The Center for Business and Talent Development (CBTD), a member of the Kelce College of Business, is set to begin a series of six workshops, starting on March 11. The Supervisory Skills Workshops series will talk about six different topics to help supervisors, or those wanting to be supervisors, learn how to be effective leaders in their respective professions.
“Participants can expect to be fully engaged in practical applications of the skills shared throughout these sessions,” Dr. Mark Johnson said, a professor who works within the College of Business, specifically as part of the Human Resource Development Program (HRDP). “Each session is taught by experts in the field that have a proven track record for improving workplace performance.”
Johnson cited the series being created out of a desire to help improve Pittsburg area businesses. “One of the major challenges of any small business is overseeing employee performance, as well as helping each employee to grow and develop. When the HRD program moved to the Kelce College of Business last fall, we saw that as an opportunity to move this idea forward. I presented a proposal to the Dean and Provost, and it was immediately accepted,” Dr. Johnson added.
The Supervisory Skills Workshops series will feature three presenters, all of whom are distinguished professionals within the world of business and human resources- one of which is Johnson himself. Johnson’s career spans across both the United States and Canada, giving tips and improvement ideas to four thousand industry and apprenticeship instructors and counting. The film, carpentry, and allied trade industries are just a few of the many groups Johnson has been able to work with over the years. The second speaker of this group is Dr. Judy Smetana. Dr. Smetana’s specialty area is leadership and organizational development, and she too has helped numerous corporations not just within the country, but around the world. Rounding out the team of speakers is Dr. Krissy Lewis. Lewis’s workshops primarily focus on emotional intelligence and team building.
The Supervisory Skills Workshops series is set to begin on March 11 in the Sunflower Room in the Overman Student Center. The topic of that workshop will be Working in Teams. Supervision 101 is the second workshop, which will also be in the Sunflower Room, on March 25. The other four seminars will be in the conference room in Block 22, starting on April 8 with Workplace Investigations. Intro to Disc Behavior Analysis will be on April 22, followed by Workplace Communication on May 6, and the final workshop, Emotional Intelligence, will be on May 20. The maximum number of attendees for each event will be 40 people.
The Center for Business and Talent Development isn’t stopping with the Supervisory Skills Workshops Series for 2026, however. Next semester, the CBTD will also offer workshops on Small Business Development, AI for Executives, and Improving Employee Deployment Efforts. The new Kelce College of Business in downtown Pittsburg is slated to open in August, so the fall classes will be hosted at the new building.