Another Day in the HR Field

This morning I had a chance to talk with Brian Pierce from WMAY as a member of Local First Springfield. We talked about ice cream, management coaching, hiring and retaining employees and more.  Have a listen! Listen to "Rogers HR Consulting - 6/15/18" on Spreaker.

I am often contacted about what I speak on and since I rewrite a new paragraph or two every time, I thought I would document it here for those who have interest. I cover any topic related to management and especially as it relates to employees via human resources management.  You can see some topics listed  on my website at www.rogershr.com or blogsite https://donnarogershr.blogspot.com/ .  The most recent topics include: Reasonable Suspicion Empathy in the Workplace Conducting a Workplace Investigation The Bermuda Triangle of HR: FMLA, WC, & ADA Harassment & Discrimination HR Issues or What’s Hot in HR Now Getting What You Want in the Workplace Managing Workplace Conflict I am working on preparing one on Bereavement Leave that I will deliver in February at the 2nd annual OHSHRM HR Cruise.  I have spoken recently for Women Entrepreneurs,  General Federation for Women’s Club and Women in Communications linked above.  I tailor...

It's been awhile since I wrote about the Membership Advisory Committee (MAC) for which I am proud to be part of this year.  The last update was in May and was the first official North Central Region Update . The original post from February:  What is the MAC? A "SHRM" Term  has risen to the most popular post on my blog site.  So thank you to those who felt it was a worthy read.  Having just returned from the annual SHRM conference in Chicago , I felt I owed my region (the North Central Region aka NCR) an update, especially since so many of you took time to fill out the survey sent out in the Spring. However, before I get into the results, I would just like to say that the hashtag I started a few years ago: #NorthCentralRegionRocks is one of the most accurate descriptors for the leaders in our region among any in the #SHRMLead stream, in my humble opinion, of course.  As I recall, the Ohio, Minnesota, and North Dakota state directors get my vote for "m...

As much as I would like to say I like to keep my clients posted on all changes that come through that they need to know about, it is clearly impossible.  What is easier for me is for them to check in with me from time to time.  At some point during a free moment, I plan to put some type of communication means in place to let them all know (now nearly 100) at once.  My only problem is I don't know what type of communication they prefer at the moment (phone, email, twitter, blog post, etc.).  In the meantime, here is a quick byte! Did you know the current I-9 form is being annihilated as of August 31, 2012?  Yep, it's true and new form is available on the government site here . That's all for now.  Coming soon on this blog site is a series about Strategic Human Resources Management to support my brand new graduate level course at UIS (MGT538).  I am also a blogger for the upcoming SHRM Strategy Conference in Palm Springs, CA that promises to be a ve...

Is compensation a numbers or a head game?   I think it is a little bit of both, and here is why.   My story with comp starts when I was just in high school and college.   I really wanted to go into accounting because I thought that numbers were fascinating.   I had taken every single business class in high school and had intended to earn a Business Administration degree because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life back then.   My dream was to be business women wearing suits, making decisions, and managing people.   What that actually looked like in terms of industry of specific field in business, I had no idea. While in college I had to take intermediate accounting, statistics and calculus as well as higher level classes.   Intermediate Accounting was just not fun and I ended up stopping at that point and changing my major.   I had finished my statistics class and my calculus but I didn’t move on to the higher level ma...

On Tuesday of next week I will be speaking at the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies (IACAA) conference.  This is the third year I have been invited and paid to speak at this event.  I am looking forward to sharing everything I know on building a solid resume.  Not just the document itself but all the KSAs you need to have in your pocket to put on your Linked In profile or an old fashioned paper resume.  The following is a glimpse at the advice I plan to share: The session will explore KSA's necessary for an Emerging Leader and identify an action plan to get there. We will also take it to the next level by building an ideal resume that can sell in this era of social recruiting. Learn the latest sites where you can share the KSAs you have.  Who Are The Emerging Leaders? Corporate leaders typically look to the top-rated 3 percent to 5 percent of their employees as candidates for fast-tracking. The June 2010 Harvard ...

