Archive
July 2019
I have to admit that I did not know the keynote speaker Brené Brown. I could tell from the buzz in the audience that she was well known and well thought of, so I paid attention. I am glad I did. I have also looked at some of her stuff online since #SHRM19. That made me pay attention even more.
Bravery and Courage
I was a little surprised to see Chuck Gallagher enter the stage in an orange jumpsuit. I have actually known him for a few years, but I never knew he was in prison. It was a reminder that many times we don’t know people’s backgrounds and life stories. They influence a person’s behavior. Right in line with SHRM19’s initiative for second chances, Chuck Gallagher’s presentation on ethics was spot on.
We're joined by Kevin Hubbard for our first ever live in front of an audience recording of the show! This was part of our session with the Emerging Professionals group at SHRM19 in Las Vegas. Kevin is currently an Executive MBA - Human Resources Leadership student with the Jack Welch Management Institute as well as a Campus Coordinator for Strayer University in Columbus, GA. We talk about why Kevin is pursuing HR as a career, getting involved in the online HR community, and more.
Kevin's recommendation:
Success in the HR profession is no longer only about what you know; it is also about how you effectively implement that knowledge in the workplace every day. There is now an increased emphasis on HR competencies as a means to increase the HR profession’s effectiveness.
SHRM's Jon Decoteau explains how HR can have a profound impact on the trajectory of people's lives.
Click here for more HR Storytellers on SHRM.org.
SHRM was proud to have staff members, Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist Savita Raeisian, SHRM-SCP, and HR Knowledge Advisor Yuletta Pringle, SHRM-CP, as guests at a White House event highlighting and celebrating companies who have signed the Administration’s Pledge to America’s Workers. Savita and Yuletta worked hard to receive their SHRM certification over the past year and are using their knowledge to help members, staff and prospective employees every day.
How to reach Renee:
For someone who’s new in the field, it’s important to understand what reasonable accommodation is. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities in order to provide equal employment opportunities to individuals who are otherwise qualified to perform their core job functions. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind:
One Month Later -- Did your SHRM take-aways get packed away?
As I reflect on last month, it is a great time to be in HR. We were reminded that AI is here to stay and this solution will not threaten jobs as is often feared, instead these advances will allow us to do our very best work with our added sense of judgement and reasoning. High-tech will allow us to be high-touch.
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to drive two hours north of my house with my wife to visit my parents – Connie and Don Fleming. Of course, this also meant that I was able to return to Ada, Ohio (center of the universe.) I spent the day cleaning the gutters, removing dead rose bushes and tightening all of the shutters on the windows. My mom stayed with me to give me “direction” and my dad stayed inside to chat with my wife.
Onboarding seems to be getting all the attention these days when it comes to the employee experience—but what about offboarding?
Reductions in force still happen and are never pleasant for anyone involved, but they shouldn’t necessarily be the end of an employee-employer relationship.
Smart organizations are using thoughtful offboarding programs to transform the relationship.
I engaged in a conversation yesterday that went something like this:
Person: “I see you work in HR…how’s that treat ya? Can be a tough job.”
Me: “I’ve been in HR for 15 years. I love it.”
Person: “It’s a position of passion for sure…”
Me: “It can be, but also has the potential for the greatest impact.”
Person: “Indeed.”
Q: I manage a department with about 10 employees and I’m planning to take a one-week vacation. In the past whenever I’ve taken time off, someone from the office ends up calling me for one reason or another. These are not emergencies and could have waited my return. Do you have some advice on how to prevent staff from calling me? I wish I could just unplug in peace.
As HR professionals, we pay a lot of attention to first impressions. We create positive candidate and employee experiences. We work hard to set our employees up for success from their first day. We put well thought-out strategies in place, strategies that often involve time and money we believe to be well worth our investment.
But what about an employee’s last day?
On July 17, @shrmnextchat chatted with Christine V. Walters, J.D., MAS, SHRM-SCP, SPHR @christinevbw about Can We Do That?! Recruitment, Selection and Hiring Tips and Traps.
If you missed this excellent #Nextchat about tips to avoid legal traps and pitfalls in selection procedures, you can read all the tweets here or below:
A long overdue action may finally be taken by the U.S. Congress as H.R.748 (Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019) is scheduled to be brought up for a House vote to repeal what is known as the “Cadillac Tax.”
