Continuous training and development of your employees is critical to engagement, retention, growth, and productivity. The opportunity for employees to continue to grow and develop career enhancing skills through workshops, training and seminars is integral to improving an organization's success. The following is a sample of workshops, seminars and trainings designed to create a 360-degree learning experience. The programs are flexible and can be easily tailored to meet the specific needs of the organization and participants and can be completed in person or a virtual format. These interactive sessions enable participants to transfer the skills learned in the classroom back to the workplace which creates a knowledge sharing experience.

Assertiveness Training
This training program demonstrates to participants how to confront problem behaviors in others and then how to effectively negotiate mutual solutions. Participants will learn how to give and receive constructive criticism, and how to build and maintain winning relationships with people in their professional life. Through active participation in role-plays and intensive group discussion, along with training in communication skills, the causes and solutions of misunderstandings will become apparent. 

Becoming a Leader
“Being a leader is not the same as being a manager, and vice versa. Managers create order out of complexity; they keep the trains running on schedule. Leaders, in contrast, deal with ambiguity, change, and opportunity; they push the train tracks where they have never gone before. This distinction is not entirely accurate, as leaders must also manage. To be effective, leadership cannot just be about inspiration and grand visions, but must also be about getting results.” (Harvard Business Essentials: Manager’s Tool Kit)

This interactive workshop explores the following topics through discussion, exercises, and case studies:

• Characteristics of Effective Leaders
• Becoming a Change Agent
• What Leaders Must Balance
• The Complacent Organization
• Creating a Vision That Others Will Follow
• Leading When You Are Not the Boss

Business Writing

Successful leaders embrace the importance of good writing skills. The ability to write and communicate clearly will deliver positive results. Some would argue that writing ability is less important in today’s high- tech world of electronic communications. We now depend less on skill and more on these tools for precise, accurate communication. The experts say: “No.” Good written communication skills are more critical than ever. In this program participants will explore the following:

• The Five C’s of Good Writing
• Structuring a Message Using Professional Form and Tone
• Appropriate Subject Lines, Openings and Closings
• Appropriate Use of E-Mail Correspondence - The Do’s and Don’ts
• Corporate Grammar – Commonly Confused Words, Punctuations, and Spellings
• Skill Practice Using Actual E-Mail Samples (Personal and Generic)

Change Management
Change can be a hard word for employees. This interactive workshop helps participants understand the impact of change and how to manage it, whether it is imposed on you, you initiate it, or it comes from the outside. Professional and personal examples will be used to design an effective individual action plan.

Topics include:

• Effectively Implementing Change
• Steps to Winning Support for Change
• Managing the Effects of Change on People
• How to Communicate Change with Persuasion and Power
• Conducting Effective Outplacement Separations (Position Elimination)

This workshop focuses specifically on notifying employees as a result of a reduction in force, which usually means a “no-fault” separation. Your role as a manager is critical - for the separated employee, for those who remain, for the organization at large, and for your own managerial credibility. The workshop covers Notification Meeting Steps – including a Meeting Guide with a Do’s and Don’ts Checklist.

Conducting Effective Performance Appraisal Discussions
Sitting down to conduct an employee performance evaluation with a staff member is the part of the appraisal process most managers dread. The process does not have to be as difficult as we imagine it to be, nor does the session have to be tense or uncomfortable. Participants of this workshop will learn how to conduct positive, valuable assessments that lead to maximizing staff performance and helping your employees achieve their professional goals, as well as your organization’s objectives.

Conducting Effective Terminations (For Performance)
In today’s business climate, conducting an effective termination has become more crucial than ever to reduce risk and legal liability. This workshop discusses the steps for terminating an employee after a formal disciplinary process has been followed. A review of termination, steps to follow in the termination process and a termination worksheet are included in this training.

