ILSHRM Looking for a New D & I Director

We’re hiring!  Yep at Illinois SHRM we have an opening.  Let me tell you a bit about the job.  It pays nothing and there are no hard dollar employee benefits.  We will ask that you perform at very high level bringing the latest thinking and creativity to a difficult job.   Sometimes it involves long hours. Still interested?

Here is the deal; we are the Illinois State Council (ILSHRM) of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). We do have an opening on our board of directors currently. We are looking for a Director of Diversity and Inclusion.  The position has been open since April of 2016.   Our board has been going through some consolidation due to changes in our business model.  But as we move ahead it has become apparent that this is an important position and needs to be filled.

Historically at ILSHRM, the way that open positions have been filled is through recommendations from current board members, or friends of those board members recommending their friends.  While that has worked in the past, it has not brought the level of inclusion to where it needs to be.  Said another way, when I look around the room at a board meeting, we all kind of look the same.   I understand that D & I means a lot more than race today. It includes religion, gender, gender orientation, sexual orientation, size, body types and with our organization it includes geography.  Thus, we will try to do better!

So being the Human Resources pros that we are, and knowing what we know, we are going to shake it up a bit.  We are going to recruit for a Director of Diversity and Inclusion.  Yes, we are going to post this opening on our website and ask for people to apply for this position. We also will ask all our Chapter Presidents to make this opening known to their chapter members who might be interested in sharing of themselves. And lest we not forget any of our AT-LARGE SHRM MEMBERS… that would be you 8000+ SHRM members in Illinois that are not currently affiliated with a chapter, you are welcome to become part of our organization as well.

Another change we are making is this. We are going to have a person on the board whose job it is to recommend to the board, qualified candidates to fill these positions.  The job title for this person is still somewhat in limbo, but things in place include, Succession Planner, HR Director, Talent and Acquisition Pro. We’re not sure where that is going to end up but these are some of the things in play.

We do have a job description for the position (because we are HR Pros) but being a member of a SHRM State Council involves a lot more that performing your singular board duties.  Check out some of the other content we have put out over the years on YouTube or Facebook, and if you think you would be a good fit within our board please apply.

 

If you have any questions about the State Council and our activities please contact me Dave Ryan via email and I will do my best to get back with you in a timely fashion.

-Dave Ryan Director Illinois State Council of SHRM

SHRM Diversity and Inclusion Conference Access Denied

Conference Planners the Game has Changed: Get on Board or get off the Sinking Ship

The theme for this week's SHRM Diversity & Inclusion Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel is "Game Changers". This inspired this post as I assert that the game for conference planners is "the conference" itself. You could also include seminars, programs, education, etc. as the game that has changed.

The point is we soon will have 5 generations in the workplace and our newest generation is being referred to as the "always on" generation. In some circles, this "always on" mentality is wholeheartedly embraced and in others, they are not embraced at all. How can one be "always on" when conference centers, generally hotels, BLOCK access to what folks want to be "always on"... The Internet.

This conference is not the first SHRM conference to deny my access to “get on" during the conference. However, SHRM is not the only organization I have attended where this has been a problem.  I can think of my own Chamber of Commerce function where there were all kinds of businesses from all types of industries trying to get on the internet. My second point is it doesn't matter if you’re a conference planner within the HR space; this is probably an issue at other conferences all over the world. If we are going to consider marketing conferences to the "always on" generation we should consider their needs. Not only that, there truly is a real benefit to your organization to promote, drive and encourage live communication from the conference. It can drive future attendance. Just like employers should really rethink their ban of internet access on the job, the same goes for organizations and business who want people to frequent their organization. I can imagine a time when people will choose a lunch location based on free wifi or not. Even if you don't have free wifi, if you ban it then you will lose. I already chose hotels for vacation based on whether or not there is free wifi. If lunch is the next decision, conferences will be right behind.

So, conference planners are most likely saying the hotels charge an arm and leg for it. We have the power to increase demand and negotiate for what we want and our member's need. I know I will have comments that say we tried and it's easier said than done. The point is why these conference centers not cater to what the customer needs. If they start losing business because of it, they will eventually listen.

The game has changed. Participants do not want access blocked. Get on board with this demand or it can have an effect on future attendance. Do you want a sinking ship or to go forward full throttle?  Full throttle is catering to the "always on" generation.

-Donna Rogers, Director ISC SHRM