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Upcoming Seminars
Professional Development Series
Find information on upcoming Professional Development Series events on the McCormick Event Calendar.
Past Seminars
Professional Development Series
Adaptive Leadership: Lessons from Crisis and Change
Wednesday, April 26, Noon - 1:30 p.m.
The Hive, Room 2-350, Ford Engineering Design Center
Join us for a series of professional development events hosted by McCormick HR. The next and final event of the series will focus on leadership strategy.
The impact of the pandemic has permanently changed how business is done, how we interact with each other, and our mental health. By taking a trauma-informed approach to leadership, supervisors can become more aware of these factors and be better able to develop a proactive awareness approach to managing their team.
View a recording of this event
Motivate, Recognize, and Energize Employees
Wednesday, March 15, Noon - 1:30 p.m.
The Hive, Room 2-350, Ford Engineering Design Center
Join us for a series of professional development events hosted by McCormick HR. The next event of the series will focus on supporting and empowering employees.
This high-energy seminar will help participants create a tool bag of techniques to motivate employees and managers. We will cover self-care, positive psychology, resiliency, laughter, and more! This workshop discusses how motivation and recognition leads to increased productivity. Non-materialistic ways to make your employees feel special and valued will also be shared.
View a recording of this event
Conflict Resolution
Wednesday, February 15, Noon - 1:30 p.m.
The Hive, Room 2-350, Ford Engineering Design Center
Join us for a series of professional development events hosted by McCormick HR. The first event of the series will focus on conflict resolution.
Conflict is an unavoidable part of life, both at home and at work. Knowing how to resolve conflict - and, in many cases, reap the benefits that conflict can bring - is a valuable skill. Participants in this workshop will learn how to iron out differences before they escalate, they will explore the dynamics of conflict, develop awareness of their role in conflict situations, and acquire tips for dealing with hostile individuals.
Trainings provided by SupportLinc, the vendor for Northwestern's Employee Assistance Program
Team Dynamics/Leading andWorking on Effective Teams
Wednesday, September 27, Noon - 1:30 p.m.
101 Wildcat Room, Norris Center
Join us for a series of professional development events hosted by McCormick HR. The first fall event of the series will focus on team dynamics
This session is an interactive program covering a framework of best practices and skills in building and leading a team that performs with excellence. The objective of this session is to provide tools that will enhance communication between team members, clearer understanding of what's expected, and increased accountability for both the leader and the team member.
Training provided by Cindy Aaronson, Organizational Consultant and Trainer with CSA & Associates.
Handling and Resolving Conflict
Wednesday October 25, Noon - 1:30 p.m.
101 Wildcat Room, Norris Center
Join us for a series of professional development events hosted byMcCormick HR. The second fall event of the series will focus on handlingand resolving conflict.
This session will introduce practical conflict management techniques toparticipants that focus on conflict styles, identifying other conflict styles,and flexing one’s own style effectively to resolve conflict.
Training provided by Cindy Aaronson, Organizational Consultant and Trainerwith CSA & Associates.
2023 MCC Staff Survey
Staff Engagement Survey FAQs
Why is the survey being conducted?
It has been several years since Northwestern employees had the opportunity to give feedback on a variety of topics. Our employees know that the best practice for an organization is to conduct surveys on a regular basis because they have been requesting it. And the University certainly knows that it is an important tool for retaining staff. The answers will enable local units to learn what is going well along with opportunities for improvement. The results will also identify what is on employees’ minds and what is important to them at this moment in time.
Why isn’t this a University-wide survey?
Because of our decentralized culture, the design of the survey is focused on the local perspective so specific action planning can occur based on the results. Many actions that improve the employee experience occur on the local level.
Is the survey confidential? How will results be shared?
All responses are strictly confidential. Only our vendor partners will see individual responses and their reports to us will be in the aggregate. Your unit senior leader will receive aggregated data specific to your unit, but no identifiable responses will be shared.
The reporting group minimum is the smallest number that you can filter down to in reporting. The reporting group minimum prevents direct identification or direct filtering of demographic groups with too few responses. A group’s results will be hidden unless this minimum is met. For Northwestern, we are using the minimum threshold of 5.
Who was eligible to participate in the survey?
All schools/units were eligible to participate in the survey and some opted out due to the fall timeframe. We plan to offer the survey again in the spring. The schools/units that are participating are as follows:
McCormick, Medill, School of Professional Studies, NU Qatar, Facilities Management, Student Affairs, Investment Office, Alumni Relations & Development, and Human Resources.
Included Populations
- Regular full-time staff
- Regular part-time staff
- Librarians
- Research staff
- Unionized staff
- Staff with faculty secondary appointments
- Staff with end-dated appointments
Excluded Populations
- Faculty with secondary staff appointments
- Presidents Emeriti
- Postdocs
- Staff on salary continuation, Long-term Disability, Workers’ Comp
- Temps and contractors
How is the survey being administered?
The survey is being delivered via a tool called Culture Amp. You will receive emails directly from the vendor via notifications@cultureamp.com.
What are the focus areas of the survey?
The categories of questions include inclusion, management, collaboration and communication, teamwork and ownership, and work and life blend.
Is the survey available in other languages?
The survey will be translated into Spanish, Arabic, French, and Ukrainian.
How and when will the results be disseminated?
The internal project team is working on a timeframe for sharing with school/unit leaders and recommendations on approach/strategy to share with total school/unit. We will update you as soon as we have finalized this. We expect we will begin to share results with school/unit leaders in Winter Quarter FY24.