March 2011 |
HR InTouchThe Monthly Newsletter of the Greater Madison Area SHRM |
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In This EditionPresident's Message
By Dave Furlan, PHR Government Affairs GINA Final Regulations Take Effect Possible Changes to Wisconsin FMLA Employee Relations Learning & Development
Community News News & Announcements
Tuesday, March 22, 2011, GMA SHRM Strategic Summit GMA SHRM Philanthropy Partnerships INTRODUCING: The Peer Advice Network – Your Peer Information Resource GMASHRM Events Click here to see the full GMA SHRM Event Calendar.
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Can you believe our premier education event, the GMA SHRM Human Capital Conference, is just over two months away? In its sixth year, the conference promises to be bigger and better than ever. Our volunteers have been working hard over the past few months to figure out content and line up great speakers. We also review past comments from you, our members, to make sure we are improving and finding ways to make the conference a better event each year. I have no doubt that this dedication and approach will make HR 2.011, the theme of this year’s conference, a worthwhile learning opportunity for all of you. Check the website, newsletters, and weekly e-blasts for regular updates. It’s also that time of year when GMA SHRM offers our Professional Award. The annual award of $1000 is given to a chapter member to support his or her professional development. Among other things, you can use the award to attend a conference or pursue a degree or certification. I know many of our members are always actively challenging themselves to become more knowledgeable and further develop their skills in the HR profession. The GMA SHRM Professional Award is a great way to support your efforts in this way. I strongly encourage all of you to consider applying this year. The deadline for applications is April 15. Over the past months in my column, I’ve reviewed many parts of our chapter Strategic Plan to tell you about our progress. This month I want to highlight our Community Outreach initiative. Its long-term goal is that “GMA SHRM will become the #1 resource for the media on HR-related issues and collaborate regularly each year with community partnerships through businesses and other non-profit associations.” Last month, we launched our Peer Advice Network, as a rebirth of our chapter’s LocalNet from years past. I hope all of you have taken the time to check out the Peer Advice Network and selected some categories about which you can share knowledge with your fellow members. A nice offshoot of the network is that we also seek chapter members who are willing to serve as a media contact on the selected category. I ask that each of you, as you access and update your Peer Advice Network categories, consider also becoming a media contact. Previous PR or communications experience is definitely not necessary. We are simply looking for members who have the capability to share the HR knowledge they’ve accumulated over the years as a representative of GMA SHRM.
Volunteers on the Communications & Marketing Committee are ready to assemble these media contact names. They will provide guidance and procedures on how you can help us answer media inquiries to the chapter. Our goal is to become a reliable, responsive source for our local reporters, columnists, and journalists. I know current and past chapter leaders have felt strongly that the community needs to discover the impressive depth and knowledge HR brings to many workplace issues, whether as part of a local story or something making national headlines. We have a well-organized system ready to go, but our last piece requires you. I hope to see many of you volunteer as a media contact and help the chapter achieve an important piece of its overall strategy.
To your continued success, P.S. Don’t forget about our upcoming March Summit with international HR analytics expert, Dr. Jac Fitz-Enz. This is a very special programming event for our chapter and promises to be well-attended. It should be a great opportunity to meet new people while learning valuable information from a leading voice in the HR community. The program was just approved for 3 hours of Strategic Credit!
GMA SHRM Board of Directors
Compliance Update
Judge Strikes Down Healthcare Reform Law
WI Eliminates Tax on HSA Contributions
Click here for a compliance update on these and other topics.
GINA Final Regulations Take Effect Final regulations for Title II of the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act (GINA) have been issued by the EEOC and took effect January 10, 2011. They provide guidance for employers on a number of topics. Employers need to familiarize themselves with the new rules and adapt their practices to avoid running afoul of the EEOC.
Prohibited Requests
Click here for the full article.
Possible Changes to Wisconsin FMLA There is a new Senate proposal (2011 Senate Bill 8) intended to make changes to our State Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). There are several changes being proposed that would make Wisconsin family and medical leave law more similar to federal family and medical leave law. If the proposed bill is passed, it would require employees to have worked 1,250 hours during the preceding 12-month period rather than 1,000 hours in the preceding 52 weeks. In addition, this bill would change the substitution of paid leave so that an employer may require the employee to substitute paid time they have accrued.
The bill would also expand Wisconsin FMLA to include service member family leave and family leave for active duty similar to Federal FMLA. Wisconsin FMLA for these reasons would cover spouse, child, parent, next of kin and domestic partner. The proposed bill would also extend time limits for reporting violations of denied rights under the law or retaliation. This bill extends the time limits to two years after the date of the last event constituting the alleged violation or, if the violation was willful, to three years after that event. For more information on Senate Bill 8, details can be found at: http://legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/data/SB-8.pdf.
