New Leadership at ILSHRM

Hey y'all, as the Blogger In-Chief for Illinois SHRM, I am happy to report I have a new boss.  No, no, no --it's a good thing. It is not like the stuff many of us deal with on a day to day basis where we have bosses come and go.  This is a planned, orderly transition.  It is the Change of Guard.  Donna Rogers has completed her two-year term as State Director and passed the torch on to Cathy Plouzek.  While you don't find Cathy out here in the blogospher yacking about this or that, she does have a presence out here in what I will call the HR Social Space as you can find Cathy on LinkedIn and on Twitter as well.

Cathy lives in the Peoria area and has been active in the Heart of Illinois SHRM Chapter for many years.

I will, as subtly as I can, suggest to Cathy that she could take some of this space and share a few comments about our organization and just where she plans on taking us. So for the meantime consider yourself informed of our leadership changes.

And as an FYI Donna Rogers has taken a position on the SHRM Mac Council, I guess I need to get her to write a post about that!.

-Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC SHRM

The Cliff - The Hill And A Voice

The ILSHRM Crew posing before lobbying.

The end of the year has passed now, and the jury is still out on whether or not my efforts and the efforts of 380 of my SHRM peers will really pay dividends.   During the SHRM Leadership Conference, we were part of the largest contingent from any Leadership Conference to storm The Hill.   Our message had mostly to do with preserving existing tax code, for employee benefits.  We spoke about preserving benefits for college reimbursement, health care deductions, and the continuation of tax credits for retirement contributions. So with the Fiscal Cliff behind us it would appear that our efforts were effective, in as much as we did not hear about these benes  being whacked, in the 11th or maybe I should say 26th hour.  But this whole mess got me to wondering, did our efforts really matter? Was it worthwhile?

I have been involved in business and life long enough to know that you don't win all the battles, just ask Mr. Obama or Mr. Boehner.. Sometimes any small success is a victory. So even if our trip to The Hill does not result in the exact outcomes that we desired, we (all of us who participated) all made progress in the relationship building area.  This is largely what the whole effort  of going to Capitol Hill, is all about, the relationship thing,  I like many others am trying to build a relationship with our folks in Congress, so that if they ever have questions or need information about HR, they might contact me.  Remember, and the SHRM A Team tells  us this repeatedly, there are only two members on Capitol Hill who have any experience as an HR practitioner.  You can do the math 2 divided by 535 is 0.003,  three tenths of one percent, a very small minority.

These folks in Congress are busy every minute of the day and if you can make just a small in-road into getting their ear about an issue or two that is a success. While we did not get to speak to either one of my Illinois Senators, my group did get to speak with our Congressman Aaron Schock from Peoria, IL.  Rep. Schock listened to our issues as did his staffers.  As for the Illinois Senators, we did not see Sen. Kirk as he was still recovering from a stroke.  Regarding Senator Durbin, nothing was said regarding his whereabouts.  We did meet with one of his staffer, who was most gracious and attentive - but at my advanced age they all (All Congressional Staffer) make me feel like I am talking to my children.

While some of the HR folks who attend the Lobby Day are overwhelmed by the whole process, I find it exciting and invigorating to be that close to the process and to think that I actually do.... have a voice!

-Dave Ryan Director of Social Media ISC-SHRM

HR A Good Place to Be

Today we have post from John Hudson.  John has agreed to be a  regular contributor here on the Illinois SHRM Blog Site. We are pleased to have him with us.  

John Hudson is currently an HR Manager with Discovery Communications and Harpo Studios in Chicago and has over 15 years of experience in the Human Resources field.  He provides consultation and expertise in the areas of performance management, employee development, employee relations, compensation and recruiting.   John has also worked in the insurance and consumer products environments supporting various departments including IT, Finance and Operations.  John has a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Indiana University and the SPHR certification. Follow him @johnphudson on Twitter

There have been some days when I want to leave the Human Resources field. Dealing with an extremely administrative process or working through a string of sticky employee relations issues can drive one to question this. But there have been many days that reinforce the reasons I stay.

I had a conversation with an HR friend recently about some of the projects I was working on. There may have been a hint of venting or complaining as we spoke. At the end of my explanation, he said, “Yes, but you enjoy what you do and you are good at it.” At first, I chuckled in my typical sarcastic way, but then I thought about it. I really do enjoy what I do.

It's that intern I hired that blossoms into that next great leader. The stretch promotion that turns out to be the right move. The little bit of advice that brings a smile to the employees face or the mentorship that guides a new HR professional along the way.

Another colleague shared an email with me the other day.  It was from a recent hire thanking her for the warm welcome and great onboarding experience she received. What may seem like a mundane, every day part of your job can have a lasting impression on an employee and set the tone for their experience with the organization.

For some of the bad parts of the job, there is still a sense of fulfillment knowing the employee was treated with respect. Decisions are made daily, negatively impacting a person, department or organization and HR must make sure these are treated with care and compassion and common sense.

There are going to be aspects of the job that suck. There are parts of every profession that do. Go ask any department head in your organization and they will probably tell you more than you really want to know. I see things every day, though that reminds me why I enjoy what I do. Now, back to planning the monthly birthday celebrations.