When your employees are properly trained, your business is properly trained!
The Center provides consultation services that advance sustainable solutions to enhance the overall effectiveness and well-being of organizations. We approach consultation as a partnership between decision makers within the organization – who possess needed expertise about the business – and our consultants – who provide expertise in various strategies, tools, and processes for improving organizational effectiveness.
About our assessment
All consultation begins with an assessment. Assessments are typically conducted to collect the information needed to tailor a solution to an organization’s unique challenges and opportunities. The needs assessment process involves the client and consultant working together to define the scope of the assessment, which can include any of the following:
- Structured interviews with key members of the organization;
- Focus groups that include broader representation from throughout the organization; and/or
- Surveys of employees from across the organization or within selected divisions or departments.
Assessment results are then fed back to the relevant unit(s) within the organization. Decision makers can use these results to decide how to address challenges and opportunities.
While all assessments can be developed specifically for a given organization, we offer several standard tools that can be customized for assessment purposes, especially when employee surveys are involved:
- Engagement, workplace climate, and other assessments of worker well-being
- Employee development assessments, which can help organizations identify the right combination of training, certification, for-credit, and other educational opportunities to meet the organization’s business needs
- 360-degree leadership assessments, which can isolate consistent leadership challenges across the organization
- Retention and turnover assessments, which can be used to identify opportunities for reducing the cost of voluntary turnover
About our consulting
The assessment process and the data it produces serves as the starting point for collaboration between the Center and our clients. Typically, collaboration takes one of the following forms:
- Coaching – the client decides to utilize its own internal resources to address the challenges and opportunities identified in the assessment. In such cases, a consultant from the Center may be hired to provide coaching to those inside the organization who will lead the effort.
- Intervention Design – the client decides to partner with the Center to develop a formal strategy, tactical approach, and action plan to address the organization’s challenges and opportunities. In such instances, the client serves in the role of organizational expert, and our consultant(s) serves in the role of process expert.
Partner Referral – while the Center employs a variety of consultants from across the university, we do not purport to be the right resource to address every challenge and opportunity. In such instances, we leverage our network of resources to find the best partner to meet the client’s ultimate needs.
About our training
In many cases, a sustainable solution will require appropriate training and/or education. Because we are a part of Saint Louis University and have created a broader network of training partners, we have access to experts from a variety of disciplines who can help address most educational and training needs. We specifically emphasize training and certifications in the following areas:
- Cyber Security
- Professional Development
- Business Intelligence
- Programming Languages
- Leadership Management
In addition, because we are housed within SLU’s School for Professional Studies, our certifications are eligible for college credit. This option allows employees to receive industry-specific certifications as a part of pursuing their bachelor’s or master’s degree, saving time and money, as well as providing greater educational flexibility.
*Academic Unit eligibility to be determined by college/university in which you are enrolled in a degree seeking program.