Sound Employment Solutions, LLC, offers the following seminars at various locations throughout the state.

All seminars are designed using an adult-based learning format that includes interactive discussion, lectures, and real-life scenarios.

Avoiding Discriminatory Behavior and Responding to Employee Complaints

What Every Public Employee Needs to Know About Discrimination and Harassment

Successful Management of Labor Relations

Conducting Effective Employee Investigations

Managing Employee Discipline

A Framework for Ethical Decision Making

Minimizing the Impact of Negative Influences in the Workplace

An Employee's Guide to Building a Positive Team

Making the Most of the Employee Selection/Hiring Process

What You Need to Know About the Arbitration Process

When Employer/Employee Actions Make Front Page News

Conducting an Internal Investigation in a Law Enforcement and Communications Center Environment

What Every Manager/Supervisor Needs to Know About Responding to an Incident of Workplace Violence

Avoiding Discriminatory Behavior and Responding to Employee Complaints

Seminar Logistics:
Full-Day Session (9:00 to 3:30)
Class Size 25-30

Audience: Supervisors and managers responsible for unionized and nonunionized public employees.

Seminar Objectives: Learn how to minimize potential risk associated with discrimination and harassment.

•  Know the federal and state laws under which an
   employee can file a complaint.
  
•  Understand the standards for discrimination and
   harassment.
  
•  Get tips for reducing your likelihood of receiving a
   complaint.


•  Learn what to do and not do when an employee files a
   complaint.


•  Hear about what to expect when dealing with external
   agencies.
•  Learn how to minimize liability, even after the
   investigation is complete.

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What Every Public Employee Needs to Know about Discrimination and Harassment

Seminar Logistics: 2 1/2 Hour Session
Class Size 30-40

Audience: Non-supervisory public sector employees. The class is tailored for individual cities upon request to incorporate their anti-harassment/anti-discrimination/anti-retaliation policies.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn:

•  The standards for discrimination and harassment;
•  What to do if they experience or witness harassment
   or discrimination;
•  How to recognize retaliatory behavior;
•  The consequences of violating the discrimination or
    harassment policy; and
•  How to reduce complaints through more effective
   communications and conflict resolution.

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Successful Management of Labor Relations

Seminar Logistics:
Full-Day Session (9:00 to 3:30)
Class Size 35-45

Audience: Tailored for managers and supervisors responsible for supervising unionized employees.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn:

•  The legal framework and terminology of labor relations;
•  Techniques for managing a collective bargaining
   agreement;
•  Ways to avoid unfair labor practices;
•  Grievance response and management;
•  Employee procedural rights and discipline; and
•  Roles and responsibilities of management and the
   union.

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Conducting Effective Employee Investigations

Seminar Logistics:
Full-Day Session (9:00 to 3:30) - Class Size 25

Audience: Managerial personnel responsible for investigating allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or other employment-related complaints. The investigative strategies are also applicable for investigating allegations of employee misconduct.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn how to:

•  Establish a framework for conducting an investigation
   and defining issues;
•  Identify key witnesses and documents;
•  Conduct successful interviews of the complainant,
   witnesses, and accused;
•  Comply with procedural and legal rights;
•  Document the interviews; and
•  Prepare a final oral and written report.

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Managing Employee Discipline

Seminar Logistics:
Full-Day Session (9:00 to 3:30)
Class Size 35-45

Audience: Executives, managers and supervisors responsible for managing one or several steps of the employee disciplinary process. The focus of the seminar is on unionized and civil service environments.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn how and when to use the disciplinary process successfully. Topics include:

•  Common-sense approach to progressive discipline;
•  Taking the mystery out of procedural rights;
   (Weingarten, Loudermill, and Garrity);
•  Understanding the role of "just cause";
•  Responding to "thorny" disciplinary issues, i.e., off-duty
   conduct;
•  How might an arbitrator view your case; and
•  Things to include on the written disciplinary notice.

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A Framework for Ethical Decision Making

Seminar Logistics:
Half-Day Session (9:00 to 12:00)
Class Size 25-30

Audience: All levels of supervision and management. The course can also be tailored for non-supervisory employees.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will approach ethical challenges using suggested employer policies, procedures, and regulations as a foundation for decision-making. Topics include:

•  The importance of ethical conduct in today's workplace;
•  Essential elements of an ethics policy and other
   employment-related policies and procedures;
•  Ensuring accountability – organizational and
   individual; and
•  Organizational strategies that support the ethical
   decision-making process.
  

