What’s Coming Up in February?
Important Reminder! Your calendar year 2002 chapter dues are due!
Meeting Charge Increase for 2002
Sponsors Needed for 2002! We also need Volunteers!
Chapter Discussion Group
Board Meeting Minutes
Global Skills Update
Legal Updates
New Courses for SHRM Members
Request for Information Assistance
Telework!VA
Upcoming Educational Programs
Washington Area Recruiter’s Network (WARN)
Mission Possible:
Try This Exercise:
Mark Your Calendars
Upcoming Meeting Topics
Check Out Previous Newsletters

What’s Coming Up in February?

Issues in International Human Resources
February 20, 2002

As businesses grow, the HR issues revolving around globalization quickly come to the top of the desk. In this highly interactive talk, one of SHRM’s top rated speakers will cover the key issues when a company expands globally, with a special focus on the issues revolving around starting up and staffing a business offshore with local nationals. The talk will incorporate coming trends, and a variety of stories told and lessons learned from his years in international HR. Handouts will include a checklist matrix that you can use for your global expansion.

Lance Richards is the Managing Director of Suddenly Global, a Washington DC area consultancy. Prior to forming Suddenly Global, he’s held international HR executive roles with British Telecom, Verizon and Teleglobe. He sits on the Board of Directors of SHRM Global Forum, and the Editorial Advisory Board of hrworld magazine. He is a scheduled editorial columnist on global HR topics for the UK’s leading HR magazine, Personnel Today.

Also, as an added bonus, you can submit your IHR queries in advance to Lance at lance@suddenlyglobal.com, and he’ll either answer them during his presentation, or you’ll get an answer in a written Q&A doc provided at the meeting.

Catch this session now, right here at Dulles SHRM! In April, SHRM is presenting Lance and this topic in New York City as a four-hour workshop - and is charging $220 for it! What a bargain! Mark your calendars now!

Important Reminder! Your calendar year 2002 chapter dues are due!

If you joined the chapter in Oct., Nov. or Dec. of last year you’re all set - the dues you paid will also count towards 2002. If not, we need your 2002 dues payment no later than March 31, 2002. Chapter dues remain a reasonable $25.00 per year for National SHRM members (and since Dulles is a 100% chapter, you do need to be a National SHRM member to renew your membership with us).

Please send your dues check for $25.00 to:
Nathalie Laforet, Treasurer
Dulles SHRM
P.O. Box 1249
Herndon, VA 20172-1249.

Please make sure you include a Dues Remittance Form so that your information is correct in the directory.

Don’t miss out on your opportunity to be listed in and receive our 2002 membership directory, to say nothing of the reduce rates on meetings and seminars, and the ability to post your resume, job opening or professional service on the website. Where else can $25.00 buy you so much?

Meeting Charge Increase for 2002

Please note that to cover the costs of our meetings (food, meeting room, AV, etc.), we have had to increase the meeting fees for 2002. Effective with the January meeting the cost will be $35.00 for members, $40.00 for non-members and $25.00 for students.

This decision was not made lightly, but is necessary if we are going to continue to break even on our meetings for the year (we lost money over the course of last year).

In addition, we are going to be more proactive in collecting fees from folks who sign up for meetings, but don’t attend. Once we make a reservation in your name we have made a financial commitment to the hotel. While we certainly understand when things come up and you can’t attend, please also understand that we still owe the hotel for your meal and need to collect from you.

Sponsors Needed for 2002! We also need Volunteers!

The price we charge for meals barely (and sometimes doesn’t) cover the cost of the meeting expenses. Even though the fee is a mere $250.00 (for members -- $500.00 for non-members), having a sponsor at meetings definitely helps us balance the budget.

The benefits of sponsoring a Dulles SHRM meeting include:

1. Direct contact at the meeting with anywhere from 40-60 chapter members.
2. Exposure on the Dulles SHRM website with a mention about being the sponsor, a brief description of what the company does and a link to the company's website for a six month period of time.
3. Table set up next to the registration table during the reception/networking time prior to the meeting.
4. A mention in the meeting flyer about the company with their website address.
5. An introduction at the meeting with an opportunity to briefly overview the company’s products or services.

