Our regularly offered open enrollment virtual classes cover an array of workplace, leadership and communication topics. They are largely for all audiences and include attendees from numerous organizations. These sessions provide the opportunity to hear a diversity of perspectives, which can encourage openness and enhance the learning experience.
We also provide in-person and virtual classroom sessions tailored to the specific needs and goals of an organizations. These are facilitated for intact teams, as well as those under stress, to create a shared experience. Participants from different departments may also join together for these sessions.
Refund Policy:
For a full refund to be received, you must cancel at least 72 hours in advance of the session. For cancellations received less than 72 hours in advance, a credit for an equivalent class will be granted and must be used within six months. Please email lm@em-lm.com regarding any cancellations or questions.
Employment Matters’ SHRM Certification Preparation Course will broaden and update your knowledge and skills
while delivering everything you need to pass the SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP exam, all in an interactive environment.
One-on-one guidance from an expert
Personal access to the SHRM Learning System
Knowledge and skills necessary for the SHRM exam
Opportunity to network and collaborate with peers
A structured and supportive learning environment
In today’s changing HR landscape, it’s becoming more important than ever that you not only have strong HR knowledge and skills, but are also able to be a strategic business thinker, capable of tackling any issue thrown your way. With the SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP®) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP®), you’ll have the answers AND know what to do on the job.
SHRM LEARNING SYSTEM
The SHRM Learning System is the official SHRM certification prep tool. It delivers the most comprehensive, flexible, and effective SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP exam preparation.
With our course, you’ll receive the 2021 SHRM Learning System which offers personalized learning that adjusts to your unique learning style. You’ll learn to apply HR knowledge and competencies to real-life situations and maximize exam readiness with more than 1,500 practice questions, including 160 retired exam questions, as well as interactive tools.
Designed using a proven approach for teaching adult learners, this system helps you understand, apply, and engage with behavioral competencies and HR Knowledge. Online learning modules, based on the SHRM BoCK, and interactive study tools, are incorporated into the study process to test your knowledge and decision-making skills.
There’s no better way to successfully prepare for the SHRM certification exams!
For best results, schedule your certification exam for a date that is after the end of your preparation course. The next test window is May 1 – July 15, 2021. Apply online at shrmcertification.org/apply.
To be eligible for the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP exams, you must meet specific educational and work experience criteria at the time you submit your application. For details on eligibility requirements, visit shrmcertification.org/eligibility.
Feeling exhausted? Unsurprisingly, many are suffering from pandemic fatigue. After many months, the fallout of COVID is unrelenting. The future is uncertain. Anxiety over social isolation, possible job loss and individual and family health is at a peak. Explore effective coping strategies to reduce the toll of this unprecedented phenomenon. Learn how to maintain balance while remaining safe. Take steps to replenish and practice rejuvenating self-care practices.
While some might claim that discussing personal happiness during the current crisis is selfish and inappropriate; research reveals the contrary. Those who actively cultivate their own happiness are more resilient, both physically and mentally. That resilience not only serves the individual, it furthers their team and organization. Discover and practice the tools and techniques associated with greater resilience.
There are many facets to leadership; and leading in a virtual environment can raise some distinct challenges. Leading in a Virtual Environment is a half day class that examines five key principles. Learn how to effectively bolster and engage your team remotely. Prioritize the trust and team connection necessary for innovation and performance. Avoid mistakes that may be amplified in remote settings. Identify best practices as you continue to navigate the new normal for work and leadership.
There is a high cost to workplace incivility. Unfortunately, unkind and discourteous behaviors have become the norm in many organizations. Learn how to recognize when and how to hold people accountable for the often subtle and insidious behaviors associated with incivility. Take away tools that help build a culture of individual and team accountability.
What is bias? And how does it drive decisions? Neither good nor bad, bias is hardwired in the brain. While there are dozens of identified biases, this session focuses on ones that often appear in the workplace. Through examples and discussion, see what their impact can be. Discuss ways to mitigate that impact individually, on teams, and at an organizational level.
To create effective teams, all members must feel included and heard. Feeling ignored by a group impacts commitment and performance. Examine the behaviors that increase inclusion and those that may make individuals feel excluded. Create more engagement through intentional involvement of all employees. In the afternoon, learn how our experiences with differences impact our views and perceptions. Explore ways to define difference and how those definitions impact those around us. Develop skills to enhance awareness and positively impact communication.
Developing an Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Plan
Training alone is not enough to drive a successful inclusion plan. Often organizations focus on only one method of creating equity and diversity. This generally leads to less than optimal results. Spend the day learning about the key components that increase the odds of successfully implementing an inclusion plan.