Communicating with Confidence
The ability to communicate effectively is the foundation for success in the workplace. Good communication is also an important factor in client relationships, profitability, team effectiveness, and
employee engagement. This program explores the difference between one-way and two-way communication and the impact of true listening skills.
Topics include:

• The Difference between Communication and Effective Communication
• The Four Types of Communication
• Pitfalls in Face-to-Face Communication
• Four Steps to Listening with Understanding
• Face-to-Face Communication Steps
• Non-Verbal Communication
• Discussion of Communication Challenges
• Action Plans for Implementation in the Workplace

Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
Unresolved conflicts cause stress, frustration, and lost work time. They result in mistakes, delayed decisions, and increased employee turnover, illness, and absenteeism. This workshop will present six easily learned techniques for smoothing office conflicts and dealing with hostile or uncooperative co- workers. These simple and direct techniques quickly ease tension, clear the air, and bring good business back to the forefront. Learn how to anticipate your listener’s response and gain their trust, set limits and build mutual respect, use key words and phrases that establish a spirit of cooperation, and build win/win relationships.

Critical Thinking Skills
Critical thinking is fast becoming a highly sought-after quality in managers/supervisors and executives. This
program will provide you with practical skills that can be applied immediately to the day-to-day operation
of your business. Maximize your brainpower! Become familiar with the different styles of thinking and how
to identify your own personal preferences. Learn how to ask yourself the big picture questions, learn how
to manage team idea exchanges, while becoming better at conclusions and decisions.

Dealing with Difficult People
This program is designed to explore the types of difficult people that participants encounter in their career. Participants will learn how to recognize and understand the behavior and motivations of a difficult person. This interactive workshop will help participants develop solutions for how to deal with difficult people effectively and constructively, while addressing their own reactions and responses.

Dealing with “Under the Influence” – Medical Marijuana and Other Drugs
Most of you are familiar with Maine’s drug-testing statutes, and some of you may have gone through the hassle of getting drug testing policy approved by the Maine Department of Labor (MDOL). Under Maine law, you cannot drug test employees without first having an MDOL-approved policy. Even with an approved policy, employers are subject to a host of limitations on when and how they can test employees, as well as what they can do with employees who test positive for a controlled substance. A change in the law could have a major impact on Maine employers that have employees who are covered under federal drug-testing requirements. This workshop describes the law changes, implications for employers, and practical advice to remain or become compliant.

Designing an Effective Onboarding Process
When employees succeed, the organization succeeds. A thorough, well-planned Employee Onboarding program is the first step on the road to that success. This workshop covers the benefits of proper onboarding, planning for success, the mechanics of a successful orientation, and onboarding as an ongoing process. Sample onboarding programs, handouts, evaluations and checklists will be discussed and provided.

Developing the Service Edge - Customer Service Skills
This highly pragmatic, two-part workshop helps your employees’ gain knowledge, skills and competencies to increase customer satisfaction. Customer perception is what counts. Participants will gain valuable tools and techniques that can be immediately put to work.

Module One –

Introduction – Customer Relations Basics

The Development of a Positive Customer

Service Attitude
Interacting with the Customer

Module Two – (usually held a few weeks later)

Teamwork in Customer Relations
Dealing with Difficult Customers
Managing Yourself and Avoiding
Customer Contact Burnout

Effectively Communicating by E-Mail
When information needs to be disseminated quickly, there is no better way than by e-mail. Unfortunately, with the benefit of speed comes the possibility of problems that aren’t always predictable unless employees are educated in the correct use of e-mail. If your employees are able to manage e-mail correspondence professionally, it will provide your organization with that all-important competitive edge. By educating employees about what can and cannot be said in an e-mail, you can protect your company from awkward, and perhaps costly, liability issues.