If your company is interested in sponsoring a meeting, or better yet know of someone who might be, please contact Cindy Loison at cindy.loison@lafarge-na.com and help keep the cost of meetings down.

THIS IS ALSO A VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY!

If there were a fearless member of this chapter who would volunteer to coordinate the sponsorship program, we would have a much better chance of having a sponsor for every meeting.

PLEASE CONSIDER CONTRIBUTING TO YOUR CHAPTER - this requires very little time but can make a HUGE difference!

We are also looking for a Newsletter Editor - interested? Please let Nancy Streeter know at Nabss@aol.com.

Chapter Discussion Group

Folks are raving about the value of the chapter discussion groups!
Come find out why!

The next discussion group will focus on Sexual Harassment. Cornelia Gamlem will facilitate this session which will be held from 7:30am to 9:30am at Lafarge North America, 12950 Worldgate Drive, Suite 600, Herndon, VA 20170. Contact Cindy Loison at cindy.loison@lafarge-na.com or (703) 480-3706 if you are interested in attending.

Performance Management is the proposed topic for the February discussion group -- the planned date of Feb. 8th. Look for an email with more information.

Lafarge is located on Worldgate Drive, near the intersection of Centreville Road/Elden and Worldgate, accessible from 267 via Exit 10 Herndon/Chantilly. Park in the covered deck (avoiding any spaces with a company name marked on the ground). Walk into the building lobby and take the elevator to the 6th floor. The double glass doors will be locked at that time of the morning, but a Lafarge representative will be available to escort you to the meeting room.

We are in the process of developing the calendar for the rest of 2002, so if you have any suggestions for topics for next year (either one where you would like to facilitate or one where more information would enhance your work place effectiveness), please let Cindy know.

Board Meeting Minutes

The minutes from the Board meetings are available on our web site - please take a few minutes to review them in full. Click Here to View.

Global Skills Update

Meridian Resources has a complimentary publication called Global Skills Update. It contains skills and strategies for global business professionals in their work across borders. In the December issue they focused on Decision-Making in Global Teams and tips for Gift-Giving around the globe. You can view the Global Skills Update at www.meridianglobal.com/newsletter.

Legal Updates

OSHA Recordkeeping: The New "Rules of the Road"

On January 1, 2002, revised injury and illness recordkeeping regulations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) went into effect, the first major change in these requirements since 1972. Substantive revisions have been made in the definitions, recording criteria, counting days and reporting requirements, among other important concepts. OSHA has been in the process of revising its recordkeeping requirements since 1987. Primary concerns with the previous system included their unclear and overly-inclusive definitions, their difficulty in application at the worksite level and the fact that they were unnecessarily complicated.

Littler Mendelson's ASAP newsletter, which discusses these changes in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's injury and illness recordkeeping regulations, can be found at: www.littler.com/nwsltr/asap_osha_recordkeeping.html.

U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams

Littler's latest ASAP discusses the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, 2002 Lexis 400 (2002), in which the Court held that an assembly line worker who claimed that she was disabled in her ability to perform manual tasks could not continue to pursue her claim against Toyota under the ADA unless she could prove that her impairment substantially limited one or more major life activities.

This latest ASAP can be found at: www.littler.com/nwsltr/asap_ada_toyota.html.

Court Decrees That Failure to Train Managers Is an "Extraordinary Mistake"

A recent Federal Circuit Court of Appeals decision concludes that employers who make no effort to train managers in lawful and non-discriminatory hiring, screening and interviewing practices are making an "extraordinary mistake."

Littler's ASAP on Mathis v. Phillips Chevrolet, Inc. (7th Cir. No. 00-1892, 10/15/01) can be found at: www.littler.com/nwsltr/asap_train_mngrs.html. This decision will likely apply to all important employment decisions, requiring many employers to expand their managing training programs.

For more information please contact: Ami Petter at 212-583-2665 or apetter@littler.com.

New Courses for SHRM Members

There are 10 new SHRM courses delivered on-line from Credencia along with discount coupons and a free account and course (value $24.95) for new members.

