We build managerial, employee &training competence

We design and deliver quality, high-energy, activity-based classroom and virtual learning programs that build skills and change attitudes.

what we do

Do you want your business to be successful?

Laurel and Associates, Ltd. can help you build managerial, employee development and technical skills through the design and delivery of participatory classroom and virtual training programs. We can also teach your trainers how to quickly design and then effectively facilitate high quality skill-building and attitude-changing training programs.

SET YOUR EMPLOYEES & MANAGERS UP FOR SUCCESS

Employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers

Employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers. And if the employees are unhappy and don’t leave, their morale and productivity plummet. You know you have a problem if your customer complaints have increased, more production deadlines aren’t being met, and your revenue is down. Can you afford for this to continue?  

My name is Deborah Laurel and I’m the President of Laurel and Associates, Ltd.  If your managers are struggling and your employees are thinking of jumping ship, it will cost you 6 to 9 months of the employee’s salary to fill each vacancy.

  Isn’t it time to see that your managers have the managerial and interpersonal skills they need to create a positive and productive work environment, so employees want to stay and, even better, do their best?

  I bring practical experience with developing managers in a variety of different industries, based on my years as a management consultant and as an adjunct instructor in the Executive Management Institute in the School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  

Five added values of training your managers include:  

Employee morale will improve. 
Employee productivity will increase. 
You will save the cost of replacing employees.
Production or service goals will be met. 
Potential applicants will be attracted to the company.

When we have worked together, you will have identified the specific concerns you have regarding your managers’ skillsets, and the results you desire. Your managers will have participated in the workshops, developed the desired skills, and used them to create an engaged and productive workforce. They will have been held accountable for increasing employee morale, productivity, and retention.  

Managers are not born, they’re made. If they’re not made well, your entire company suffers the cost. You can’t afford that. Avoid having to let them go. Give them the training they need.  

Contact me for a white paper on Why Managers Don’t Manage- and How to Help Them.

Training Mastery Series

Does your organization have new trainers, solo trainers, or accidental trainers (subject matter experts who now have training responsibilities)? Are the participants in their training programs actively engaged in their programs, or are they bored and tuned out? Sometimes these trainers aren’t as effective as they could be, because they lack the necessary training skills.

This Training Mastery Series has been designed to help them learn how to design and deliver training programs that make a positive difference in their participants’ behavior.

I’ve been a trainer for over 35 years. I’ve designed and delivered highly rated skill-building training programs for managers, employees, and trainers in federal, state, and local government agencies, international agencies, private corporations, and nonprofit organizations.

Linda Jackson, Senior Client Manager/Automation & Training Specialist, had this to say about our program: “These training sessions are worth the time and money. Deborah is a wealth of knowledge and I left her training session feeling excited and encouraged.”

Please invite them to my weekly Zoom sessions on Wednesdays from 3-4 pm CST, starting July 26th.
The first half hour focuses on a key training subject or challenge and the second half hour is open to discuss any of their training-related questions. The weekly course schedule for the year can be found below.

Watch an interview with Deborah by BJ Stephens on First Aid for Trainers.

Recordings of past Training Mastery Series will be available via Vimeo later in the year. Sign up to be notified when they are available.

Training Mastery Series – Video Archive

A Learner’s Bill of Rights

February 16, 2023

When NOT to Lecture

The focus of this lecture is on when NOT to lecture, why that’s important, and how to convert a lecture into something more interactive and

February 8, 2023

How to Get Virtual Participants to Participate

We looked at 8 different steps: make them feel welcome, set the stage for participation, get them talking to other participants right away, prime them

January 27, 2023

Virtual Training Events for Spring 2023

Six Steps to Yes: This half-day skill-building workshop uses interactive exercises to help participants learn how to quickly create trusting relationships using six decision triggers. Participants will assess how and when the triggers have been used on them and practice using those triggers to provide instant influence. Join us on March 28 for this virtual event.

Location: Virtual training
Time and Date: 8:30-12:30pm, March 28th
Cost: $199

Presentation Skills: Come to this one-day skill-building workshop to boost your persuasive presentation skills and better inform your audiences, regardless of your field or industry. You will be engaged with interactive activities and gain insight into successful strategies for an effective presentation. Join us on April 26th for this virtual event and take your public speaking to the next level.