Actually, it depends.
Here’s how it works for non-federal-sector employees:
An employee must file a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 180 calendar days from the day the discrimination took place.
When I used to eat meat, my favorite food was a hamburger (with French fries). I don’t think I would have been as enthusiastic if I had to order chopped cow.
I had dinner with someone eating sushi. I asked them if they would enjoy it as much if they had ordered raw fish. I owe them a dinner.
Traditionally viewed as a marketing tactic for companies and products, brands have moved into career planning and job searches. Many jobseekers now consciously develop and enhance their “personal brand,” or the unique combination of skills, experience and personality that defines an individual.
We all know an engaged workforce is a productive, loyal workforce and yet it’s continually a challenge to determine the best ways to support employees.
Engagement is not a one-and-done event. It must be ongoing, and organizations that include regular recognition as part of their culture have more engaged employees.
No one knows better than you—the employer—your jobs and the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to do them.
There are several hurdles, however, that can hinder the process of finding the right talent to fill those jobs.
At the #SHRM19 Conference, the first session I sat in, Delivering Happiness, the first question Jenn Lim asked us “what’s one weird thing that you love?” And of course, I came up with livetweeting HR conferences.
We're joined by Callie Zipple, Field Services Director for SHRM and host of the "Honest HR" podcast (our 3rd crossover show!). We talk about her transition from practitioner to working for SHRM, dealing with negative feedback, and non traditional wedding dance songs (Callie and Wendy bonded over this).
Callie's recommendation:
#StateLineCrew
How to reach Callie:
As always, the fireworks popping over our heads this Fourth of July were marvelous to behold. As for the week before that, the content at #SHRM19 was similarly crackling. While there, my fellow attendees might have been forgiven for swearing they saw the following three cartoonish light bulb–containing thought bubbles actually popping over my head…
The frenzy that is the 2019 SHRM Annual Conference has ended. The early morning sessions, the content-rich breakouts and the late-night parties have ended. And for all 25,000 attendees, what do we have to show for it? Lots.
On July 10, @shrmnextchat chatted with #SHRM19 attendees (and all those who watched all the action via social media) about #SHRM19 and what Happened in Vegas, what they learned and how the overall experience contributed to their personal and professional growth.
If you missed this excellent chat, you can read the tweets HERE or below.
The SHRM 2019 Annual Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas will go down in history as one of our best ever with 25,000 attendees from 96 countries, 1,534 international representatives, 900 volunteers and 650 exhibitors.
Thousands of HR professionals have returned to their workplaces re-energized with new ideas and solutions to make work better.
I’m back! Time for blog number two! As I mentioned in “I Survived #SHRM19,” I had a lot to reflect on post-conference! I had almost four pages of thoughts and decided to turn this into a mini blog series. So, if you haven’t read the first one yet, please do so! But also, please enjoy my top seven takeaways from the different sessions I attended during the conference.
...the people!!
I, along with about 20,000 others, just finished attending SHRM19. It was a full, adventurous and exhausting conference. This isn’t new. Any HR conference of this scale is hard to wrap your hands around because there are so many options available for you to choose.
I mentioned earlier that this was my 4th time attending SHRM National. I can tell you without hesitation that it was by far the BEST SHRM National conference, yet!
Many of my fellow #SHRM19Bloggers have shared their experience at #SHRM19, and I have enjoyed reading each and every post that I have seen so far.
If you want to avoid excessive absenteeism on July 6, read this:
Fireworks on July 4 terrorize animals.
Every year, pets (particularly, but not only, dogs) left outside run away. Some are killed by cars. Others end up in shelters with uncertain fates.
Please keep your pets inside during fireworks. Consider putting in a room with shades closed, soft music, favorite food, etc.
On June 23, Jon and I had the honor of speaking at the Emerging Professionals session at #SHRM19. Check out all the Tweets that others shared here. When we were asked, at first we wondered what on earth we could possibly talk about. And then, of course, it was clear, sharing with these emerging professionals, how we found our voice & how they can find theirs.
I, along with about 20,000 others, just finished attending the 2019 SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition (#SHRM19). It was a full, adventurous and exhausting conference. This isn’t new. Any HR conference of this scale is hard to wrap your hands around because there are so many options available for you to choose.