Essentials Courses: Fall 2020 Schedule and New Offerings
The Essentials Programs, offered by Continuing Education, focus on people and professional skills and provide critical tools through a series of highly concentrated classes that you can tailor to your precise needs and interests. You can concentrate on one of seven streams or take one-off courses to compliment your training and development goals. These programs are funded by Human Resources for employees to take for free! See below the Fall 2020 offerings and descriptions of four exciting new courses (we will post the Winter 2021 schedule later this summer). All courses are being offered virtually for the Fall term. Enroll today!
Four New Courses
ESS-905 Remote Work – Strategies for Efficiency (Fall 2020)
Remote work is here to stay. The good news is working remotely can be productive, effective, and convenient. To achieve this, we need to be prepared, which means thinking beyond technology. Remote work involves structure, clear goals, and strong communication practices. Virtual teamwork, collaboration, and meetings all benefit from a deliberate effort to create engagement and accountability. In addition to these strategies, working remotely means setting clear boundaries to support a healthy work-life balance.
ESS-906 How to Pick Up the Pieces – Leadership, Motivation, and Gratitude in Action (Fall 2020)
The “How to Pick Up the Pieces – Leadership, Motivation and Gratitude in Action” program has been designed to support those with the responsibility to inspire others through unforeseen change, crisis or disruptive transitions in their personal or professional work environment. As an example, the world has come to a stand-still with Covid-19 and created uncertainty that we must all learn to grow from.
How do we do this? This course guides a participant to re-centre themselves and define how they will “show up” to lead others, how to hit the mark on what truly motivates people, and how to better understand the power of gratitude to inspire continuous improvement and growth. This is a course for persons from all backgrounds and demographics, regardless of job title. When difficult things happen to good people, it requires everyone to find the leader within.
ESS-903 Managing in an Unionized Environment (Winter 2021)
Managing in a unionized environment can be a complex and overwhelming experience for many organizational leaders. Regular changes to labour laws, human rights codes, governance frameworks, policies, and collective agreements can increase workplace anxiety and impact the effectiveness of daily operations for managers and unionized employees. This informative and practical course is designed for supervisors and frontline leaders across diverse industries who are responsible for leading and managing teams within unionized settings.
In this course, participants will acquire an understanding of the legal framework within which unions operate including labour relations and collective agreements. Through a combination of lecture, discussions, group activities, and case studies, the following will be explored: the history and origin of unions in Canada, progressive discipline, performance management, grievances, and arbitration procedures. By understanding the foundation of labour relations, supervisors and frontline leaders will be enabled to apply consistent approaches to managing in a unionized environment. Such expertise will ultimately lead to an increase in employee engagement.
ESS-904 Influencing Others with Confidence and Success (Winter 2021)
Work is increasingly complex. More and more we are asked to collaborate with multiple colleagues and stakeholders, other teams and diverse partner organizations. Because of this highly matrixed interconnectivity, autonomy and authority aren’t a given. In these situations, success is often tied to our ability to influence direction and decisions while maintaining effective and positive working relationships.
To be an effective and successful influencer, one needs to be able to compellingly communicate the issue and link it to outcomes, all the while appreciating the perspectives and priorities of the other stakeholders and team members.
Fall 2020 Offerings
Click on the links below for course descriptions and information about enrollment.
- ESS 805 Unconscious Bias
- ESS 811 Leadership Foundations
- ESS 821 Leading Millennials
- ESS 905 Remote Work: Strategies for Efficiency – NEW!
- ESS 816 Creating Your Work-Life Balance
- ESS 906 How to Pick Up the Pieces – Leadership, Motivation and Gratitude in Action – NEW!
- ESS 895 Effective Business Writing
- ESS 836 Project Management
- ESS 862 Creative & Critical Thinking
- ESS 902 Coaching and Mentoring
- ESS 806 Delegation that Works
- ESS 809 Gender Inclusive Communication and Collaboration
- ESS 804 Strategic Planning Fundamentals
- ESS 802 Maximizing Personal Productivity
- ESS 797 Art of Active Listening
- ESS 801 Customer Service Excellence
- ESS 835 Emotional Intelligence
Learning & Development