my colleagues, Councilmember Ramirez.

Uh thank you, Councilmember, and you may be stepping into my seat uh in a few minutes.

I'll explain why shortly.

Uh we also have staff from Councilmember Carter, Councilmember Alcorn, Councilmember Thomas, Vice Mayor Pro Tem Peck's office, and of course, from Mayor Pro Tem Cassax Tatum's office.

Do we have anybody online?

All right.

We have Councilmember Alejandra Silva.

And we have Council Member Uh Selena joining us online as well.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Uh, before we jump in, I want to say uh this is likely the last time I get to chair a committee meeting for the city of Houston.

Um, and it is very proper that director, we would have you and your team here while uh my son Slade is sitting in the back because all of this started with our work together uh right when I found out I was about to have him and going through what I went through, but then working with you all because of how many parents at the city of Houston were going through similar challenges.

Uh so on behalf of my son, and the reason I'm gonna be stepping out uh gotta take him somewhere in a minute, but uh and I we also have hope in the audience uh and the leadership from Hope.

And again, I'm gonna take a moment of personal privilege because it is my last time to share a committee meeting here.

Um I just want to thank you all uh for the partnership for your leadership for working to improve the lives of our city employees uh and the work that we have gotten to do together to move the ball forward for all of Houston.

And that appreciation goes not only to our city employees within the HR department, but all of our city employees because the work that we did together, whether it was parental leave, whether it was other things, incorporated the voices of employees throughout the city in every department.

And I also want to recognize hope.

Um for y'all's leadership and the voice you provide when uh sometimes employees don't know or feel or recognize they have a voice, and that is not to say that HR doesn't do a phenomenal job, right?

We all have our rules to play, and the role that hope plays as well uh is extremely important.

So thanks to you all for this partnership, and thank you for uh allowing me a moment uh to get a little sentimental, but it just means the world to me to have gotten to work alongside you.

Uh the reason I say it may be my last committee meeting to chair, I will be here through May, but we have budget season coming up.

So for the public, as a reminder, uh budget season is the uh BFA's time to shine.

Uh they always shine, but it it is a month long of finance committee hearings related to the budget.

So traditionally, other committees do not necessarily meet because we have so many other meetings focused on the budget.

So, with that, um, we also have staff from Councilmember Castillo's office.

Welcome.

And uh we will start the presentation.

Floor is yours.

Well, first of all, uh I tried not to get choked up.

Uh well, first of all, uh I want to say thank you, Chair and Vice Chair, uh, for allowing us to speak today.

And um, if I may have just a 30-second point of personal privilege, it would be remiss for me not to say thank you.

Uh especially thank you to you for the support uh here um during my tenure this year.

It will actually be 10 years during my tenure in the human resources department.

So uh thank you so much.

It has meant a lot to partner with you.

It was phenomenal working through PPP and that day we got it signed.

It was phenomenal.

It was the most phenomenal feeling that I've ever had.

So thank you so very much.

Um today what we're going to do uh on today is actually give you a presentation uh of our upskilling plan.

Uh it's a part of the strategic plan, the people strategy that human resources has published for 2026 to 2030.

I am excited, which you know is very easy for me to get excited.

I am so excited about this plan and being able to show not only all of the colleagues that I have uh what we have been working on for this last 16 months.

I would be remiss also if I did not thank uh the administration, um, Dr.

Wilson, uh Stephen David, Jesse Bounds just saying thank you for the support.

Thank you for the vision uh because I believe today you will see that vision.

So uh without further ado, um, I would like to introduce to you the doctors that will be able that we'll be um presenting today.

And I want to say the HR department is very fortunate to have not just one but two PhDs here helping us go through the vision of HR.

And um, if you've had the chance to read our people strategy, we are letting everyone know that we are the beacon of HR, that we are the ones that will be showing others how it's done.

So uh I have here to my right Dr.

Crystal Bessex, and I have here to my left, and I will move uh Dr.

Nifa Escobar, who will be doing our presentation today.

Thank you both so much.

So again, thank you, Council.

I am Dr.

Bessex, uh Deputy Director of Human Resources.

I have the honor and privilege of overseeing both our people and client services division, which was formerly our HR operations division, and our new Center for Public Leadership and Learning.

I was previously the chief learning officer, but I found the next best thing, Dr.

Escobar, our chief learning officer who's been here at the city for two weeks now.

So we welcome her to the stage.

All right, good morning.

Next slide, please.

So at a high level, our division exists to ensure that the city of Houston's workforce is prepared, capable, and equipped to meet our community's needs, not just today, but in the future.

