Support your team with team development resources
From: Human Resources
Autumn is often associated with the holiday season, a time for community and coming together. For the Human Resources Talent Development team, strong professional connections and community have a year-round emphasis.
Employee support and team development are the foundations of any good team. Talent Development empowers employees to show up for their team with leadership coaching, team building programs, and more.
Why team development matters and how to get started
Team development is the intentional process of strengthening how a group works together to achieve shared goals. It involves building trust, improving communication, clarifying roles, and fostering collaboration.
Whether a team is newly formed or well-established, investing in development helps members navigate challenges more effectively, adapt to change, and sustain high performance. Strong teams don’t just happen—they’re built through ongoing learning and shared experiences.
Virginia Tech offers a variety of team development opportunities to support departments and units across the university. From facilitated retreats and team assessments to customized workshops on communication, collaboration, and leadership, these services are designed to meet your team where they are and help them grow. Visit the Team and Organizational Development page to explore available offerings or submit a request for a tailored session.
Performance evaluations: Your roadmap for growth and success
When evaluations are approached thoughtfully, whether completing a self-evaluation or having the conversation with a supervisor, a necessary foundation is being shaped in an employee’s professional journey in three critical ways: establishing clear goals for the coming year, building a portfolio of accomplishments for future opportunities, and setting a baseline that helps you track your growth over time.
For example, if an employee improves a process that saves their team two hours each week, it serves as a concrete accomplishment they can point to when discussing efficiency and problem-solving in their next performance review or job interview. The real power of evaluations emerges when both employees and supervisors view them as collaborative conversations rather than administrative tasks. The actual discussion matters just as much as the documentation.
Employees should come prepared to talk about the year, sharing both highlights and notable challenges. Supervisors can create space for this by asking open-ended questions, and really listening to the answers. By honestly assessing performance, identifying how to build on strengths, and discussing development opportunities, employees and supervisors create a shared understanding that becomes next year's roadmap. That shared roadmap becomes the bridge between today's performance and tomorrow's opportunities.
Find step-by-step guides, training resources, deadlines, and detailed information about the evaluation process at the performance resources page.
Empowering growth and development through PageUp LMS
The PageUp Learning Management System (LMS) serves as a centralized hub that enables employees across campus to access and engage with professional development opportunities. By consolidating compliance training, skills development, and enrichment activities in one accessible platform, the LMS eliminates the fragmentation that can make workplace learning more difficult.
Employees benefit from the convenience of browsing various learning opportunities including mandatory compliance modules, specialized skill-building workshops, and personal interest courses, all in one location. This not only saves time but also encourages continuous learning by making it easier for faculty and staff to discover new development opportunities aligned with their career goals and interests.
For departments and university administrators, the LMS offers powerful advantages in managing and delivering training programs effectively. Hosting activities within the system provides comprehensive tracking and reporting capabilities, allowing departments to monitor completion rates, assess learning outcomes, and ensure compliance requirements are met across their teams.
This unified approach not only enhances administrative efficiency but also ensures that every employee, regardless of their department or role, has equitable access to the tools and training they need to excel in their positions and advance their careers at Virginia Tech.
CliftonStrengths and Leadership Coaching for employees
Through the Gallup® CliftonStrengths assessment, CliftonStrengths for Employees helps faculty and staff discover their natural abilities and apply their unique talents in the workplace.
By fostering a strengths-based culture, the program enhances collaboration and well-being across departments, empowering employees to thrive both individually, and collectively as a team.
Complementing this initiative, the Leadership Coaching program offers confidential, one-on-one support tailored to the needs of Virginia Tech leaders. Whether navigating a new role, seeking performance improvement, or pursuing personal growth, participants may hire Talent Development-vetted external coaches who offer strategic guidance rooted in ethical practice.
Spotlight on Hokie Wellness
Supporting team well-being through connection, creativity, and care
As the calendar year winds down, many teams are reflecting on how to strengthen connection, resilience, and balance.
At Virginia Tech, Hokie Wellness and Talent Development have partnered for the past three years to offer creative, team-based programs that help employees build mindfulness in action practices, improve communication, and enhance self-awareness; both at work and beyond. This partnership focuses on holistic health and well-being for teams, emphasizing collaboration, creativity, and emotional wellness in order to help teams pause, recharge, and grow together.
This collaborative approach recently earned Hokie Wellness the 2025 Award for Well-Being in the Workplace, recognizing their commitment to including wellness into work culture.
To learn more about Hokie Wellness programs, and resources like TimelyCare, Mental Health First Aid, and other mental health supports visit the Hokie Wellness website. Employees are also encouraged to explore the calendar of events to find upcoming workshops and sessions that can benefit their team. Please reach out anytime to a Hokie Wellness Team member for individual assistance navigating support services by emailing hokiewelless@vt.edu or calling 540-231-8878.
Talent Development’s mission is to educate, engage, and empower the Virginia Tech workforce through comprehensive learning experiences tailored to individual growth, leadership development, and team/organizational effectiveness. Learn more about these tailored resources on the training website. Complete this form to request team training or facilitated learning events.