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Minimizing the Impact of Negative Influences in the Workplace

Seminar Logistics:
Full-Day Session (9:00 to 3:30) - Class Size 25

Audience: This seminar is for those managers and supervisors that are responsible for dealing with a workgroup that is experiencing negativity, or a team that is not functioning effectively.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn about:

•  Underlying causes of workplace negativity;
•  Ways to contain the contagiousness of organizational
   and individual negativity;
•  Managing the nexus between change and negativity;
•  Reducing the impact of gossip and rumor;
•  Strategies for managing the "bully" and passive-
   aggressive behavior;
•  How to resolve conflict while managing its impact
   on the team; and
•  Techniques to strengthen the overall team.

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An Employee's Guide to Building a Positive Team

Seminar Logistics:
Full-Day Session (9:00 to 3:30) - Class Size 25

Audience: This seminar is designed for employees that want to find ways and strategies for dealing with a workplace that is experiencing difficult communications, negativity, and discontent.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn their role and responsibility for responding to workplace negativity while supporting team-related improvements.

•  Why every team experiences negativity;
•  What key elements are important to an effective team;
•  How to overcome the barriers that impede effective
   team interactions;
•  How to manage change, resolve conflict, and
   communicate more effectively;
•  What to do when faced with a challenging personality;
   and
•  How every employee contributes to the success of a
   team.

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Making the Most of the Employee Selection/Hiring Process

Seminar Logistics:
3-Hour Session - Class Size 35-45

Audience: Managers and supervisors responsible for selecting and hiring employees.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn practical tips for selecting high quality employees, including:

•  The importance of "branding" when developing a
   recruitment plan;
•  The importance of an accurate job description;
•  What interview questions may be asked of applicants;
•  How to ask interview questions that get to behavioral-
   related factors, such as managing conflict, making
   mistakes, and working effectively on a team;
•  The "do's and don'ts" of conducting reference checks,
   criminal records checks, and polygraph exams;
•  Recent legislative changes supportive of reference
   checks;
•  How to make a hiring decision that is defensible; and
•  Probation as an extension of the hiring process.

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What You Need to Know About the Arbitration Process

Seminar Logistics:
3-Hour Session - Class Size 25

Audience: Executives, directors and managers responsible for working with the representative that is representing the employer's case before the arbitrator.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn techniques for:

•  Researching and selecting an arbitrator;
•  Choosing a theme and putting your best foot forward;
•  Choosing and preparing witnesses;
•  Collecting key data and preparing exhibits; and
•  Managing the outcome of the arbitration award.

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When Employer/Employee Actions Make
Front Page News!

Seminar Logistics:
3-Hour Session - Class Size 50-75

Audience: Executives, directors and managers responsible for managing the media's attention to a critical issue and/or crisis.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn:

•  What factors may contribute to the employer's debut on  the "Front Page";
•  Tips for reducing the employer's employment liability,
   i.e., pre-employment screening, management of
   employee misconduct, violence prevention strategies;
•  How to proactively manage crisis;
•  How to handle the aftermath of a crisis/newsworthy
   incident; and
•  Strategies for dealing with the press.

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Conducting an Internal Investigation in a Law Enforcement and Communications Center Environment

Seminar Logistics:
Full-Day Session (9:00 to 3:30)
Class Size 30-35

Audience: Law enforcement managers and supervisors (i.e., police commanders, lieutenants and sergeants) and Communications Center administrative personnel responsible for managing and/or overseeing the internal investigations process of investigating complaints lodged against employees, and incidents of employee misconduct. The course is designed for participants from small- to mid-size law enforcement agencies and/or communications centers.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn:

•  How to establish a framework for conducting an
   investigation and identifying a standard of proof;
•  Strategies for preparing an investigative plan;
•  Ways to identify key witnesses and documents;
•  The importance of complying with an employee's
   procedural and legal rights, i.e., Weingarten, Garrity,
   and the collective bargaining agreement;
•  Tips for conducting successful interviews of the
   complainant, witnesses, and the accused;
•  How to manage administrative processes, i.e., file
   logging, tracking, and organization; and
•  Do's and don'ts for preparing the final investigative
   report.

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What Every Manager/Supervisor Needs to Know About Responding to an Incident of Workplace Violence

Seminar Logistics:
3-Hour Session - Class Size 25-30

Audience: Managers and supervisors responsible for responding to and managing an incident of violence.

Seminar Objectives: Participants will learn:

•  The key elements of an effective violence prevention
   policy;
•  What steps an employer should take in providing
   employee safety;
•  How to identify the warning signs of a possible
   incident of violence;
•  How to manage an incident of violence and secure
   the scene; and
•  What administrative processes will need to occur
   after the incident (i.e., conduct an investigation).

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