• The Art of Influencing Others
• Assertiveness Skills
• Balancing Priorities
• Business Etiquette
• Creative Problem Solving
• Critical Thinking Skills
• Developing Positive Relationships at Work
• Diversity Awareness: Fostering a Climate of Inclusion, Sensitivity, and Respect in the Workplace
• Effective Listening Skills
• Emotional Intelligence
• FERPA Basics for UA-PTC Employees
• Financial Intelligence: The Ten Accounting Instruments Every Professional Should Know
• How to Manage Your Emotions
• Ideas into Action: From Creativity to Innovation
• Identity Theft (Red Flag Rule)
• Make Yourself Indispensable
• Manage your Emotions
• Productive Work Habits
• Public Safety
• Resilience: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough
• Sexual Harassment and Title IX
• Skillful Collaboration: Working Successfully with Others to Achieve a Common Goal
• Social Media at Work
• Team Excellence: The Secret to Achieving High Performance
• The Golden Rule: How to Create a Respectful Workplace

Art of Influencing Others

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the principles of influence and persuasion.
• List skills needed to build rapport and develop genuine relationships.
• Recognize differences in communication styles.
• Identify ways to tailor your communication style to increase your influence with others

Assertiveness Skills

Successful completion of this course will increase your knowledge and ability to:

• Define assertiveness
• Recognize the assertiveness continuum
• Identify personal blocks to assertiveness
• Demonstrate assertive language and behaviors
• Avoid language and behaviors that are not assertive (passive, aggressive and passive-aggressive behaviors)
• Use assertive behaviors in everyday situations

Balancing Priorities

In our increasingly competitive world, we all need to be more productive than ever. Not only must we do our jobs in less time and with fewer resources, we often work for more than one boss and on more than one team. As a result, we may face conflicting tasks, deadlines, and expectations, making it difficult to identify what’s most important. Furthermore, the transformations in our workplaces brought about by technology have, in addition to the many benefits, increased the speed and complexity of our work.

This course will enable you to properly prioritize your obligations, allowing you to improve performance and productivity. As a result, you’ll also achieve a better work/life balance, minimize the stress related to managing your tasks efficiently, and, ultimately, improve working relationships.

Creative Problem Solving

Creativity is the process of generating something new that has value. There are many original ideas and concepts, but some may not be practical and therefore may not be considered valuable. Innovation is the process of creating something new that has significant value to a particular individual, group, organization, industry, or society. An innovation is a creation that has significant value. Both creativity and innovation are necessary to stay alive in today’s business world. Organizations will continue to be confronted by strategic challenges unmatched in business history.

Critical Thinking Skills

After you’ve completed this course, you’ll be able to define what critical thinking is. You’ll know how to identify and adopt the key characteristics of critical thinking. You’ll be more skilled at recognizing and avoiding critical thinking mistakes, as well as identifying assumptions and biases. You’ll be able to evaluate information accurately and thoroughly, and distinguish between fact and opinion. And last, but not least, you’ll know how to implement the critical thinking process in business situations.

Developing Positive Relationships at Work

After you’ve completed this course, you’ll be able to base every relationship at work on a common purpose. You’ll know how to demonstrate actions that build trust and avoid those that erode it. You’ll be prepared to model the positive relationship behaviors that you seek in others, as well as manage—not manipulate—your relationships. You’ll be more skilled at implementing strategies to improve or survive certain relationships. And last, but not least, you’ll know how to set boundaries and stand your ground.

Diversity Awareness: Fostering a Climate of Inclusion, Sensitivity, and Respect in the Workplace

A survey by Korn/Ferry International found that more than 2 million people leave their jobs each year because of unfairness in the workplace, costing employers an estimated $64 billion a year in hiring costs. In addition, people of color were three times more likely than white heterosexual males to say unfairness was the reason they quit their jobs.
What is the source of unfair treatment and differences among people in organizations? Traditional diversity awareness programs have focused on the treatment of women and minorities. However, differences arise from a host of other traits as well including age, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, physical abilities, educational background, whether someone has children, even being an engineer versus being a salesperson. These traits or “profiles” cause people to make inaccurate assumptions, create separation, and yes, treat people unfairly. The goal of diversity awareness is to promote an inclusive work environment.

