Business Essentials
Learn to embrace change, be more resilient, manage stress and improve customer experience while earning your digital badge.
Listen to CCE's Director, Christie Schultz, talk about the program on CBC Radio
“The skills and tools I gained from the Business Essentials course are extremely helpful for strategic planning and process improvement and will help make our team more efficient.” - Anita Warriner, Executive Director, International Rural Exchange Canada |
Learn to confidently face challenges and adapt successfully to changes at work with the Business Essentials Badge. You will gain insights and skills to help you embrace change during uncertain times; understand stress and the importance of resiliency; use a crisis to spark process improvements and innovation; navigate difficult conversations and different communication styles; and deliver outstanding customer/employee experiences to retain and grow business.
The Business Essentials Badge consists of six three-hour modules delivered remotely over two consecutive weeks with students working collaboratively as a cohort. Upon successful completion, you will be able to bolster your resume, LinkedIn profile, and social media with the digital badge you earned.
Six, three-hour modules:
- Embracing Change
- Understand Stress and Resilience
- Use Crisis to Spark Innovation and Growth
- Customer Experience Part I
- Customer Experience Part II
- Navigate Difficult Conversations
Skills/Competencies:
- Change Management
- Stress Management
- Resilient Mindset
- Process Improvement
- Customer Experience and Retention
- Employee Experience
Students complete the program as a cohort from start-to-finish and must commit to the program dates as posted.
- Who should take this program: Employees from all levels and industries including retail, hospitality, automotive, manufacturing, customer service and more.
- Pre-requisite: None
- Modules to complete: Six three-hour modules
- Number of hours: Three hours per module x 6 modules = 18 hours plus minimum 6 hours asynchronous homework
- Delivery: Remote (for now)
- Assessment: Participation; 80% attendance of each day
- Achievement: The Business Essentials Badge upon successful completion of the six modules.
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Funding OpportunitiesOur non-credit programs may qualify for the Canada-Saskatchewan Job Grant, Canada Training Credit, Re-Skill Saskatchewan Training Subsidy (RSTS) and the URAA Alumni Professional Development Award. |
Type | Module | Instructor | Upcoming |
Required | Embracing Change |
Penelope Popp | Winter 2023 |
Required | Use Crisis to Spark Improvement & Innovation |
Dan Florizone | Winter 2023 |
Required | Understand Stress and Resilience | Jacquie Messer-Lepage | Winter 2023 |
Required | Navigate Difficult Conversations |
Jacquie Messer-Lepage | Winter 2023 |
Required | Customer Experience Part I |
Shari Hildred | Winter 2023 |
Required | Customer Experience Part II | Shari Hildred | Winter 2023 |
Module Descriptions
Module 1 - Embracing Change
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Required |
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Change is constant. The people side of change management is a critical component to successfully implementing a change management framework, whether it be small tweaks or large-scale transformational change. Change management process is a framework for creating new business practices and shifts in organizational structure or culture changes within an organization. Applying a framework and developing an implementation plan for change is beneficial when people require new roles, behaviours, skills, or outcomes. By formally addressing change as its own unique entity, implementing diligent communication, and proactively seeking to understand people’s tolerance for the changes, you can establish credibility and embrace the discomfort of known and unknown changes. In this module, participants will explore some models for assessing change tolerance and learn new skills to ensure stakeholders are more likely to buy into change and stay committed to its implementation. Learning Outcomes:
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Module 2 - Use Crisis to Spark Improvement and Innovation |
Required |
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“To effect change, there must be a stimulation of a magnitude that means companies cannot do anything but make bold decisions to survive.” ABI's Chief Research Officer Stuart Carlaw – Mar. 25, 2020 With the global pandemic, businesses and organizations were forced to rethink how they respond to their customer’s needs and to provide their products and services in different ways. As new delivery methods emerged out of necessity, many businesses began to challenge exiting processes and asked themselves: Are they the most efficient? Do they add value for the customer, or do we do this just because we have “always done it this way”? In this module, learn how new ways of thinking and doing often increase quality, reduce response times, add more service options, increase service times, and reduce costs. Learning Outcomes:
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Module 3 - Understand Stress and Resilience
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Required |
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Do you find yourself struggling to understand the behaviour of others? Is it “stressing you out”? What is stress anyway? This module will provide participants with insights into the common causes of stress and why human beings respond as they do when things fail to go their way. We will cover how personality influences stress levels and why different approaches to managing difficult situations can either amplify or reduce your feelings of stress. Within the module, you will also have an opportunity to explore the concept of resilience and some of the more common approaches to increasing your capacity to withstand the pressures of life. Learning Outcomes:
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Modules 4 - Navigate Difficult Conversations
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Required |
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Do you find some conversations too difficult to manage – or have you encountered situations where you wish you had handled a discussion more effectively? As we navigate new approaches to interacting, making certain our message is received as intended can be a significant challenge. Moving from face to face conversations to virtual environments adds an additional layer of complexity that is often unfamiliar and can be riddled with potential pitfalls. This module will provide you with an opportunity to explore different approaches to communication and to uncover personal triggers within difficult conversations. You will learn about the importance of flexibility in approach, and why being curious can help move a conversation past disagreement. Learning Outcomes:
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Module 5 & 6 - Customer Experience Part I & II
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Required |
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Your customer experience is always on center stage and customer retention is crucial to the long-term sustainability of your business. To keep customers coming back and feeling that they are spending in a safe and trusted environment, it is critical to examine the elements of customer retention, as well as the relationship between customer and employee experience. In this two-part module, participants will explore customer retention concepts, important aspects to the employee experience and how employee experience relates to customer retention. You will also learn to use data to better understand retention. Learning Outcomes:
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The Details: What you need to know
- Attedance Requirements
- Completion Letters
- Completion Policy - Professional Certificates and Microcredentials
- Professional Certificate Requests
- Withdrawal
Use Filters in the Online Registration System
You can use the Filters on the Program Search page to browse all Centre for Continuing Education programs or Career Development courses.
Filter Type | Filter | Description |
Location | Centre for Continuing Education | All programs offered through the Centre for Continuing Education |
Program Category | Badge: Business Essentials | All courses within the Business Essentials Badge program |
Department | Career and Professional Development | All courses and certificates offered by Career Development at the Centre for Continuing Education |
There are other filters as well so you can narrow your search as much, or as little, as you want.