Organizational Effectiveness
The VCU HR Organizational Effectiveness team comprises functional areas ranging from career development, decision support and HR analytics, organizational effectiveness consulting and learning, development, and organizational culture. We move VCU closer to our collective goals by providing unyielding support to HR’s strategic initiatives, projects and programs, and priorities that support all of VCU’s stakeholders, but especially our employees, through a culture of care and appreciation.
As a team with many different functions, we place our priorities on people and organizational culture. We know that individual experiences significantly impact the work we do each day in support of the university mission. Our unparalleled team drives measurable outcomes across the university by providing cooperative cross-functional consulting, proactive data-driven insights, and people-centered solutions to address a variety of organizational challenges.
Career Development
As an institution of higher education, lifelong learning is an integral part of VCU’s core values. To support employees in embodying this value, the VCU HR Career Development team is committed to offering learning opportunities for employees to improve current job effectiveness, prepare for career advancement, and enhance personal career development. Whether your goal is to excel in your current role, move into a higher level role, or explore new career avenues within your university employment, career development is here to support you.
Programs & Services
- Career Communities are the hub of each VCU job family, providing colleagues with a place to network and collaborate with others who share similar career interests and goals.
- Career Pathing provides a menu of options for development at all levels of an individual's career, with recommendations tailored to each job series based on information gathered from VCU staff.
- Career Coaching can help entry- to mid-level employees plan their career trajectory through a collaborative, personalized approach including one-on-one coaching conversations and support resources.
Beverly Walker
Program Manager, Career Development
Learning, Development and Organizational Culture
The Learning, Development and Organizational Culture (LDOC) team offers a variety of training, professional and career development opportunities to VCU employees. Learning and development is a hallmark of any institution of higher education, and VCU is no different. Our commitment to learning and development extends beyond the classroom to our staff. Organizational culture is the foundation on which our programs and services are built, and impacts both the ways we go about our day to day job duties and the ways we can create impactful change through our roles.
Programs & Services
- Training, learning programs, and professional development courses, in both in-person and virtual formats - all accessed through our Course Catalog or the Talent@VCU events calendar.
- The LDOC Request Form provides a way to request customized or department-specific training and workshops.
- University Orientation is designed to help individuals new to their roles acclimate, network with staff colleagues, and receive training and resources to help them succeed.
- Manager Orientation supports new and experienced managers refine their skills and learn new ways to support their staff.
Rodney Steppe
Learning and Development Instructional Design Specialist
Shana Ryman
Learning, Development and Culture Specialist
Penny McFarline
Organizational Development Specialist
Organizational Effectiveness Consulting
The VCU HR Organizational Effectiveness Consulting team strategically partners with employees and leaders to tackle challenges and achieve effective, diverse and high-performing teams across the university. An intentional focus on diversity, equity and inclusion is what drives our success. With roots in inclusive employee practices, organizational design, organizational development, lean processes, and leveraging technology, our team focuses on creating cultures of belonging, removing obstacles, identifying efficiencies and helping transform teams to realize their true potential.
Programs & Services
- Organizational Effectiveness Consulting engagements allow us to assist your team with your organizational priorities through a customized engagement plan.
- Leadership Coaching assists leaders with developing a deeper understanding of leadership styles, critical thinking, goal-setting and action planning.
Jeremy Bost
Senior Organizational Effectiveness Consultant
Celia O'Hallahan
Organizational Effectiveness Consultant
Decision Support & HR Analytics
Our Decision Support & HR Analytics team focuses on supporting strategic projects and data-driven decision making for employment related initiatives across the university. Project management includes creating tracking mechanisms, data analytics, and reporting results for project progress and outcomes, to promote the strategic outcomes of HR in support of the university mission. Systems administration ensures that our systems are functioning in ways that meet the needs of various stakeholder groups, enhancing team productivity and focusing on putting people first through our commitment to service excellence. Our data analytics function creates scalable analytics infrastructure to support decision-making for our strategic partners across the university by identifying trends and providing insights through descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive data analytics.
Programs and Services
- Setup and maintenance of Talent@VCU, VCU's talent management system
- Annual staff surveys allow VCU HR to hear directly from staff about their employment experience and priorities.
Robert Houghtaling
Project Manager
Ta Thongnopnua
HR Business Analyst
James Dye
Talent@VCU System Administrator
Jadyn Eaton
Program Coordinator