Certificate in Executive Management & Development for Union Leaders

The Australian Trade Union Institute has partnered with the Australian Graduate School of Management at University of NSW Business School to design a Certificate in Executive Management and Development for Union Leaders (CEMD), available exclusively to ACTU affiliates.

The CEMD comprises core modules and electives purposefully contextualised for the needs of union leaders, equipping participants with practical skills and capabilities to lead in an accelerating and complex world.

This is a high-quality program driven by the union movement’s purpose and values. The ATUI will oversee and contribute to course content and all presenters of the core modules of the CEMD are members of their relevant union.

Completion of all four core modules and two out of three electives is required to achieve the CEMD.

Applications for the 2024 intake are now closed. From 2024, the ATUI intends to offer the CEMD on a biennial basis; the next intake will be for 2026.

An information session was held on 15 November 2023 with Professor Nick Wailes, CEMD Academic Director.

CORE MODULES

Completion of all four core modules is required to achieve the CEMD.

Cost: $6,600 (inclusive of core modules and electives)

Australian Industrial Relations System

5 – 15 February

Facilitator: Nick Wailes

• History and traditions of Australian trade union leadership
• Overview of the economic, industrial and political context in which union leaders now operate
• Current IR system issues and the union movement’s response
• Video interviews with key national players

Media and Communications Strategy

12 – 26 March

Facilitator: Peter Fisher

• Crafting and articulating your message
• Understanding how the media works and how to make it work for you (former journalists)
• Doorstop exercise (live exercise involving dealing with media pack)
• Sourcing and using publicly available data to support strategy, campaigning and bargaining

Leading in Complex Environments

8 – 17 May

Facilitator: Nick Wailes

• Leading during uncertainty and fostering innovation
• Video interviews with commentators and leaders

Adaptive Leadership

13 – 14 November

Facilitator: Rosamund Christie

This unique, highly immersive and experiential program will challenge you to become a stronger, more agile leader, extend beyond your current expertise, improve organisational performance and drive transformation.

ELECTIVES

Completion of two out of three electives is required to achieve the CEMD.

As an alternative to enrolling in the full CEMD, leaders can enrol in electives as a once-off.

Cost: $1,210 (except Adaptive Leadership) per elective

Leading High Performance

18 June – 9 July

A positive team culture can drive performance, increase innovation, engagement and productivity, and attract and retain high performers. This course will equip you with a practical toolkit to enhance your people management skills and shape a performance culture within your team to maximise performance.

Facilitator: Ursula Stroh

Ursula is an adjunct faculty member of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW and currently teaches in AGSM’s General Manager Program and MBA programs. Her previous roles include Senior Change Communication Manager at UNSW and Communications Director at GE ANZ.

Ursula holds a PhD in Change and Communication Management, and has published internationally on leadership, strategy and relationship management, international business, and culture. She is also a certified change practitioner, executive coach, and wellbeing expert.

Ursula is a strategic thinker and her most valuable contributions include providing visionary insights and analytical support across a breadth of strategic development projects; being a trusted advisor and coach to board level executives; leading strategy development and culture transformation and building relationships to engage all stakeholders to achieve organisational goals and wellbeing.

Implementing Strategy for Results

8 August – 29 August

Leaders require the tools to assess, interpret and implement an organisational strategy in the context of their role, so they can contribute positively to the realisation of the organisation’s objectives. This course will assist you to understand why strategy is important, how it relates to different stakeholders and parts of an organisation and how to translate strategy into action.

Facilitator: Jeffrey Tobias

Jeffrey is the Founder and Managing Director of The Strategy Group and an Adjunct Professor and Fellow at UNSW AGSM.

An accomplished strategist with years of commercial and business experience, Jeffrey works with organisations to improve customer experience and increase revenue growth by transforming the way they do business. He is a thought leader on innovation and collaboration, and his work is being applied in some of the world’s largest corporations and governments around the globe.

Jeffrey’s career has spanned the worlds of academia, big and small business, government and research. In each environment his leadership, clarity of thought, creativity and drive have generated cutting edge advances and successes far beyond expectation. His broad and deep experience and extraordinarily wide skill set are almost certainly unique within the region.

Testimony from 2022 elective participant (National Elected Official):

“This has been the most valuable course I’ve undertaken since I started in my role. We all know the need for a strategic approach but putting this into practice is difficult. This course gave me much greater clarity on what strategy is and how to work with others to deliver on a strategic plan. Jeffrey is a highly experienced and engaging facilitator I am much clearer and more confident in decision making and delivery having completed this course.”

Project Management for Leaders

9 – 30 October

From incremental tactical changes to major strategic and complex initiatives, project management has become an essential skill set for modern leaders and managers. This course will teach you about project governance and sponsorship and how to engage and align project stakeholders to the project objectives and optimise performance and team productivity.

Facilitator: Jürgen Oschadleus

Jürgen Oschadleus is an international speaker, educator and consultant on project leadership, influence and effective communication. He has taught post-graduate project management classes at UNSW since 2006.

Jürgen combines his background in history, education and technology projects with a fascination for sport and psychology, and uses this to challenge people’s thinking and help them create new mental connections, apply knowledge and achieve the outcomes they seek. His qualifications include a Master’s degree in History and an MBA in International Project Management and Organisational Development.

Adaptive Leadership

13 – 14 November | 9am to 5pm | NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre, Sydney

This unique, highly immersive, and experiential program will challenge you to become a stronger, more agile leader, extend beyond your current expertise, improve performance, and drive organisational transformation.

Facilitator: Rosamund Christie

Rosamund is an experienced leader with a committed focus on Adaptive Leadership, skills she has used to assist clients including National Australia Bank, CSIRO, and the Australian Public Service Commission.

She is the developer of the Shakespeare Leadership Program, having combined her experience in leadership with a lifelong interest in Shakespeare to create a program of personal transformation to effective leadership.

Rosamund recently completed The Art and Practice of Leadership Development at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and incorporates the learning and methodology in her delivery of leadership programs as a Director of Adaptive Leadership Australia. She leads its flagship program, Social Leadership Intensive.

Cost: $1,430 inc GST (as a stand-alone, pending availability)

Credit and Pathways

Upon successful completion of the CEMD, participants will be issued with a credential and digital badge to acknowledge completion of their learning.
The CEMD provides two course credits into the AGSM Graduate Certificate in Management and the AGSM MBA.
The total cost of the CEMD is $6,600. AGSM’s cancellation policy will apply as follows:

Days prior to commencement date (excluding commencement date)

42 days or more: No fee
28 – 41 days: 20% of program fee
14 – 27 days: 50 % of program fee
0 – 13 days and once program has commenced: 100% of program fee