2/26 Weekly Email + ED Classes
Hi all,
I have a few updates this week and some suggestions for Employee Development courses.
Art Contest: UAEA is hosting its first-ever union art contest, from now until March 26th! We are looking for your interpretations of what union work looks like in the 21st century and would love to see as many entries as possible, regardless of your skill level. We are also accepting entries from both members and their families, and have some great prizes for the eventual winners (who we’re aiming to announce in our Q2 Newsletter). Please see the attached flyer for more details - the same flyer will be on bulletin boards in the next week. You can use the QR codes or the attached links to submit entries or review the full rule list.
February Meeting Minutes: I’ve attached the meeting minutes from last week’s member’s meeting. Thank you to Vice President Brittainy Nelson, who led the meeting, as well as our representatives from Nationwide. I have attached copies of their presentation as well as some additional documents related to services Nationwide provides. As a reminder, if you need to get in touch with Nationwide for any reason you can contact Nancy Feilbach, our Nationwide Retirement Specialist. Her contact information is below.
Phone: 602-293-1156
Email: nancy.feilbach@nationwide.com
March Meeting Signup: Our next membership meeting will be Thursday, March 19th, from 12-1pm at the Kiwanis Recreation Center (6111 S All-American Way, Tempe AZ, 85283). Representatives from Employee Development will be present with a brief presentation on upcoming class offerings and an opportunity for questions. You can rsvp here until March 12th.
Employee Development Communication Classes: UAEA has been dealing with some workplace issues recently that seem to partially stem from communication problems between different levels of a workplace. I think most people can benefit from strong communication skills and I don’t want our members to ever be caught unprepared for difficult conversations - given that, here are some Employee Development classes that members should consider taking. Let me be clear - I’m not trying to frame this as though communication problems are the fault of any of our members, but rather that there are many benefits to having a mental toolkit of ways to handle conversations that are becoming tense or engaging with people who may not respond well to gentle feedback. It can also help in Tempe Interview Panels if you can show that you have been actively working to refine your capabilities over the course of your career.
Crucial Conversations for Accountability - next session Mar25th
This class teaches the basics of how to confront, discuss, and resolve problems of poor performance, bad behavior, and violated expectations.
This class teaches the basics of how to influence and motivate your peers
Bridging the Communication Gap Across Generations - next session Sep10th
This class teaches some of the differences in how people in different generational cohorts communicate, and how to tailor your communication style to meet their expectations.
Emotional Intelligence Coaching - On Demand, you just have to set up an Appointment
This coaching session helps identify your emotional intelligence strengths and weaknesses and will give some tips on how to improve your social skills.
You can also take several classes entirely online through NeoGov. Those include Courageous Conversations, Having Great Conversations, Embrace tough Conversations, De-Escalation and Communication, the Cutting Edge Communication series, and One Conversation Can Change Everything. You should be able to take all of these on City time - your supervisor can make reasonable requests if taking a class would prevent you from helping with something else, but in general they need to approve your training sessions. Let us know if you need help signing up or attending any of these.
City Manager Town Hall Meeting: This is a reminder that Tempe City Manager Rosa Inchausti will be hosting an Employee Town Hall on Thursday, March 12th at the Tempe Center for the Arts. A calendar invite should have been sent to all employees - if not, all you need to know is that doors open at 8:30AM and the event starts at 9:30AM. If you’d like to attend, please let your supervisor know as soon as possible - management is encouraging as many employees as possible to attend, but some areas may need to limit employees attending to ensure adequate coverage of essential Tempe services throughout the morning.
There is a link if you want to submit any questions you have in advance. If you feel uncomfortable submitting them through the link, feel free to email them to me at president@uaeatempe.com and I’ll pass them along.
Employee of the Quarter: Nominations for the Employee of the Quarter (Q2 2026) will be accepted until Sunday, March 1st, 2026 (finalists will be announced in our April newsletter). If you would like to be considered (or would like to nominate a peer), please fill out the application (it takes 5 minutes) before the end of day on September 1st. If you would like a refresher on program rules, check out this blog post. One thing that’s important to the Executive Team is making sure we recognize employees from as many departments as possible - we have still not seen a lot of applicants from Water, Strategic Management, Financial Services, the Park Ranger team, the non-sworn side of PD, Courts, Sustainability, and a few other areas. While it’s not the only consideration, you have a better chance of recognition if your nomination is for someone in an area we haven’t acknowledged yet.
Adopt a Path: UAEA will be cleaning up our Adopt-a-Path trail on Saturday, March 7th, from 7:30-9AM - all members and their families are welcome to attend. We meet in the Tempe Parking Lot on the southeast Corner of Curry and Miller (approximate address is 1325 E Curry Road, Tempe AZ 85281, see attached photo), then walk north up our path to Mckellips Rd. Breakfast, drinks, safety gloves, trash pickers, and trash bags will be provided. Please bring a hat and/or sunglasses. This event normally takes 1.5 hours to complete, is eligible for community wellness points, and is a great opportunity to meet members of the board and your fellow union members. If you’d like to attend, please sign up here by Thursday, March 5th, at 5pm.
March Meeting Signup: Our next membership meeting will be Thursday, March 19th, from 12-1pm at the Kiwanis Recreation Center (6111 S All-American Way, Tempe AZ, 85283). Representatives from Employee Development will be present with a brief presentation on upcoming class offerings and an opportunity for questions. You can rsvp here until March 12th.