Launched in 2004 and sponsored by the City Manager Associations of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, MTEP offers high-potential employees a three-month exchange in another local government to help them develop new skills, experiences and relationships.

A Unique Leadership Opportunity

The City of Palo Alto operates MTEP through its Human Resources (HR) Department, on behalf of other local governments in the two counties.  Individual organizations nominate high-potential employees and then match the nominees to "stretch" assignments in other city, county and special district agencies.  Participating organizations that send employees to other agencies generally receive an employee from another agency in exchange.

A group of managers and human resources professionals interview the MTEP participants and then match them to a special assignment (see below).

Other program elements include:

• Supervisors at the "hosting" agency who serve as coaches to the MTEP participants; and
• Three two-hour learning forums that give participants an opportunity to hear speakers talk about leadership and career development topics.  Forums include a support session where participants can share their experiences and ask for input on issues or challenges they may be facing.          
  
  Supervisors at the "hosting" agency who serve as coaches to the MTEP participants; and
  Three two-hour learning forums that give participants an opportunity to hear speakers talk about leadership and career development topics.  Forums include a support session where participants can share their experiences and ask for input on issues or challenges they may be facing.

Sponsors and Funding

A seed grant from CPS Human Resource Services, an executive search and HR consulting firm, funded the first-year pilot program in 2004.  Once the pilot effort proved viable, the two sponsoring city manager associations decided to self-fund most of the costs and seek additional financial support from a corporate sponsor.  Bill Avery & Associates, an executive search firm believed that preparing the next generation of local government managers fit right with its mission and became a corporate partner.  MTEP is overseen by the Two-County Next Generation Committee composed of city and county managers and human resource professionals from the local governments of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

Annual funding of $30,800 cmoes from three sources: the two city managers associations each provide $2,000 for a total of $4,000; each of the 26 agencies pays $800 per participant, for a total of $20,800; and Bill Avery & Associates provides $10,000 in corporate funding.  These funds pay for the human resources staff costs of the City of Palo Alto, which operates the program, plus incidental materials and food costs.

Program Benefits

The MTEP model addresses the shrinking talent pool of local government by accelerating the development of high-potential employees.  The three-month exchanges provide new skills, perspectives, experiences and relationships that are extremely valuable for the MTEP participants and their "home" agencies.  In addition, the host agency often uses the MTEP participants to accomplish tasks or projects for which they do not have time or resources.

Numerous factors contribute to the program's success:

• Local governments collaborate on and jointly fund the program; they also offer participant and MTEP slots.
• The corporate partner supports and helps offset the cost.
• One agency is responsible for manaing the project and addressing any problems.
• Each MTEP participant gets a coach in the new assignment.
• Participants network with and learn from each other through the learning forums.
• MTEP accelerates the development of aspiring leaders because it goes beyond classroom education and provides new real-life experiences in another organizational environment coupled with candid and helpful coaching.
• MTEP broadens the experiences of the participants, who in turn bring back new expertise and perspectives to their "home" agency and share those assets with their co-workers.  One participant, Deborah Angel, started a blog about her experience and insights gained at the San Jose Library to share with her co-workers in her home agency, the Palo Alto library system.

Downloads

MTEP Application (pdf, 37 KB)