Beginning in mid-September, we will select 100 Black businesses to participate in one or two free abbreviated people management training sessions: 1) By the People, For the Employees; and 2) People Investment Assessments for the purpose of increasing businesses ability to meet holistic employee needs while achieving short- and long-term productivity goals.

Listed below are brief training outlines:

By the People, For the Employees

Audience—Business Owners, Entry-, Mid- and Executive-level employees

Session Length—1 Hour (Abridged), 3 Hours (Full)

Purpose: We teach your people how to maximize the difference between who they are (e.g., identity-based) and what they do (i.e., work role). In order to better understand why workers excel in or exit work environments, it is important to position them in situations where the win while being seen, heard and accepted. The overarching goal is to teach participants how to thrive within the work environments where their identity expression(s) are recognized, encouraged and supported. This training merges research, business climate and individual worker perspectives that culminate in the creation of an identity-based action plan designed to create distinct pathways to worker success. Key questions explored:

1. Why do people want to become your employees?

2. In what ways do your employees feel like they belong within your business?

3. How are your employees experiencing a sense of connectedness within your business?

4. What does employee invisibility look like within your business?

5. To what extent do your employees experience loneliness as a result of working within your business?

Objectives:

• Raise awareness about why employees holistically thrive in business settings.

• Identify how worker isolation and invisibility adversely impacts efficiency and performance outcomes.

• Design a workplace employee/manager agenda that allows for worker and business goals to be achieved.

People Investment Assessments

Audience—Business Owners, Entry-, Mid- and Executive-level employees, and Angel Investors

Session Length—1 Hour (Abridged), 3 Hours (Full)

Purpose: A lack of purposeful investment in people who are employees can lead to not only low morale, and decreased productivity, but also a loss of profit generation for companies. This training poses six exploratory questions of business management leaders to get them thinking about the benefits of immediate responsiveness to worker needs, wants and demands. Key questions explored:

1. How much does it cost to onboard an employee (e.g., training, fringe benefits, memberships, relocation)?

2. How much does it cost to fire an employee (e.g., non-compete paperwork, buyouts)?

3. How does your business track and measure the process/product knowledge learned by employees?

4. What does business holistic investment in employees look like?

5. What is the worth of each employee to your business?

6. How does your business show it appreciates the value of each employee?

Objectives:

• Gain an understanding about the difference between employee value and worth.

• Practice self-examination exercises that allow for mapping personal understandings about employee relations.

• Learn how to actively invest capital in employee professional development.

• Raise awareness about how employee investment shows up within workplaces.

• Better understand the statistical contribution of Black-owned business to the U.S. economy.