What makes your company or organization stand out in the crowd?

The Studer Community Institute’s upcoming training can give you a great answer to that question. Chances are, the ingredients for that answer are already in your hands — they are your employees.

Stacy Kelley Williams, Navy Federal Credit Union.

The Studer Community Institute continues its training and development workshop series with Navy Federal Credit Union’s Stacy Keller Williams sharing what engaged employees can do for your organization. Satisfied employees will do what it takes to get the job done, but engaged employees will use their discretionary effort to go above and beyond what’s required.

“People and Possibilities: How to Leverage Employee Engagement” is set for Feb. 24 at Pensacola Little Theatre.  SCI founder Quint Studer will introduce Keller Williams and will take questions with her after the session.

The seminar is from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.; doors open at 8 a.m. The cost is $89.
 Visit the Institute’s website to register.

Williams’ job at Navy Federal, which is on track to have 10,000 employees at their Beulah campus, is vice president of contact center operations, member experience and training.

Harnessing employee engagement is part of her job description, both for employees and ultimately for credit union members.

"The workshop will give business owners and leaders practical steps, best practices and actionable insights on why engagement is important, what engagement is regardless of organizational size and how to leverage an organization's most valuable resource — their employees," she said.

"At Navy Federal, we have learned the power of engaging our team members and have embraced the commitment to leverage engagement as a way to continually sustain and enhance a culture that we are very proud of."

Navy Federal has won awards for its workforce engagement, especially among Millennials. Thomas Greek, vice president of learning, development and communications at Navy Federal, shared some of his company’s success in managing multiple generations in the workplace at an SCI training in September 2016.

Rachael Gillette, director of professional development for SCI, said Keller Williams’ session continues a theme the Institute will return to throughout 2017’s workshop series.

“The session continues the theme of building a culture of engaged employees and improved results,” Gillette says. “It will be valuable to both those who attended the last session and those who did not.”

Gillette also noted that the Institute’s 2017 training portfolio includes two new services beyond the workshop series.

“We are committed to helping businesses create great places to work for employees, provide excellent service to customers, and make meaningful contributions to the community,” Gillette says. “As such we have developed tools to go along with our workshop program, which include the SCI Employee Attitude Survey and the Certification program.”

The SCI Certification process is designed for businesses wanting to develop leaders, drive performance and improve results, and for individual professionals who have the drive and desire to influence and lead.

Certification can:

— Increase the level of excellence within the organization.

— Help leaders work with more confidence.

— Improve processes, increase employee engagement and reduce turnover.

Individuals can become certified by attending 12 hours of training and completing the required validation quizzes, Gillette says.

Organizations who wish to apply for the designation of “Studer Community Institute Certified” will be assessed through a survey that will collect company data that includes the number of employees, revenue and turnover.

With the Jan. 10 training session with Studer, “Capturing the Hearts and Minds of Employees,” at capacity, the community sees the value of SCI’s training.

“Business leaders in our community clearly see the value of and need for improving employee skillsets and investing in their employees,” she says. “We’re pleased to be part of helping them do that.”