March 2008 Newsletter
IN THIS ISSUE
News from Dulles Chapter of SHRM and other timely HR information
April Chapter Meeting
“Action Learning in Action - A Powerful New Tool for Solving Problems and Building Leaders, Teams and Organizations"
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 (Breakfast Meeting)
Action learning is not only an effective problem solving process but also has been valuable to a growing number of organizations worldwide as a powerful tool for developing leaders, teams and organizations. In this session, participants will discover the six essential elements for successful action learning programs, explore the steps and processes of action learning, and have the opportunity of practicing action learning. Successful application of action learning in companies such as Siemens, Constellation, General Electric, Caterpillar, Samsung, IBM and Boeing will be described. The session will include specific strategies and steps for implementing action learning in your organization or as part of your consultancy practice.
Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Understand how and why action learning is effective in solving problems, building teams, developing leaders, and creating learning organizations
- Apply the six elements and two ground rules of action learning as well as the questioning and reflection processes of action learning
- Appreciate the skills and importance of the action learning coach
- Introduce action learning into an organization
Our speaker for April, Dr. Michael Marquardt is Professor of Human Resource Development and International Affairs as well as Program Director of Overseas Programs at George Washington University. Mike also serves as President of the World Institute for Action Learning.
Mike has held a number of senior management, training and marketing positions with numerous organizations. He is the author of 18 books and over 90 professional articles in the fields of leadership, learning, globalization and organizational change including Optimizing the Power of Action Learning, Leading with Questions, Building the Learning Organization (selected as Book of the Year by the Academy of HRD), The Global Advantage, Action Learning in Action, Global Leaders for the 21st Century, Global Human Resource Development, Technology-Based Learning, and Global Teams. Over one million copies of his publications have been sold in nearly a dozen languages worldwide. Dr. Marquardt also served as the Editor of the UNESCO Encyclopedia volume on Human Resources. He has been a keynote speaker at international conferences in Australia, Japan, England, Philippines, Malaysia, South Africa, Sweden, Singapore, and India as well as throughout North America.
Dr. Marquardt's achievements and leadership have been recognized though numerous awards including the International Practitioner of the Year Award from the American Society for Training and Development. He presently serves as a Senior Advisor for the United Nations Staff College in the areas of policy, technology, and learning systems. Mike is a Fellow of the National Academy for Human Resource Development and a co-founder of the Asian Learning Organization Network. The International Management Centre at Oxford, England recently awarded him an honorary Ph.D. for his work and writings in the field of action learning.
We welcome our April Gold sponsor, Heritage Union Services. The Richmond-based company got its start in 2005 when its co-founders realized that an estimated 68 million Americans don’t have the life insurance coverage they need. That means that millions of families wouldn’t have the money to pay for the mortgage, the car or college if the family’s main breadwinner died. So they decided to take a different approach to selling…offer life insurance that can make consumers feel good about what they’re buying. SalaryShield is a portfolio of insurance products with a common thread—they offer a monthly benefit much like a “paycheck” to help families left behind pay for things they need everyday. Find out more at http://www.salaryshield.com/workplace.
Note: This program has been approved for 1.0 recertification credit hours through HRCI.
Register online at www.dullesshrm.org.
Embry Rucker Shelter Donations Update
Members who attended the December meeting donated $72! The Embry Rucker Community Shelter provides 70 beds each night for men, women, and families. In the winter, another 15 beds are made available to prevent hypothermia among people who are homeless. For more on how to help, check out www.restoninterfaith.org.
March Community Speaker - William Jones, Wash. VA Med Center
Compensated Work Therapy/Veterans Industries (VI/CWT) is a Department of Veterans Affairs vocational rehabilitation program that endeavors to match and support work ready veterans in competitive jobs, and to consult with business and industry regarding their specific employment needs.
