Certifications & Classes
LEAD Certification
Leadership development and lifelong learning are both important to me. In the fall of 2021, I was nominated by my VP to participate in the Leadership Excellence and Development (LEAD) Academy at Ball State University. LEAD is a comprehensive leadership development program designed to introduce aspiring and current leaders to know themselves, know how to lead, know Ball State University, and know how to manage.
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I feel that this program helped increase my leadership skills through learning process development, coaching for maximum performance, and conflict resolution. During this program, there were several opportunities to apply the learning, which was concluded in a business improvement project presentation. For my project, I chose to build on our current onboarding process for our new hires within the client services department. After conducting some research, I found that 88 percent of the new hires feel that their organization does not do a great job of onboarding employees and there is room for improvement (source: apty). After discovering this statistic, I began planning out the onboarding process and building on what we already do. The onboarding process covers the hiring process, days leading up to the new hire’s first day, the first day/week, and the first 30/60/90 days. It has been built out in our current project management software, ClickUp.
ClickUp Certifications
In 2022, I obtained the intermediate and expert certificates for ClickUp. These certificates are a testament to my high level of proficiency in using this project management and productivity tool. Through earning these certifications, I have demonstrated my ability to easily navigate the platform's various features and functionality, as well as to effectively utilize ClickUp to streamline workflows and improve collaboration. Armed with these certifications, I am confident in my ability to fully maximize the benefits of ClickUp for both personal and professional use.
Basic Spanish Class
In Fall 2022, I completed a 16-week hybrid Spanish course focused on developing practical communication skills for real-world and work-related situations. The class emphasized speaking and listening practice, pronunciation, vocabulary, and foundational grammar, along with some reading, writing, and cross-cultural discussions. I also built upon my previous experience studying Spanish in high school, giving me a solid basic understanding of the language.