Human Resources EssentialsCornell Certificate Program

Coaching, as both an industry and an employee development tool, is growing in prominence and importance. Responsibility for coaching is increasingly falling to HR professionals, who can be called upon to coach employees directly, train managers to be better coaches, build coaching capability within the organization, and identify external coaching resources.

In this course, you will begin practicing skills and behaviors exhibited by effective coaches. The course situates coaching within the broader context of employee development, enabling you to analyze workplace situations and diagnose when coaching is an appropriate developmental tool. You'll gain insight into how both institutional awareness and self-awareness are needed to foster and support successful coaching efforts.

Managers must foster a good workplace atmosphere and be able to deal effectively with behavior issues as they arise. Doing so improves productivity and employee engagement and helps an organization avoid costly legal liability.

Dean Alexander Colvin, Ph.D. of Cornell University's ILR School explains how new and aspiring managers can prevent or reduce the occurrence of behavior issues. His lessons will show you how to assess issues as they arise and provide guidance and best practices on resolving behavior problems, primarily through the proven principles of progressive discipline. Professor Colvin draws on his legal and research credentials to provide guidance in dealing with harassment and bullying, planning and carrying out dismissals when required, and managing requests to accommodate special employee needs and practices.

Throughout the course, you'll remain engaged as you participate in interactive discussions and complete a five-part course project, applying the key concepts to your own situation.

Interviewing is one of the most challenging aspects of management, yet many leaders never receive formal training in this critical skill. Without proper guidance, we make hiring decisions based on gut feelings and casual conversations, lacking clear direction on what to look for, what questions to ask, or how to evaluate responses. The good news? There are proven, evidence-based approaches that can transform your interviewing effectiveness.

In this course, Professor JR Keller draws on extensive research and real-world examples to provide a clear, three-step process for conducting interviews that enable candidates to shine while delivering reliable hiring decisions. Through practical frameworks and tools, you will design structured questions that predict job performance, create consistent evaluation methods, and implement proven interviewing techniques. The course demonstrates how to apply these principles to both in-person and remote hiring scenarios while minimizing the cognitive biases that often interfere with good decision making.

Whether you're an experienced hiring manager or new to interviewing, this course equips you with concrete skills to make better hiring decisions while creating positive experiences for candidates. You will develop efficient systems for managing multiple interviews, setting candidates at ease and evaluating responses objectively. By the end of the course, you'll be prepared to transform your hiring process from conversation based to competency focused, leading to better hires and stronger teams.

In today's competitive job market, retaining top talent is more challenging than ever. High employee turnover not only disrupts team dynamics but also demands significant time and resources. A well-designed onboarding process, however, can reduce turnover, accelerate time to productivity, and strengthen long-term employee retention.

Onboarding presents a strategic opportunity to align the early experiences of new hires with your organizational goals. A strong onboarding plan does more than teach employees how to perform their roles — it also fosters a sense of belonging, builds connections, and sets clear, measurable objectives that support both individual and organizational success.

Drawing on extensive research, Professor JR Keller provides a science-based, practical approach to designing an effective onboarding experience. You will begin by exploring the four major domains of onboarding and their impact on employee engagement, job satisfaction, and organizational fit. From there, you will discover how to map specific tasks to milestones, build a structured plan that involves both new hires and their colleagues, and identify metrics to evaluate your plan's effectiveness. You will also explore emerging technologies that can support and enhance onboarding delivery.

Whether you're an HR generalist, hiring manager, or member of a hiring committee, this course will equip you with the tools to transform onboarding from a routine checklist into a purposeful, results-driven program. By the end of the course, you'll be able to create a measurable onboarding plan that fosters early engagement, supports long-term success, and contributes to a positive and productive workplace culture.

Symposium sessions feature two days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today's most pressing topics. The Leadership Symposium offers you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond. Using the context of your own experiences, you will take part in reflections and small-group discussions to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained from your courses.

Join us for the next Symposium in which we'll discuss the ways that leaders across industries have continued engaging their teams over the past two years while pivoting in strategic ways. You will support your coursework by applying your knowledge and experiences to relevant topics for leaders. Throughout this Symposium, you will examine different areas of leadership, including the psychology of leadership; women in leadership; and leading in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. By participating in relevant and engaging discussions, you will discover a variety of perspectives and build connections with your fellow participants from various industries.

All sessions are held on Zoom.

Future dates are subject to change. You may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete any certificate program. Once enrolled in your courses, you will receive information about upcoming events. Accessibility accommodations will be available upon request. For future reference, download our Symposium course flyer.

Symposium sessions feature two days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today's most pressing topics. The HR Symposium offers you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond. Using the context of your own experiences, you will take part in reflections and small-group discussions to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained from your courses.

Join us for the next Symposium, in which we'll share experiences from across the industry, inspiring real-time conversations about best practices, innovation, and the future of human resources work. You will support your coursework by applying your knowledge and experiences to some of the most pressing topics and trends in the HR field. By participating in relevant and engaging discussions, you will discover a variety of perspectives and build connections with your fellow participants from across the industry.

All sessions are held on Zoom.

Future dates are subject to change. You may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete any certificate program. Once enrolled in your courses, you will receive information about upcoming events. Accessibility accommodations will be available upon request.