Individual crisis reactions are often variable and perplexing. They also naturally differ by type. The Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI) can lead to a better understanding of reactions to stress and individual and team responses. Learn how type can be utilized to best support yourself and others during times of crisis.
FIRO theory, developed by Dr. Will Schutz identifies common human behaviors and the motivations behind them. Utilize his framework to increase self-awareness and develop a better understanding of others. Enhance effectiveness by managing reactivity and practice new ways of working with and leading others. This session will bring clarity about your leadership aspirations and provide strategies for increasing interpersonal effectiveness.
Over the last 25 years I have had the pleasure of working closely with a number of the Employment Matters staff. I have watched them in action, observed the skillfulness with which they facilitate groups and engage individuals in transformational growth. They are experts in their craft and have the social and emotional intelligence skills to create powerful and safe interpersonal learning experiences for leaders who wish to address the human element in business”.
Ron Luyet, Senior Global Consultant for BCon Human Element
and co-author of Radical Collaboration
Coaching: Maximizing Potential
Coaching an employee may be an organization’s most rewarding investment – and benefits the team, as well. Effective coaching can inspire individuals to meet their professional goals, resulting in positive shifts in their approach, behavior, and impact. This interactive session focuses on creating resonant coaching relationships, integrating meaningful coaching practices, and utilizing a concrete coaching process. Develop effective coaching competencies and skills to support individuals in realizing their highest potential and spark enhanced individual, team, and organizational performance.
Bridget has a diverse background in organizational development, coaching, mediation and education. She holds a M.Ed. from American University and a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University. She is a facilitator of effective communication, conflict prevention and resolution, navigating change, presentation skills, and interpersonal and group dynamics. Bridget is certified in mediation, 360 Profilor, Radical Collaboration and a certified executive coach from New Ventures West. She brings a rich background to her current role having worked in both public and private education and helping members with their needs for 12 years at Employers Council.
Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI
Following on LinkedIn: HBR, Purdue University; Brene Brown and International Coaching Federation
Emotional Intelligence Skills
Emotional intelligence focuses on the ability to better connect and manage emotions to promote positive outcomes. These skills can be developed and improved. This results-oriented session will provide practical tools to enhance one’s capability in each of the EQ five competencies. Build your self-management skills and apply that knowledge at a personal, team and organizational level.
Compassionate leaders see individuals as more than cogs in the machine. They choose people over process and are fully committed to creating a culture of trust through action. Compassionate Leadership is about propelling team members to their potential with a genuine commitment to their well-being. Learn how to check behaviors and practices for impact and align them with your intent. Embody a proactive mindset that nurtures growth, innovation, and risk-taking, all keys to a successful team.
Peggy has a rich range of experience in coaching, mediation, and facilitation, with an M.S. in Educational Psychology from Southern Illinois University. A certified coach, her intuitive and supportive style creates an ideal environment for self-discovery and growth. Peggy is gifted at coaching people to their best, particularly leaders endeavoring to be more strategic and influential. A certified mediator, Peggy also enjoys the challenge of navigating others through conflict and adeptly shepherds teams through workplace strife with her exceptional conflict resolution skills. Among numerous advanced certifications, Peggy holds one for both Human Element (LHEP) and Radical Collaboration.
Hometown: Akron, OH
Following on LinkedIn: Brene Brown, Simon Sinek & Adam Grant
Leadership Influence Strategies
This methodology identifies strategies of influence for the workplace. Participants will have multiple opportunities to practice each tactic in a variety of applications. These techniques may be applied to influencing at all levels of the organization. Designed to reinforce skills and enhance the ability to gain resources, support and cooperation for initiatives and endeavors.
The nine Enneagram types offer unique insight into human motivation. While many assessments focus on behavior, the Enneagram tool operates on a deeper level. Determine your individual type. Through a careful study of what drives each type, a better understanding of behavior can be gleaned. At an individual level, the impact can be profoundly helpful. For a team and organization utilizing the Enneagram, that impact may be exponential.
Administered 3.5 million times annually, the Myers-Brigg Type® Indicator (MBTI) continues to be one of the most popular assessment worldwide. Use it to help develop a better appreciation of self and others; build effective work teams and enhance problem solving and performance. This session focuses on the relationship between personality type and leadership. Learn about the unique contributions each leadership style offers and how to navigate potential derailers and blind spots. Identify patterns that serve effectiveness and others where there is opportunity for development.