In front of you, what you'll see is an intentional structure of our team of five unique areas that all are aimed at making sure that everybody that works here at the city of Houston experiences a structured transformation learning experience.

Next slide, please.

Now, it's not just about getting the right people moving in the right direction, focused on the same thing.

Uh, it's also about making sure that everything that we do is around uh ensuring ensuring that learning is a strategic driver.

Uh and how we do that is that we make sure that our learning aligns with our performance, with our workforce readiness, um, and again, trying to prepare our workforce, not just for today, um, but for the future.

Next slide.

So, as the city of Houston, we are one of the largest or the four largest city in the nation.

This requires us to have an enterprise-wide learning strategy that begins on how we're structured.

Uh, we're structured at a chain of command type organization with different levels, classification levels for our position.

So, this strategy is part of our leadership and learning at every level.

Next slide,

Okay.

Then we also have our new supervisor orientation based upon AP 3-32, which is a mandatory requirement for all supervisors who are starting in a position.

As you continue to advance the past your career, we have our legacy program, CAPS, which are designed for first-line supervisors.

What we're bringing to the stage is AIM, our AI-enabled management development program, which will be designated for pay grades 26 through 29.

Then we have an opportunity for a partnership with the University of Houston Main Campus to offer our mini MBA program, which will apply have employees have academic credit towards a mini MBA program.

Now we're designating that for pay grades 29 to 30.

Those are people in advanced leadership roles, uh deputy assistant directors, senior division managers, and division managers with three plus years.

And if you've been here with the city, there used to be a program called LIP.

We're gonna bring that back, Lip Reimagine, which is gonna be designated for our assistant directors.

At that level, we need more strategic thinking, more critical thinking skills to give insight to effective resident delivery and services.

We're also gonna launch an AD orientation.

When I first arrived here at the city, there was so much coming at me.

I'm like, wait, what's going on here?

So an AD orientation is necessary to help executive leaders make the best decisions.

And finally, over the next time of our people strategy, we're also having executive leadership symposium.

All classification levels in alignment for leadership.

Next slide.

And y'all can just leave the mics on since you're going back and forth.

No problem.

It's it's okay.

Thank you.

So we have our vertical, now we have our horizontal approach because those are cohort-based programs that allows departments to cross-collaborate and connect.

But at the individual level, we need to create personalized learning pathways that will help people to learn the fundamentals of our city policies, executive orders.

It will help our city also learn about our here behavioral factors.

Then you have to get ready to execute on project management skills, uh technology, then eventually you're advanced and you will deliver for the city.

So all of the things Dr.

Bessics talked about is super exciting, right?

But don't forget that we also have a technical learning component.

But as you continue to go up, you'll see more complexity in the tools that we're teaching to ensure that our workforce um switch.

Okay.

Um to ensure that our workforce continues to have opportunities to learn new tools, new technologies so that they can feel efficient and equipped in their roles.

What is AI?

What does it do?

What does it not do?

And so we're very excited to offer these, and we had high participation, and there's a lot, a lot of interest in continuing these offerings.

That is really an opportunity for us to enhance creating data-driven decision making and frameworks.

And so, again, on your slide, you'll see a progression starting at the emerging level, right?

What is data?

How do we use it?

Moving all the way to the top to become a business strategist and actually informing our leaders based on data, how we should make decisions.

Next slide, please.

Another area for specialized learning is our communication hub development program.

The communication hub is an initiative from the mayor's office uh led by Dr.

Wilson Chief of Staff, Jesse Bounds, Innovation and Performance, and Director Mary Benton.

Um, in coordination with with our mayor's team, we need to strengthen our competencies of our communication professionals uh to help increase stakeholder engagement and build trust throughout the city.

Next slide.

Um I'm very happy to announce that we are also in the development of our military leadership and career development program, Valor.

It is an opportunity to help our city employees who are military, veteran, active duty, reserved, and retired, transition or grow from uh come back to civilian, their municipal careers.

We're gonna help them learn not only just leadership and communication skills, but how to manage a civilian workforce, how to navigate through the resource, uh also provide support uh for them and resources as they as they transition.

Next slide.

So you'll hear the vision.

We're upskilling the city's workforce because our workforce is the city's workforce.

To do this, we're gonna need your support, City Council.

Get ready for those actions.

Okay.

Our next steps is that uh we're on the journey right now to our IACET accreditation, which is our international accreditation for continued education and training.

We want to be sure that we're providing our employees with evidence-based, high-quality outcomes-based learning that will allow them to receive continued education credits for their time and participation and investment and application of our courses.