Topics include:

• What is “Netiquette”? – Understanding the E-mail Challenge
• Getting to the Point: Appropriate Subject Lines, Openings and Closings
• “Talking” to the Reader and Structuring Your Message
• Maintaining Professional Form and Tone
• The Do’s and Don’ts of E-mail Correspondence

Emotional Intelligence for Leaders
As a leader, you’re expected to solve problems, make difficult or unpopular decisions, maintain credibility, and be able to remain calm in the face of disagreement. This workshop will assist with learning best- practices for sidestepping pitfalls and barriers and learning how to cope with the challenges that come with being a leader. In this session it is time to build on your solid foundation of management skills and expertise to move beyond managing to become an effective leader.

Employee Coaching and Counseling
This workshop is for individuals who want to influence, direct, teach and motivate. Participants can use these skills to create optimal work conditions within your organization.

This workshop will enable participants to analyze and develop their coaching and counseling skills. After completing this workshop participants gain practical and specific strategies to assist in dealing with complex problems and effective motivation to improve job performance.

Employee Engagement and the Secrets of Motivation
The question clients most often ask business consultants is, “How can we motivate employees?” The answer is, “You can’t!” The problem is within the question itself. The question implies that somewhere there are gimmicks, strategies or techniques that once discovered can rapidly increase employee motivation and productivity. How do you build a workplace that quality employees want to remain with and quality outsiders want to be hired into? This program will address the concept of motivation and how managers can unlock employee potential.

Employment Law – What Every Manager/Supervisor Should Know
The importance of managers/supervisors understanding employment law cannot be stressed enough. Management is critical in assuring a safe, productive workplace where all employees are treated fairly, while also avoiding burdensome, costly litigation expenses. This workshop covers employment laws, both federal and state. Participants are involved through situational analyses and exercises which reinforce the learning experience.

Ethics in the Workplace
This program teaches participants the principles of business ethics as they apply to a variety of situations when dealing with co-workers, colleagues, and vendors. It also presents guidelines to help apply these principles by assessing the participants actions under specific circumstances. Exercises will help attendees practice applying the principles to determine what actions to take.
Topics include:

• Defining Ethics in the Workplace
• Making Ethical Business Decisions
• Dealing Ethically with Employees

Fundamentals of Legal and Regulatory Compliance
Fundamentals of Legal and Regulatory Compliance provides HR professionals and hiring managers with basic overviews of the various federal laws and regulations covering federal contractors. This program is designed to ensure that HR staff and hiring managers have basic knowledge of the various requirements
related to their roles.

Giving and Receiving Employee Feedback
One of the most important tools in a manager’s/supervisor’s tool box is using effective feedback. How you provide feedback will often determine the difference between success and failure. Through discussions, case studies, and exercises this workshop explores the importance of feedback, the four types of feedback, the step-by-step process for giving feedback, and how to receive feedback.

Goal Setting for Future Employee Development
Setting goals with employees is an important part of managing employees. This program discusses the five categories of goals and their intended outcome. This workshop will establish the optimum number of set goals, discuss the steps in writing effective goals using a goal worksheet. Ongoing focus of goal setting is imperative for continued success this workshop will also address selecting performance measures and re- negotiation of goals.

Harassment – Dealing with it, Preventing it, and Staying in Compliance
This program will help employers comply with all forms of harassment and hostile-free work environments as outlined in Federal and State laws. This workshop opens with a review of the current climate on the issue of harassment. Employers will learn to comply with federal and state anti-discrimination laws as well as offer strategies for preventing harassment at your organization. The details of your state’s training and notification statute will be reviewed. Additionally, we will discuss the extensive guidance on how to conduct a proper investigation of a sexual harassment claim.

How to Conduct Effective Meetings – Making Meetings Shorter, Yet More Meaningful This dynamic program will teach participants how to effectively plan for and facilitate effective meetings,
including a discussion of the 10-step process for developing better meetings. In addition, several standardized forms are presented to assist you in applying this information.

Topics include:

• Handling Difficult Team Members
• Effective Brainstorming
• The Six Step Problem Solving Process

Keep it Legal - Interviewing and Hiring
No matter how experienced we are as managers, hiring can always be a challenge. How do we recognize the people who will turn out mediocre from the ones who will really deliver for us? This workshop covers all aspects of recruiting, resume screening, interviewing, and hiring within a legal framework. In this interactive workshop, participants will work on filling a position which they currently have open or one they would typically fill.

