8:30 – 11:45 a.m.

Enhancing Your Decision-Making Skills

Everyone solves problems and reaches decisions in a myriad of different ways.  You can apply creative and analytical techniques to this process.  At the end of this short course you will have heard about:

• Being able to determine the root issue of a problem or issue
• Identifying and applying decision-making techniques
• Creating an action plan that includes follow-up strategies

Yvonne Bridges

Yvonne is an entrepreneur and master trainer specializing in corporate and employee development solutions.  Her expertise in conducting detailed organizational needs assessments enables her to target training to specific business needs. Yvonne’s dedication to providing practical information that can be directly applied on the job has earned solid reviews from her program participants.  She works successfully with clients in a variety of business sectors and across all levels of staff.  Yvonne’s areas of training expertise include:  business writing, technical writing, interpersonal communication, assertiveness skills, life management, presentation skills, decision-making, problem solving, change management and others.

Edmonton: 8:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Calgary: 1:15 – 4:30 p.m.

Ethics for your Profession

The importance to society of ethical behavior has been dramatically driven home during recent years by a number of high profile financial scandals.  Within our own technical sphere in Alberta, engineers, geologists and geophysicists are regarded as leaders by employers/clients and by the public at large.  Clearly, this means technical leadership through expertise and competence; equally clearly, it means ethical leadership by trustworthy professionals. 

Recognizing ethical situations and designing actions to address them are important skills for professionals.  This session will review the legal and ethical obligations of APEGGA members, and then use newly-developed video case studies as the basis for discussion of common ethical dilemmas.  Participants will learn about the “APEGGA” perspective on such situations, and about the perspectives of their colleagues in the session.

Larry Staples

Larry has over twenty-five years experience in leading engineering consulting and research organizations following graduation with a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and an MBA from the University of Alberta.  In recent years, he led the spin-off from Russell Technologies Inc. of a high technology business to inspect municipal water lines, and is named as a co-inventor on two US patent applications for water line evaluation methodologies.  Currently, he heads the engineering and laboratory testing group in the prairie region of Canspec Group Inc., Canada’s largest non-destructive testing and materials engineering consultancy.

Larry is also known for his volunteer leadership in a variety of community organizations, technical societies and APEGGA.  He has served on Council, chaired several committees and task forces, including the Discipline Committee and the Practice Review Board, and contributed to task forces which formulated the Code of Ethics. 

Calgary: 8:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Edmonton: 1:15 – 4:30 p.m.

Negotiating

Loren Falkenberg

Loren Falkenberg has a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Queen’s University.  She has been a professor in the Haskayne School of Business for 16 years.  She has developed and taught the negotiation courses at School, including all the executive negotiation courses.  Loren has consulted with organizations on how to improve negotiation practices and has published in a number of academic and practitioner journals.

8:30 – 11:45 a.m.

Managing Dismissals Effectively

This presentation will cover some of the ins and outs of terminating employees and ways to protect your interests, including the following issues:

- constructive dismissal
- terminating for just cause
- potential damages
- how to conduct a termination and how not to
- recent developments in employment law
- human rights considerations
- employment contracts.

Tom Ross – Calgary

Tom, a partner in the Calgary office of McLennan Ross, is the current Chair of the Labour and Employment Practice Group.  He is also active in various litigation matters.

Tom received his undergraduate degree from the business school at the University of Western Ontario (honours bachelor of arts in business administration).  He then obtained his bachelor of laws from the University of Alberta and was admitted to the Alberta Bar.

Tom advises clients in all areas of labour and employment law and is involved in representing clients in collective bargaining and in matters before the Labour Relations Board, grievance arbitration boards, the Human Right Commission, the Workers’ Compensation Board and all levels of Alberta courts.

Tom has been involved in many interesting cases, including an NHL Players’ Association hockey arbitration and the constitutional challenge of federal firearms legislation at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Tom is a frequent writer and speaker on labour relations and employment matters.  He has lectured on labour and employment topics to classes at university and college, and at various business and professional seminars.  Tom has been recognized in The Canadian Legal LEXPERT Director 2003 as a “leading practitioner” in the areas of labour and employment law.

