Gary Foster
Interim Dean of Customized Training and Continuing Education
Customized Training

Leadership and workplace skills help you develop specific skill sets to reach your potential. Continued professional development can give you the expertise to be more productive or the confidence to take that next promotion. Ridgewater鈥檚 Leadership and Professional Development specialty within our Customized Training and Continuing Education offerings can take you to the next level.
Society for Human Resources Management – Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)
Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR)
The DISC Personal Profile will help you understand yourself and others. The goal of this profile is to organize what you know about yourself, help you understand yourself, and become more successful with others. It will also help you to appreciate people who may be different from you. You will leave with an understanding of why people do the things they do. It will also show you how to appreciate the differences in the workplace and in all of your interpersonal relationships.
We also offer Everything DiSC 鈥 the next generation of application-specific profiles and training:
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities
LENGTH: Generally, 3-4 hours, but can be as long as two full days
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (See description above)
Building a Culture of Trust has been designed to assist organizations in creating, maintaining or improving trust among their employees and/or between the organization and its clients and customers. This training is broken into 3 main topics: 1) Why Discuss Trust?, 2) What key factors make or break trust? and 3) How does a trust culture affect organizational retention? This training can be used to identify / address trust issues within a specific team in a safe environment or to simply discuss how trust affects an organization from an awareness standpoint.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities
LENGTH: Generally, 3-4 hours, but can be as a full day
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: (See description above)
OPTIONS: 1) Class as a general discussion on trust within a team / company or 2) In-depth discussion to work on specific trust issues within a team (generally longer than 4 hours and requires a team that is willing to discuss and work on issues)
When people in your organization are communicating effectively, they are informed and able to participate, contribute, and add value to their jobs and the organization. Communicating and Listening is designed to equip employees with the skills they
need to communicate clearly and listen carefully. This class is effective for individual learners and can also be used in a team building environment to improve team level communication.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities & Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: 4 hours
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Change is inevitable. This course will guide participants through change management principles with a primary focus on the 鈥減eople鈥 side of change 鈥 specifically the psychological rollercoaster people take when facing change. Participants will learn how to successfully lead themselves and others through change by understanding how organizations can get in their own way, actions and tools for the three phases of change as well as working through the stages of change transition. Activities are incorporated to allow participants to apply their knowledge from this course directly to changes they are or will be facing. Whether you are a leader or team member, this class will help you learn how to lead and work with others through the change process.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities
LENGTH: Generally, 3-4 hours
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
This course is designed to help learners become knowledge about the role of performance management in supporting the strategic objectives of the organization.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities & Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: 2- and 4-hour options
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
This course is designed to provide participants with information to enhance their professional behavior, demeanor, and decorum in the workplace. Topics include: Professional Dress, Professional Etiquette, Professional Communication, and Professional Behavior as well as Fundamental Customer Service skills.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities & Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: 4 & 6 hour options
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
This course is designed to provide participants with information to enhance their professionalism and cooperative harmony in the workplace. Participants will learn how to take a positive approach to conflict by understand how to analyze conflict situation and develop the skills necessary to manage conflict productively
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities & Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: 4 hour
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
This course trains professionals to understand the correct approach to planning, conducting, and participating in business meetings. This course will show how to send proper meeting notices, design powerful agendas, and how to make use of technology to become more efficient.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities & Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: 2- and 4-hour options
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Did you know that 85% of a person鈥檚 success in life is due not to cognitive intelligence (IQ) but rather to emotional intelligence (EQ)? Emotional intelligence rests in self-awareness & self-management and social awareness & relationship-management. So how are you 鈥渟howing up鈥 in the world? A self- assessment checklist and / or assessment will help you gain an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses in the area of emotional intelligence. Strategies to improve your EQ will also be discussed. Finally, you will leave with a 鈥淧ositive Script.鈥 Come with your thinking cap!
This program is designed to help participants:
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities
LENGTH: All Employees 鈥 3-4 hours
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
This Personal Effectiveness training course is designed for those who seek to further develop the key skills and techniques needed to build personal impact, influence and effectiveness in dealings with others
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities & Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: 2- and 4-hour options
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
It is important that today鈥檚 workplace be free from all forms of offensive conduct, harassment and violence. Preventing harassment creates a respectful workplace that provides ethical as well as economic benefits. It鈥檚 not just about having a policy in place; it鈥檚 about recognizing harassment while following and enforcing polices to create a safe environment. Heighten your awareness of what constitutes harassment, workplace bullying and workplace violence. Learn to recognize the warning signs and how to address issues in a timely and appropriate manner. Your company policy will be covered / reviewed with your employees as part of this training.
Supervisor training is a separate presentation that focuses on Supervisor Responsibilities and Responses. This training provides more in-depth information needed by supervisors in awareness, recognition, response, and preventing Harassment and Violence in the Workplace. NOTE: Recommended that supervisors attend the Harassment / Violence Awareness training for all employees prior to attending the Supervisor training since the base of the supervisor course is built upon the All Employee training.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities
LENGTH: All Employees 鈥 1 hour / Supervisor Session 2-hours
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
The course covers key components of project management including project charters, project scope management, project time and cost management, quality management, human resource considerations, communications, risk management, and procurement management.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities &Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: Classroom 鈥 8 hours, Virtual: 4 and 6 hours
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
This course focuses why employee engagement is important and valuable, but also on how to foster and measure employee engagement and link it to key organizational metrics and outcomes. In this course, we will examine what is meant by employee engagement, why organizations are interested in it, how employers can build an engaged workforce and how it can be measured.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities & Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: 4 hours
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
This course is designed to teach new and existing supervisors the key skills necessary to become an effective supervisor.
The course begins by introducing the student to the basics of supervision and describing the responsibilities of a supervisor. The course then works through eight key areas of supervision vital to strengthening the relationship between a supervisor and their employees going through the dynamics of teams, trust, communication, conflict, performance and motivation.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities & Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: 16- & 24-hour options
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
This course is designed to provide entry level sales training. The program covers a basic understanding of sales, the sales process, techniques to assist in a sales activity, and creation of sales plans.
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities & Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: 4 hours
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
From preparing for an interview to resigning from your job, this course covers the basics of proper business etiquette and professionalism in the workplace. By mastering modern standards of professionalism and etiquette, a career can be started or saved and made successful. Course has some connections to the Stephen Covey 7 habits of highly successful people
FORMAT: Classroom 鈥 Seminar & small / large group activities & Live Virtual (ZOOM)
LENGTH: 2 鈥 3 hours
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Leadership and professional development training can put you or your employees on the right track or launch you to the next challenge with the necessary skills. Ridgewater鈥檚 team of experienced instructors and industry experts can enhance soft interpersonal skills, technical know-how or workplace management strategies. Through tried-and-true programs or customized training, Ridgewater can cater to your specific objectives on your schedule. We develop long-term, personal relationships with clients, allowing us to understand your business or situation to provide specific, timely, and relevant solutions.
鈥淚nstructor did very well pulling people who are normally quiet into the group; engagement was fantastic!鈥
鈥淰ery Interactive 鈥 liked that!鈥
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure what to expect because I have been through training before. It can be so vague that it is not helpful. This was not the case with this session. Thank you for your time.鈥
Interim Dean of Customized Training and Continuing Education
Customized Training
