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Employee Learning Week (ELW) is a global campaign sponsored by the Association for Talent Development to highlight the important connection between learning and achieving organizational results. Each year, the Department of Human Resources (HR) celebrates ELW by recognizing and promoting employee learning across campus.

This year Human Resources is featuring several activities for ELW, including a daily focus on our campus core competencies. Established in 2019, the campus core competencies translate values into behaviors, and helps to align those behaviors with the campus culture and vision. HR invites you to learn more about our core competencies and begin discussions with your colleagues on how these competencies play a role in your own work and learning. We invited campus colleagues to illuminate each core competency in a series of commentaries featured through Employee Learning Week. 

Core Competency: Communication

Ensuring that key and critical information is shared in a timely fashion. Developing and delivering information in multi modes that demonstrate the needs of different audiences.

Commentary by Kirsi Aulin, Ombuds Director

​Kirsi ​Aulin is the University of Colorado Boulder Ombuds Director. The Ombuds Office assists ��������Ƶ Boulder students, staff, and faculty with any university-related dispute or concern through confidential consultation. 

Kirsi Aulin, Ombuds Director

• What is one skill that someone could do on our campus to embody this competency? 
  • "Get curious! Try to keep an open mind when you hear something disconcerting and ask open-ended questions to understand better. Take care to hear both sides before making a decision. At the Ombuds Office, we often see contentious situations that are fundamentally caused by missing information or a misunderstanding.  It is also very helpful to state your intentions, in other words telling the “why” behind the “what. So much conflict on campus can be prevented if people slow down and really seek to understand the other person as well as be transparent about their own motivations."
• What are the effects and outcomes when an organization truly embraces this competency? 
  • "Communication can seem like an unimportant soft skill. However, communication is not only critical to good professional relationships and departmental culture, it has a direct effect on our bottom-line. Unclear communication can result in costly mistakes. Abrasive communication can result in a negative departmental climate and increase turnover. Vague communication can result in frustrated employees who do not know where they should be directing their efforts. The good news is that communication skills can be learned! There are great resources on campus for honing communication skills through the Ombuds Office, Organizational and Employee Development and Faculty Relations."

  Learn more about the Campus Core Competencies

To learn more about the campus core competencies, please visit the performance page of the Human Resources website. 

Key Behaviors of the Communication Competency

• Effective in variety of communications settings (groups, size, position, styles, diverse audiences), and adjusts to fit the audience and the message.        
• Attentively listens to others.                                      
• Provides and encourages the expression of diverse ideas and opinions.
• Engages in candid and constructive dialogue on difficult topics.
• Is respectful of each other’s unique backgrounds and perspectives.

Employee Learning Courses We Recommend

Interested in learning more? Visit the Employee Learning website to explore learning opportunities. For this competency, we recommend: 

• Crucial Conversations 
• Managers Academy 
• 6 Critical Practices for Leading a Team

The Department of Human Resources (HR) creates success through others as we all strive to achieve the goals and fulfill the mission of ��������Ƶ Boulder. HR contribute leadership, ideas, and services that allow each person – whether an individual contributor or manager; a member of the faculty or staff – to do what they do…better. Visit /hr to learn more about HR.