ILSHRM News

Today post is from  Cathy S. Plouzek, PHR ILSHRM Directors– Spring 2013

Hey ya’ll!  Happy Spring …

In my last update, I outlined the direction and vision for ILSHRM for the next couple of years.   Our theme is simple -- ILSHRM is HR people helping HR people.  During our Annual Leadership conference last January, we used this theme to help refine the ILSHRM Purpose, Mission, and Vision –

Purpose
We promote and support the interests, success and needs of our members and the Illinois HR community
Mission:
Lead and serve our members as well as the entire Illinois HR community by providing timely and relevant information, ongoing professional development opportunities, and intra-state communication on issues of interest in the field of human resources.
Vision:
Be the “HR HUB” and unifying voice in Illinois, supporting HR professionals, business leaders, legislators and our communities.

One of the many ways we promote and support the interests, success and needs of our members and the Illinois HR community is to offer and/or support five major conferences throughout the year:

ILSHRM Leadership Conference – January

ILSHRM and CIC-SHRM Legislative Conference – April

SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition – June 16-29, 2013

ILSHRM State Conference – August 18-20, 2013

SHRM Leadership Conference – November 21-23, 2013

The ILSHRM Leadership Conference is our annual conference targeted at the volunteer board members of our ILSHRM Chapters. The focus of this conference is to offer volunteer leaders a chance to network and learn best practices that will help them strengthen the work of their local SHRM Chapter. Each year this conference offers a deeper understanding of how SHRM, the Illinois State Council of SHRM and Chapters support the HR Professional.  

We had over 130 chapter leaders attend ILSHRMLead13 – our largest Leadership Conference to date!  Plans are underway for ILSHRMLead14 and I am very excited to announce that Pamela J. Green, MBA, SPHR – President and Founder at Power Project Institute LLC and Former Vice President/Chief Membership Officer at SHRM will be our keynote speaker.  Check out her promo video and stay tuned for more exciting details.

In the past several years, ILSHRM and CIC-SHRM has teamed up to host an Annual Legislative

Conference in Springfield.  Our focus at this conference is to introduce the importance of advocacy and to educate the attendees on the latest trends and changes in employment law.   As an advocate for the HR community, it is important that we keep our elected officials informed on how public policy issues can affect employees, employers, and the HR profession as a whole.  ILSHRM has a group of dedicated volunteers that work with paid lobbyists to stay abreast of the latest issues that affect HR.  This year about 20 HR Pros traveled to the Illinois State Capitol and dropped off ILSHRM fact sheets to our elected Representatives and their Staff.  

Illinois is excited to host the SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition, June 16-19, in Chicago.  This year’s conference will feature keynote presentations from Fareed Zakaria, Blake Mycoskie, Dan Pink, and Mark Kelly, plus over 200 concurrent sessions and the world's largest HR exposition.  A special thank you goes out to Chicago SHRM … All volunteer positions are filled!

The Illinois HR Conference & Exposition is the annual conference of ILSHRM. Each year the event attracts over 600 human resource professionals and vendors throughout the state of Illinois and across the nation. Programs presented at the conference cover all aspects of the SHRM Body of Knowledge. In addition to multiple educational opportunities, attendees will also be able to network with fellow human resource professionals, check out the latest and greatest services offered by the top human resource vendors and have some fun at our social events.   Check out this video and watch keynote speaker Jason Lauritsen leads us in our first ILSHRM Flashmob.  Join in on the fun – August 18-20, at Drury Lane Dinner Theatre in  Oakbrook Terrace.  Registration is now open. 

HR ROCKS! HR ROCKS! HR ROCKS!

The SHRM Leadership Conference is an event designed to give key SHRM volunteers the opportunity to gain information about their volunteer role, network with peers, share effective practices and challenges across regions, and engage with SHRM staff.  This conference also features Capitol Hill Visits where we have an opportunity to join fellow SHRM volunteer leaders and the SHRM Government Affairs staff for a trip to the US Capitol. 

I hope I’ve given you the information you need to consider joining us at any or all of these conferences.  If

not, please connect with me using the media listed below.  A conference is a great place to learn and meet people.  This is networking in its truest form!  You communicate with people daily on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.  Conferences are where you can actually meet people in real life, put a face to the name, and build your ILSHRM Network.  

ILSHRM Capitol Visit 2013… a Great Success

Today's post is from Brian Spencer. He is our intern this semester at ILSHRM as well as RogersHR Consulting.  He will be graduating this May from UIS with a degree in Management and focused on beginning a new career in HR.  He has been a tremendous asset to us in promoting the Advocacy Program here in the state and help coordinate projects for the upcoming Legislative Conference this April.  Connect with him on Linkedin

We had a fantastic group of HR folks travel down to the State Capitol Building this year!  This is the fourth year that we have had our spring conference and capitol visit and the first year that it has rained so I guess we should count our blessings.  Everyone took the weather in stride.  Some car pooled over the few blocks and some of us walked with umbrellas as the rain started to lighten up; falling gently but steadily down rather than sideways.  We met in the rotunda for a few group pictures before descending on our individual local official’s offices.  Many of us even used the tunnel, connecting the Capitol building to the Stratton building next door, for the very first time!

