GMA SHRM HR Link

Media Relations Update
By Dave Furlan, Marketing and Communications Committee

GMA SHRM Media Relations is looking for chapter spokespeople. In the past month, the chapter has received two inquiries from the press, one from Time magazine and the other from the Wisconsin State Journal. However, we don't have an available contact in our chapter to respond to the media.

To be a chapter spokesperson, you don't have to be an expert in all areas of HR. Perhaps your talent is advising people on the general business of human resource management, or maybe you possess specialized knowledge in areas such as legal/compliance, outplacement, labor relations, training and development, and other topics related to HR. As an example, the inquiry from the Wisconsin State Journal was about the value of an MBA. If you were a chapter spokesperson on training and development, we could have asked the reporter to contact you about this topic.

If you are new to the role, SHRM offers excellent resources and support to prepare you for interviews and other contacts with the media. The key will be your desire to represent SHRM and advance the HR profession through a constructive interaction with our media contacts.

Ready to sign up? If you are a Local Net participant, you can simply tell us to contact you for the same topics as a chapter spokesperson. If you are not a Local Net participant, look at page 67 of your 2005 Membership & Resource Directory and tell us which topics would be suitable for your role as a chapter spokesperson. To sign up or inquire further, contact the Marketing and Communications Committee at david.furlan@mail.mhcdc.org or 608-280-2430.

Sponsoring one Underprivileged Teen at a Time
By Robert London, Education and Professional Development Committee

Breakthrough: A New Fitness-Obesity Management Program for Underprivileged Teens

Why a Special Fitness-Obesity Program for Teens?

National health data is telling us that the poor diet, exercise, and lifestyle of our kids increase their risk of Type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis. Today, nine million kids over the age of six are obese or overweight; this is triple the number of kids that where overweight 30 years ago. While there are new federal, state, community, and school fitness programs being developed and tested, teens that are already overweight need special help in changing their eating, exercising, and lifestyle habits.

The UW Health Pediatric Fitness Clinic, Diabetes and Wellness Foundation, and MobilHealth are piloting a lifestyle change program for overweight teens and their families in the fall. This is a non-funded program that was designed to try and solve a difficult teen problem. Breakthrough is a health intervention that is based on the most recent fitness, nutrition, and psychosocial research. It has been designed to be relevant to a teen's physical, psychological, emotional, and social world. "Breakthrough" is about empowering underprivileged teens with the knowledge and the skills to help them make good life choices. This is a 20 week cognitive-behavioral program that covers: physical conditioning, nutrition, smart eating skills, life skills training, family alignment, and provides intensive support.

Sponsor One Teen at a Time to Help Solve a Difficult Problem

For a teen, changing their lifestyle for fitness and weight management is very difficult. Breakthrough provides an opportunity for the community, private businesses, and local government to join in and solve an immediate community problem at a very personal level. A small donation of $300 will give a teen from a less fortunate family an opportunity to participate in the Breakthrough program. Your donations are used to underwrite the costs of medical tests, pre and post testing, and materials for the teen you sponsor. Please help us make our Help One Teen at a Time campaign a success, and combat the obesity.

See attached for more details. For more information contact Bob London at 608-212-4670 or e-mail Bob at mbobL@mobilhealth.com.

Your Foundation at Work: Effective HR Measurement Techniques
By Rachel R. Steger, PHR

How do you demonstrate the value of your human resource department to the CEO, in language he or she can understand? The answer is HR metrics. Created with a grant from the SHRM Foundation, the book Effective HR Measurement Techniques shows you how to demonstrate, in bottom-line terms, the value of minimizing turnover, investing in training, evaluating team performance and much more. Learn how to measure the impact of your HR programs and watch your effectiveness soar. Visit http://shrmstore.shrm.org/shrm/ to order a copy of Effective HR Measurement Techniques.

The SHRM Foundation: Investing in Your Future as an HR Leader

From the National SHRM Bulletin Board…

Topic: Without Water
Posted: 7/6/05, 9:46:06 AM
Post: How long can an employer expect employees to stay in a building that has lost its water? There has been no response as to how long before water is restored.
Number of Replies: 11 by 7/6/05, 10:29 AM
Posted Reply: I'd suggest a run to a grocery or discount store and buy 20 oz bottles of water. One per ee per 1/2 day. So start with one bottle each and if the water comes back on today during the early afternoon, you'll be fine. REAL problem is the toilets...expect there to be an "air" about them...

Is there any end to what HR is asked to do?

Community Events

8.11.05
Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce / Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau Annual Business Social; 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Henry Vilas Zoo; www.greatermadisonchamber.com/event_calendar/gmcc_events.php.

8.22.05
Golf Fundraiser sponsored by the UW-Madison School of Business' Women in Business Council

Themed (Hawaiian) golf event to raise money for scholarships for women MBA students; Lake Wisconsin Country Club, Prairie du Sac, lunch at 11:30 a.m., shotgun start at 12:30 p.m., social hour and dinner starting at 5:00 p.m.

Cost: $110 per person; $450 for foursomes including a corporate business hole sponsorship; $25 for reception & dinner only; $100 for corporate business hole sponsorships.

For more information & RSVP's, contact Debra Lins at drlins@cbbwi.com or 1-877-839-6301.

8.25.05
Women's Equality Day (Eve) Annual Celebration, presented by the Wisconsin Women's Network; 4:30 - 6:30 p.m., Senate Parlor, Wisconsin Capitol

8.25.05
International Happy Hour sponsored by International Professionals Association

International Professionals Association is a premier network of Greater Madison's international community. Its sole purpose is to build social networks for the area's foreign nationals and passport professionals. For more information, visit www.internationalprofessionals.org.

Movin' Up

Have you started with a new company? Has your organization recently promoted you to a new position? Or do you want to recognize a new person or promotion within your department? If so, we want to hear about it. Send us an e-mail, and we'll publish your good news in the next HR InTouch!

HR InTouch Guidelines

Article Writing:
Do you have an interest in writing for the HR InTouch? We have an interest in learning more about your area of expertise!

Why should you volunteer? Top three reasons: 1) To share your knowledge and experiences to educate others. 2) To become more connected in the HR and Dane County communities. 3) To contribute towards the advancement of GMA SHRM and the HR profession.

The first step is for you to choose a submission option: you can pre-submit an article to GMA SHRM at any time for us to use in any of the upcoming newsletters, you can sign up to write for a particular month, or we can put you on a list of people to contact in future months whenever we need articles.

Article length:
Because the HR InTouch is now in an online format, the size is flexible. The article should be engaging and hold readers' attention. Include the core information in your article, and we will advise if it is too lengthy.

Solicitation:
GMA SHRM conscious not to allow solicitation through the articles, in an effort to protect the interests of our partners and members. The nature of the article should be educational (i.e., what are the business advantages of having a product like yours) or informational. Otherwise, if you truly are interested in advertising through the HR InTouch, you can work with our Marketing Committee. As a rule of thumb for article writing, if the submission relates to a for-profit event, or specifically markets your company (vs. your industry), it is an advertisement, and should be purchased. If it is a not-for-profit event that your company is hosting, or an announcement (i.e., a SHRM member recently joined your company), it is an acceptable addition to the HR InTouch content. If you have any questions related to the appropriateness of your submission, please contact us.

If you have questions, or to submit an article, contact GMA SHRM at chapteradmin@gmashrm.org.