Effective Listening Skills

After you have completed this course, you’ll be able to describe the importance of listening. You’ll know how to identify barriers to listening well and implement the steps of active, effective listening. You’ll be able to uncover hidden messages and listen well in tense, emotional situations. Finally, you’ll know how to increase the information flow to enhance productivity and teamwork.

Emotional Intelligence

Motivated business professionals are looking for every edge to be successful in the workplace. Naturally, many develop expertise in technical or task-oriented skills in order to enhance their careers. However, those who have a high level of awareness and control over their emotions, and use their emotions to connect with others and develop positive relationships, will find even greater success in the workplace.

This soft skill is known as emotional intelligence, and it is an essential element in the business world, especially in high-stress environments. If you are unable to control your emotions, they can preoccupy your thoughts and interfere with your ability to evaluate a situation objectively. On the contrary, knowing what triggers your emotional responses and understanding how to exercise self-control over them enables you to confront difficult issues and manage change with clarity and composure.

FERPA Basics for UA-PTC Employees

"The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that affords parents the right to have access to their children’s education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records. When a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student (“eligible student”). The FERPA statute is found at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g and the FERPA regulations are found at 34 CFR Part 99." Source: http://familypolicy.ed.gov/faq-page#t60n50

Financial Intelligence: The Ten Accounting Instruments Every Professional Should Know

Financial statements and instruments reveal important information about your organization’s financial health by highlighting areas where your organization performs well and areas where there are opportunities for improvement. By learning how to read and interpret a few basic financial instruments, you can recognize opportunities to increase revenue and shave expenses, thus increasing your value to the organization. By improving your financial know-how, you’ll empower yourself in many ways. You’ll know how to justify requests and translate performance into financial terms. You’ll be able to quantify your department’s contribution to the organization—and your own. You’ll communicate more effectively with your boss, upper management, shareholders, and other stakeholders about the financial results you have achieved and those you plan to deliver.

How to Manage Your Emotions

After you’ve completed this course, you’ll be able to recognize the messages our emotions send us at work. You’ll understand the trigger-perception-response cycle and know how to reframe your thinking to avoid emotional outbursts.

You’ll be prepared to replace emotional outbursts with productive confrontations. You’ll be more skilled at recovering from your own or another person’s emotional outburst. And last, but not least, you'll know how to employ long-term strategies to channel emotions productively.

Ideas into Action: From Creativity to Innovation

After you’ve completed this course, you’ll be able to recognize common myths and misconceptions about innovation. You’ll be able to use multiple intelligences to generate a variety of ideas. You’ll know how to apply the characteristics of creative people to any problem or issue. You’ll be prepared to follow a four-step process for team innovation. You’ll be more skilled at promoting innovation without regulating it. You’ll be able to use cross-functional teams to foster innovation. And last, but not least, you’ll know how to spot sacred cows in your organization.

Identity Theft (Red Flag Rule)

Learn how to look for red flags that may indicate identity theft may be occurring with UA-PTC covered accounts. This course is mandatory for specific individuals who have access to financial accounts. Participants will learn how to identify, detect, and respond appropriately to red flags.

Make Yourself Indispensable

While every employee has a certain role in the functioning of their organization, today’s workplace requires that an individual readily take on a range of tasks to accommodate frequent organizational changes and remain productive. Flexibility is a long-standing and valuable trait in the working environment and an increasingly necessary element with today’s technological advances. With new innovations, there are new tasks to perform and new roles to assume —an inevitable outcome of our increasingly global market and companies’ desire to improve efficiency amidst the change. Today’s workplace is an international conglomeration of “individuals who possess different values and orientations…” As a result, it is not only important to be able to take initiative and assume new roles in the workplace, but also to communicate effectively among various departments, individuals, co-workers, and clientele at every level. How to Make Yourself Indispensable is a comprehensive course designed to make you an invaluable employee. It teaches you the skills you need to adapt to—and even embrace—situational changes at work. You’ll learn how to thrive under pressure and expand your career opportunities by taking initiative, effectively resolving problems, sharing your knowledge, and being an overall positive influence in the workplace.

