COURSE NUMBER: MBA257.3

COURSE TITLE: People Development

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2

INSTRUCTOR: Mike G. Katz

EMAIL: mikegkatz@berkeley.edu

PREREQUISITES: MBA205

CLASS FORMAT: Case discussions, workshopping, guest lecturers from the field, simulations and coaching

REQUIRED READINGS: Chapters from “The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash a Culture of Innovation” by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless and “Changing on the Job: Developing Leaders for a Complex World” by Jennifer Garvey Berger, as well as selected articles and other book chapters.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: You will be evaluated on the quality of your class participation (20%), midterm case analysis (30%) and the components of your team project (50%).

ABSTRACT OF COURSE’S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: This course focuses on cultivating the skills and mindsets for people development. Three trends suggest the time is ripe for this: 1) We are observing a shift towards a “people first” and “culture first” ethos in organizational life, 2) Research shows unprecedented employee disengagement in the workplace, particularly with their managers, and 3) Employees are becoming a greater proportion of organizations’ productive assets. In combination, these three trends suggest people development—whether bracketed as career or leadership development, or some other form of skill building—as an attractive way forward for organizations. Consequently, this course responds to these three trends by helping students explore and address challenges to organizations from the perspective of people development.
In this course, students will develop skills in assessing and framing development opportunities, designing experiences for learning and development interventions, and facilitating group learning and development experiences. The deliverable: To facilitate an employee development experience on-site at a client. Throughout the course, students will work on the elements of this engagement, from scoping employees’ development needs to designing the arc of the on-site experience, to advising the client on how to leverage their existing resources to foster continued development after the engagement ends. To support students in this process, this course offers the space for case discussion, workshopping, guest lecturers from the field, and plenty of practice. Additionally, each student team will have a mentor from the field who will coach them through the design and execution of their project.

In sum, the course objectives are:

To increase students’ skills in framing organizational issues in terms of people development

To provide the context, space, and coaching for students to practice facilitation, experience design for L&D, and project management

To support students in cultivating relationships within the people development community-of-practice

CAREER FIELD: This course is for you if you are interested in the field of people development (e.g. talent management, L&D, HR, consulting, etc.) or aim to refine your skills in developing people, whether as a manager or a consultant. Prior experience in L&D, human resources, psychology, or education is not necessary. However, students may draw upon their skills and knowledge from core courses including Leading People (to support assessing and framing the client problem through topics such as “Performance Appraisal”, “Motivating Performance and Innovation”, “Diversity and Cross-Cultural Leadership, and “Managing Innovation”), and Leadership Communications (to support facilitating the intervention) as they progress through their project experience.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Mike G. Katz believes that all people deserve meaningful work. He is the Founding Director of the Interpersonal Development Program at Haas, which offers executive assessment, ongoing coaching, and leadership intensives to support the mindsets, skills, and behaviors that underpin The Defining Principles. Mike spun out the IDP from the Haas Career Management Group after serving nearly three years as Director of FT Career Advising & Programs. There, he pivoted the coaching strategy to address "meaningful work" while simultaneously launching an industry advisor program that focuses on recruiting strategies. He has presented several times at the MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance annual conference, served on their Board of Directors, and wrote the chapter on case-based interviews in finance for “Crack the Case System” by David Ohrvall.
In addition to nearly 10 years of service as a coach and thought leader in career management, Mike is also committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Immediately prior to Haas, he was on the leadership team at MLT, America's premier career development organization serving high potential black, Hispanic, and Native American professionals. Currently, Mike serves on the Board of Directors of Out for Undergrad, a national nonprofit that supports LGBTQ undergraduates in reaching their full potential from an integrated career and life perspective.
Prior to his career as a coach, Michael consulted institutional clients in financial services on customer segmentation, pricing, and organizational design. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Information Systems from NYU Stern and a Master of Business Studies in Organization & Management from Goizueta Business School. He is a Professional Certified Coach through the ICF and a Certified Integral CoachⓇ through New Ventures West.