Managing Multiple Priorities and Avoiding Burnout
This seminar is designed to assist participants with time management. The demands of work can become overwhelming but through this interactive workshop participants will learn how to make the best possible use of their workday. You will gain knowledge on identifying and recognizing the stress in the environment and learn how to redirect for positive results. This program is developed using the actual work plans and duties of the participants.

Topics include:

• The Basics of Organizing
• Planning to Meet Goals and Priorities
• Recognizing Time Wasters
• Conquering Procrastination
• Handling Interruptions
• Accomplishing More with Fewer Meetings

Managing the Generational Divide
There are now five Generations in the workforce and with that comes unique leadership and management challenges brought about by the different expectations and cultural differences each generational has experienced. From the Veteran generation to now Gen Z, engagement of these generations is critical to getting results and insuring success. Our high energy training program kicks it off with a “That’s Awesome” WOW factor which includes interactive learning, teambuilding, hiring and retention strategies as well as short and long-term development goals that will make a difference in your organization immediately.

Negativity in the Workplace
Negativity in the workplace fosters a negative environment which directly impacts individual employees, the team, and the organization itself. This interactive workshop explores six areas:

What is Workplace Negativity, what are Its Causes and How Does it Show Itself?
Dealing with Pervasive Individual and Team Negativity
Change and Negativity
Other Strategies to Eliminate Organizational Negativity
The Three Powers of a Positive Attitude Negativity Assessment Questionnaire
The Imbalance between Trust and Enablement

Negotiation Skills
This interactive workshop helps participants improve and refine their effective negotiating skills - whether it be with a customer over a price or with a peer regarding schedules and production deadlines. The art of negotiation is a learned skill that, with practice, and can be achieved by anyone.

Preparing for an OFCCP AAP Audit
This program is designed to prepare an organization for an OFCCP affirmative action program audit. The scope is fully scalable and can include a mock audit that simulates OFCCP audit techniques. The typical elements include a review of the current affirmative action program for technical compliance; a comprehensive review and analysis of the analytical results for red flags to be addressed; and a review of key HR documents, personnel processes and practice, and HR technology. The results of our analyses are then covered in an interactive work session with designated organizational leaders to finalize the AAP for audit submission, followed by detailed discussions of compliance/risk management recommendations, OFCCP desk audit and onsite audit processes and recommendations for audit preparation.

Key Topics:

Technical requirements of affirmative action programs
Executive Order 11246
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 503)
Vietnam Era Veteran Readjustment and Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
Analysis of affirmative action program results
Compensation analyses
OFCCP audit processes

Problem Solving Effectively
Solving problems can often become a roadblock in organizational efficiency. This workshop involves participants in a five-step structured approach to define the problem, analyze the problem, generate possible solutions, select the best solution, test the solution and implement the solution. Actual problems will be used for as a realistic learning tool.

Professionalism in the Workplace
Being a professional involves more than just knowing your field of expertise; it also involves creating a positive and confident image. This workshop presents techniques necessary to create a professional image through self-exploration, exercises, group activities and discussion.

Topics include:

• Take Charge of Your Image
• Tips for Success in the Workplace
• Developing a Positive Customer Service
• Atitude
• Dealing Effectively with the Difficult
• Customer and/or Co-worker

Recruiting and Retaining Talent
Few managerial decisions are as important as finding and retaining top tier talent. In a world where human assets have become the key differentiator between success or failure in your organization. This interactive workshop involves participants in discussions, exercises, and group activities in recruitment strategies, preparation for interviewing. An overview of avoidable turnover is also explored: Why do employees quit? When are employees most vulnerable? Additionally, steps to improving retention are also covered: selection, orientation and training, communication, feedback recognition, coaching and developing.

