Another Day in the HR Field

It's been a pleasure serving ten (10) fantastic states full of energetic volunteers and members of the professional Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) over the last five months as the North Central Membership Advisory Representative (aka MAC Rep) .  On Monday, my fellow MAC reps and I will be headed to SHRM Headquarters in D.C. to decipher and organize feedback we have received via meetings, conference calls, and survey's to prepare our message to the SHRM Board .  We will be meeting with them just prior to the Annual SHRM Conference (aka #SHRM13) in Chicago next month.  Please click here to watch the 16 minute screencast we have developed to share current stats and goals related to membership and volunteerism especially in the North Central Region.  The update includes the SHRM 4 pillar strategy, CHRO & global initiatives, star and superstar chapter and state council statistics, student conference, and much more. Feel free to contact me via this ...

Here is a link to the archived show where we talked about Interviewing & SHRM MAC responsibilities:  Donna Rogers at Lunch with DriveThruHR 04/29 by DriveThru HR | Blog Talk Radio I will be on Drive Thru HR Monday 4/29/13 at Noon.  Please join us: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/drivethruhr/2013/04/29/donna-rogers-at-lunch-with-drivethruhr My previous conversation with Drive Thru HR was on 11/15/11: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/drivethruhr/2011/11/15/lunch-with-donna-rogers-and-drivethruhr In the 2011 show we talked about the Strategic Human Resources Management course I was developing for the University of Illinois at Springfield's brand new Graduate HR Certificate that launched this fall.  The day of the show was just prior to the annual SHRM Leadership Conference in Washington DC so that too was part of the conversation.  Finally, we discussed volunteerism for SHRM, advocacy for HR profession and what to do when visiting the nations capitol.

Rebecca, Donna, Paula, Deb, Kristine As we approach the 5th annual SHRM Regional Leadership Summit to commence this week at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix, AZ , I am reminded of the most common question I heard muttered about during the last SHRM Leadership conference in November.  I think the reason I heard it more so this year than any other was because I was attending MAC (membership advisory committee) meetings as was my four peers whom are pictured to the left.  So when we explained where we were heading, we heard the same question: "What is the MAC?" The question does not surprise me at all because when I was a chapter leader, I had no idea what the state council was let alone the MAC.  Of course, back in those days it was called the Area Council or something like that.  Anyway, it's been a few months since I promised to write a blog post answering that very question so here it is.  Honestly, SHRM does a good job of explai...

While I did not see any turkey’s on this Pilgrimage it was one that I will remember for a lifetime.   If you were from any other state than Illinois at the annual SHRM Leadership Conference in National Harbor, MD last week you would have seen the sea of red shirts and thought it was a “wow-look at the masses that made the trip (Pilgrimage) from half way across the country too.   Again this year (3 rd in a row) all attendees from the ILSHRM board and chapter board members were offered a red shirt to wear for two reason: 1) Take a group photo and 2) show our team/state spirit.   The latter was the more important of the two because no one felt alone.   They had others to turn to and felt included which is extremely important to me as a leader in this state.   In the “ Strengths Finder ” assessment one of my top five is “INCLUDER” and if this is the only legacy I leave for my time in a leadership role, I am ecstatic, because when I was a chapter leader, I ha...

After listening to Bryan Wempen & I on the archived Drive Thru HR show recorded Tueaday, I started to think of some additional ideas to help others get the most out of their #SHRMLead experience. Having gone to this conference for about a decade, I hope the information shared on the show and this blog post can help at least one attendee. On the show I talked about networking with other leaders and with staff as well as taking in a night tour of DC id time allows. Additional ideas for attendees are: *Sign up for SHRM12 in Atlanta and get your leadership buddies to go with you to schedule just the right hotel and save yourself a bunch of emails trying to coordinate when your back in the office. *Think about or jot down some questions you have for other chapter leaders or SHRM staff and ask them in the breakouts or during the breaks. *If your a program or conference chair check out the speakers as a possibility for your chapter or state council. We had a speaker from this conference ...