Focusing on collaboration as a core competency

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: Collaboration

Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.

Commentary by​ Charla Agnoletti, Director of Public Achievement, CU Engage 

Charla Agnoletti is the Director of Public Achievement for CU Engage. CU Engage supports programs and initiatives that work collaboratively with community groups to address complex public challenges through academic courses, research projects, and creative work.

• What is one skill that someone could do on our campus to embody this competency? 
  • "One of the most straightforward and applicable ways to embody collaboration in any public sector or professional position is through multiple channels of feedback and communication.  Communication around collaboration should never be just a top down or single direction approach.  Communication about key decisions, feedback on the workplace and projects, and even interpersonal relationships should be happening in multiple directions in your office, class or organization.  In one sense this means listening.  In another sense this means looking closely at how power is structured in our organizations.  Who communicates what?  Whose voice is here and included?  Who is crafting the messaging and communication?  How are we seeking multiple sources of feedback?  Do we actually use and value feedback to inform our actions?  As strong collaborators we must provide space for multiple voices to not only be heard but given power within our organizations, offices, classrooms, and partnerships."
• What are the effects and outcomes when an organization truly embraces this competency? 
  • "When we truly embrace collaboration within our organization we can learn together and from each other.  We are able to challenge each other to improve our intersectional lenses in our work, to hear voices often marginalized or silenced, and to encourage critique which spurs innovation.  Although this work can bring up challenges, we must have the courage to face them through collaboration.  People are more motivated in the workplace towards a common goal when our voices and perspectives actually matter in collaboration.  We must go beyond feedback and evaluation for that gets tossed in the trash and provide multiple opportunities for people to contribute their voice and feedback to collectively improve our work as colleagues and leaders on campus."

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 Collaboration Competency

• Understands and prioritizes the goals of the university (‘university first’)
• Understands how their work supports the  mission of the university
• Works in partnership with others
• Values and incorporates diverse perspectives
• Removes barriers to solve problems

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 
• Crucial Accountability
• Managers Academy 
• CliftonStrengths for Faculty & Staff

The Department of Human Resources (HR) creates success through others as we all strive to achieve the goals and fulfill the mission of CU 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 https://www.colorado.edu/hr to learn more about HR.