• Workplace Violence: Back to Basics
• Negligent Hiring: Minimizing Your Exposure
• Pensions: Strategic Topics for Sr. HR Professionals
• Trends in State and Local Workplace Legislation
• Using Employee Involvement Programs to Energize, Retain and Motivate the Workforce
• Recruiting Talent: It’s a War Out There!
• Persuasion Power!
• Responding to an EEO Charge
• Turnover: Facts and Fixes for Today's Troubling Business Issues
• Business Planning for HR Professionals: Building a Blueprint for Success

Visit: www.credencia.com/newsletter/holiday01.htm.

Request for Information Assistance

Interested in sharing information on performance management systems? You are invited to participate in a 20-minute survey conducted by a Dulles SHRM member, Kathleen Finn. The information will assist Kathleen in completing a white paper that will share “Lessons Learned in Implementing & Maintaining Performance Management Systems” among HR professionals affiliated with SHRM.

Kathleen is also open to anyone interested in co-authoring the white paper with me. (Anyone else who is interested qualifies for re-certification credit toward the PHR/SPHR.)

Survey Goals: To identify potential pitfalls and successful techniques learned by fellow HR professionals in a number of organizations that have been involved in the implementation and maintenance of performance management systems.

Process: Spend approximately 20 minutes talking with Kathleen and responding to seven questions. Company and individual names can be kept confidential. Kathleen only asks that you allow her to identify the industry group and approximately size of the organization.

How do you participate? Please contact:

Kathleen Finn, SPHR
703-709-7947
KBFinn917@hotmail.com

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

Telework!VA

The Telework!VA program is one of Governor Gilmore's Innovative Progress initiatives designed to reduce traffic congestion in northern Virginia. The program provides financial incentives to companies to help them start or expand a telework program for their employees.

Who is eligible?
Companies in northern Virginia with more than 20 employees can participate. Priority will be given to the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford, Spotsylvania and the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, Manassas and Manassas Park. Employees who participate should be Virginia residents. Companies based in Washington, DC are not eligible.

What are the incentives?
An employee interested in teleworking needs equipment to stay in touch with co-workers and clients. After a company leases equipment such as computers, fax machines or modems, the Telework!VA program reimburses those costs up to $3,500 per teleworker. Training and technical assistance costs also can be reimbursed. Each company can enroll up to ten employees in the program.

Who runs the program?
The program is administered by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Telework!VA is currently a two-year pilot program and participating companies must agree to at least a two-year commitment.

What is the goal of the program?
Telework!VA is designed to reduce the number of vehicles on northern Virginia's highways while demonstrating to companies the virtues of teleworking. The financial assistance may be all that's needed to convince a company to try the program, see how well it can work and expand it. At the same time, the program reduces the number of people on the road. Each participating employee must telework at least eight days a month.

How does teleworking benefit companies?
Office and parking space is a valuable thing in the Washington, DC area. Encouraging employees to telework can open up office and parking space and allows companies to grow without incurring significant costs.

Plus, employees who don't have to deal with traffic congestion are more productive. They don't have to worry about being late and can start work on time each day without recovering from the stress of sitting in traffic.

What if an employee isn't able to work from home?
Telework!VA allows employees to work from telework centers. A telework station must be reserved at least eight times a month. The centers are located throughout northern Virginia and open 24 hours a day. Telework!VA funds can be applied toward the telework center use costs.

What equipment is covered under the program?
Eligible expenses include, but are not limited to:*

* Computer/Server Equipment
* Answering Machine
* Fax Machine/Software (Software in lease cost)
* Software for Employee (Software in lease cost)
* Modem
* Telephone
* Printers
* Telework Center Fees
* Telephone Lines & Installation Fees
* Consultant Services (Program start-up; Information Technology assistance; installation services)
* Scanner
* Web Cam

*Exceptions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

How do companies apply?
Companies can apply to participate online at teleworkva.org or call Commuter Connections with questions at 202-962-3792.

Upcoming Educational Programs
(from the HRNCA website: www.hra-nca.org)

February 12, 2002: Best Practices in Leading People, presented by HR Leadership Forum. The "best of the best" to attract and retain your finest people. Can the same practices be used with contractors, vendors and suppliers? Time: 8:30 a.m. to noon. Location: Executive Conference Center, 3601 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA. Cost: members free; non-members $75.00. Registration and questions: mheisel@earthlink.net or 703/532-9473.

