Stepping Stones to Enhanced Leadership was established in 2008 as a tool for developing Austin SHRM leaders and as a reward to our volunteers and their employers for the hours of service they dedicate to the human resource profession.

The program includes a Cohort styled program with nine, 4-hour modules, which are pre-certified through HRCI/SHRM for up to 36 hours of recertification credit. This is a creative and innovative program designed, developed, and implemented to meet the professional development needs of today’s HR professionals.

Students of the program include Austin SHRM members and non-members designed to provide opportunities for recertification credit, create a pipeline of emerging leaders for Austin SHRM’s Board of Directors, and to meet employers needs for improvement of employee engagement, retention, and professional development.

2023 Dates & Course Overview

Module 1 – March 16 – DiSC: Self-Awareness 
Participants are introduced to the DiSC learning model and the four basic styles of management then read, discuss, and reflect on their management styles. Participants also explore how they tend to manage time, decision making, and problem solving and learn how to recognize others’ DiSC styles through group activities. DiSC assessment administered.

Module 2 – April 20 – DiSC: Building Collaborative Teams
Participants explore their perspectives on five key management activities: Directing, Delegating, Motivating, Developing, and Influencing Others. They do this by reading about and discussing their strengths and challenges in each of those areas. This course is proven to increase the effectiveness of anyone in an assigned or perceived management role--whether managing direct reports or managing relationships within cross-functional networks. DiSC assessment utilized.

Module 3 – May 18 – Navigate Team Dynamics using Emotional Intelligence
Teaches participants to read the emotional and interpersonal needs of a situation and respond accordingly. By combining the personalized insights of DiSC with active emotional intelligence development, participants discover an agile approach to workplace interactions, empowering them to meet the demands of any situation.

Module 4 – June 15 – Strategic Positioner
The objective of this workshop is to learn what it means to be a “Strategic Positioner,” giving guidance on how effective HR professionals turn insights on external demands and expectations into innovative and aligned HR practices that drive organizational development.

Module 5 – July 20 – Credible Activist
This workshop gives HR professionals an understanding of the role of the “credible activisit” and how to build credibility through results, relationships of trust, and growing the self-awareness to know when, how, and with whom to act.

Module 6 – August 17 – Capability Builder
This session is intended to discuss the role of the “Capability Builder,” who defines, audits, and invests in the organization’s capacity to do what it needs to do in its current environment.  As HR capability builders, HR professionals will see how the whole is greater than the parts and establish organizational identities that outlive any individual leader.

Module 7 – September 21 – Change Champion
The objective of this workshop is to learn what tools are necessary to initiate and sustain long-term change as a “Change Champion”.

Module 8 – October 19 – HR Innovator and Integrator
The objective of this workshop is to learn how an effective “HR Innovator and Integrator” converts HR initiatives into impactful, aligned, and sustainable processes. 

Module 9 – November 16 – Technology Proponent
The objective of this workshop is to examine the competency of technology proponent, a new insight focusing on how strong HR professionals use information and new ways of compilation to address both administrative and strategic requirements.

Program Completion Recognition:
December 2023