Location: Virtual training
Time and Date: 8:30-4pm, April 26th
Cost: $275.00

Blog

Laurel Learning Tips

Tip #978: Quick Activities to Check Learner Comprehension-Part One

When time for a presentation is very limited, there are four different categories of learning activities that engage learners and check their comprehension in one

Tip #977: The Plus Side of Training Time Limitations

Many trainers are frequently charged with what appears to be an impossible expectation: deliver training in a fraction of the time necessary and usually allotted

Tip #976: How to Close a Training Session on a High Note- Part Two

Instead of ending a program with an evaluation, make it the next-to-last activity so you can use a more engaging interactive activity that will maintain

testimonials

The Impact

Deb is an amazing instructor and curriculum developer. Her Train the Trainer program helped to solidify my love for adult learning and coaching. Deb’s innovative methods and logical templates have helped me design many successful training programs. She is a wonderful facilitator, educator and coach.

Shelly WeberProgram & Policy Analyst at Department of Workforce Development

It’s my absolute pleasure to recommend the services of Deborah Laurel. Deb has worked with Compressed Air Challenge since its inception in the mid 1990’s. Without her expert training and advise, all our workbooks, and training material used today would not have occurred. Deb took the knowledge many of our engineers and turned it into an amazing training that has been successful and still going strong today. Both a fundamentals training and an Advanced Training were created. In her work with us, Deb took a bunch of engineers who thought they could easily relay technical informant and taught us how to teach adult learners. To deliver the material in small doses so the attendees fully understand each lesson. This was not an easy task, yet Deb pulled it off brilliantly. I would absolutely recommend the services of Deborah Laurel to anyone interested training or curriculum design.

Frank Moskowitz CCASS at Compressed Air & Gas Institute (CAGI)

In my nearly 20 years of training, this program gave me more clarity and useful tools for facilitating and designing programs than any other I have attended. The level of learning was phenomenal. The tools and tips are something that I can use immediately. The feedback was very insightful and again, something that I can put into practice. I recommend this program to all trainers, regardless of their experience level.

Jackie HardyTraining Director, CUNA Credit Union

You have a gift for delivering and designing learning. Not only did I have a blast in your workshop, the interactive nature of your workshop design ensured that I retained far more than I would have with more traditional learning methods. I have used so many tools from that workshop in my job. You are a natural for designing learning. You very quickly can identify the goal of the training, can work through powerful learning objectives, and then rapidly put together effective interactive activities to ensure knowledge transfer. Your approach to learning is clear, logical, and compelling. Thank you for sharing your gift for delivering and designing training with me! I feel blessed to have a mentor with such skill available to me as a new learning and development person. I would love to continue to learn from you!! Because of your training techniques, I enhanced my training and facilitation skills 100%. No kidding! I used what you taught and would recommend your training to anyone who needs to learn how to train, facilitate or needs to learn anything.

Thank you Deb for all the great learning!!!

Kim Robinson Manager of Learning and Development, Sage Publications

Thanks for the promised materials – your class is going to be SO helpful in making our training classes more fun and productive. We have 4 PowerPoint presentations that we give one after the other and I have had the hardest time doing these presentations because I have found them so boring. Now I am breaking them up with Jeopardy and worksheets and brainstorming in hope of keeping the class as well as myself awake. Your class will make a big difference in how we present our information.

Kathy FraserTechnical Trainer, Data Innovations North America

I have known and worked with Deb Laurel for over thirty years. She first taught for the Small Business Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when I was the director. I was so impressed with Deb that when I was putting together an advanced 5 day Train the Trainer for an Open Society program in Croatia I asked her to do the program. The students not only learned solid pedagogy but also accelerated learning curriculum design. She was invited to return to JJ Strossmeyer University in Osijek, Croatia to help them develop the first student-centered MBA in Entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe. She trained the faculty how to use participatory training methods instead of traditional lecture. Since that time, Deb has been my go-to trainer for the CUNA Management School, the Government Financial Officers Association, and the Walker Broadcasters Management Institute. I highly recommend her for curriculum design, facilitating training, and train the trainer programs.

Joan GillmanEmeritus Director, Special Industry Programs, Wisconsin School of Business, UW Madison