March 12, 2002: Michael Mercer, Ph.D., founder of The Mercer Group, Inc., presented by Montgomery County SHRM. Three programs. Morning: Turning Your HR Department into a Profit Center and Secrets of Leaders in America's Best-Run Companies. Afternoon: Hire the Best and Avoid the Rest; How to Customize Interviewing and Testing of Job Candidates. Times: 8:30 - 11:45 a.m. and 1:00 - 4:30 p.m. Costs: AM or PM only -- $90 Professional members of local SHRM chapters and students; $100 all others. Entire day: $170 Professional members of local SHRM chapters and students; $180 all others. Save $20 if you register by January 31, 2002. Location: Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center, 9751 Washingtonian Blvd., Gaithersburg MD 301/590-0044. Register by March 4th. More information from James Gillette: jgillette@hanger.com or 301/280-4613. MC SHRM website registration: www.mcshrm.org .

March 12, 2002: Theory to Practice: What HR Can Learn from the Campus, presented by HR Leadership Forum. Latest developments in industrial psychology and organizational development emerging from the campuses. What do leading Washington DC area universities offer HR executives in knowledge and services? Time: 8:30 a.m. to noon. Location: Executive Conference Center, 3601 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA. Cost: members free; non-members $75.00. Registration and questions: mheisel@earthlink.net or 703/532-9473.

April 9, 2002: e-Learning: Harnessing the Hype, presented by HR Leadership Forum. Assess your organization's needs accurately, choose a solution wisely, and implement it effectively. Time: 8:30 a.m. to noon. Location: Executive Conference Center, 3601 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA. Cost: members free; non-members $75.00. Registration and questions: mheisel@earthlink.net or 703/532-9473.

May 14, 2002: Rx for Health Care: Getting Your Money's Worth, presented by HR Leadership Forum. What you need to know or be on the lookout for as you begin to plan 2003 employee benefits and conduct open enrollment this fall. Time: 8:30 a.m. to noon. Location: Executive Conference Center, 3601 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA. Cost: members free; non-members $75.00. Registration and questions: mheisel@earthlink.net or 703/532-9473.

Washington Area Recruiter’s Network (WARN)

The Washington Area Recruiters Network (WARN) invites recruiters in all fields and HR professionals involved in recruiting to attend their programs. All programs begin at 5:30pm with a networking hour, followed by the program at 6:30pm. Programs are held at the Sheraton Premiere, Tysons Corner, Virginia.

What is WARN?

The Washington Area Recruiters Network (WARN), a non-profit professional trade association, was established in 1996 to meet the needs of IT Recruiters. Attendees to WARN programs include corporate, contract, agency and direct placement recruiters of various levels.

The cost to attend a WARN Program is $35 for members (pre-registered) and $50 for non-members. Walk-ins are welcome - Members are charged $40 and non-members pay $50. Regardless of attendance, fees are non-refundable. Yearly membership fee for WARN members is $50. For further details, visit their website at www.warn.net www.warn.net.

Wednesday, March 13th
Keynote speaker: Carrie Johnson, Columnist, The Washington Post

Carrie Johnson is the @Work columnist for the Washington Post. Johnson writes about employment and the high tech sector in her Monday column and in other feature stories for the Business section. She will talk about the latest trends in the technology labor market, the changing workplace, and new etiquette in the post dot-com era.

Wednesday, May 8th
Keynote speaker: Nancy Vercauteren, President of NV Training Solutions

“WHAT SUCCESSFUL RECRUITERS KNOW AND WON’T TELL” Why do recruiters fail? How do I handle the swings of the economy? What do we do and say that hinders building candidate and client relationships? What do recruiters need to know that can better impact their overall results? In this seminar learn the most common mistakes recruiters make and what to do about it; apply sales techniques for the 21st Century recruiter; how to handle economy swings; and build candidate and client relationships for mutual benefit and respect.

