Upcoming Illinois Legislative Conference

Last week I attended the annual SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Conference in DC and visited our states two Senators office and my local congressman's office to discuss health care reform and workplace flexibility in support of SHRMs position. Before the conference started, I also had the opportunity to hear best practices among 48 of our 50 State Legislative Directors who were in the room.  It is absolutely amazing to me what some of the other states are doing from a legislative standpoint (state lobbyist, govt. affairs, state & federal directors, etc.). By comparison, they don't have half as many enacted employment related regulations on the books that Illinois does. We are only beat by California and they were not in the room so I am not sure what they are doing. What are we doing, right now. Well to be honest, NOTHING. However, I personally would like to change that and absolutely need your support.

It is my goal to fund legislative efforts at the state level with the annual Legislative Conference going forward. As we have been preparing for the event (April 12-13) we have discovered almost triple digit bills waiting to be pushed through. Some of them are good for HR and business and some are not. IL State Legislators need to hear from us with regard to those that are not, so they will be less likely to vote them into law.

Illinois is one of 10 states this year that SHRM Government Affairs plans to work with to bring about advocacy in all 19 of our districts. Michael Laymen, SHRM, Govt. Affairs is coming in for our Legislative Conference to not only provide us with a federal update but to train us on how to make those connections and advocate for what we think is right as it affects our everyday life. I hope you will consider joining us in this initial effort. It is of utmost importance that your local legislators hear from you, know you, call on you when they have a question about something that will ultimately affect your job.

Please support the HR Legislative efforts in Illinois by first attending this conference  and second by telling other members and HR professionals about it! We can work together to make a difference in Illinois! As an incentive, the state council will reimburse mileage for one (1) carload of attendees from each chapter. Carpool to save gas, network, and strategize about how you will make a difference. Are you with me?

-Donna Rogers State Director ISC SHRM

You Have to be Like Jay Leno to be in HR

I don’t want to face facts, but the fact of the matter is my wife and I need to buy a new bed.  Our current bed and mattress, I think, are about half as old as I am.  I was thinking about this today and figured I may not have to buy another bed in my lifetime, at least for me and my wife. Ok on to the next thing, tonight my wife and I are going to see Jay Leno perform live, at a nearby college campus.   On our way to see Jay we drove through another college town.  As we passed through town  my wife wanted to take time out to do a little shopping  which forced me to hang out at Starbuck’s watching the college kids wander in and out while I cabbaged onto their wi-fi.

I have two sons one graduated from college in 2010 and the other one (fingers crossed) will graduate in Spring 2013.    Fortunately for me, this allows me to somewhat stay in touch with the college age folks.  My wife was telling me that Jay Leno said he tours college campuses so that he can stay in touch with that age group of folks and he feels like it keep him current..

As a nearly “old” HR guy this got me to thinking, you know if you want to stay relevant in this field you had better buddy up to and become good friends with a few folks college age.  The relationship needs to be such that  you both are getting something out of it.  People in HR need to know people of all ages, religions, ethnic backgrounds etc. to see how they see the world.  I am pretty sure they don’t see it just like I do.

Besides my kids, I work hard to develop relationships with folks 20 to 30 years my junior.  Some of these are on-line, some are at work, my neighbors and in my SHMR chapter. It is important to me to understand how these younger folks think and feel about everything  I plan to attend the student SHRM Student Games in a couple of week. In attend I will no doubt learn a little bit about my younger counterparts

And to the youngsters out there this theory works in reverse, make sure you get to know and  have in your circle of friends, folks who are of a different demographic than yourself.

- Dave Ryan Director of SM ISC-SHRM