Leadership practice · Supervisor foundations

New Supervisor Foundations: Inclusive Leadership Basics

Apply inclusive supervision basics to assignments, one-to-ones, accommodation requests, feedback, meetings and concerns, and know when to bring in the right office.

About 48 minutes, plus optional practice · 4 lessons · Voluntary learning

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Course outline

Fair assignments, recognition and one-to-ones
Identify how informal habits can make assignments and recognition uneven across a team.
12 minutes
Accommodation requests: recognize, respond and route
Recognize an accommodation request made in plain language, without legal terms.
12 minutes
Feedback without bias and meetings that include everyone
Distinguish specific, work-based feedback from vague, personality-based comments.
12 minutes
Handling concerns, formal routes and labor agreements
Explain the difference between concerns a supervisor can resolve and those that must go to a formal office.
12 minutes

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What you’ll be able to do

Explore and practice

Identify how informal habits can make assignments and recognition uneven across a team.
Recognize an accommodation request made in plain language, without legal terms.
Distinguish specific, work-based feedback from vague, personality-based comments.
Explain the difference between concerns a supervisor can resolve and those that must go to a formal office.

What you can take into your work

Explain the distinction tested in each knowledge check.
Compare the responses to each fictional case and the reasons behind them.
Complete the course job aid for a situation you choose.

Locate the collective bargaining agreement or compensation plan that covers each of your direct reports, bookmark the articles on hours, vacancies and discipline, and save the contacts for your Human Resources partner, labor relations and the Equal Opportunity and Access Division.

New Supervisor Foundations: Inclusive Leadership Basics: practice guide

A reusable guide for a situation you choose

Apply inclusive supervision basics to assignments, one-to-ones, accommodation requests, feedback, meetings and concerns, and know when to bring in the right office.

Use observable details rather than assigning motives.
Invite perspectives without requiring personal disclosure.
Keep learning separate from individual assessment or personnel decisions.

Every week

Hold each one-to-one as scheduled, with the employee's items first.
Update the assignment log and check who received visible and invisible work.
Recognize specific contributions and credit ideas to the person who raised them.
Send meeting agendas in advance and offer a written way to contribute.

When someone asks for a change for a medical or religious reason

Treat plain-language statements as possible requests.
Ask what would help; do not ask for a diagnosis or records.
Document the request and contact Human Resources or the ADA coordinator promptly.
Keep the reason private and follow up with the employee on timing.

When someone raises a concern

Listen, take notes and explain what happens next without promising secrecy.
Route discrimination, harassment and retaliation concerns to the Equal Opportunity and Access Division and Human Resources.
Pause decisions that could affect the person until you confirm they are work based.
Check the labor agreement and consult labor relations before any discipline or schedule change.

Try the guide and revisit it

Locate the collective bargaining agreement or compensation plan that covers each of your direct reports, bookmark the articles on hours, vacancies and discipline, and save the contacts for your Human Resources partner, labor relations and the Equal Opportunity and Access Division.
What makes it hard for you to bring in a formal office when someone raises a concern? What would help you do it sooner?

Participation and course completion in this program do not count toward DHS-required training credits unless management, a director, or DHS leadership expressly approves an exception.

Sources and further reading

U.S. EEOC — Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the ADA
Plain-language requests, the interactive process, limits on medical documentation and the employer's choice among effective accommodations. Formal determinations belong to the agency accommodation process.
Job Accommodation Network — The Interactive Process
Steps for recognizing and responding to accommodation requests, training supervisors to recognize requests, and keeping medical information confidential.
Minnesota Management and Budget — HR/LR Policy 1433, ADA Reasonable Accommodations
Executive branch policy on how requests are made, what supervisors may approve, consultation with the agency ADA coordinator before any denial, confidentiality and status updates. Check the current DHS procedure for local steps.
U.S. EEOC — Retaliation
Defines protected activity, including requesting a disability or religious accommodation, and gives examples of retaliation.
Minnesota Management and Budget — Enterprise Talent Development Core Programs
Describes Supervisor Core as required for new state supervisors during the probationary period under Administrative Procedure 21.
Minnesota Management and Budget — Labor Contracts and Pay Plans
Official source for state collective bargaining agreements and compensation plans. Labor relations and Human Resources interpret how they apply.
Harvard Business Review — Bourke and Titus, Why Inclusive Leaders Are Good for Organizations, and How to Become One (2019)
Consulting research drawing on about 3,500 employee ratings of 450 leaders; identifies six inclusive leader behaviors and finds leaders often overestimate their inclusiveness. Not a controlled study.

All research and sources across the program

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Course outline

Fair assignments, recognition and one-to-ones

Identify how informal habits can make assignments and recognition uneven across a team.

12 minutes

Accommodation requests: recognize, respond and route

Recognize an accommodation request made in plain language, without legal terms.

12 minutes

Feedback without bias and meetings that include everyone

Distinguish specific, work-based feedback from vague, personality-based comments.

12 minutes

Handling concerns, formal routes and labor agreements

Explain the difference between concerns a supervisor can resolve and those that must go to a formal office.

12 minutes

Sources and further reading

U.S. EEOC — Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the ADA

Plain-language requests, the interactive process, limits on medical documentation and the employer's choice among effective accommodations. Formal determinations belong to the agency accommodation process.

Job Accommodation Network — The Interactive Process

Steps for recognizing and responding to accommodation requests, training supervisors to recognize requests, and keeping medical information confidential.

Minnesota Management and Budget — HR/LR Policy 1433, ADA Reasonable Accommodations

Executive branch policy on how requests are made, what supervisors may approve, consultation with the agency ADA coordinator before any denial, confidentiality and status updates. Check the current DHS procedure for local steps.

U.S. EEOC — Retaliation

Defines protected activity, including requesting a disability or religious accommodation, and gives examples of retaliation.

Minnesota Management and Budget — Enterprise Talent Development Core Programs

Describes Supervisor Core as required for new state supervisors during the probationary period under Administrative Procedure 21.

Minnesota Management and Budget — Labor Contracts and Pay Plans

Official source for state collective bargaining agreements and compensation plans. Labor relations and Human Resources interpret how they apply.

Harvard Business Review — Bourke and Titus, Why Inclusive Leaders Are Good for Organizations, and How to Become One (2019)

Consulting research drawing on about 3,500 employee ratings of 450 leaders; identifies six inclusive leader behaviors and finds leaders often overestimate their inclusiveness. Not a controlled study.