New online course on employee engagement features profs from Michigan Ross and Harvard

September 19, 2016


Thriving employees are 32 percent more committed and demonstrate 125 percent less burnout than their peers, according to research by Michigan Ross Professor Gretchen Spreitzer. With that in mind, Ross Executive Education partnered with CorpU to create an online Employee Engagement Bootcamp designed to boost productivity, reduce stress, improve job satisfaction, and create a winning culture. In sum, it’s a win-win for organizations and their employees.

The first step in fostering a more “mindful” and engaged work environment is self-reflection. Speaking in Fast Company, Chief Executive Education Officer Melanie Weaver Barnett explains, “This isn’t a strength-finder exercise necessarily. It’s more about the complex and integrated picture of you when you’re doing well. And once you have a deep understanding of that picture, you can more readily draw on your best self as a leader and therefore more often achieve spectacular results.”

Barnett says it’s different for everyone and every situation. “It’s an art as much as a science.”

The program is structured into five digital learning “sprints” taught by Ross Professors Kim Cameron and Dave Ulrich, as well as Harvard Professor Shawn Achor. The first two sprints, facilitated by Achor, focus on creating individual happiness and spreading happiness at work. In the next two sections, Cameron addresses positive leadership and employee engagement, and Ulrich concludes the program with insights and exercises geared toward helping others find meaning at work.

An additional benefit of the program is that organizations enroll at least 25 employees in each bootcamp. The group approach helps foster a culture of engagement throughout the organization, enabling the positive energy to spread farther and faster.

Positive business is smart business, and the Employee Engagement Bootcamp builds on Ross’ leadership in positive business with a new vehicle to help organizations drive engagement and profit.


This article was originally published in the Ross News Blog.