PDS Commonly Asked Questions

Training is providing people with the necessary skills to perform a task in an efficient and effective manner. Training is developing people to become more self-sufficient. It is helping them to continually think about developing themselves and, consequently, the work they are responsible for. Training people is preparing them to become more effective within their organization, to become a more valuable member of the team.

PDS is the centralized training unit for Iowa state government as provided in the Iowa Code, section 8A.431. PDS is a unit of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Human Resources Enterprise (HRE). This relationship with DAS-HRE allows PDS to provide training courses that are aligned with state personnel policies and state employees' work. As the primary training unit for state government, PDS is also able to negotiate reduced prices and pass those savings on to state departments.

Courses are delivered by contractors as well as state employees.  Please see course fee information located on our Course Offerings page.

Enroll in courses through Workday Learning. Reach out to your agency's Learning Admin with questions. If your agency does not have a designated Learning Admin, please reach out to the PDS team at pds@iowa.gov.  **Please contact PDS Training if you have any special needs or accommodations.

PDS is the centralized training unit for Iowa state government as provided in the Iowa Code, section 8A.431. PDS is a unit of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS)Human Resources Enterprise (HRE). This relationship with DAS-HRE allows PDS to provide training courses that are aligned with state personnel policies. As the primary training unit for state government, PDS is also able to negotiate reduced prices with training providers and pass those savings on to state departments.

PDS courses are available to any State, County, or City employee.  Some courses are available to all non-government related citizens as well. 

The majority of classes run from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, although some classes are half a day, and some are multiple days. View each course's specific class timeframes in the Course Catalog located on our Course Offerings page.

Enroll in classes through Workday Learning. If you are having issues logging in to your Learning account, please contact your agency’s Learning Admin. If your organization does not have a designated Learning Admin, you can reach out to the PDS team at pds@iowa.gov.

The Workday Learning system will generate an email and a Workday notification to the employee when the enrollment is approved/confirmed. The employee will also receive a calendar invitation. 

Yes, there is a charge in order to cover the costs of putting on the training and keeping it up to date. See our course fees for more information.

The Iowa Department of Administrative Services bills the agency or organization that the participant works for. Participants may also provide their own billing information if they would like to pay for the class individually. Please contact PDS with this request.

Most PDS courses have a recommended eligibility listed in the course description. It is up to individuals, or their appointing authority where applicable, to approve or deny course enrollments based on the recommended eligibility.

More than 14 days before class: When you enroll in a PDS course, a "seat" is purchased. If you become unable to attend the class, you may request to drop the class within your Workday Learning app. If the course has an associated fee, your supervisor must approve this request. This policy also applies to non-state employee participants.

Less than 14 days before class: If it is less than 14 calendar days from the class date, you will need to contact your agency's Learning Admin to request a drop. Your agency will still be charged for the seat in class. Another employee from your agency may be sent in your place, however, to avoid the charge for an empty seat. Please inform PDS of this substitution as soon as possible. Note: there will be no charge for this cancellation if you become unable to attend due to approved leave other than vacation (i.e. illness, bereavement, etc.) PDS must be notified of this leave as soon as possible. This policy also applies to non-state employee participants.

Terminated employment: For cases in which an enrolled state employee is severed from state employment within (14) calendar days of the course date, agencies are encouraged to fill the purchased seat with another employee. If the purchased seat is unfilled the agency will still be charged.

Managers and supervisors can have a big impact on making training a successful experience for employees. A participant will benefit more from attending a training program if you show an interest in his or her participation and talk about the upcoming training together. Let the employee know what you expect him or her to gain by attending the training. Relate your expectations to the course objectives, specific job responsibilities, and your organization’s mission.

Employees will enroll in Workday Learning. If the course has an associated fee, you will receive a request for approval in your Workday Tasks. Review the course details and approve or deny the enrollment from there. You will get a request to approve, if the course has a fee, when:

• The employee enrolls
• The employee joins the waitlist
• The employee moves from the waitlist to enrolled status

Marketing messages and information on upcoming courses are frequently sent to Learning  Admins by PDS. It is important to forward these training opportunities to relevant employee groups and management teams.

Workday Learning is our Learning Management System (LMS). It is a statewide, online system designed to track course enrollments and learning records. All Learning Admins should have access to Workday Learning. If you do not currently have access, or feel that your access is incorrect, please contact PDS at PDS@iowa.gov

Visit the Workday Learning Admins topic in Workday Learning to see step-by-step guides for how to perform common admin functions that include, but are not limited to the following.

• Enroll employees
• Drop enrollments
• Manage enrollment requests
• View transcripts

Please review our policies around dropping enrollments.

PDS communicates regularly with a point-of-contact at each agency who is also a Learning Admin. These Learning Admins will receive information about Workday Learning updates and are responsible for disseminating this to other Learning Admins within their agency and any other relevant parties.

There is an eLearning available for employees on how to use Workday Learning. Help the employee enroll in this eLearning.