HR Society Meeting Minutes: 10/23/09

Introductions were made to new club member
Discussion about the SHRM conference:
Conference Topics:
-Generations class
-About how the generations do not match the stereotypes that people place on
them.
-Aging Workforce class:
-About the challenges that older employees face with care for the elderly in
their homes.
-Reduced Productivity, distraction, sick call ins.
-Suggestions about simple things that can be done to connect with the community
and have them as a resource.
-Legislation class:
-Changes in legislation. HR will use more outsourcing to legal aide and will
not be expected to know all of the laws because of the significance of the
legal costs that are involved.
-Genetic testing: Washington Law extends our EEOC to genetic testing.

-General meetings:
-Speculation where HR will go in the future. The competitive market requires
more flexibility and is tied to the strategic goals of the organization.
Performance reviews will be eliminated, focusing more on results rather than
specific goals.
Legislative Conference:
-Downsizing: Talked about how the company treats the employees while it is
happening. When the employees are not treated well during the downsizing, then
when opportunities start to open back up they will not be there for you. Let
the employees know you care
- Rick Howell-Surviving the Challenge: America is not leading us out of the
recession and base pay but should switch to flexible pay so that they can get
bonuses etc..can cut costs but keep people around. Use the recession as a way
to restructure your company so that things are fixed once everything is better.
Use temporary employees, flex time. China and how they fluctuates their
salaries, gives more flexibility, they are out of the recession right now. Best
companies are hanging on to their resources.
-Natalie Miller- Cultural Differences: The US is an individualistic society and
it is a downside because of the willingness to share the burden that our
companies are dealing with right now. Keep everyone informed and the
receptionists should know what is going on because they are the first person
that others speak to. Have a courageous agenda. Open the books and have
employees know where you are coming from because if they don’t know they will
waste money and will not know the policies and procedures.

Local Job Search-jobs before they are posted so you have first chance Jennifer Johnson contact to be placed on the list Natalie Miller-NatalieMiller@LHH.com to sign up.

Guest Speaker:

SHWARMA: SPEAKER: Angela Shiperdo-Hart

In HR there is a variety of opportunities. Staffing, compensation benefits, the SWARMA meetings give you a opportunity to hear about different areas from the different speakers and it gives you the opportunity to see what it looks like in the actual HR world. It is good to actually hear the professionals who know what it looks like to live that world every day. HR is about networking and if you have gotten to know people so that when you go out to know people so that when you go out to look for a job then you will already know those people. It helps then because they will look to the people who they have met already.

Executives are starting to expect HR to become strategic partners in the business setting rather than paper pushers.

PERMA meetings-will tell if you they are strategic or other credits or not look for those to help. Historically they have been hard to find. That will help you out when you are sitting with a potential employer. Will make you look less entry level when you are looking for a job. It used to be that hr was not invited to strategic meetings. It is really important to know your employees because they trust you when they have a need and it helps you to be a strategic partner. What on resumes do you look for ?

Tips for applying for HR Jobs:

-Take you top bullet items really powerful.
-Show how you have worked as a team member
-If the top of the resume is engaging, HR will read on
-Highlight what you want to do at the beginning and the least interested at the end.
-Say what you have to say quickly, HR professionals do not want to read wordy resumes.

Questions:

From a strategic perspective how well do you need to know all of the departments?

Understand where the money is going by department and what the impact of it is for the business. You want to know what the role is in the department and how it helps the business. What are the impacts of each individual? What is their expected production? What is their value per hour? Etc. You cant understand every piece of it but you can understand the overall vision of the business. Make sure employees are aware of the financials, if everyone is involved, then everyone is invested in the strategy of the business.

Trends in HR-Growing areas:

Having a broader skill set will help you because they are no longer having just one person do one type of job. HR is expected to be more generalists except in some positions like HRIS but even those are starting to become combined.

SHRM Auction:

The auction helps the national chapter of SHRM and SWARMA does some events. The money is spread out to help students to go to different events and scholarships. HR professionals and local companies donate baskets etc. The items are bid on and the money is sent back to SHRM. To help with the auction there will be some cold calling-you will be given a list of about 10 people to contact to get donations. They may need some help putting the baskets together and setting up on the day of the auction. There is a speaking event and there is someone who speaks for about 30-40 minutes. The auction is at the November luncheon.

SHRM Website:
The SHRM members all use the website because there is a ton of information on it. It is a free resource once you pay the membership fee. Sometimes someone form NERMA etc as a resource.

Diversity conference in the spring that will be another way to volunteer to do booklets etc and there are speakers who come in to talk about some diversity topics.