ADHD in the Workplace
By Holly Bonnicksen-Jones, SPHR, HR Director, MRA
More and more adults are being diagnosed with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, also known as ADHD, and it is an increasingly common condition that HR professionals face in the workplace. ADHD is a neurobiological disorder affecting up to 5% of all Americans and it usually diagnosed in childhood, continuing into adulthood. Many individuals aren’t diagnosed until adulthood where they have sought out help from their health care provider typically as a result of workplace performance problems.
The most often cited ADHD characteristics are impulsivity, inattention, and over-activity. Each individual with ADHD may exhibit one or more or any combination of these symptoms. Behaviors that are associated with these characteristics are: fidgeting; talking excessively; interrupting others; impatience; distractibility; organization problems; problems giving attention to details; procrastination; and problems following through with instructions.
Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not cover specific conditions in its language, it does speak to disabilities being those conditions that impair one or more major life functions.
Click here for the full article.
Learning & Development The Greater Madison Area Society for Human Resource Management (GMA SHRM) has established a professional award program to encourage the continual pursuit of education and professional development in the human resources field. One $1,000 non-renewable award will be given this year. To be eligible, applicants must be a member of GMA SHRM working in an HR-related field. GMA SHRM Board Members are not eligible. Click here for additional information and application instructions .
Power Differential Personnel often have mixed feelings toward HR, mostly because of the dual role HR professionals must play. It is inescapable that recommendations by HR will impact the livelihood and quality of life of others. That goes with the territory and is an exercise of power regardless the intent of HR professionals. HR professionals have an interface with management that gives them a power differential within their organization. They do salary surveys, recommend salary ranges, make recommendations on benefit packages, and advise managers on disciplinary matters. These functions impact quality of life of many people. HR professionals walk a tight rope. They help deserving employees achieve position upgrades. At the same time, if one of these employees were to violate company interests, the HR professional would have to shift from a helper to disciplinarian. Managers often turn to HR professionals to think through disciplinary action. Usually the manager already has a strong leaning and seeking support from HR to support their leaning. The HR professional may or may not agree with the manager’s approach. That means they may need at times to gingerly redirect the manager’s thinking. The HR professional’s specialized knowledge constitutes a power differential with that manager. The HR professional has an even greater power differential with personnel because the advice they give can spell the difference between an employee’s retention or termination. These are heavy responsibilities.
Click here for the complete article. Community Events Volunteer Opportunity!
The Wisconsin Academic Decathlon Competition is looking for interview judge volunteers! This would be on March 17&18th at the Wilderness Resort in the Dells from 3:30 pm – 8:40 pm. High school teams are made up of students at all GPA levels. You and a partner judge would conduct two rounds of 5 – 10 minute interviews. Guidelines are provided to the judges and dinner is included! This would be an excellent way to gain PHR recertification credits! Click here for a flyer with further details.
Volunteer Opportunity! We have numerous volunteer opportunities coming up. Please contact the appropriate individuals directly if you are interested.
Urban League Mock Interviews 9am – Noon
Omega School - Mock Interviews
Tuesday, March 22, 2011, GMA SHRM Strategic Summit A DON’T MISS OPPORTUNITY: Dr. Jac Fitz-enz, Father of Human Capital Analysis, comes to GMA SHRM!!!
On March 22nd Dr. Jac will be speaking on Predictive Management; a model that aligns, integrates and predicts the effects of HR services on organizational performance using human resource analytics to measure results. The value of analytics is being recognized by more and more organizations as a highly successful way to predict and manage change. HR is now embracing analytics and realizing the same success and benefits as the other parts of organizations. In today’s economic climate, the pressure is on to demonstrate the value of your human resource investments. Instead of simply reacting to these pressures, it’s time for HR to adopt a future-focused, integrated model for managing human capital. It’s time for HR to speak in quantitative, objective terms, using numbers to highlight the value we bring to our organizations. Register now for the March 22nd Strategic Summit to learn how! To learn more about the event or to register, click here. Return to Top
Wednesday, April 6, 2011, GMA SHRM Roundtable
What are the unique challenges of managing employees at multiple locations? What are some effective strategies used by local HR professionals to manage employees who are located at international sites? April’s HR Roundtable provides an opportunity to hear about some of the ways that area HR professionals have used to help manage personnel at multiple locations, telecommuting employees, and employees working at international sites/offices. To learn more about the event or to register, click here.