Fred Day, Q.C.  – Edmonton

Fred, a partner in McLennan Ross, is actively involved in the areas of labour, employment, human right and arbitration.  He represents clients in a variety of industries.

He obtained a bachelor of arts, with distinction, in 1972 and a bachelor of laws in 1975, both from the University of Alberta.  He was called to the Alberta Bar in 1976 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1994.

Fred is well known for his contribution to many charitable causes and served in the Local Organizing Committee of the Edmonton 2001 World Championship in Athletics.  Fred is currently on the Local Organizing Committee of the 2005 World Half Marathon Championships as well as on the steering Committee of the 2005 World Masters Games, both of which will be held in Edmonton in the summer of 2005.

Fred has been recognized in The Canadian Legal LEXPERT Directory 2003 as a “leading practitioner” in the areas of labour law and employment law.

8:30 – 11:45 a.m.

Strategic Planning For High Performance

Companies that consider the future are better able to manage today and prepare for tomorrow.  Strategic planning is a process for building a bridge between today and the most probable future.  In this session, you will be assisted in making a reasonable forecast of the future.  You will arrive at this forecast by reviewing your core ideology, identifying your competitors’ key strengths, discovering your strategic direction and by identifying your competitive advantage.  These decisions will provide you with a blueprint for building your business plan.  A pre-work package will be provided.

Katharine Bondy

Katharine received her B.Ed from the University of Saskatchewan in 1973.  Since that time, she has worked in the private sector as a training developer and deliverer.  Katharine worked for fourteen years with an international retail firm comprised of 460 Canadian outlets.  As a Training Manager, she, along with her staff, developed and delivered training events for all levels and departments in the organization.  Katharine seized the opportunity to move into the Human Resources Department, where she gained additional experience with recruitment, performance management, benefits administration, succession planning and organizational development.  In reaction to a failed takeover attempt, the firm instituted significant operational changes.  Katharine returned to the Training Department to spear-head a series of programs on change and change management.

Striving to “improve the world of work”, in November of 1987, Katharine started Western Leadership Centre Inc., a privately held Human Resources consulting company. Currently the company offers a full range of Human Resources services to small and medium sized technical and entrepreneurial organizations in western Canada. The company supports clients from cutting edge engineering firms as well as oil well service, transportation, manufacturing, printing and telecommunication industries.  Katharine recently initiated a series of public workshops that provide smaller businesses with the opportunity to develop their organization and their people.  For the past 11 years, she has written and delivered succession planning and soft-skill training programs for Alberta farmers and horticulturalists.  She submits articles on Human Resources Management to industry publications, including The PEGG, APEGGA’s monthly newsletter. Western Leadership Centre Inc. continues to grow by referral.  Client reference list is available upon request.

11:45 – 1:15 p.m.

LUNCH – Having Fun In The Workplace Without Getting Fired

Learn how humour:

1)  enhances creativity and problem solving skills.
2)  fosters teamwork.
3)  moves individuals from a stressed state to one of focused productivity.

Learn:

4)  how to apply a humourous perspective to challenging situations.
5)  the guidelines for "safe" humour.
6)  five easily implemented techniques for adding humour and lightness to the   workplace.

John Simmons

John helps you to achieve greater heights with more joy in your life by helping you relieve burdens and find the happiness at and away from work.  He helps organizations become more focused, laugh more and approach tasks with a positive sense of purpose. He assists people in integrating their work constructively with their lives with simple, concrete, readily implemented ideas.

John Simmons is a speaker, author and award-winning educator who has been delivering workshops, seminars and keynote addresses for fourteen years. His combination of insight, practicality and humour inspires people and empowers them to take action to improve their work and personal lives.