Some would say the title above was a misnomer. Basically how can one possibly vacation while they are working. Years ago I use to define vacation to my management team as rest and relaxation. At the time I was trying to make the point that employees should be planning their vacation time and not be using it for unexpected absences such as sick days. While I still agree vacation should be for rest and relaxation there are times working on vacation is either required or a choice. The required is and should be very rare in the case of an emergency only. It's definitely not something that is preferred. The choice for me is the same as my day to day working habits. I balance the needs of my family with the needs of my work. I realize I have more flexibility than someone with a typical 8-5 schedule. However, I think that many of us chose to do some work on vacation regardless of our typical work schedule in order to minimize the horrendous backload of work that we would return to i...

Next Thursday I will be on my way to Grapevine, Texas to spend a couple days with #SHRM staff and all my state council director counterparts from all over the country. It will be my third Regional Summit to attend and while my directorship will be coming to an end this December I am sure my volunteer positions for SHRM will not end. I am happy to meet our state director elect Cathy aka @MarathonHR there to do some planning so her transition into this position is smooth. However, she is not the only special person I will be spending time with on this trip besides those attending and hosting the conference. As I began to think about this trip and the idea that my best friend from grade school is accompanying me on this trip, I thought to myself "how fitting". It is fitting because I feel I have come along way over the last 21 years in this HR career and she was the person who started it all. Heck, she was an HR professional long before me. She is also the one that introduc...

Check out this post: http://ilshrm.blogspot.com/2011/10/birds-flysupervisors-die.html?m=1 From Illinois SHRM blog site. This article is the last of a series of three posts covering the 2011 #SHRM Strategy Conference. This article has links to the first two articles.

I am taking my last official class, an elective, ( Encouraging Communication in Online Courses ) before my practicum this semester towards my Master of Online Teaching certificate. I thought I would share my findings on a technology I explored as a follow-up to the series I posted throughout the summer. After watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWfvqkkk0yM My instructor asked if I thought Second Life could be an "Exciting & Dynamic Opportunity to enhance communication" -Perhaps. I am still exploring in my mind how I could use it in my HR, OB, & OD classes. I spent the evening last Friday exploring Second Life with my 10 year old son. Since I was a first timer, I thought his experience might be helpful to me as I attempted to learn how to get around and such. He has played in many similar venues over the last few years such as Wizard 101, Lord of the Rings Online, Animal Crossing, and Roblox, etc. I did not pay the extra money to get the advanced vers...

For the last few weeks I have been blogging about a my takeways from a class I am taking for my Master of Online Teaching Certificate from UIUC's online learning curicullum. As you can tell from my posting, I have learned a great deal and really enjoyed taking this course and sharing with my readers. This post will be the end all be all for the series labeled Teaching/Training with Technology. I hope you will look for my next Mini Series about Horrible Bosses as I and my summer Organizational Behavior students will have a few things to say to help educate the real time bosses who don't play the role but live the role of "boss" everyday. The following is a list of the top 23 most important things I think online instructors need to know or learn. This list assumes that the instructor is new to online teaching as I use my own list of "wish I had knowns". 1) First, instructors need to spend some time learning how to use whatever their web tool is for online ins...

Happy Summer! If your in the Midwest right now like I am your trying to figure out how to cool off about every 5 minutes or so. Well I have been discovering some very cool stuff this week but unfortunately it won't make me feel any better in this heat. It will however, help me to be a more inspiring, interesting, and possibly even entertaining educator and presenter. The first new discovery was a very NON-POWERPOINT way of presenting slides. Prezi is the new wave of slide presentations that can literally take your audience down a rabbit hole (just check the site linked to this blog title). The second most powerful thing I learned is don't ever trust your equipment. While trying to develop a Twitter for HR presentation for my students, I could not get my sound to work. This is equipment that was only used once before mind you. After three unsuccessful times (so I thought) I gave up and posted the assignment saying it is only half done. After posting, I discovered t...

