News

The SIUE School of Business Executive Education program is offering its spring 2020 professional development courses and workshops, including the associate professional in human resources certification (aPHR) course and the SIUE Leadership Bootcamp.   

Associate Professional in Human Resources (aPHR) Certification Course: Saturday and Sunday, April 4-5

This course is designed to prepare HR concentration students for the aPHR exam offered by HRCI (hrci.org/aphr). The aPHR exam is the associate professional in human resources exam, designed to test your knowledge of human resource topics as you begin your professional career. Unlike the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certifications, no experience is necessary to take and secure the aPHR certification. The aPHR certification signals to employers an individual has the knowledge needed to be a successful HR professional.

A trained instructor from SIUE will cover the material during one weekend from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. each day in Founders Hall, classroom 2300. There will be in-class work, as well as outside reading, preparation and test practice.

Course cost is $475 including instruction and all practice materials. Registration for the preparation course does not include exam registration price. See HRCI’s website about exam registration costs.

For more information and to register for the course, visit siue.edu/business/executive-education/professional-development/events-feed.

SIUE Leadership Bootcamp: Fridays - April 17, 24; May 8, 15, 22    

Gain valuable leadership skills in this 5-day leadership bootcamp by attending all 5 days or just choosing the sessions that most interest you. Morning sessions are 8:30 a.m.–noon, while afternoon sessions are 12:30-4 p.m.

April 17
AM Session: Strategic Planning & Setting Priorities  

The purpose is to demonstrate the importance of strategic planning and setting priorities by having a strategic mindset that guides the leader’s daily activities. The strategic planning process will be addressed at the macro level to focus the leader on the framework and mentality needed to lead an organization with strategy in mind. The alignment of organizational strategic initiatives and functional level activities will be emphasized. Topics such as market understanding and awareness, setting strategic priorities, and the relationship between strategy and company culture will help the leader identify adaptive challenges to ensure strategic initiatives are in alignment with individual, business unit, and organizational capabilities and values.

PM Session: Results Orientation

This session takes the next step from strategic thinking to a results orientation that has an impact on the organization’s bottom line. Participants will be taken from macro- to micro-level analysis to demonstrate the importance of aligning goal setting with organizational initiatives. At a functional level, leaders must establish goals for themselves and their department/business unit, juggle competing priorities, and effectively handle time management. Tools such as Covey's Urgent/Important Matrix, as well as guidelines for how and when to delegate to others are a key part of maintaining a results orientation and setting priorities. Lastly, emphasis on key performance indicators (KPIs) and organizational metrics will drive this session to ensure results are in alignment with strategic goals.

April 24
AM Session: Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving

The ability to think critically is a crucial skill set because an essential measure of an organization’s success is its ability to overcome problems. Participants will start with learning their decision-making style and will be given a brief overview of the decision-making process. This will be followed by learning how to identify priorities based on company strategy, frame problems and formulate effective decision criteria to arrive at the best solution. Particular attention will be given to helping participants recognize potential biases that may enter the decision process, short-circuiting their ability to think critically.

PM Session:  Change Leadership and Innovation

Leadership is taken a step further, addressing the question of how do you lead in tough times with difficult people along an uncertain road? Based on the groundbreaking insights and strategies from Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, this session focuses on how leaders move organizations through adaptive change, and identify techniques and strategies to engage subordinates to face the tough challenges of uncertain times. Participants will learn a framework focusing on conflict management, persuasion, and influence techniques to engage employees to work to successfully complete organizational objectives.

Fostering innovation is also a key part of managing change and uncertainty. When innovation is fostered, a culture is created that values risk-taking, fosters open communication and empowerment, and streamlines decision-making for relevance, responsiveness, resourcefulness, and resilience. This session will also explore ways to enhance individual creativity and creativity within a team. Discover the leadership skills necessary to help teams find new and better ways to do things to make departments and units more effective.

