HRAConnection

Important Dates in this month's Newsletter

May 8th: Best Practices Forum
May 15th: HRACI Monthly Meeting
June 5th: Consultant's Forum

Read on for details on these and other important HRACI activities!

Congratulations to HRACI for another year as a Superior Merit Chapter!!!

Submitted by Cherilyn Stephens

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in Alexandria, VA has awarded the Superior Merit Chapter designation to the Human Resource Association of Central Indiana (HRACI) for its scope of work in perpetuating and supporting the mission of the organization in 2007. “This recognition demonstrates both the leadership and the successful partnership the chapter has with SHRM to serve the networking and professional development needs of human resource professionals and to the advancement of the human resources profession” noted Pamela J. Green, SPHR, Chief Membership Officer for SHRM.

A big “Thank You” to all of our valued local members, Board members and volunteers for all of the hard work that goes into the achievement of this designation.

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SHRM Spotlight...

Submitted by Brian Cox

In visiting SHRM.org this month, you will find that several of the HR Focus Areas are now highlighted conveniently on the home page.

For HR Professionals, the answers to many commons issues, the best practices and the connections to others are contained in the specific focus areas.

Investigate today and learn more about the areas that interest you most.

SHRM Focus Areas include:

Compensation and Benefits
Global HR
HR Consulting
HR Outsourcing
HR Measurements
HR Technology
HR Law
Diversity
Business Leadership
Staffing Management
Organizational and Employee Development
Employee Relations

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HRACI in the “News”

Submitted by Karen Seketa

As we continue to work toward a publishing “Go Live” date with The INDYSTAR.com Article Project (ISAP), we would like to be sure that we keep our own publication of the great articles submitted for this project moving. Each month, we will highlight in our newsletter, one of our HR professionals and the articles they have submitted. This month, we focus on our very own INDYSTAR project leader and Communications Committee member, Susan Martin.

Susan J. Martin is the director of human resources for Woodard, Emhardt, Moriarty, McNett & Henry LLP. Prior to joining the law firm, Susan has held human resource positions in retail and higher education. Susan has her Masters in Adult Education from IU, Human Resource Certificate from Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, PHR designation, and has her B.S. in Home Economics from IU. Susan is a member of Society for Human Resource Management, Human Resource Association of Central Indiana and Association of Legal Administrators.

Follows is Susan’s article for this month – enjoy!

Trends in Training and Development
Has your supervisor or human resource personnel been encouraging you to gain more education for your job skills and knowledge? Does the thought of going back to school for more education or taking a course for enjoyment conjure up images of a classroom with a teacher? Do you wonder how you would fit one more required place to be at a specific time into your and your family’s schedule? It does not have to be that way.
Today’s training and development and education providers offer a variety of content delivery methods. The biggest trend is multimedia which is defined as a delivery system incorporating various technology-based instructional methods, such as graphics, text, animation, audio, and video. It is most often delivered on CD-ROM although web-based training (WBT) is becoming very popular due to advantages and its effectiveness. Another term used in this category is technology-based training (TBT). This method of delivery incorporates self-instruction with a facilitator or trainer on computer based training (CBT) such as CD-ROM, Intranet, and or Satellites.

Colleges and Universities are utilizing web-based delivery for courses in some online formats and some courses are delivered through blended learning. Many associations are offering online and podcast education, such as The Associated General Contractors of America (http://www.agc.org/), Marketing Research Association (http://www.mra-net.org/edevents/eod.cfm), American Dental Assistants Association (http://www.dentalassistant.org/), and SHRM (www.shrm.org) to name a few sources.
Business meetings used to be face-to-face and then moved to conference call delivery and now into virtual meetings. In addition, conferences have started to become virtual with the use of multimedia. Now, you can attend a conference without leaving your office or personal computer. The virtual conference offers webcasts, group chats, break-out sessions, Ask the Expert workshops and even keynote addresses from industry leaders. I participated recently in one of The View’s conferences, delivered by HR.com and found it easy to use, provided me with all of the information I wanted to gain, clear sound for the speaker’s presentations and it was very cool. When I ‘stopped’ by a vendor’s booth I was greeted immediately with an email Hello, just as if I was there in person.

Instructor-Led Classroom is still the most used delivery method. The ability to have verbal engagement, classroom interaction, and peer reinforcement are key factors in why this type of delivery system is highly used. This traditional model of a teacher/facilitator with students in one location face-to-face represents about 80% of today’s delivery methods. As trainers and teachers become more versed in technologies’ capabilities, and think of creative ways to facilitate learning objectives into knowledge transfer, the use of multimedia will increase.

If you want to learn something but feel you don’t have the time to commit to a face-to-face class, surf the web and discover the many vendor providing online accessible classes. I encourage you to partner with your employer’s human resource training and development personnel, too. Since training and development is their main focus it may save you some time sourcing.