From over 162 locations throughout the country VI/CWT programs strive to maintain highly responsive long term quality relationships with business and industry promoting employment opportunities for veterans with physical and mental disabilities. Professional VI/CWT staff provides state of the art vocational rehabilitation services; job matching and employment supports, case management, work site and job analysis, consultation regarding assistive technology, accommodation, and guidance in addressing ADA regulations compliance. Many of our individual programs are CARF accredited and are members of usPRA. Typically VI/CWT programs are located within VA medical centers in most large metropolitan areas and many smaller communities.
For more information on VI/CWT programs please visit: http://www1.va.gov/Vetind/
Contact William Jones, Acting Program Manager, Compensated Work Therapy Program, Wash. VA Med Center Account Representative, today! Telephone: 202-745-8000 Email: william.jones3@va.gov
Important Dates/Events to Remember
2008 Dulles SHRM Member Survey Launches on March 13
Please Participate!
The 5th annual Dulles SHRM Membership Survey is being conducted beginning March 13th. As one of our approximately 300 members, your participation is very important to us. Your feedback on last year’s survey had a real impact. Most of this year’s program topics were selected based on the survey results.
It is especially important to participate this year because the Dulles SHRM Board is considering some new initiatives and needs your input.
The survey will take only 5 to 10 minutes to complete and is completely confidential. It will be available online through March 26th, 2007. HumanR, Inc., an independent firm specializing in employee surveys and human resource issues, has volunteered to administer the survey for us. To maintain security, you will be asked to log in using your SHRM membership number. Just click on the following link to access the survey (or cut and paste it into your browser):
http://www.humanr.com/DullesSHRMSurvey/index.cfm
For a few of our members, we do not have a membership number in our database. Therefore, if you have difficulty logging into the survey, please notify the HumanR Help Desk (a link is included on the survey log-in page); provide your name and SHRM membership number in your email.
Whether you’ve been a Dulles SHRM member for several years or for only a few weeks, we want to hear from you. Please take the survey at your earliest convenience.
Thanks in advance for your participation!
Sarah Cower
President, Dulles SHRM
Marymount's Reston Center to Host Business Programs Info Session
A Business Programs Information Session will be held on Thursday, March 13, at 6:30 p.m. at Marymount's Reston Center located at 1861 Wiehle Ave. Programs include an M.A. in Human Resource Management delivered in a cohort format, meaning you progress through the program with the same group of students. Other business programs offered at the Center include an M.S. in Management, the "Essential MBA" which can be completed in as little as 21 months and the "Reston BBA", available for returning students who have an associate degree in Business or significant undergraduate course work. To register for the event, call (703) 284-5902 or visit www.marymont.edu/reston
2008 Helios HR Apollo Awards
In partnership with Washington SmartCEO magazine and Washington metropolitan chapters of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Helios HR proudly announces the 2008 Helios HR Apollo Awards TM. The Apollo Awards recognize organizations that promote employee growth and development as an integral part of their organizational culture.
Nominate your organization by March 14: http://www.helioshr.com/2008-apollo-awards.php
Celebrate this year's winners at the Apollo Awards breakfast ceremony!
WHEN: Friday, June 6, 2008
WHERE: Fairview Park Marriott in Falls Church, VA
Contact Becky Herring at Helios HR (703) 860-3882 or bherring@helioshr.com for event details and sponsorship opportunities, http://www.helioshr.com/2008-apollo-sponsorships.html
HR Anew Presents…
“ANEW” Workforce of the Future Is Rising
An EEO, Affirmative Action, and Diversity Conference
In an effort to inform employers of the rapid changes in today’s workforce, HR Anew, a Columbia, Md.-based human resource management and consulting firm, will host an Equal Employment, Affirmative Action, and Diversity Conference this spring. Entitled, “Anew Workforce of the Future Is Rising,” the conference will be held March 26, 2008 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at Martin’s Crosswinds located in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The conference fee is $175 for early registration through Feb. 25; and $225 beginning Feb. 26 through the day of the event. To register for the event or for more information about the conference visit the company’s website a www.hranew.com or call its corporate offices at (410) 381-5220.