John has been president of John Simmons Consulting since 1989. John was a teacher and taught in public and private schools for over 20 years. He is a member of The Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and an executive member of the Canadian Association of Therapeutic Humour.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, John has lived in Calgary since 1974. He is married and has two children.

1:15 – 4:30 p.m.

Getting What You Want Without Bruises

Getting what you need out of a situation – without “bruising” yourself or someone else involves maintaining everyone’s self-esteem.  Your ability to be assertive while respecting the needs of others can help you find solutions tailored to meet your needs.  Your organization’s needs, your manager’s needs, and even the needs of your family members will be taken into account as you learn the skills of creating “win/win” solutions.

Yvonne Bridges

Yvonne is an entrepreneur and master trainer specializing in corporate and employee development solutions.  Her expertise in conducting detailed organizational needs assessments enables her to target training to specific business needs. Yvonne’s dedication to providing practical information that can be directly applied on the job has earned solid reviews from her program participants.  She works successfully with clients in a variety of business sectors and across all levels of staff.  Yvonne’s areas of training expertise include:  business writing, technical writing, interpersonal communication, assertiveness skills, life management, presentation skills, problem-solving, change management and others.

1:15 – 4:30 p.m.

Surviving Downsizing At All Levels

Being response-able means that we have the ability to choose our actions based on what we're committed to - - rather than what's happening to us.  Most often, we choose our behaviours based on what's going on around us and then blame these choices on tough circumstances.  Taking responsibility is hard.  It means re-evaluating what we're doing during challenging situations and checking to see if we are choosing an effective response.  The very best performers take responsibility in the following ways:

1.  They face their uncomfortable emotions and deal with them;
2.  They choose their reactions to adversity based on their desire to win;
3.  They do what they know will make them better instead of what they feel like doing (sometimes called discipline); and
4.  They never blame other people and circumstances for failure.

Lisa Brown

Lisa Brown, BA, MA is a management consultant who partners with clients to help them achieve superior results in performance.  A former editor, Lisa holds an MA in English from the University of Calgary where she has taught several undergraduate English courses.  Her company, the Brown Performance Institute, offers seminars and coaching in mental toughness and communications skills.

1:15 – 4:30 p.m.

Conflict Resolution

Is it a difference or a conflict?  What do you both want to achieve, maintain and avoid on the way to a “win/win” solution?  This 4-hour program looks at the different strategies for managing individual, team and organizational conflicts.  Specifically, you will learn about 5 different conflict management styles.  You will identify current conflicts in your organization and develop a strategy for working through these difficult situations.  Be prepared to work in groups to practice your conflict resolution skills.

Katharine Bondy

Katharine received her B.Ed from the University of Saskatchewan in 1973.  Since that time, she has worked in the private sector as a training developer and deliverer.  Katharine worked for fourteen years with an international retail firm comprised of 460 Canadian outlets.  As a Training Manager, she, along with her staff, developed and delivered training events for all levels and departments in the organization.  Katharine seized the opportunity to move into the Human Resources Department, where she gained additional experience with recruitment, performance management, benefits administration, succession planning and organizational development.  In reaction to a failed takeover attempt, the firm instituted significant operational changes.  Katharine returned to the Training Department to spear-head a series of programs on change and change management.Striving to “improve the world of work”, in November of 1987, Katharine started Western Leadership Centre Inc., a privately held Human Resources consulting company. Currently, the company offers a full range of Human Resources services to small and medium-sized technical and entrepreneurial organizations in western Canada. The company supports clients from cutting edge engineering firms as well as oil well service, transportation, manufacturing, printing and telecommunication industries.  Katharine recently initiated a series of public workshops that provide smaller businesses with the opportunity to develop their organization and their people.  For the past 11 years, she has written and delivered succession planning and soft-skill training programs for Alberta farmers and horticulturalists.  She submits articles on Human Resources Management to industry publications, including The PEGG, APEGGA’s monthly newsletter. Western Leadership Centre Inc. continues to grow by referral.  Client reference list is available upon request.