If you are interested in contributing an article to this project or for the HRACI monthly newsletter, please contact:

Susan Martin at SMartin@uspatent.com

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HRACI Membership

Submitted by Angie Ritz

Membership with HRACI offers many great benefits to HR professionals. HRACI is committed to advancing the human resource profession and the capabilities of all human resource professionals in Central Indiana. We would love to hear from you if you have a story to share on the benefit of joining HRACI (and/or SHRM). If you would like to share your testimony just send an email to Angie Ritz at angie@ctrwd.org.

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HRACI Best Practices Forum

Thursday, May 8, 2008
Recruitment & Best Practices
Kelli Safford

Are you applying the most effective recruitment strategies for your most challenging positions? What is your Employment Brand message saying about your company to potential candidates? How has your company worked through the ever-evolving Web 2.0 in terms of interactive recruitment solutions?

Join Kelli Safford with NAS Recruitment Communications, a recognized leader in the specialized field of human resource communications, for our 2nd Human Resource Best Practices Series on May 8th at 8:30am to share your recruitment best practices and to learn about new and emerging strategies in our current competitive and diverse workforce landscape.

The forum will be held at the transformed Central Library. After the session is complete, feel free to participate in a guided tour of our city’s new library! Registration is FREE for HRACI members.

Refreshments provided and Free Parking in library garage

Click Here to Register
Topic:	Recruitment & Best Practices
Speaker:	Kelli Safford
When:	Thursday, May 8, 2008 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Location:	Marion County Library One Library Square 40 E. St. Clair St. Indianapolis, IN 46204 The Goodrich Houk Meeting Room (Atrium Level)

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HRACI May Program

Thursday, May 15, 2008
Register Now

Techniques for Remaining Union Free

Speaker: Chuck O'Keefe, Attorney, Sommer Barnard

Unions are working hard to reverse years of declining membership. Union organizing campaigns are on the rise. Unions and their supporters in Congress have promised to make the Employee Free Choice Act, which the Senate blocked last year, a key campaign issue in the upcoming presidential election. Unions are resorting to new and more aggressive organizing tactics. In addition, more and more non-union employees are asserting their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (e.g., the right to strike).

This Union Organizing Update will provide you with the information you need to deal with these developments, including:

Supervisory do’s and don’ts during a union organizing campaign.
Early warning signs of union activity.
The role of front-line supervisors in preventing unionization.
Implementing policies that prevent unionization.
Common union organizer tricks and tactics.
Avoiding unfair labor practice charges.
Strategies for winning a union election.
Recent developments in union organizing.
Update regarding the Employee Free Choice Act.

Speaker Bio: Mr. O’Keefe is a shareholder in the Labor and Employment Law Practice Group, representing national, regional and local businesses, universities, colleges and school districts in labor and employment and education law matters and litigation. He advises and defends clients in all areas of labor and employment law, including collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, union avoidance, union representation proceedings, unfair labor practices, discrimination, harassment, wage and hour issues, Family and Medical Leave Act compliance, wrongful discipline or discharge, whistleblower, drug and alcohol testing, safety, employment contract disputes, non-compete agreements, executive compensation and severance, and workers’ compensation. Mr. O’Keefe also counsels clients on education law matters, including Constitutional issues, open records, student records and open meetings. Mr. O’Keefe regularly represents clients in federal and state court and before federal and state administrative agencies. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. O’Keefe held numerous management and supervisory positions at Chrysler Corporation. He is admitted to practice in the states of Indiana and Wisconsin.

This program has been approved for recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org

Date:	Thursday, May 15, 2008
Topic:	Techniques for Remaining Union Free
Location:	Holiday Inn North at the Pyramids 3850 DePauw Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46268
Agenda:	11:30 a.m. Registration & Networking 11:45 a.m. Luncheon 12:15 p.m. Announcements 12:20 p.m. Program 1:20 p.m. Adjournment
Cost:	Members $25 Guests $35 Student $15
*Register Now*

Check out all of our currently scheduled 2008 programs online at: http://www.hraci.org/HRACIevents.php

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HRACI Consultant's Forum

Thursday, June 5, 2008
“Legal Issues in Consulting Firms”
Greg Cagnassola, Defur Voran LLP
Register Now!

Small consulting firms have numerous legal issues. Greg will address the following issues in this informative session.

Learn what steps you can take to reduce your risk of being sued by a client or competitor.
Learn what types of legal documents you need (business succession plan, annual corporate minutes, buy-sell agreements among partners, etc.).
Learn what factors you must consider when merging, selling or buying a business.
Learn what types of legal documents and/or agreements you need when working with another consulting firm (confidentiality, non-compete, fee distribution, work product ownership, etc.)
Learn how copyright and trademark laws work and how you can protect your original materials and legally use others’ materials.