Also, we'll be launching fiscal year 27 training needs and skills gap assessment so that we can make sure those leadership programs I talked about earlier are precise, relevant, and applicable to everybody's needs.

We're also gonna be expanding our university and training provided partnerships.

We've already have university partners that provide um tuition discounts and uh opportunities for employees to get the degrees.

We need to expand that.

Um, we're also gonna be launching a TMS.

Everybody's familiar with our TMS system.

That's the place you go to register for your courses and complete your hair plans.

Man, that been around for a long time.

We got to moderate that over to our HR1 ecosystem.

So you'll see that take place in fiscal year 27.

And we're gonna also begin the groundwork for improving our workforce analytics so we'll have better understanding of our employees' needs and also capabilities uh to help us make more decisions.

Next slide.

So, where do we find all of these amazing opportunities?

Like Dr.

Bessic said, it's in our talent management system.

This is where our employees can go at any time to see what we're offering, what's coming up, get registered.

We also have a communication strategy, so we send out a monthly newsletter from the CPL, making sure that our employees know what we're working on, what's next.

We send learning opportunities about every other week to again ensure that they know that we're here doing things for them so that they can feel more competent and um efficient in their roles.

Okay.

Next slide.

As we conclude, I also want to announce that the Center for Public Leadership and Learning is nationally recognized.

We were just selected for the ATD, which is the National Association for Teling Development Best Award winner for our innovative development and delivery of the Hope MCA 20 uh 2024 Hope MCA Citywide Training Initiative.

So we're very excited about that honor.

It required every City of Houston employee to attend e-learning courses as well as our in-person courses for department directors, managers, and supervisors.

So thank you, City Council, Labor Committee, and all City of Houston employees who participate at the CPL.

Well, thank you both for that uh short and sweet presentation and and welcome to the city, uh, Dr.

Fonseca.

All right, Scarborough, I'm sorry.

Yes.

So I like Fonseca too.

Yeah.

Just a few questions.

Uh you referenced council action.

Can you all explain to us what sort of council action will be necessary and when you expect uh to bring something to council?

Sure.

So the first one that will be coming uh probably within the next two months is the University of Houston Mini MBA uh program.

Um so that one would be one that you'll be looking forward to.

And then also the second one will be the fiscal year 27 training needs and skills gap assessment.

All right, and the mini MBA program, so it will would come to council in a couple months.

Um and if it were approved, when would it launch?

Do you think?

So we're looking at a timeline launch of maybe the January because what it's gonna do, we have to customize, we can customize the courses to the city.

So, for example, one course is financial management.

So we're gonna connect that to our own budgeting process so that uh managers can understand how to do financial management and apply it to the city's financial process.

So it's gonna take about two or three months for the customization part, so I do see it for January, uh mid-year fiscal year 27.

And what would the program look like?

Would it include like in-class uh courses as well as sort of experiential uh sort of learning?

What would it look like?

Yes, great question.

They're all taught by University of Houston business professors, so it will be in person.

We do have the opportunity to do it here on site uh at our center, or we can have employees go to the University of Houston Main Campus to get the whole universe experience.

Uh each course is about one day, uh once a month, uh, with uh with project work in between each course.

So you are applying what you're learning.

So we'll identify a project specific to that department or that team that they apply those key principles.

So it's finance, performance management, employee engagement, operations are all part of that, and again, uh once they graduate, you will get uh the mini MBA.

Uh you would also be able to have credits if you choose to continue your master's program.

And what what sort of d degree would be granted at the end of the program?

So it's not a degree.

The mini MBA is like it's a certificate, but it gives you the starting point.

So if you choose to, if the employee chooses to continue, it will go into a master's of business administration program.

Okay, and so y'all referenced AI as well.

What would the AI policy trainings include?

So it will be based on our existing AI policy.

We understand the importance of ensuring that employees know that they should be validating information and not taking it directly as the GPT model is providing it.

So it will be based in our existing AI policy, and additionally, through our partnerships, we'll ensure that they have core fundamentals in their teachings to ensure that we're being um we're maintaining the highest level of integrity when dealing with AI.

Okay.

If employees have questions about any of the new programs, uh, where can they uh submit the questions and who should they contact?

They can contact our new chief learning officer Dr.

Escobar.

We also have uh a SharePoint site um that employees can reference as well.

Okay, great.

Great.

Um I don't see any questions in the queue from any staff member.

Oh, okay.

Dee Dee has has some.

Go ahead.

Thank you, Chair.

Um first um uh speaking um uh for uh on behalf of Mayor Pro Tem Cassidatum.