VA SHRM State Council – Pathways to Workforce Readiness Statewide Summit
VA SHRM State Council is sponsoring a Statewide Summit on April 1st at the Richmond Conv Center – 9-2:30pm, cost $60; topic is Pathways to Workforce Readiness. Individuals attending this event will be updated on initiatives at the regional and state levels, including the Governor’s vision and goals on workforce development. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to offer suggestions and ask the panel questions relating to workforce readiness in challenges they have encountered. Information can be found at: http://www.shrmva.org/ConferenceWorkforceReadiness.htm
April 15 Conference: Managing the Employee Experience to Build Competitive Advantage
This one-day conference for senior HR and operating professionals from the federal contracting industry will be held April 15 at the NRECA Conference Center in Arlington.
Focused on issues impacting employee engagement and organizational loyalty, the program will include a mix of executive panels and keynote presentations as well as case examples of successful practices and challenges. The conference is being co-sponsored by the Professional Services Council and HumanR, Inc. For a complete program or to register, go to www.pscouncil.org and click on Events. If you would like additional information, call Lauren Malone at HumanR (703-435-5911, ext. 125).
Conference topics and presenters include:
Managing the Employee Experience to Build Competitive Advantage
Burgess Levin, Managing Principal, Strategic Services at HumanR, will share insights from research on how organizations can create a competitive edge, unique challenges faced by federal contractors, and characteristics of business units that set the benchmark for business and employee performance.
The Best First and Third Place You'll Ever Work - Building an Employee Brand at SRA International
Stan Sloane, CEO, SRA International, will discuss how SRA has built its employee brand and how that brand has affected SRA's turnover experience.
The Right Measures: Insights from Conference Participants
Facilitated by Cookie Perlmutter, Vice President of Human Resources, Perot Systems. Participants will work in groups to identify measures that are most indicative of the health and effectiveness of the workforce and of the human resource function.
HR Leadership Best Practices Panel
Moderated by Louis Montgomery, Vice President of Human Resources at Serco NA, panelists will discuss such topics as managing customer site employees; recruiting and retaining cleared employees; integrating acquired employees; controlling turnover in the first two years; facilitating career development; engaging and retaining high potential employees; weeding-out unproductive and disengaged employees; and organizing to manage the employee experience.
Panelists include Dick Gregory, SVP HR & Admin., L-3 EITS; Margo Mentus, SVP HR, ManTech; Lee Stratton, SVP HR, SI International; John Quigley, VP, Systems Planning and Analysis; Chris Spiller, HR Business Partner, EDS; and Norm Pierce, VP HR & Admin., NCI Information Systems.
Lunch with Government Speaker: Managing the Blended Workforce: A Government Perspective
Presidents' Panel Discussion:
The Changing Environment for Federal Contractors and Its Implications for Employees
Facilitated by Jim Ballard, past president of Perot Government Systems. Panelists include Jerri Shaw, President, JBS International; Phil Lantz, President, Systems Planning and Analysis, and Thomas Mitchell, President, ManTech Security & Mission Assurance.
Save The Date
Calling All Service Providers
BUSINESS PARTNER FAIR
We like to shop? We want to know where to find the hottest deals?
Bring your brag sheet – tell us what you do!
April 30, 2008
2008 Dulles SHRM Business Partner Fair
Members Providing Members with Value!
What? Take this opportunity to dialogue about your services and meet your fellow Chapter members
Where? Cox Communications
3080 Centreville Road
Herndon, VA 20171
When? Wednesday, April 30, 2008
5:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Why? Relationship building and member connections
- Connect with members who provide expert services you need
- Voluntary participation in “hot topic” discussions
- Nibble while networking with hidden talent!
Who? Dulles SHRM Community
Your Foundation at Work: “Effective Practice Guidelines”
Contributed by Mary Roome-Godbolt, National SHRM Representative
If you are like most HR professionals, you probably lack the time to keep up with the latest research findings in human resource management. To help make research-based knowledge more accessible, the SHRM Foundation has created a new series entitled Effective Practice Guidelines (http://www.shrm.org/foundation/1104pulakos.asp) The guidelines compile and summarize the HR practices in a given area that have been shown to be effective based on research studies. A subject matter expert with both research and practitioner experience distills all relevant findings and expert opinion into specific advice on how to conduct effective HR practice. SHRM members may download the following reports free from the SHRM Foundation website: Performance Management, Selection Assessment Methods and Employee Engagement and Commitment. New reports are added each year. This series is made possible by your contributions to the SHRM Foundation.