This class is based on Patrick Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. The content offers great insight into team dynamics, individual conflict contributors, and specific tools on creating a cohesive team. This session is presented in five modules: Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commitment, Avoidance of Accountability, and Inattention to Results. This class can be offered as a full day class that covers all 5 tenets; or it can be offered with a focus on any one of the modules.
TBD- in person only
8:30-3:30
$345
CEU: 6.0
Facilitator: Employment Matters staff
Recommended Reading
Also, noteworthy: Dare to Lead & Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
Supervisory Skills
Foundations of Supervision
Being a great leader is much more than managing people. This session will focus on six key components of exceptional leadership. Learn specific ways to enhance team performance. Whether you are a seasoned supervisor or entering the role this class will provide tools to help navigate growing your role.
Kimberly Searfoorce has twenty-five years of experience in employment law, leadership development, and human resources. Ms. Searfoorce presents on a variety of topics including Enneagram, conflict, assertiveness, discrimination, bias and inclusion to forums of all size. A member of the Colorado bar, Kimberly is a 360 Profilor coach and a workplace mediator. She is also a certified Enneagram In Business and What Type of Leader Are You? Trainer. Kimberly is adept at inspiring insights that promote individual growth, ultimately leading to more connected teams and fewer legal concerns. An intermittent marathoner and zealous Chicago Cubs fan, she is the mother of three humans and one dog, Wrigley.
Hometown: As the daughter of an army officer mother, too numerous to note
Following on LinkedIn: Brene Brown & Kelly Charles-Collins
Change Management
This session identifies best practices for supporting individuals and teams as they navigate the challenging change process. Learn to identify the facets of change and how to develop appropriate responses to invite people forward. Audit existing practices at an individual, team and organizational level for effectiveness. Gain ideas on how to optimize and build capacity for change individually and organizationally.
Having a leadership role and little authority can create a frustrating dynamic. The Lead shares the role with both the employees and the supervisor. This class will offer a chance to identify the opportunities to better influence, as well as how to more effectively leverage personal relationships. It provides concrete tools and tactics to enhance knowledge and skillset in a Lead capacity.
Skillscope is a robust 360 assessment tool. Developed by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) to support leaders in building effectiveness through feedback, it identifies 15 essential competencies and 98 behavioral items. Each participant selects their raters prior to the session. The session provides an opportunity to interpret and develop a plan in response to the feedback report.
*Skillscope is a developmental tool and results are only shared with the participant.
While facilitation is more art than a science, there are specific verbal and physical methods that can improve effectiveness. This immersive experience allows for practice to refine delivery skills. Create and maintain an inclusive atmosphere to encourage engagement and participation. Practice maintaining neutrality, establishing group norms, designing appropriate interventions, and observing group dynamics. Each participant will have an opportunity to experiment with new skills and receive feedback on their facilitations.
SLII®, is the most widely used leadership training program in the world. Blanchard’s model teaches leaders how to build meaningful connections with colleagues and employees. Research shows that employees need different levels of direction and support depending on their level of competence and commitment. Unfortunately, most managers use only one leadership style—and the results are costly. Agility can increase productivity and engagement to deliver exceptional ROI.
Transitioning from “one of the team” to “leader of the pack” poses career challenges. Navigating it effectively makes all the difference. Learn how to appropriately set boundaries and establish expectations with your team while maintaining effective relationships with your boss and your peers. Determine what to stop doing, start doing, and continue doing. Make difficult conversations easier, leverage your strengths, and develop concrete strategies that you can use immediately to master this transition.
Strong communication skills are the foundation of workplace success. They build strong relationships, connected teams and, ultimately, higher performing organizations. This workshop focuses on tools and techniques that increase intentional and effective communication. Realize immediate results of impactful communication.
An essential supervisory skill is the ability to manage challenging situations. Competence in navigating difficult conversations can increase individual effectiveness and organizational success. Learn how to apply practical principles for navigating complicated interpersonal situations. Choose effective strategies for crafting collaborative conversations that enhance resolution. Build skill and confidence in the ability to positively resolve complex issues and build agreement.
TBD in-person only
8:30-3:30
$595
CEU: 12.0
Facilitator: Employment Matters staff
Assertive Communication
Striking the right balance on the continuum of assertiveness is a common challenge. Identify and practice assertive communication, focus on specific behaviors to enhance positive impact and increase confidence. Learn practical skills that lead to improved relationships.