Wednesday, July 10th - Program: Recruiter Roundtable

The Recruiter Roundtable will allow participants to learn from their peers on topics ranging from Internet recruiting, advertising, referral programs, time management, and many other relevant issues. Moderators will facilitate the discussion at each table, while attendees will have an opportunity to move amongst 3-4 tables/topics throughout the program. Historically this has been one of the best meetings all year! You are guaranteed to come away with a tip, trick, shortcut, or solution that you can put to work the next day.

Wednesday, September 18th - Panel Discussion: Meet the Local Leaders

Wednesday, November 13th - Keynote Speaker: TBD

Mission Possible: Successful Collaboration Between Leaders and OD Practitioners for Transformational Change

Chesapeake Bay Organization Development Network Annual Conference 2002

Saturday, February 23, 2002, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
National Leadership Institute at University of Maryland University College

To register for the conference, please check out the CBODN website (www.cbodn.org) or contact CBODN administrator Sheila Summers at summs@ix.netcom.com.

Warner Burke: One of our profession's founders, Dr. Burke leads the Department of Organization and Leadership at Columbia University and serves as a senior consultant to PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He has authored 14 books and over 100 articles and book chapters, uniquely bridging models of leadership and approaches to organizational growth. His latest book is Business Climate Shifts: Profiles of Change Makers. Dr. Burke is the conference keynote speaker.

Lily Kelly-Radford: Senior VP of the Center for Creative Leadership, Dr. Kelly-Radford is recognized for her expertise on global, ethnic, and gender perspectives on leadership and most recently led a development effort for staff of the United Nations, working with Bourtras Bourtras Ghali and Queen Noor Hussein of Jordan. One of her particular interests is in understanding and delineating the external forces on the workplace, including joint ventures, technological advances, and what it means to have a global operation.

Linda Ackerman Anderson and Dean Anderson: She is one of the original creators of the Organization Transformation field and was the 2001 ODN Conference keynote speaker in Vancouver. He is the creator of the Leadership Breakthrough Program, a hallmark process for changing leadership mindset and transforming cultures in corporations. The founders of Being First, Inc., they are the authors of several books including The Change Leader's Roadmap: How to Navigate Your Organization's Transformation.

Mel Silberman: Professor of Adult and Organizational Development at Temple University and president of Active Training, Dr. Silberman is internationally known as a pioneer in the areas of interpersonal intelligence, active learning, and facilitation/consultation. Among his books are People Smart: Developing Your Interpersonal Intelligence and Active Training: A Handbook of Techniques, Designs, Case Examples, and Tips. In addition, he edits The Training and Performance Sourcebook and The Team and Organization Development Sourcebook.

Other Conference Features Include:

• Concurrent workshop sessions with CBODN presenters.
• Bookstore featuring presenters' books and other materials.
• Opportunity to network at "designated" university alumni tables during lunch.
• Door prizes including free memberships in CBODN and ODN.

Member Registration Information:
Advance (through February 22, 2002): $129.00, At-the-Door (February 23, 2002): $149.00

Non-Member Registration Information *:
Advance (through February 22, 2002): $169.00, At-the-Door (February 23, 2002): $189.00

Try This Exercise:

Three college professors, Margaret Neale of Stanford University, Deborah Gruenfeld of Northwestern’s Graduate School of Management and Elizabeth Mannix of Cornell’s Graduate School of Management looked at the effect social and informational ties had on how groups shared information. They set up groups of three people who were told to solve a murder mystery. In each group two members were social friends. The third member was a stranger. In half the groups, the friends had a common piece of information and the stranger was given a piece of unique information essential to solving the problem. In the other groups, one friend and one stranger had common information, while the other friend had the unique information. Which group was more likely to share information more effectively?

Results from the research study.

The groups with two friends having common information and the stranger with unique information did the most productive information sharing. "Our best guess is that the two friends know each other and expect that they have similar information because of their mutual experience," says Neale. A stranger knows he or she is different and is more likely to share unique information. In groups where one of the friends had the special information, the friend suppressed the informational difference in order to keep social ties intact, researchers speculate.

