Leadership for 1st line Supervisors

Managing Engagement is a two-day experiential workshop designed to assist new and first line people leaders develop necessary skills and behaviors to fully engage and lead a diverse and contemporary industrial workforce. In addition to the classroom, there will be both pre and post work, including a 360°survey to be completed 4 weeks prior to the workshop.

Given the four functions of management, (i.e., Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling), Leadership particularly, has become more demanding and complex, and necessary, as our world of work continues to evolve and change. Leadership has never been straightforward, and with all the demands being placed on leaders, we still expect them to create a positive and productive workplace where employees feel safe, listened to, and supported. In recent years, this concept has been severely tested, as a result of numerous events and changes affecting the workplace, including the pandemic, the subsequent shift to virtual work, technology enhancements, labour shortages, and increased societal demands on organizations. These challenges, have had an effect on the ability of organizations to attract and retain talent at all levels, regardless of the nature of work, or industry.

In the midst, of all this, a stark truth stands out, which organizational leaders have always understood. Good leaders make all the difference in attracting and retaining talent. While loyalty to companies and organizations is very rare, loyalty to individuals continues, specifically leaders. For example, it is quite typical for a well-established leader to draw upon co-workers, to fill positions in new organizations. This is a time-tested technique among recruiters, in seeking candidates, and becoming more common as labour shortages become more prominent.

In many cases, the key to developing leaders begins with the ability to engage others in meaningful and real discussions, something which is becoming more challenging in itself, in this day of social media, and conflicting priorities in society. Our human tendency is to be silent, rather than draw attention to ourselves, and any opinions we may have, popular or

unpopular as they may be. While the rank and file maybe be able to hold their opinions to themselves, this does not work for leaders who are responsible for providing a safe and productive workplace for others. Leadership can be a challenging and lonely place to be, if your actions and behaviors are viewed as unpopular and biased, and not transparent to the observing public.

Our starting point in the workshop is to provide skills and understanding designed to both strengthen relationships and hold real conversations under challenging circumstances. A key component of the training will be reliance on experiential learning, real-life practices, and feedback on behaviors. Our first goal is to help participants develop greater self-awareness of their strengths and preferred tendencies and how they may affect their ability to engage, communicate and to provide leadership. Prework will involve the completion of a 360 ° Leadership Survey, combined with related surveys and certified instruments as a starting point in the training. A second focus will be on how we humans communicate, and skills required to communicate safely, respectfully and in real terms. This will be the focus of the first day.

On the second day, our focus will then shift to Leadership and what is required to engage the whole person at work. While we understand that seeking compliance with policy or directives will guide our hands, the harder challenge is to engage the head and the heart. This requires not only the ability to hold real discussions with employees, but also to explore, diagnose and remove barriers which may be impeding performance and job satisfaction. Managing diversity will be an important topic of discussion, throughout the workshop, knowing that the only way to overcome many of its challenges is to create an open, inclusive dialogue, within the confines of a safe environment.

Who is this for: For new leaders and anyone needing to enhance engagement capability.