Finding ready made content for education and training courses in business is not as easy as a Google search. Sometimes you need to know exactly where to look. This weeks lesson took us to many sites I personally had not even heard of. For instance, I found a fantastic site for my HR management students that will be a perfect source for international HRM issues. You see they have to research a country and compare three HR policies, laws or customs to same in the US. Some may choose hours while others chose minimum wage. The site was found on a site called Merlot which stands for Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning & Online Training. The site of interest to my class looking for recent International HR information is the HRM Guide . I plan to go back to this site at a later time to explore in more detail and perhaps join. The benefits looked intriguing: As a Member you can: Contribute learning materials Create a personal collection Devel...

Ok so this week we talked a lot of about synchronous technology such as live chats rooms, texting, Skype , Elluminate , instant messaging, etc. However, the thing that really livened up the content was the video I watched that is linked to this weeks blog title. CAUTION: FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY!!! Although it is a bit risque at times it really gets you thinking about the opportunities out there for teaching and or training using social media live. Another interesting, jaw dropping, light bulb went on...what if we used preexisting online chat's surrounding the topic for students to get involved and learn from professionals in the field. I know you can't control what the professionals say but it can be quite interesting and add some reality to what they are learning in the classroom. The article I read was a great source for this idea and suddenly I began thinking of #TChat , #HireFriday , #JobChat , #DTHR , #HRHappyHour & others. The latter two have a blog talk radi...

Well this is my second post in a series for the class I mentioned in my first post. My scrapbook so to speak! I am now at the end of week one and just posted my reflection for this weeks module. My number one learning (teachable moment) from this week came from a website experience that I linked to this weeks title (Diigo). It's a bookmark site where you can keep track of great articles you read, sites you browse and want to go back to or just anything of interest. I am still trying to digest it's use in the class or within the HR profession but it was an interesting new find. The second thing that was a bit more concerning and will require me to do some more research is taking into consideration FERPA when requiring students to open a twitter or linked in account as part of their deliverables. I have certainly not considered this before because it is my understanding that the law is related to privacy of grades and how one is doing in the class. I don't see my current...

I know at least my twitter followers are aware that I have been incorporating technology into my teaching for a while now as they have watch several posts go by with #UIS431 in them. However, if you don't learn something new every day we tend to get a little stale. I am working on a Master Certification in Online Teaching. This summer I am taking course 3 & 4 out of 6 required towards that goal. I am learning about student assessment and teaching technology. As homework for the technology course, over the next seven weeks I will be taking a class requiring me to blog more than I do (currently once a month) and specifically highlighting new technologies that I am learning about. Specifically, my blog is going to be my scrapbook with at least the following items: -social networking/media -a tool for asynchronous communication -a tool for synchronous communication -an example of ready-made content -some content you've produced on your own -whatever your produced in the 7...

Teaching Human Resources (HR) has truly been very rewarding for me. I believe that Human Capital is one of the strong pillars of a company that has the potential of giving the company its competitive advantage. Achieving operational excellence is no more a secret to any one company. But in my opinion, what gives a company its true edge is its work force. I think it is important to cultivate this notion amongst our future generation of business people. This has always been my ultimate motto to teach HR not just to budding HR professionals but to all the individuals who would be involved in the business world in some way. It is my belief that if employees are well respected, they will in turn reciprocate. It is fascinating to see how my students understand the true value of human resource management. They understand that one does not need to have HR in their title to learn and implement the nuances of HR. After every course that I teach, I ask my students to fill out an optional question...

Today, being the fifth day on the job as the new State Director for Illinois State Council of SHRM, I thought I would share a few words. No, really our social media director, @DaveTheHRCzar, gave me a little nudge. I have plenty of time to write for our blog site among the overwhelming list of “to do’s on my desk from paid jobs not to mention our upcoming state Leadership Conference this Monday. So, I will be brief! First, I would like to share a little about my SHRM volunteer responsibilities over the years leading up to my current position on the state council. I joined our local chapter, CIC-SHRM, in the mid-90s and that’s about as clear as my memory gets. What I do know is that in 1997 I became active on the chapter board and joined SHRM in 1998 as a strongly encouraged requirement for being a board member. Before that I did not know anything about the national organization. In 2001, while still being involved in my chapter for another four years I joined the Illinois State Council...