The difference between successful organizations and the rest is their ability to build strategic leadership capacity from within. In today’s world, one of the main objectives of the leader is to balance the dynamic day-to-day issues with tomorrow’s opportunities. Developing the capability of the organization, to navigate through the unmeasured and uncertain variables, is critical to the success of any organization, be it public or private.

Negotiating collective agreements is the single most critical responsibility for both Management and Union. The process and the results of the collective agreement have the potential to destroy the relationship between the parties. It can also alter how effectively Management can manage its workplace, as well as the Union’s ability to represent the interests of its members. 

Grievances that lead to arbitration are not only financially draining, but the results of the arbitration can have a significant impact on the morale and operations of the organization. In some situations, the win or loss of an arbitration can completely change the culture and the perceived rights of Management or Union. 

Without critical analysis or thoughtful insight, leadership becomes hit and miss. Most leaders underestimate the impact of their influence over their teams; passively agree to goals and objectives that are not aligned with their corporate values and mission; or become too focussed on outcomes while destroying morale. Poor leadership is often at the forefront of disastrous processes. 

Even in today’s ever-changing organizational environment, successful leaders are able to envision a coherent future that doesn’t exist today. Their ability to see beyond tomorrow begins with the process of strategic thinking. Strategic thinkers embrace a broad perspective of their organization, build strategic partners and alliances, and are acutely aware of the trends and developments that impact their present and future realities.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a better manager of people? Where do you learn the right skills and how do you put them into practice? Typically, organizations do themselves harm by poor promotion decisions.  Albeit with good intentions, we promote individuals based on strong technical skills but fail to consider the more important attribute - their ability to manage people.

Why is it that even the most successful organizations have difficulty managing in a unionized environment? Unionized employees believe that they can’t be touched, and that if it is not in their existing job description then they don’t have to do it. Sick time is used as an entitlement rather than a benefit and any form of coaching is seen as discipline and therefore challenged.  No wonder, supervisors cringe at the site of the Shop Steward, and freeze in astonishment when an employee says ‘no’ to an instruction and walks away! 

Traditionally, managers use the position-based model of negotiation to manage conflict; however, this simplistic approach creates winners and losers. In fact, mostparties involved perceived that they have in fact lost in some way and have been harmed through the conflict itself and through this process of “who’s right and who’s wrong.” 

Effective communication is a critical component of organizational success. The execution of every organizational strategy begins with a well planned communications process. Learning to communicate effectively is therefore essential to the leader’s ability to achieve organizational outcomes. It is through the communication process that will ensure employee understanding, commitment and motivation. 

Can you afford not to do it right the first time? An employer survey conducted by a national consulting firm found that the majority of new supervisors and managers have no formal education or training in managing people. Based on good performance, they were promoted; then, without guidance, they were left to manage by trial and error or by reacting to a ‘gut’ feeling. Even more problematic, some supervisors will avoid their management responsibilities altogether as they are unsure of their legal and management rights.

What is effective leadership? Why do some managers easily gain compliance whereas others have to rule by rank? Can you learn how to become an effective leader or are you simply born with innate abilities?

Do you know how to objectively evaluate your employees’ performance? Like many managers, we struggle with this responsibility as we have no objective or known standard method of evaluation.

Have you ever calculated the cost to hire and train a new employee? It costs, on average, thousands of dollars to hire a front line employee. These costs include the hiring process, the temporary loss of productivity and training. Despite this large up-front investment, it may only be the beginning.

Most of us have worked with or know of certain individuals that personify leadership - the ability to gain the support, confidence and commitment of others to a shared goal or outcome. While top performers demonstrate interpersonal and social influence to achieve goals and outcomes, they also share a set of highly-developed competencies called Emotional Intelligence.

More and more Employer’s are finding themselves involved in costly lawsuits because of issues that they should have been aware of. With even more restrictive laws, you can not afford to manage by trial and error. With this program, you will acquire the knowledge to help you manage employees effectively and avoid the costly traps that hurt your credibility as an organization and can potentially save you thousands of dollars. If you have been managing employees by the “seat of your pants”, then the knowledge gained from this program will help you stay out of “hot water”.

Unions know the law and how to use the system to their advantage. It’s usually the employer who is left confused and intimidated by unfair labour practice complaints, union certification drive, or receipt of strike notice. With this program, you will have the knowledge necessary to be able to deal with the above issues with confidence.

WCB has made mandatory regulations regarding Health and Safety Committees, Violence in the Workplace, Musculoskeletal Injuries and having effective Occupational Health & Safety Policies and Procedures. Not establishing these programs or complying with the regulations that govern them may lead to BIG penalties.

Most public and private sector board members come to their positions with a strong vision and determination to make a difference. At the same time they are thrown into a new environment where they have many questions and few or no answers.

As a supervisor, you are the link between your employees and the organization. It is your ‘supervisory’ skills that will either help your employees succeed or fail in their roles. With so much at stake, have you been properly trained?

Employee conflict is common in all work environments but if left unmanaged it will have negative consequences on the workplace. Often we take the passive approach to managing conflict, and naively hope that the issues will somehow be resolved. Unfortunately, the issues typically become worse over time and the negativity spreads, resulting in poor employee morale, loss of productivity, absenteeism, staff turnover, and a ‘poisoned’ work environment.