GMA SHRM Philanthropy Partnerships GMA SHRM Philanthropy is proud to partner with two organizations throughout 2011 to benefit the HR profession and support our community. GMA SHRM members, and non-members attending our monthly programming events, are encouraged to donate food items, non-food items, or money to Second Harvest FoodBank. Simply bring item(s) with you to our chapter events, and we will deliver them to the Foodbank! GMA SHRM believes we can make a difference for families in Southern Wisconsin. We would like to help struggling families get on their feet. Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin serves more than 140,000 individuals annually. That’s 22,700 people receiving emergency food assistance in any given week. We will be tracking the donations throughout the year, until our final event at the Annual Golf Outing and Charity Event at The Oaks Golf Course on August 2, 2011. Immediately following the golf outing, we will be totaling all of the donations from throughout the year and will calculate the number of meals we provided to the community. Our goal is to provide more meals than we did in 2010. Our donation in 2010 was 5,154 meals (109 pounds and $1690)! Additionally, GMA SHRM will be collecting professional and personal development books, children’s books, fiction, and DVD’s in new or gently used condition throughout the program year. We will use the items we collect to hold a book/DVD sale at the GMA SHRM Human Capital Conference on May 10th, 2011. The money raised from the sale, along with monetary donations will be given to the SHRM Foundation - a 501(c)(3) non-profit affiliate of SHRM. A leading funder of HR research grants, the Foundation produces publications and educational resources to advance the HR profession. Their work is made possible by your generous tax-deductible donations. Simply bring any of the items mentioned above to one of our chapter Summits/Toolbox sessions and drop them in the specially designated donation boxes!
What is Peer Advice Network? Are you considering a 401(k) plan, and do not know where to begin? Do you want to conduct an engagement survey of your employees, but need to know what pitfalls to avoid? GMA SHRM Peer Advice Network can be the answer you need. Learn from the experiences of your peers. Contact them today through Peer Advice Network.
How Peer Advice Network works?
How can I be a peer resource?
Update your member demographics Thank you and good luck! GMA SHRM is proud to announce its new Membership Referral Program! It’s easy to participate, simply encourage your colleagues, students, customers, vendors, and others to join GMA SHRM and enjoy the same great benefits you do! As a GMA SHRM member you already know that our organization offers support, resources, and opportunities to network with other human resource professionals in the greater Madison area. Now is your chance to be rewarded for sharing that enthusiasm for our organization and let your colleagues see for themselves that a GMA SHRM membership is an invaluable resource for their profession. To find out more about this program click here. GMA SHRM Member SpotlightTraci Stanek
What is the focus of your position?
Which of your career accomplishments makes you proudest?
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Why did you decide to join GMA SHRM? If you’d like to be featured in the Member Spotlight in an upcoming issue of HR InTouch, please e-mail Dawn Koopman at dkoopman@musicnotes.com . GMA SHRM Member PollVisit the GMA SHRM home page to participate in the poll! Do you have a burning HR question that you’d like to see featured on our GMA SHRM Member Poll? If so, please submit your questions to Jake Siudzinski at jakes@qstaff.com.
GMA SHRM is LinkedInCome join our GMA SHRM Chapter group on LinkedIn! What is LinkedIn? It’s a business-oriented social networking site that can be used to connect with friends (old and new), find or post jobs and get information. In order to join, sign in at www.linkedin.com and keyword search GMA SHRM Chapter. Welcome New Members!GMA SHRM welcomes the following members who joined our chapter in January of 2011!
Movin' UpCongratulations to Karla King and Christine Storlie who recently received their SPHR! Thank you for continuing to advance the HR profession. 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! In TransitionIf you are a member who is in between jobs, or who is currently employed but seeking new positions or career paths, write us a brief description of your skill set, areas of expertise, what you’re looking for, etc. Send us an e-mail. We’ll publish your information in the next HR InTouch. What’s Cool in HR in the Greater Madison Area?What’s going on in HR in your workplace? Have you…
Is there something…
We want to hear about it! Share it with your HR colleagues in HR InTouch. Send us an e-mail HR InTouch GuidelinesArticle 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; and 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 is 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 .
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Greetings,
Mark your calendars and register early for the March 22, 2010 Strategic Summit. Dr. Jac, as he is known worldwide, is acknowledged as the father of human capital strategic analysis and measurement and he will be speaking to GMA SHRM. This is a unique opportunity to hear a pioneer and worldwide leader in metrics, benchmarking, HR analytics and predictive management. Dr. Jac has published 11 books and over 290 articles, reports and book chapters on measurement and strategic management. In 2007, he was cited as one of the top five “HR Management Gurus” by HR World, and the Society for Human Resources Management chose him as one of the 50 persons who have “significantly changed what HR does and how it does it.” Although his work is widely imitated, he remains, The Source for human capital strategy, measurement and analytics.
Where do you currently work? 