Faculty Highlight: Lisa Barbeau, M.S., PHR, SHRM-CP, HRCI
Lisa holds an M.S. in Instructional Design from the University of Michigan and has practiced in the field of organizational development for over 30 years. Lisa is a gifted facilitator with a talent for drawing out and engaging learners in dialogue and reflection. She is a certified MBTI and LHEP facilitator, as well as a mediator. Lisa is skilled in crafting learning experiences from source material that results in exceptional growth opportunities. She adeptly creates and holds a safe space for individuals to explore the content to their level of comfort; always inviting them forward. Lisa has long found deep satisfaction in supporting the building of capacity in individuals and organizations.
Hometown: Ferndale, Michigan
Following on LinkedIn: Simon Sinek, Center for Creative Leadership, MindSpark Learning and Adam Grant
Presentation Skills
Whether an informal session with the team or a strategizing with the board of directors, strong presentation skills are critical. This session sharpens these important skills. Day 1 is content and learning driven; Day 2 provides the opportunity to practice and present, as well as receive valuable feedback. Participants are provided helpful and practical presentation techniques. Gain skills and confidence regardless of skill level.
Even for those never planning to take center stage at an event, there are numerous lessons to be learned from how TED talks are uniquely crafted. Spend the day discovering techniques and principles that can be applied to presentations of all kinds. Gain more polish and skill. Learn how to hold audience attention and increase impact through powerful and concise delivery.
Effective meetings are often the exception and not the norm. This course offers concrete tools that help organize, develop, and execute meetings of all sizes. It distinguishes the roles that are necessary to skillfully manage a meeting and allows ample opportunities to practice these roles. Learn how to address common meeting challenges and create a dynamic collaborative environment.
There is much more to listening than hearing the spoken words. It is important to ensure that those around us feel heard. Much is gained by recognizing where listening might be improved. Small changes in listening can bring about big impact in interpersonal relationships. Learn tools that will enhance listening and increase positive communication.
Collaboration is the foundation of all high performing teams. This session provides tools to immediately cultivate any relationship, whether professional or personal. Learn how to defuse defensiveness through Interest Based Negotiations. IBN is a straightforward method for navigating through complicated conflict and arriving at solutions that consider individual needs
Also, noteworthy: Crucial Conversations, Difficult Conversations & Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life
Endorsement
The consultants at Employment Matters are highly skilled at creating radically collaborative work environments and teams using the Radical Collaboration® program.
Jim Tamm, co-creator of Radical Collaboration®
Conflict Tools: Empowering Others
Mentoring and guiding staff through challenges is a key component of successful leadership. Better understanding of individual conflict style through an assessment supports this learning. Learn and practice intervention strategies, effective verbiage, and techniques to coach and move others through conflict.
Conflict is not only inevitable; it is necessary for growth. In order to better address and resolve conflict, an individual examination of personal patterns and triggers is crucial. Gain skills to deescalate conflict situations and learn modifications to ineffective responses. This deepened understanding of conflict enables the navigation of tense situations with tact and authenticity.
Spend the day exploring generational cohort groups and the similarities and differences among them. Identify ways to flex and adapt to the differing expectations of each generation. Conduct a workplace audit thru the lens of generational inclusivity and identify best practices to create generational affinity in the workplace.
Developing and sustaining trust is the key to successful working relationships. It is the core from which to communicate, resolve conflict and operate in daily interactions with coworkers and leadership. This course offers a lens into individual trust challenges as well as trust at the organizational level. Discover ways to build, rebuild and ultimately sustain trust.
Customer Relations challenges can frustrate even the most well intended team member. Gain insight on how to deescalate an aggravating situation. Tools on how to reframe a complaint are also given. This course offers practical solutions to learn how to best serve both external and internal customers. Opportunities to practice and enhance customer service skills are provided.
Critical challenges are unrelenting during this global pandemic. Navigating change, organizational uncertainty, remote work, and pandemic fatigue can be stressful and difficult. Adjusting to these challenges is not easy, especially with the future unknown. These disruptions in routine often cause decreased productivity as a new balance is sought. It can be overwhelming. This session offers immediate solutions to real situations. Utilizing the latest neuroscience techniques, identify effective solutions for these unprecedented times.
A practical session that provides skills to streamline business processes and eliminate waste. A foundation of lean process improvement tools which can immediately be implemented in the workplace. Practices are identified to create efficient and sustainable lean systems that improve your competitive advantage. Lean is both a set of tools and mindset; this session discusses setting the stage for creating a lean culture.
