Amber Vanderburg

Amber Vanderburg Speaking Topics

• The Power of Performance Feedback

  The way you give and receive feedback directly affects the outcomes of your team. To unlock real performance improvement• you must learn how to utilize feedback effectively. It’s a game-changer for your team.

  You will learn how to better set performance expectations through a clear communication model; then you’ll learn how to give feedback that is timely, specific, and simply more effective for performance improvement. I’ll also share how you can encourage more feedback within your team and enhance the way you receive feedback• moving beyond superficial responses. Lastly, I’ll provide you with tools you can use today to utilize feedback data for continuous improvement.

  So, if you’re ready– let’s go.

  LEARNING OUTCOMES

  1. Feedback frameworks for strategic corrective, coaching, and reinforcing conversations to improve performance
  2. How to effectively receive feedback
  3. How to empower and encourage feedback ownership within teams.
  4. How to use performance feedback data to strategically improve individual and team performance.

• The Future of Work....The Work of the Future

  The workforce is changing at a rapid pace and the skills needed to stay relevant and competitive is growing. Learn from the leader of the international learning and development organization, The Pathwayz Group, as she shares insights from her team about the trends of learning design, learner engagement/delivery, and talent development strategies. Amber Vanderburg has worked in talent development for more than a decade, and this fast-paced, action-focused session challenges outdated approaches to learning, reinforces effective learning methods, and introduces innovative learning strategies.

  Built off of years of experience and partnerships with some of the largest global enterprises in the world, this session will be broken up into two major sections. The first section will look at the latest trends in the workforce. I’ll identify the upcoming skills, knowledge, and abilities that have been identified as the most important and high priority in the future workforce. In addition to KSAs, this will also break down growing industries, professions, and markets. I’ll go one step further and look at the professions, skills, and markets that are in decline and share some insights into how those skills are being parlayed into the evolving workplace. With this data, you should have a clearer idea about the skills and knowledge that may be priority for you in the upcoming years.

  I’ll briefly address skills, safety, compliance, knowledge, onboarding, and organizational training and how the various topics of training may be designed for deployment in your organization.

  Then, I’ll share various forms of delivery • 60 different learning methods and strategies. I’ll share how you can more strategically build a learning journey for your team members. I’ll take a high level, one year learning journey as an example and share how you can design for a more effective learning journey with more focused and catered learning objectives. I’ll then move into the single learning lesson and examine how you can design learning experiences with quicker iterations for clearer action steps and more sticky learning.

  At the end of this session, you should have a clearer idea about the market trends and forecasts in the future of workplace skill needs and a plan to better design learning to effectively upskill your team for success.

  Learning Objectives:

  • Market trends and forecasts in learning and development
  • Different methods of learning and upskilling
  • How to design a strategic learning journey/ How to design a more effective learning experience

Establish Your Competitive Advantage

How are you uniquely better from your competition? What makes you stand out in your service or products? In this session, we’ll explore four specific strategic areas that you can establish your competitive advantage in your team, department, and company. We’ll look at how you can improve and utilize your processes and systems to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, and overall enjoyability in your workplace. Processes and systems are everywhere in our organization, from the hiring process, to the customer service process, to the IT troubleshooting process, we’ll look at the systems and processes in place and identify specific areas you can improve to establish competitive advantage.

Next, we’ll look at methods and resources within your team. The success of the performance and operations in your team and organization rely heavily on the methods used. This is an in-depth look at the methods and resources utilized within the broader context of systems and processes. Sometimes, a process is perfectly fine but the resources to execute the process are problematic. From digital resources, methods of communication, to physical tools • this looks at how you can utilize your methods and resources to enhance competitive advantage. Afterwards, we’ll take a look at the projects and initiatives in your company. How are you setting yourself apart from your competition in your events, projects, initiatives –anything with a beginning and an end? In terms of something like recruitment • this might be recruitment events, marketing campaigns for candidates, or upskilling projects in schools. What are you doing to set yourself apart?

Lastly, we’ll look at roles. This is the role that people play in the team, the role the team plays in the organization, and the role the organization plays in the industry/community. Of course, competitive advantage can be found in the talents, skills, passions, personalities, and values of the people in your team. Here, we’ll look at ways you can identify and foster the unique value of the roles in your team. The entire session aims to give you a strategic action plan to establish competitive advantage in your team. Throughout this session, I’ll be asking audience members for specific focus areas (talent development, recruitment, diversity and inclusion, customer service, etc) where they would like to establish competitive advantage in their organization. This will be made into a specific session catered to learner focus areas and opportunities.

Learning Objectives

• How to create competitive advantage in processes/systems
• How to create competitive advantage in methods/resources
• How to create competitive advantage in projects/ initiatives
• How to create competitive advantage in roles
• Applying competitive advantage strategies in the workplace

Organizational Communication When Leading Change

This action focused session looks at four pillars of communication specifically within the context of change leadership. First, leaders will learn how best assess their audience. Where are the change affected in their attitude towards the change now, where do they need to be? Who needs to be in the conversation, and who doesn’t? This is important for time, energy, and focus stewardship. Learners will gain specific tools, case studies, and questions to ask to best assess the buy in , dynamic, and goals for the audience.

Next, great communication in leading change is to craft a message to clearly communicate what is happening, what the vision is, and what action step towards change is being taken now. Great communication in your leading change must have a well-crafted message. After an in depth look at resources, case studies, best practices, and action steps for crafting a message, learners will look at methods of delivery. With the modern workplace, their are thousands of ways to communicate a message • some more effective and appropriate than others. We will take an in depth look at the various approaches to deliver a message in the context of leading change and I’ll share some guidelines to choose the most effective method for your audience.

Lastly, learners will lean into the fundamental truth about communication as a whole • especially in times of change • timing is everything. I’ll share questions you should consider when determining the best timing of your message in the course of high change.

We’ll take a look at common challenges and questions when communicating in times of change and I”ll share some practical advice and insights on how to confront these challenges. Change can be an exciting, anxiety-filled, purposeful, terrifying, wonderful time in an organization. The success of change leadership depends heavily on the success of the communication of the leader.

Learning Objectives:

• How to craft a message for change
• How to make your change message more specific to the audience
• How to deliver a change message for maximum effectiveness
• How to determine the best timing for your message
• Understand common challenges and questions when communicating for change

EQ in Tech

Technical skills alone are not sufficient for success in today's evolving work landscape. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a critical skillset for tech professionals to navigate complex challenges, collaborate effectively with teams, and thrive in dynamic work environments. This session will delve into key components of emotional intelligence, the EQ programming model, and practical strategies to enhance your personal EQ. Learners gain tools and approaches for improved self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills through engaging discussions, interactive exercises, and real-world case studies tailored to the tech sector. Learners will gain valuable insights into understanding their own emotions, managing stress and conflicts, empathizing with colleagues and clients, and building stronger relationships in the workplace. By investing in their emotional intelligence, tech professionals will unlock new opportunities for personal growth, professional development, and long-term success in the ever-evolving tech landscape. Join this session to unlock the power of emotional intelligence and propel your tech career to new heights.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the EQ Programming Model

2. Acquire practical techniques for managing stress, regulating emotions, and resolving conflicts within the tech workplace through a heightened sense of self-awareness and better understanding of personal emotions and their impact on professional interactions.

3. Enhance interpersonal skills such as empathy and communication to foster positive relationships and collaboration among tech teams.