Learning and Development Update

UC Learning Center offers new look and new tools

Visit the updated online UC Learning Center and you will find enhanced learning and development tools, an improved user experience and a new look.

New features of the system include a Talent Profile, which will allow you to customize your profile and share your professional qualifications with others in the UC Davis-UC ANR Learning Center portal.

Check out your new personal dashboard “My Learner Dashboard,” which will list compliance training you need to complete.

ANR People Manager: Driving team performance

You can learn how to steer your team to better performance by watching Gartner's (formerly CEB) recorded webinar “Becoming an Enterprise Manager.” In it, you can explore

• how you can drive better performance on your team
• capabilities employees need to possess, and
• how you can enable employees to work differently

Then register for the Sept. 14 webinar “Performance Management for Enterprise Contribution,” where you can learn how to:

• Connect employees' performance goals to enterprise goals
• Assess the enterprise contribution of your employees
• Conduct performance conversations that improve enterprise contribution

From left, ANR's Surendra Dara, Emily Melton Casado, Jan Gonzales, Kimberly Lamar, John Fox, Shirley Salado and Lori Renstrom attended the UC People Conference.

“Grow, Empower, Lead” Conference a success

Several ANR people managers were sponsored by ANR Learning and Development funds to attend the first UC systemwide UC People Management Conference. Held on Aug. 2 and 3 at the UCLA Luskin Center, the theme of the conference was “Grow, Empower, and Lead.”

ANR managers at the conference completed or participated in one of three prerequisites: The UC People Management Certificate Series, the UC Management Development Program, or the UC-CORO Systemwide Leadership Collaborative.

Surendra Dara, Emily Melton Casado, Jan Gonzales, Kimberly Lamar, Shirley Salado and Lori Renstom are among the first ANR supervisors to complete the UC Performance Management Series Certificate. Lisa Fischer attended the conference as a graduate and John Fox as a participant in the CORO Systemwide Leadership Collaborative.

Interested in attending the conference next year? Read the following conference endorsements:

• "Thank you UC ANR for supporting my participation in the UC People Management Conference – it was a great experience! From the networking, keynote speakers, on-point breakout sessions and resources for continued learning, I am encouraged and feel better equipped to improve capacity to successfully achieve Cooperative Extension objectives using the tools and strategies learned for positive and effective self-management and team building." - Jan Gonzales, Project Coordinator, UCCE San Diego

• “I wanted to thank ANR Learning and Development for this excellent and rewarding opportunity to attend the UC People Management Conference. It was truly inspiring and has expanded my skill set in order to “grow, empower, and lead.”  I have connected with so many across the UC system and augmented my network.” – Kimberly Lamar, Office of Contracts & Grants, Davis 

• "This is the first time I attended a conference/training like this and found it useful. I was surprised to see the emphasis on health and well-being as well as the communication, management strategies, and leadership skills.” – Surendra Dara, Strawberry and Vegetable Crops Advisor, UCCE Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo 

• “The conference was a very positive experience and a great way to reconnect with current colleagues, seek out new collaborations, as well as educate many in attendance on who ANR is and what great work we do. Almost all the workshops and keynote speakers were inspirational and extremely upbeat. I realized that many of the issues and problems that plague ANR, plague all the campuses as well. This led to several ‘ah ha' moments where I had to look inward to really analyze how my actions and behaviors affected those around me – some of which weren't too positive. I have vowed to work harder on keeping and maintaining that positive attitude that was so prevalent at the conference. – Lori Renstrom, Administrative Officer 3, UCCE San Diego

• The UC People Management Conference was an excellent source for information. Much of the content allowed for self-reflection, helping to identify strengths and weaknesses as managers. I would highly recommend this conference to anyone willing to be introspective while engaging and interacting with other managers across the UC system. –Emily Melton Casado, Financial Services Manager, BOC-Kearney

For more information about professional development in managing people, see the ANR Learning & Development People Manager Page.

Six principles of an effective meeting

Are you planning a meeting and want it to be productive? You can increase the effectiveness of your next meeting by incorporating the advice of David Crenshaw in this LinkedIn Learning Blog and you can take his Lynda.com course "Leading Productive Meetings."

Get sleep, learn a new skill

Are you tired on a regular basis? Does it affect your ability at home and on the job? See the study by Karunesh Ganguly, associate professor of neurology at UCSF, on how sleep may affect learning and Arianna Huffington's Lynda.com course Thrive 01: Discovering Meditation and Sleep to help you get the rest you need!

Three talking points to help an overwhelmed colleague

If you could prevent a "train wreck" for one of your overwhelmed co-workers, direct reports or boss, what would you do? In this 2.5-minute video, Jones Loflin offers three talking points to help.

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