On Civility: Moving to Stronger, More Enduring Cultures

                              Date:         Wednesday, April 20, 2022

                             Time:         9:00 am – 10:30 am (please note time change!)

                             Place:        Webcast via Zoom (link will be sent upon registration)

Over the past couple of years, there has been an unprecedented rise in awareness of the insidious damage done by harassment and bullying in and out of the workplace. While it has been disheartening that we are still faced with these types of behaviors, the increased focus on these problems such as the #metoo movement has encouraged and opened more dialogue and action than in years past. Many organizations have reacted by revisiting their Harassment Prevention efforts, from revising policies to holding employee training sessions. These are important steps.

Yet, we need to not only take this deeper, we need to make sure we are creating cultures that become intolerant to and completely free from harassing behavior.  In this engaging and thought-provoking session, human resources expert and consultant Ross Gibson will challenge the audience in being change agents in the next cultural imperative: On Civility. Leaders must be the champions of building and maintaining civility within and outside our organizations. Ross will explore and challenge us on how we, in Gandhi’s words, must “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Specific learning objectives from this session:

• Define what Civility is and discuss why it is so important
• Go through examples of civil and uncivil behaviors we see in the workplace
• Understand the costs associated with incivility
• Look at coping strategies for dealing with uncivil behavior
• Discuss ways in which attendees can move the needle on civility within their workplace, whether in-office, hybrid or virtual.

The session will be a mix of presentation, break-out group discussion, written exercises, and videos.  Participants will leave this session inspired and energized to go back and take their anti-harassment, pro-civility efforts to new and higher levels!

 About our Speaker:

Ross Gibson, Chief of Operations, EBD at The Richards Group

Ross Gibson is leadership and organizational development consultant and facilitator.  As the Chief of Operations, EBD at The Richards Group, Ross works with organizations to help develop positive leadership growth.   Prior to working as a consultant, Ross was Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources at World Learning.  Ross has held other several senior level positions including Vice President, Learning and Organizational Development at Charles River Labs and Vice President, Human Resources at both American Superconductor and Cambridge Neuroscience, Inc. Ross is active in several local and regional Human Resources and training organizations.  He currently is the Director of the Vermont State Council of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).  He is a past-President of the Northeast Human Resources Association (NEHRA). Ross also served for six years on the Board of the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce. 

This program has been submitted for certification credit hours.

Please register via www.VTHRA.org