The SHRM Foundation: 40 Years of Advancing the HR Profession
Chapter Discussion Group
“Is Your Company Prepared for a Disaster?”
Thursday, April 3, 2008
American businesses form the backbone of our nation’s economy leading the globe in innovation and job creation. But many businesses are not prepared for disasters, whether related to terrorism, storms or loss of data, and will economically bear the brunt of being ill-prepared. According to the Department of Labor Statistics, 40 % of all companies that experience a disaster never reopen and 25% close within two years. 93% of companies that suffer a data loss for more than 10 days file for bankruptcy within a year.
Don’t allow your organization to become another statistic. HR professionals are in a unique position to influence disaster planning strategies.
In preparation for this discussion, please reflect on the following questions:
- How often do you conduct a risk assessment?
- Do you have a crisis management plan in place so that you can immediately respond to any business disruption or disaster?
- What does your business recovery plan look like?
- How often do you reevaluate?
Come join the discussion facilitated by Michael Ryan, Acting Deputy Coordinator for the Office of Emergency Management for Fairfax County. If you have had no previous experience in this area, consider this an opportunity to learn from other professionals. You are welcome to extend an invitation to interested colleagues.
No fee is charged for attending. However, registration is required on-line, at least 24 hours in advance, via the Dulles SHRM web site (www.dullesshrm.org): Career Growth/Chapter Discussion Groups. If you have questions, contact Janet Geib at 703-303-4427 or jgtrain@verizon.net. Participation is limited to the first 25 people who sign up.
Date: Thursday, April 7, 2008
Time: 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Place: Cox Communications
3080 Centreville Road
Herndon, VA 20171
Phone: 703-480-5135
Contact: Mary Roome-Godbolt; Mary.roome@cox.com
Directions:
From points east and west:
Take the Dulles Toll Road (Route 267) to exit 10 (Herndon/Chantilly). Head towards Chantilly on Centreville Road. Go past McLearen Road (Rt. 668). Cox Communications will be on your right hand side.
Mark Your Calendar
2008 Chapter Breakfast/Dinner Meetings:
- May 21st (Dinner) – Topic: Hiring and Terminating Presenter: Theresa Burke Wright, Jackson Lewis Law Firm, Focus: Hiring and Terminating
- June 18th (Dinner) – “New Leader Integration” Presenter: Lynn Lorenz, AOL, Focus: Training and Development
- July 16th (Breakfast) – “The Hidden Dimensions of Organizational Change” Presenter: Bob Marshak, Professor, American University, Focus: Organization Culture
- August 20th (Dinner) - TBD
- September 17th (Dinner) – Topic: Employment law issue to be determined after annual member interest survey. Presenter: Misti Mukherjee, Odin, Feldman & Pittleman, Focus: Employment Law
- October 15th (Breakfast) – “Challenges in Integrating Cultures During a Merger or Acquisition” Presenter: Terry Mellendorf, Retired VP, Human Resources, Nextel, Focus: Mergers and Acquisitions
- November 19th (Dinner) – “Get ‘Em Started Right – Enhancing Performance and Retention Through Effective On-Boarding” Presenter: Ilona Birenbaum, The Wynhurst Group, Focus: Retention
- December 3rd (Dinner) – Holiday Party
HR LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
Contributed by
Les Eszenyi, Legislative Liaison
As promised in the last Newsletter "The ADA, FMLA, and Workers' Compensation: The Bermuda Triangle of Employment Law".