This seminar provides best practices and skills that emphasize priorities, organization, and staying on task. Learn to identify and attain long-term professional and personal goals. Discover the time wasters which are consuming your day and how they affect your performance. Better manage interruptions and the deluge of e-mails, voicemails, and other communications. Redesign your day so you can restore balance in your life and leave with the tools to make time for what is most important.
This session provides a framework for systematically developing on-the-job training. The design templates given ensure consistency in delivery by different trainers and creates a structured method to track learning progress. A must for any organization intent on providing successful procedural training. Particularly effective for presenting standard operating procedures that adhere to regulatory compliance requirements.
This scenario-driven approach to harassment prevention provides an overview of employment discrimination law. It also goes deeper, exploring employees’ fundamental expectation of respectful treatment in the workplace and its intersection with employer policy. Higher requirements for management based on the same sources of law, internal policy, and employee perspective add more layers. Optimize the work environment by integrating all these aspects and increase learning, understanding, and application.
An understanding of key employment laws is essential for managers and supervisors, especially because their knowledge and actions may be imputed to the organization. Issue-spotting acumen is critical. This highly interactive session provides a variety of scenario discussions to equip participants with practical knowledge of state and federal employment laws. Gain awareness of potential workplace legal issues and build confidence on this extensive and evolving topic.
Mark has collaborated with employers of all types as an employment attorney for nearly twenty-five years. As an advisor and trainer, he applies his extensive knowledge of Equal Employment Opportunity law, human resources, and employee relations. Workplace investigations are Mark’s professional passion. He has conducted hundreds of them and supervised hundreds more. In addition, Mark has published numerous articles and served as an expert witness on the subject. He is fascinated by the Enneagram tool and the study of implicit bias. He lives in Denver with his wife, daughter, and beloved dog Woodrow.
Hometown: Muskegon, Michigan
Following on LinkedIn: Association of Workplace Investigators, Inc., Dr. Travis Bradberry, and numerous law firms.
Workplace Investigations
An organization’s appropriate response to behavioral, performance, and compliance concerns in workplace investigations is crucial for informed decision making. This session provides strategies and methodologies for conducting prompt, impartial and thorough workplace investigations. From defining and managing scope, conducting interviews, and making credibility assessments, to crafting investigation reports and concluding the process, this course develops your ability to assume the role of an objective factfinder.
Few management decisions are more critical than hiring. And few are more challenging and prone to missteps. This session will address potential legal concerns around the interviewing and hiring process. Learn what applicant questions might be problematic. Review organizational policies for compliance. Establish consistency between policy and current practices. Reduce concerns and leave with more confidence that mistakes are minimized. Establish a hiring process which results in fewer legal concerns, positive outcomes, and great hires.
While the expectation of appropriate documentation is well known, one’s craft can always be improved. Proper documentation can deflect liability, while poor documentation can do the opposite. Practice drafting effective performance documentation as part of this interactive training. Learn and apply the building blocks of effective corrective action to improve performance. Facilitate meeting behavioral expectations by focusing on facts, expectations, and solutions.
The FMLA impacts organizations more than most employment laws because health conditions are inevitable and unpredictable. Often misunderstood and misapplied, the FMLA requires that employers grant job-protected leave to eligible employees, and sometimes take a pause in the midst of employee attendance or performance concerns. This session helps participants navigate COVID-19 related leave and reinstatement, and numerous other leave issues under the FMLA. Learn the fundamentals of FMLA and explore its nuances to support administration of this complex law, as well as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
Cheri embarked on her legal career after graduating from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 2001. After several years of advocating for employees on discrimination and harassment matters, Cheri shifted her focus to advising and representing employers for over a decade. Cheri brings her unique perspective from practicing on both sides of employment law disputes to all her endeavors, as she does as her enthusiasm for brining clarity to complex matters. Her exceptional breadth of workplace law knowledge and her experience advising managers and HR professionals serves her participants well in her balanced and practical legal sessions.
Hometown: Denver, CO
Following on LinkedIn: Richard Branson, TED Conferences, Employment Law Network
Programs
Emerging Leader Cohort Program
The Emerging Leader Cohort Program is a rigorous and result oriented program, it prepares high potential leaders to adopt increasing levels of responsibility and handle both challenges and opportunities inherent in future leadership roles within their organizations. Presented over six months, this concentrated cohort program is designed to help emerging or newer leaders learn core business concepts and build key competencies. More than ever before, emerging leaders must shift with agility from the role of individual contributor to developing a strategic perspective and taking their leadership skills to the next level.
Includes 360 Profiler assessment and three coaching sessions.
Applications must be received by February 26, 2021
