Program Evaluations

Please read the Executive Summary below, or download the complete evaluation here: 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Public Health Leadership Academy (PHLA) was created in 2019 to establish an environment for collaborative learning where experienced leaders from the State of Michigan, Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Administration (PHA) and the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI) can enhance their leadership knowledge and skills. PHLA was designed to give leaders the time and space to focus on strengthening these skills with a cohort of like-minded public health leaders.

There are six Individual PHLA seminars delivered via Zoom, each focusing on a key leadership topic: Change Leadership, Entrepreneurial Leadership, Inclusive Leadership, Relational Leadership, Servant Leadership, and Visionary Leadership. Each seminar consists of three 2-hour sessions of facilitated discussion in which participants explore leadership concepts presented in the required pre-session readings and videos. While each seminar explores a different leadership topic, there are four elemental leadership skills that are common across PHLA: communication, inclusive behavior, emotional intelligence and vision.
 

PARTICIPANTS
Participation is open to experienced leaders from PHA and MPHI who have completed an application and who have obtained a recommendation from their supervisor.

THE EVALUATION
The Public Health Leadership Academy is a new program; the curriculum and format are unique. A thorough program-wide evaluation was needed to determine the effectiveness of all areas of PHLA.
Data were collected from participant feedback forms completed at the end of each seminar; an online survey emailed to all seminar participants and the supervisors who recommended them; and one-on-one interviews.
 

KEY FINDINGS
The overarching evaluation questions are based on the following PHLA goals.

1. Build trust and enhance collaborative work across agencies
One hundred percent (100%) of survey respondents said they found interactions with other participants to be an important component of the seminars. One supervisor observed a change in relationships after staff attended PHLA: They are now using their skills to be stronger collaborators.

2. Increase knowledge of key leadership types
Ninety-three percent (93%) of respondents attested that PHLA enhanced their leadership skill set. One participant commented: PHLA has given me much to think about, as well as concrete activities that I can do as a manager/leader.

3. Increase practice of self-reflection and continuous learning
After completing PHLA, both participant and supervisor survey responses indicated an increase in professional development activities, supporting team members in their professional growth, and sharing leadership tools with colleagues.

4. Put learning into practice by applying leadership skills
Participants and their supervisors were asked if they applied leadership skills more frequently after attending PHLA than before.

Communication

• Before PHLA 47% of participants reported using active listening skills “often”; the percentage rose to 87% subsequent to attending PHLA.

•  Supervisor responses mirrored those of participants. They indicated that before PHLA 56% of staff used active listening skills “often”; after attending it increased to 80%.

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Inclusive Behavior

• Thirty percent (30%) of participants reported that they “often” sought out different views and perspectives prior to taking PHLA; 73% specified they did this often after attending.

• Supervisors indicated that 36% of the participants “often” considered different views prior to PHLA, and 72% exhibited this behavior after completion.

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Vision

• Before attending PHLA, only 26% of respondents said they “often” had a vision for their role in public health; the percentage grew to 66% after PHLA.

• Prior to PHLA, supervisors indicated 24% of their staff took action to implement their vision; subsequent to attending the percentage grew to 60%.

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SUMMARY
There is evidence that PHLA is effective in increasing and applying leadership skills. Survey responses suggest that the seminars enabled valuable learning and relationship building across agencies; participants and the supervisors who recommended them agreed that leadership skills were enhanced as they continue to seek out resources about leadership and share them with their team. And finally, PHLA participants most certainly increased the application of essential leadership skills – their leadership behavior has changed.