May 8
AM Session:  Team Building & Trust

The focus will be on what it means to be an effective team and how to get there. First, the elements of trust will be addressed. Trust is easy to lose and hard to regain once lost. When team members feel as if they can trust their teammates and superiors, the organization has strong building blocks to be effective and meet its goals. Because trust is a necessary prerequisite to a high functioning workforce, the importance of trust, ways to build trust and how to navigate when trust is broken will be addressed. Participants will look at the different stages of team development, important actions to take in order to become an effective team, how to maintain an effective team status and the benefits of doing so. Finally, the different steps involved in problem-solving will be addressed, discussing the challenges and solutions to collaborating as a team and emphasizing the key benefits of working together. Participants will do assessments and exercises to create an action plan that they can put into use in their respective offices.

PM Session:  Leadership/Followership and Developing Employees

The leadership/followership relationship requires an understanding of the unique contributions that both parties offer to the organization. The dynamics of that relationship will be addressed demonstrating that both leaders and followers work in concert to reach the organization’s strategic goals. A key aspect of the leadership/followership relationship is the importance of developing subordinates with a growth mindset to benefit the organization, as well as the employee. Growth mindset principles allow teams and individuals to continually develop. They also develop awareness of how individual and group attitudes impact the development and ability of others. We will discuss the role of coaching and mentoring as key tools for employee development. Coaching for performance improvement and disciplinary issues is essential for maximizing employee performance, and managing behavioral lapses that can interfere with a smooth functioning department. Factors contributing to successful mentoring programs will also be addressed.

May 15
AM Session:  Collaboration and Influence

Learning to call on others for feedback and support is an essential skillset for success. Research shows that the better leaders are at managing and navigating networks and partnerships, the more they achieve their goals. But despite its importance, networking can seem distasteful, self-serving and even phony. In this workshop, participants will focus on growing their partner network and utilizing this network to increase productivity. Influence is crucial for leaders to develop networks and effectively collaborate with others. This session addresses the importance of persuading, motivating, and influencing both direct reports and other employees when we are in the midst of managing daily workflows. This includes the different tools we can use to influence both superiors and subordinates. Case exercises on persuasion and influence will be used to provide participants with a tool kit of techniques to help manage in a wide variety of contexts.

PM Session:  Communication and Listening

Both written and oral communication are the keys to being a successful manager, supervisor and employee. Participants will be taken through a series of experiential exercises to understand and recognize three-part communication – words, tone and body language. The do’s and don’ts of written communication, including emails, social media and report writing, will be addressed. Participants will also learn how to practice active listening to learn how to listen to understand, not listen to respond to their communication partner.

May 22
AM Session:  Art and Science of Negotiation 

Negotiation is often defined as discussion aimed at reaching an agreement. All too often, though, we look at negotiation as a means to an end, rather than an opportunity to improve and strengthen relationships, particularly with diverse others.  Through a series of exercises and role-play activities, participants will learn and practice the science of negotiation while becoming familiar with their own interpersonal style. We will also address the foundations of conflict management styles. Conflict is not inherently bad for organizations. Therefore, participants will learn their own conflict management style and practice the skills needed to effectively influence and negotiate to achieve desired outcomes. By the end of the session, participants will have a clear idea about their default conflict style, have a tool kit for adapting their style as needed given differing strategic circumstances and will practice the essential skills needed for good negotiation.

PM Session:  Difficult Conversations and Diverse Others

Many companies are making efforts to achieve workforce diversity. Diversity can bring both tangible and intangible benefits to the organization. In order for a company to realize these benefits, managers and employees need to be able to work together, be open to different perspectives and find ways to build positive relationships. The purpose is to gain a better understanding and appreciation for diversity, to develop different approaches when dealing with diverse individuals, and to examine our own emotional management. Using a framework around having difficult conversations, participants will be introduced to diversity-related concepts and given the tools needed to navigate difficult conversations with diverse others. These are all key skills needed to work with people at all levels of the organizations.

To register, call Kristine Jarden at 618-650-2668, or Deanna Lotter at 618-650-5440 or visit: siue.edu/business/executive-education/index.shtml A listing of additional courses can also be found at this site.