The results of the research tend to indicate that individually we have pre-formed expectations. We behave in certain ways without even being aware of our actions. Friends presume that they have things in common, even information, which is not necessarily a shared attribute or experience. People who are not friends presume they are different. Friends may suppress their differences for the sake of social harmony, even when it comes to information that will help solve a problem.

Diversity in The Workplace: Diversity Is More Than Your Ethnic Background

The study of diversity in the workplace has taken on new importance as changing economics prompt many companies to downsize and restructure themselves into flatter, more decentralized entities. The result is that today's corporations are built around groups that must find answers to novel and complicated business issues. These teams bring together diverse groups of people who incorporate a variety of backgrounds, ideas, and personalities.

People tend to think of diversity as simply demographic, a matter of color, gender, or age. However, groups can be disparate in many ways. Diversity is also based on informational differences, reflecting a person's education and experience, as well as on values or goals that can influence what one perceives to be the mission of something as small as a single meeting or as large as a whole company. Diversity among employees can create better performance when it comes to out-of-the-ordinary creative tasks such as product development or cracking new markets, and managers have been trying to increase diversity to achieve the benefits of innovation and fresh ideas.

"What you don't see is diversity having a direct performance effect," says Neale. It turns out that different types of diversity generate various sorts of conflict, which affects how a team performs. "The kind of group conflict that exists and how the team handles the conflict will determine whether this diversity is effective in increasing or reducing performance."

Informational diversity stirs constructive conflict, or debate, around the task at hand. That is, people deliberate about the best course of action. This is the type of conflict that absolutely should be engendered in organizations, says Neale.

Demographic diversity can sometimes whip up interpersonal conflict. This is the kind of conflict people should fear. "People think, 'I have a different opinion than you. I don't like what you do or how you do it. I don't like you,'" says Neale. "This is what basically can destroy a group."

Diversity based on goals and values actually generates both types of conflict. This is the most potentially damaging of all the diversities. Without value-goal homogeneity, a team can accomplish little. But once a team recognizes and accepts a goal, it makes problems easier to deal with because each person knows the intentions of the others are the same.

Researchers have measured informational diversity and value-goal diversity by surveying employees. They also obtained actual group performance data and supervisor assessments of how various teams were doing in terms of on-time delivery and services rendered. They found that the effects of diversity were more pronounced during complicated tasks that required the interdependent work of several groups. The more teams had to work together, the greater the effects the researchers observed.

Each day at work we spend as much, or more, time together working as part of a team trying to solve common problems than we do at home with our family members. Knowledge of the power of our similarities, and the constructive benefit of our differences, can benefit all of us. Recognizing the impact of our diverse views and opinions, goals and values can have a dramatic impact on our interpersonal relationships, both personally and professionally.

Source: Written by John Derderian from Stanford University On-line Report - Study on Diversity in the Workplace

Mark Your Calendars

Upcoming SHRM conferences and seminars:

• SHRM Annual Employment Law & Legislative Conference, March 11-13, 2002, Washington, D.C.
• SHRM 54th Annual Conference & Exposition, June 23-26, 2002, Philadelphia, PA
• 2002 VA SHRM State Conference, October 9-11, 2002 in Roanoke, VA (never too soon to block the time)

Upcoming Meeting Topics

Upcoming meeting topics:

• February 20 - Issues in International HR with Lance Richards
• March 20 - Measuring the Employee Life Cycle: A Tool for Improving Retention - Mary Saily, Vice President for HumanR and Dr. Linda Simon, Director of Organizational Effectiveness for America Online
• April 17 - Removing the Mystery From Mentoring: Practical Answers to Common Questions About Mentoring Programs with Ann Johnston of ProGroup (with book signing)
• May 15 - Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace with Jennell Evans
• June 19 - "Traits, Customs, and Practices Found in the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America" with Scott Cawood of the Great Places to Work Institute
• September 18 - HR Technologies Panel Presentation (tentative)
• October 16 - Leadership with Book Signing with Dr. Virginia Bianco-Mathis
• November - Benefits Update with Dave Downer, The Segal Group
• December - Holiday Party

That’s all for this month unless you have any ideas or suggestions? This is your chapter - let us know what’s on your mind!

Nancy Streeter
President
Dulles SHRM
E-mail