ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development has opened registration for Managing Performance, a six-week online course, offered as part of the Agricultural Supervisory Leadership Certificate program. Materials will release November 10, 2021 and live weekly Zoom discussions will be held from 3 to 4 PM EST each Tuesday from November 16 through December 21. Participation in the live sessions is highly encouraged and provides a valued opportunity for peer to peer learning and networking. Cost is $275.
Course topics will include:
- Understand motivation
- Harness the power of performance feedback and coaching
- Build clear and effective workplace communications
- Set safety expectations
- Conduct effective performance improvements
Supervisors are critical to the success of farm businesses. They have a major impact both on employees’ daily work experiences and on the production performance of the business. The Agricultural Supervisory Leadership certificate helps farm supervisors and managers learn and apply human resource management practices and leadership skills that foster rewarding workplaces and drive business results. Confident managers who thoughtfully apply leadership and management skills improve employee performance, develop teams, reduce employee turnover, and increase employee engagement. The courses within the certificate program will offer extensive practice and engagement activities to build confidence and skill sets.
Each course includes up to six weeks of instruction on topics that will build your leadership and management skills. Instruction includes a combination of prerecorded lectures, reading assignments, written exercises, live discussion sessions and quizzes. For those looking to learn more on a particular topic, supplemental videos and articles may be recommended by the instructor. To get the most out of the course, students should plan to spend two to four hours each week on combined course activities.
For questions, contact Rachel McCarthy, Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program Coordinator, at rachel.mccarthy@cornell.edu.
Courses in the Agricultural Supervisory Leadership certificate include:
- Transitioning to Supervisor: Develop essential communication skills and manage conflict. Lead a multi-cultural team. Build an effective workplace culture.
- Organizing Work for High Quality Results: Develop clear expectations and standard operating procedures. Delegate effectively. Diagnose and correct performance problems.
- Managing Performance: Understand motivation. Harness the power of performance feedback and coaching. Build clear and effective workplace communications. Set safety expectations. Conduct effective performance improvements.
- Ethics and Employment Regulations for Supervisors: Implement responsible and ethical labor practices and understand why this matters for agriculture. Recognize and prevent sexual harassment. Understand and follow minimum wage and overtime laws. Implement Equal Employment Opportunity laws to prevent discrimination and harassment. Use an employee handbook. Handle employee discipline and termination.
- Employee Development and Training: Identify training needs. Understand learning styles. Design and plan learning experiences that accommodate learner needs. Develop effective training skills and techniques. Evaluate learning results and training effectiveness.
- Staffing and Organizing Your Team: Develop job descriptions. Learn how to find potential employees, interview and select the right people. Implement new hire documentation, employment authorization, and onboarding: bringing new employees into the business successfully and productively.
Transitioning to Supervisor students say:
All modules had great value. It got me to rethink some things.The elements fit together pretty well, building upon each other.The breakout rooms were good.I liked the variety of learning.I found the country differences extremely valuable to better understand our multicultural workforce.Communication lessons gave perspective on different ways to communicate effectively with your team.The lesson with power distances was helpful to teach different ways people of other countries view topics.I really enjoyed the videos during the course and being able to ask questions to instructors and getting a quick response. The self evaluation to find out what kind of a supervisor you are was helpful.
Organizing Work for High Quality Results students say:
All the aspects of the course were good. The weekly zoom meetings I think are important. I thought the course was great.
— Cornell Cooperative Extension