Manage your Emotions

After you’ve completed this course, you’ll be able to recognize the messages our emotions send us at work. You’ll understand the trigger-perception-response cycle and know how to reframe your thinking to avoid emotional outbursts.

You’ll be prepared to replace emotional outbursts with productive confrontations. You’ll be more skilled at recovering from your own or another person’s emotional outburst. And last, but not least, you'll know how to employ long-term strategies to channel emotions productively.

Productive Work Habits

After you’ve completed this course, you’ll be able to recognize the difference between true productivity and “fake” productivity. You’ll know how to prioritize your daily work based on your key results. You’ll be able to improve your ability to focus. You’ll know how to eliminate habits that detract from your productivity. You’ll be prepared to work effectively with colleagues. And last, but not least, you’ll be more skilled at cultivating the nine habits that will increase your productivity.

Public Safety

This section includes Active Shooter, Emergency Procedures, and Laura’s Law training. This training is open to everyone, but new employees are required to complete this training within 90 days of their hire date.

Resilience: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough

After you’ve completed this course, you’ll be prepared to bounce back from adversity. You’ll be more skilled at building your self-esteem as a foundation of resilience. You’ll know how to make and maintain connections to build resilience. You’ll be prepared to accept and embrace change. You’ll know how to use flexible thinking to overcome obstacles. And last, but not least, you’ll be able to implement stress management and relaxation strategies to maintain resilience.

Sexual Harassment and Title IX

Note: This is NOT the mandatory sexual harassment training required each year. This is just an additional opportunity for getting more information. For information on mandatory training, visit the PDI website.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination o the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity. The principal objective of title IX is to avoid the use of federal money to support sex discrimination in education programs and to provide individual citizens effective protections against those practices. Both of these laws apply to Pulaski Technical College and its employees.

Skillful Collaboration: Working Successfully with Others to Achieve a Common Goal

The old expression says “two heads are better than one.” That’s certainly true when collaboration runs smoothly—when everybody involved gets along, contributes unique perspectives and skills, and works together to resolve problems productively and meet deadlines. But what about when people argue, work gets stalled, and contention is prevalent?

Successful collaboration involves far more than just working side-by-side. It’s a process that requires attitudes, skills, and practices that can be learned and strengthened—and mastering them will not only make your job easier, it will help you become more successful professionally.

Social Media at Work

There are more and more examples of employees misusing social media in ways that harm the organizations they work for. At a minimum, such actions create bad publicity, and at worst, they lead to damaging lawsuits that affect an organization’s success and profitability. An understanding of the dos and don’ts of using social media at work is essential to every employee in every organization. An organization’s public image and reputation depend on how well it guides its employees to exercise good judgment when using social media, and on its ability to navigate the difficult situations that arise from social media interactions. While using social media effectively requires caution and good judgment, it can also have significant benefits, such as creating loyal, long-term customers and improving relationships with employees, vendors, and suppliers. This program looks at the actions you should take—and those you should avoid—to use social media successfully in your workplace.

Team Excellence: The Secret to Achieving High Performance

According to a survey conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership, 91% of respondents agreed with the statement, “Teams are central to organizational success,” and 87% said, “Our team collaborating with other teams is essential for success.”

Clearly, teams are a vital part of almost every organization, which are depending on them to use resources more effectively, solve problems more creatively, and provide greater productivity than individual employees working alone.

The goal of every team is to perform at its highest level and the secret to achieving high performance is this—having team members who CARE. Care in the literal sense, as well in the sense of the acronym for the following traits: Communication, Ability, Results, and Esprit de corps. These four traits are the foundation of team excellence. You will find practical strategies for developing each trait throughout the remainder of the program.

The Golden Rule: How to Create a Respectful Workplace

If you surveyed a random list of companies and asked them what their core values are, chances are that most would identify “respect” as a top value. But what does “respect” mean and why is it important?

A recent study of more than 17,000 employees from more than 80 countries revealed that respect for colleagues is key in creating a happy work atmosphere. We all want to feel respected. A respectful work environment motivates us to do our best work, encourages us to support others, and not only produces positive results for the organization, but also allows its employees to have job satisfaction.