Excerpts from SHRM Legal Report by Christopher G. Bell (June 1997)
"The interplay between the ADA, FMLA, and Worker's Compensation continues to confound HR executives, lawyers, and the courts. An injured or ill employee may have rights under each of these statues which must be respected. However, each statute defines the protected employee differently, and provides different and frequently overlapping benefits and protections. As a result, an employer must be careful to analyze the circumstances of an individual employee separately under each of the laws. Once separately understood, the employer next must consider how the laws may interact for the particular employee. Finally, having understood the separate requirements and the interaction between them, the employer in a position to make an appropriate decision regarding an employee's status and benefits."
"Overlapping coverage by each of these laws is possible because each law serves different purposes and provides different although sometimes overlapping benefits. Workers' compensation may entitle an employee to payment of medical expenses associated with his on-the-job injury as well as payment for time away from work because of such injury. The FMLA entitles the employee to be absent from work resulting from the injury and to receive group medical coverage not only for the employee's medical treatment not related to his occupational injury but also for medical care for his or her dependents, and the right to be restored to the employee's same or equivalent position. In addition, the ADA, if applicable, may entitle the employee to a reasonable accommodation to enable to return to his or her original position or reassignment to a vacant position and otherwise bans disability discrimination."
"The ADA, and FMLA both may apply to some injured and ill employees. Other employees with varying medical conditions may be covered by either law. The ADA protects from discrimination of an employee with an "impairment" which substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a "record of" such substantial limiting impairment and an employee who is "regarded as" having a substantially limiting impairment. By contrast, the FMLA protects a person with a "serious health condition" which is an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves one of the following: [1] inpatient care; [2] continuing treatment plus absence from work for more than three calendar days; [3] pregnancy; [4] chronic conditions requiring treatment; [5] permanent or long-term conditions requiring treatment; and [6] multiple treatments for non-chronic conditions. (29 CFR 825.114). Not all injured or ill employees will be covered by all these laws. An employee's injury, such as a cut finger on the job, may be so slight as not to require continuing treatment by a health care provider or absence from work for more than three days. Although this employee might receive first-aid or brief medical care covered by workers' compensation, the employee would not have a "serious health condition" and would not be entitled to leave under the FMLA. Likewise, a slight injury of brief duration will not constitute an ADA-covered disability. On the other hand, an employee who breaks a leg at work will have a workers' compensation claim and an FMLA "serious health condition" if the employee must be absent from work for more than three days. The employee still will not have a "disability" under the ADA if his leg heals normally in a couple of months. On the other hand, a deaf person has an ADA-covered disability but may not have an FMLA "serious health condition" if the hearing impairment does not cause absence from work."
Is there any wonder why so many ships and airplanes were lost in the "Bermuda Triangle"?
“If You Aspire to Be a Great Place to Work, You’ve Set the Bar Too Low”
By Martha I. Finney, President and CEO of Engagement Journeys, LLC
Excerpted from The Truth About Getting the Best from People: Get Rid of the Carrot and the Stick, by Martha I. Finney, Financial Times, February 2008; reprinted with permission
For an engagement geek like yours truly, the first quarter of every year does not mark the season of fresh starts. It’s the season when the much-anticipated annual Best Companies to Work For edition of Fortune magazine arrives in my mailbox. I suppose the excitement is parallel to, uhm, sports enthusiasts receiving their annual swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated. With, what I can only presume to be the same focus, I immediately go straight to the gate-fold, centerfold to look at the yummy table to see who is Number One, to see where my clients and friends have landed on the list, and to see who’s off this year.
But it’s the far-right column that has always held my attention longest – what I fondly call the “doodads column,” which lists the accoutrements of best companies to work for. These typically span the selection from the essential, like worklife/balance policies; health coverage; stock options; and tuition reimbursement to the frivolous, like the parties and the toys. I have to say, though, that this year everything seems to be shopworn and tired. Where once this column was the domain of the toys, special excursions to exotic lands, permission to bring one’s pooch, this year the column is listing things that people should be expecting anyway, for instance Number 22, American Century Investment claims bragging rights over the fact they give a rousing welcome to new employees.