Those who visited the Illinois Statehouse as part of the Legislative Conference

We had our plan of attack ready before we left the conference.  For those of us who knew our official’s names we looked up their office numbers for those that did not we were able to look up our district and get the information we needed.  Then we had a quick debriefing on how to get around the facilities and to best introduce ourselves.  Then we set out wielding our fact sheets and business cards in hopes of meeting with our elected officials.  (Appointments are rather difficult to get more than a few days in advance when the legislators are in session here in Springfield.  Their schedules are much more flexible while at the local offices, but then you don’t have the opportunity to see the legal process in action!)  For some, it was our first time to see the state legislature in session, since our fourth-grade field trip to the Capitol - or ever.  Others were able to help direct traffic because of their familiarity with the facility.  It was fascinating to sit in the gallery and observe the bills being debated and voted upon.  I can’t promise that every bill is exciting as the scenes in the recent movie Lincoln, but it is a tremendous learning experience nonetheless. 

I loved hearing so many great stories coming from those that participated in the experience.  It is great to have so many of us to share in the excitement of the day together.  Overwhelmingly, the experiences were quite positive in dealings with the staff as well as some who were able to meet with their legislators that day!  We hope to be sharing some of those success stories in the weeks ahead.  I expect that several of us will have the opportunity to continue these new relationships in the local offices in the months ahead.  As those relationships begin to flourish, we will have more capacity to help educate our legislators in the world of HR and offer our unique perspectives into how potential legislation can impact our businesses and our workforce.  My hope is that by this time next year we will have even more of us to help lead the way for the others who are joining the wave of Advocacy for the first time.  If you have an interest in getting involved

with your local legislators click here and we will get some basic information to you to help equip you to make an impact where you live and work.

Proud like a Papa

My  guess is that anyone who is looking at this is probably at the stage in their life where they have either had a hand in raising some children or are in the process of doing so now.  In doing so, you have the opportunity to watch that child grow - learn - mature and hopefully become a fine  young person.  While along the way you see some low points and also some flashes of brilliance.

As a long time SHRM volunteer I have seen many efforts put forth by volunteers at the local, state and national level.  Like the child, some of the efforts lack some luster, while other shine. Well recently I had the chance to be a part of one of those memorable events.  It is like this; do you remember your child's first hit in baseball, first goal in soccer or hockey, their best game in basketball or the game winning stuff to win a volleyball game.  As you reflect on them, they return with fond memories - and you think I did ok with that child. Well earlier this month I saw one of those flashes of brilliance not from my child but via my local SHRM Chapter and the State Council of SHRM.

Donna Rogers, Cathy Plouzek, Moderator Penny McCarty,
Dave Ryan and J. Reed Roestler. (EEOC Panel  L to R)

On April 10 and April 11, the CIC-SHRM Chapter and the Illinois State Council of SHRM collaborated to put on the 7th (I think) Annual Legislative Conference.   In the past, I feel they haven't always gone as well as we would have like them to go. The attendance wasn't what we wanted it to be, the post events did not turn out as we had hoped. There were suffice it to say, some disappointments. It wasn't bad, some of us had  had hoped for more - kind of like your kid grounding out when he was up to bat, he put the ball in play, but didn't get on base.

Well this year our team hit a HOME RUN.  We got it right this time. Kudos to Tami Ireland - ILSHRM Legislative Director and to Larry Small CIC-SHRM's Legislative Affairs Chair.  Together they teamed up and pulled off an amazing two-day session. This year a larger team was assembled and well utilized. The planning was very meticulous from Mr. Small (he is that way). The results of this were evidenced in the two day affair.

This year I was afforded a small speaking role in the event  on an EEOC Panel, and despite that, the event received high marks from  all of the attendees who completed the evaluations.

Mike Vandervort laying it down on labor news.

Another big thanks goes out to Michael Layman who traveled from SHRM headquarters to speak to our audience on day one.  And although I did not attend (and Mr. Layman reminded me of this), my sources tell me that he did an outstanding job.  And I would also like to throw out a big thanks to my friend Michael Vandervort who travel all the way from Lakeland, Florida to be with us and tell us about (and click on his name to read about this) some new things that are happening on the labor front.

My last thank you and congratulations goes out to IL SHRM State Council Chairs, past and present.  To John Jorgensen and Donna Rogers for getting this conference out of the gate and having the faith and guts to stick with it, and to our current chair Cathy Plouzek for keeping the event growing and moving forward. I am sure 2014 will be even better!




-Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM