Retaining Employees through Career Development

This session will educate Tennessee’s higher education HR professionals on building an effective career development program.
About this Event

CUPA-HR Higher Education Employee Retention Surveys report staff are not satisfied with opportunities for advancement at their institutions or with support for career development. With higher education facing ongoing staff recruitment and retention challenges, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville HR Office has built an innovative new Career Development unit and we were thrilled to receive the 2024 CUPA-HR HR Innovation Award for our efforts.

Through this webinar you will learn how to:

Advocate with senior leadership and managers for the career development of staff

Build an effective program, which may include career coaching, career development sessions, resources, and experiential programs

Identify and report on outcomes to advocate for staff and funding

Have a measurable impact on employee retention

You will also be invited to join our Coaching Collab community to share and learn from career development colleagues at colleges and universities nationwide!

Presenters: Darrell Easley, Director of Employee Relations and Learning & Organizational Development at UT Knoxville. Nancy Burkett Ed.S., PHR®, Senior Career Development Coach at UT Knoxville. Cearra Sears M.Ed, PHR®, Career Development Coach at UT Knoxville.

Speaker Bios:

Darrell Easley is the Director of Employee Relations and Learning and Organizational Development at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. On a mission to unlock the productivity potential in professionals by helping them to cut through all the noise and get more done, Darrell Easley, Ph.D., specializes in team effectiveness and efficiency. Darrell is an experienced Human Resources professional, leadership coach, and ‘people investor’ who is passionate about developing creative solutions to design and facilitate high-performing teams to achieve extraordinary results (and actually enjoy working together).

Darrell is an active member of CUPA-HR, former Emerging CUPA-HR Leader, and serves as the past chair of the Southern Region Board.

Nancy Burkett Ed.S., PHR is a Senior Career Development Coach on the Career Development team within UT Knoxville’s Human Resources. Nancy launched career development coaching for UT Knoxville staff in October 2022, having over 30 years of career development experience at colleges including William and Mary, Swarthmore, Wagner, and Berry. Nancy believes our careers are essential elements of our identities and her mission is to help UT Knoxville staff design careers of personal meaning and purpose.

Nancy is an active member of CUPA-HR and co-recipient of the 2024 CUPA-HR HR Innovation Award.

Cearra Sears, M.Ed, PHR is a Career Development Coach on the Career Development team within UT Knoxville’s Human Resources. Her focus is to support staff in their career exploration and growth, hoping to develop goals for their future at UTK and discover a career path. She aspires to help individuals identify spaces where they feel respected for their contributions and recognized for their values and strengths. Before serving in Knoxville, she was a counselor, career coach, and staffing specialist working to assist individuals in reaching their education and career aspirations.

Cearra is an active member of CUPA-HR, participating in the Ignite Program, and co-recipient of the 2024 CUPA-HR HR Innovation Award.