Retreat/Strategic Planning
Retreat/strategic planning is a customizable workshop that can be tailored to your organization’s needs. This program can be built for team building, leadership training, enhancing work relationships, improving morale, strategizing and creating a dynamic working environment to give your team a boost. A retreat can be an effective way to set or reset your organizations direction and accelerate the planning process. With CMA’s trusted advisors, organizations will firmly establish company goals, form a framework that translates into a strategic plan with specific, measurable and accountable tactics that will enable your organization to meet your company goals.

Stress Management
This program is designed to assist participants in recognizing the stress they experience in their jobs and teaching them how to redirect it for positive results. This program will be especially beneficial for people who must meet deadlines, make decisions, resolve conflict, and work in an environment that has rapidly changing sets of business demands. Each participant will complete a thorough Stress Profile and leave with steps to better manage their stress.

Team Building
This program highlights the characteristics of an effective team. Team building is a planned process that enables a group with common organizational goals to analyze and improve its effectiveness. What is the key to a winning team and what are the building blocks for high performance? Building a productive work team allows an organization to efficiently meet increased service demands while developing solutions for specific work problems. Through interactive and fun activities, the facilitator guides the team through this process, which includes the Self-Managed Colors personality assessment and a team competition.

The Crucial Role of a Supervisor
Good supervision/management is crucial to an organization’s success! This skills workshop explores the impact of an effective supervisor or manager. Through discussion, exercises, and cases studies, the importance of successful supervision is explored.

Topics include:

• The Two Responsibilities of Supervisors – Retention and Productivity
• Traits for Success
• Transition from Worker to Supervisor
• Why Employees Leave Organizations
• Qualities of an Effective Supervisor
• Supervisory Functions
• Four Pitfalls of Supervisors
• Personal Assessment of Supervisory Style

The Performance Management Process
This program is designed to help managers increase their effectiveness in managing the performance appraisal process. Participants gain insight into the understanding of the performance management cycle which includes, performance planning, performance coaching, and performance evaluation. Managers will learn how to handle hostile reactions, develop constructive, valuable, and worthwhile goals utilizing techniques from Harvard Business School, including goal integration.

Train-the-Trainer
This workshop is designed for individuals who have responsibility for training in their organizations, either as a full-time trainer or when training is part of their job duties. The trainer’s role is explored in depth in an interactive setting.

Session One:
The Learning Cycle and The Five Steps of Training

Session Two:

• Role of Facilitation in Training
• Handling Problem Situations
• Evaluating Training

Unconscious Bias in the Workplace
Exposed unconscious bias can be a major blow to your image as an organization, your reputation as an employer, and the daily lives of your employees. Unconscious biases are learned stereotypes that are automatic, unintentional, deeply engrained, universal, and are able to influence behavior.  This workshop is designed to expose participants to their unconscious biases, provide tools to adjust automatic patterns of thinking, and ultimately eliminate discriminatory behaviors.

Discussion topics:

• What does diversity mean to you?
• How does your culture influence bias, prejudice, stereotyping, and ultimately discrimination?
• Unconscious biases: We all have them!
• What are your unconscious biases?
• The impact of unconscious biases.
• Addressing unconscious biases at your organization.

What Managers Need to Know About Affirmative Action
Managers and organizational leaders at all levels of an organization have critical responsibilities related to affirmative action and equal opportunity employment. This program is designed to familiarize managers with the various components of an affirmative action program, and the specific role they play in various personnel processes to assist the organization in managing risks and achieving full compliance and state of audit-readiness. This program is customized to include applicable Company policies and procedures, results of prior OFCCP AAP audits, as well as terms and conditions of OFCCP conciliation agreements.

Key Topics:

• Key components of affirmative action programs
• Executive Order 11246
• Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 503)
• Vietnam Era Veteran Readjustment and Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
• Managing personnel actions
• Documenting personnel actions
• Supporting good faith efforts
• AAP audit procedures and roles
• Complying with Conciliation Agreements