Consulting Skills Certificate
Course Info
Whether you consider yourself a consultant or not, chances are you use consulting skills in your work projects closely related to your area of expertise, such as designing a custom training program, or ones you may not see as closely related, such as building and implementing a learning technology system. Regardless of your position, talent professionals must demonstrate strong consulting skills to lead the execution of learning solutions within an organization. You may be a practitioner working inside an organization or independent consultant supporting from the outside. Either way, your stakeholders—who your development solutions are intended to support—are your internal clients, and they are looking for your partnership to improve performance and achieve business success.
ATD’s Consulting Skills Certificate program provides you with a five-phase consulting model— rooted in a performance-based approach that prioritizes results over activities—that you can use to diagnose needs, establish goals, and achieve desired performance outcomes for your learning projects. The five phases of the process lay out a practical, step‐by‐step method for addressing a consulting project, beginning from initial contact through the final step of process improvement.
Together with an expert facilitator and a class of your peers, you will explore how to be successful as a consultant. Collaborating in small groups, you will follow a case study from start to finish, apply skills from each phase of the consulting model to practice consulting scenarios, solve problems, role‐play meetings, try out checklists, and practice making decisions consultants make every day. You will leave the program prepared to establish strong client partnerships, overcome obstacles and resistance, and build your consulting credibility to influence decision making.
Why Should I Attend?
- Move from order taker to true business partner by applying an ATD-exclusive model, techniques, and tools to successfully consult with organizations to implement talent development projects.
- Maximize success strategies with internal and external clients, including working across organizational boundaries, providing feedback to senior leaders, and gaining buy-in.
- Evaluate your baseline consulting skills, and identify your developmental needs as a consultant.
- Earn an industry-recognized certificate, continuing education credits, and an ATD digital badge to share with your networks.
Dates and Times:
Session 1: May 17, 2024, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Local Time
Session 2: May 18, 2024, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Local Time
Preconference Learning Price:
ATD Member: $1,795
Non-Member: $2,045
Facilitator
Erica Nelson
Erica Nelson, MA, has been in the learning and development field for 25 years, consulting with clients from various fields at the corporate level. Clients include Horizon Therapeutics, Wintrust Financial Corporation, and ACE Hardware. As a Business Leader Faculty® member with the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management's Center for Leadership, she applies her expertise working with mid-level to executive-level professionals. She aids with their personal growth and them becoming effective communicators to build better relationships within their organization.
As an ATD program facilitator of seven certificate programs, Erica applies her professional background by aligning the content to the personal experiences of program participants. She views each course as a way to deepen everyone's understanding and abilities.
Her coaching practice provides a customized model for each client and their unique interests and development needs. She has been certified in mediation practices and is affiliated with the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago. She also served as a mediator for 10 years with the Cook County Court System in Chicago, Illinois.
Erica wrote a training book, Management Development Training, published in 2021 for the ATD Workshop Series©. The book is a guide on the essential elements of great management, leadership skills, and behaviors. Erica's passion is to focus on development for each person in their organization, believing we are always searching for growth opportunities.