The doodads have lost their va-voom. A sign of the times, I suppose.
But I think it’s also a sign that perhaps it’s time for the entire employee engagement conversation to undergo a 2.0 overhaul. We’ve done the doodads accounting for over 10 years now, and now we need to transform the topic of what makes a great place to work to what makes a culture where great people want to come to work.
This is not in any way meant to disparage The Great Place to Work Institute or call into question the authenticity of its intent and the quality of any individual company that competes to make the list. However, like any movement that starts out true and good and is fighting hard to keep its integrity, its core concept has also been high-jacked by those who want to feed off the original vision, those who just want to win – or companies and consultants that want to make money helping employers make the list. With the emphasis focused on making the list rather than truly creating a place where people voluntarily contribute their absolute greatness – what William Blake called the divine spark – we have shifted our attention to the finger pointing at the moon rather than the moon itself.
We’ve gotten too fancy. As a result, companies have become slave to the methodology rather than the mission. The elaborateness of survey instruments, indexes, even the doodads dangled in front of employees like bait reveal a fundamental disconnect that persists: Employees – one by one -- are looking for a job (or life’s work) that they can truly pour their hearts into. The result of this disconnect? The company has an extensive, Byzantine metrics system set up to gauge how engaging its managers are. And it has a doodads list long enough to encircle the globe. But there is absolutely no understanding of what passions truly burn in the hearts of its employees. One very common tell-tale sign: The company has a web-enabled careers tab that may be state-of-the-art technology-wise, but it has the inspiring welcome of a flounder flat on a platter.
Instead of aiming to be a so-called great place to work, employers should shift their emphasis to becoming the place where great employees know they can wisely invest their passion, creativity, hearts and smarts. Let’s take a look at what a great employee is.
Great employees passionately identify with the company’s mission and they’ll go to extremes to help the organization achieve its goals. Great employees don’t care about arcade games or even free coffee (although I wouldn’t recommend taking that away); they care about customer service, innovation and making the world a better place as a general result from their daily efforts. Great employees can get very angry when they see evidence of their company’s purpose sliding off the rails; so in this sense they can be very uncomfortable to be around at times. Great employees love to close a sale, please a customer, find the solution, find an even better solution, and do all these things with coworkers who are as passionate about their work as they are.
This is what great employees want: They want to believe in the company’s mission. They want a clear line of site between their efforts and the company’s most essential goals. They want to know that trust and respect flow both ways between themselves and their managers – and among their coworkers, for that matter. They want to know that they’re heard and believed and acknowledged – not as aggregated statistics but as individuals with original, epic points of view of their own. They want to keep pushing the boundaries of their potential. They want to know that their tenure with their employer is an essential part of their own life’s saga. There has to be meaning in their efforts on a daily basis, but more than that, they want to be able to look back on their life’s career journey and see, “Ah, yes, I see exactly the reason why I was there at that time.”
To borrow a phrase from our metaphysical friends: Employees aren’t merely human beings having a corporate experience. They are individuals using their careers as one way to express the fullness of who they are in this life on this planet.
There’s that joke you’ve probably heard before: The narcissist says, “Well, enough about me, let’s talk about you. How do you feel about me?” That has been the essential driver of most of the conversations around what it takes to be an engaging workplace: Tedious survey questions asking employees how they feel about the company. The company that truly attracts and keeps the great employees will find its own greatness as an employer when it stops to ask of its employees, “Who are you in your heart, mind and dreams? How can we help you make those dreams come true? Come. Sit. Tell us all about it.”
Shift your focus from becoming a great place to attracting great employees and treating them with honor and respect. And they’ll give you the moon in return.
Bio: Martha Finney is the author of The Truth About Getting the Best From People (Financial Times, 2008). A former business journalist, Martha Finney helps companies capture and sustain the passion of their employees.
She can be reached at martha@marthafinney.com
Dulles SHRM Members: Look for chapters from Martha’s book in upcoming newsletters!
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!
Sarah Cower, PHR
President
Dulles SHRM
sdcconsult@hotmail.com
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