We also have Deputy our Deputy Chief of Staff Justice Coti McCullum online, but want to first congratulate you, Dr.

Bessex, on your um new role and also you um Dr.

Um Escobar on your role.

Um I I do um want to commend the human resources department for this an investment in in our employees um to make us better, you know, and more skilled.

Um do appreciate that and want to comment that recently attended one of the um driver's seat uh sessions, which is pretty awesome.

Um thank you for that.

And it was mentioned about the uh talent management, the courses in those that those would be offered at no cost.

Two employees correct.

Okay, would you elaborate on that?

Yes, so um in fiscal year 26, we realized that we want to create greater accessibility, want to make sure there's no barriers for people to learn.

So we have removed all fees.

We're we don't have any fees available.

It will just be a part of our charge back, overall charge back to departments and from HR, but there's no individual $35 course registration fee.

We want everybody to learn because the more that we can learn, the more the better we can become, you know, as an organization.

Thank you.

Great.

I don't see any other questions in the queue.

Is there anything else that you all would like to add before we move on?

No, I think we're good.

We're excited.

We're excited.

And we hope you're excited too.

Okay, great.

All right.

Well, thank you, Dr.

Bessex and Dr.

Escobar and Director Cheeks, and we'll go ahead and move to the next phase of the agenda.

Thank you.

Which will be our public comment stage.

We have a couple of public speakers signed up, I understand.

And so our first speaker will call up uh Dominic Maze Mazak.

Dominic, are you here?

Come on up.

Well, I'm Dominic Maysack.

I am in the uh council chambers.

Okay.

Um the reason why I was going to come through the afternoon session.

But when I found out this was when I looked on the uh agenda for the committees, and you were doing with training.

I have a suggestion.

Uh what this group here with HR is doing kind of parallels what Metro is doing with their employees trying to uh upgrade their skills in education.

And I would wouldn't be surprised that Harris County, TechStot, and so on have similar program.

And maybe that might be a thing is to have a brain trust of eight, you know, of our government or HR people, what's working with your group and what isn't working, and have some cross pollination.

Uh maybe uh you got a better idea on one part.

Metro might have something.

County might have something.

Uh but I think though the idea of upgrading who your workforce or our workforce, because I'm I live in the city, so it's it's ours, uh, is a very good idea.

I I like what one thing that might help employees say in at in our buildings here is and I don't know how it can be done, but I believe via transit, which is San Antonio's Metro at their main bus barn on uh North Pedro, North San Pedro.

They I think they still have uh child care in the facility.

Uh they so that might be something to consider is that it may not be in this building, it might have to be over at uh the Lanier building, or maybe have a place where you uh as a benefit to the public that work here, a daycare center within one of our buildings.

And before I leave, I know this question is you're gonna probably gonna ask this question.

Yes, I took National, I took the 96 to the red line into the tunnel.

So I'm doing my and this is Earth month.

April's Earth Month.

So anything we can do to get cars off the road, less nasty gases in the air, so be it.

Thank you.

Thank you for reminding us, Dominic.

Thank you for the comments.

And we also have Jason Evans from Hope.

Come on up, Jason.

Good morning to everyone here, City Council.

Thank you so much for this.

Um I'm here to speak on behalf of labor.

Oh, ask me local one, two, three in full support of the program that HR is proposing for their learning efforts.

I myself has been a city employee now for 14 years, and education has been the root of my success.

And I think this should always be something given to our employees to further their education.

Uh, one of the things that I definitely wanted to make point to was one of the things I picked up in the presentation was that the title of staff analysis.

I think that is an amazing opportunity for that because in my experience with the city, that has been kind of like a plug-and-play title over my years, and it's like, hey, to give it some structure, I fully support that 100%.

Uh but other than that, I wanted to definitely say this too.

The more people learn and grow, the bigger impact that they have on our society.

We have an opportunity to make our city that much more stronger through the efforts of education.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you, Jason.

Is there anyone else here who would like to speak who hasn't signed up?

We'll give you the opportunity to come forward, even if you haven't signed up.

Okay.

Seeing no one, uh, believe that completes our agenda.

I want to thank all the presenters who have been here, all the council staff who participated, and everyone who has joined us uh online.

So and we'll thank HTV as well.

The agenda and presentation from this morning's meeting can be found online on the committee's web page, and of course, the recording will be posted on HTV's website shortly.

So this meeting will be adjourned.

It is 10 59 a.m.

And uh I won't say we'll see you next month because it's budget season, so we'll see you when we see you.

On behalf of Chair Uh Kamen, uh, thank you all.

Have a great day.