Greg has concentrated his practice on counseling and advising businesses. He uses his accounting background to advise individuals on estate planning and estate administration matters. Before joining DeFur Voran, Greg served as Corporate Counsel for Inland Paperboard and Packaging, Inc. (a multi-billion dollar forest products company) for over ten years. Greg is a member of the Indianapolis, Hamilton County and Indiana State Bar Associations and the Indiana CPA Society.

Register Now!
Topic:	“Legal Issues in Consulting Firms”
Speaker:	Greg Cagnassola, Defur Voran LLP
When:	Thursday, June 5, 2008 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Location:	Indiana Tech University 3500 DePauw Blvd. Pyramid 3010 Indianapolis, IN 46268
Cost:	Members - Free Non-Members - $10
Register Online, or RSVP to Alysia Ploutz - alysia@mprecords.com

SAVE THE DATE! 2008 CONSULTANT'S FORUM SCHEDULE
Date	Location	Title	Speaker
October 2nd	Indiana Tech University	Effective Sales Workshop for HR Consultants	Bill Caskey
December 4th	Indiana Tech University	Effective Negotiations	Sheldon Goldstein

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HRACI Sponsorship

Submitted by Patti Daniels, PHR

Would you like to get your message out to over 1,000 Human Resource Professionals in the Central Indiana area?

HRACI (Human Resources Association of Central Indiana is the largest HR Association in the State of Indiana. We are committed to the advocacy and professional development of our members. If your company’s products or services support our mission, then we have several options to sponsor or advertise with our organization. Please visit http://hraci.com/sponsor.htm to review our sponsorship opportunities or click here to download a .pdf of this information.

To take advantage of a sponsorship opportunity, please contact our VP of Sponsorship, Patti Daniels, PHR PDaniels@impactgrouphr.com.

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Volunteer Recognition – Diversity Committee

Submitted by: Erin Brothers

Committee Recognized: Diversity Committee

Member Name(s): Laura McGrew, Lawrence Wilson, Jewell Carter, Hortense White, Jack Pomprowitz, Connie Addison, MieYoung Reed.

Reason for Recognition: Helping plan, organize, secure donations, etc. for the Annual Diversity Conference and throughout the year for various events, job fairs and speaking opportunities.

Special Recognition/Acknowledgement: These volunteers use their talents, time and resources to promote diversity in HRACI and their organizations and I greatly appreciate their service and dedication. They go above and beyond in ensuring diversity by all definitions. Thanks so much committee!!!

Board Member responsible for Recognition: Erin Brothers

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2008 Volunteer Leader of the Year – Call for Nominations

Submitted by Angi Hill

Do you know someone who has given up their free time to make HRACI, SHRM or our HR profession a better place? How about someone who has been a proven HR professional through their actions and knowledge and been a true role model and ambassador of the field? If so, nominate them!

That’s right. It’s that time of the year again when we ask for you to nominate a member of HRACI for either the 2008 Volunteer Leader of the Year Award or the 2008 Award for Professional Excellence. HRACI will be accepting nominations now through June 2008. Please use the attached applications and submit them as described on the application with the requested documentation. Applications will soon also be available online at www.hraci.com.

A deserving volunteer and professional will be voted on from among all of our nominees and announced at the August 14th HRACI monthly meeting. In addition to being recognized for their achievements, the award winners will receive something to commemorate their award and a free registration to the Indiana State SHRM conference on August 26th and 27th. Our winners will then represent the state of Indiana and could be chosen as the SHRM Award winners of the year.

So please don’t delay. Submit those applications today for those deserving individuals who give daily of their time and expertise. You need not be a member of HRACI to nominate an individual and you may nominate yourself. Nominators may also remain anonymous. Should you have any further questions or needs, please contact Angi Hill at ahill@smart-itstaffing.com or (317) 634-0211.

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Legislative Update

Submitted by Dennis Stull

This article was written by:
James D. Masur II
Robert W. York & Associates

FMLA

Due to a change in the law, spouses and next of kin of those engaged in military service are now entitled, under federal law, to take FMLA-style time off, to:

address exigent circumstances, created by being called up, deployed, etc., and
care for members of the armed forces sustaining injuries or illnesses.
Indiana law also permits employees to take 10 days' leave, in the thirty days before or after a spouse's active duty, as well as during breaks in a spouse's active duty.

Therefore, employers covered by FMLA or Indiana law need to make sure that the "leave/pto" checklist includes the questions:

is this in any way related to military service?
if so, please provide all relevant details.

Check out www.dol.gov for further developments, and sign up for updates on FMLA regulations. The state law is at IC 22-2-13-1, available at the www.in.gov website.

There is a new initiative to revise FMLA regulations. It, too can be accessed on the web, at http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/FMLANPRM.htm. The proposed rulemaking requires comments to be submitted by April 11. As an aside, one of the comments I authored for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce is mentioned in the February 11, 2008 U.S. Department of Labor notice.

Discrimination

Due to a recent Supreme Court case, long-past evidence of improper bias against others may be used as evidence in a pending discrimination case. Therefore, part of your investigation and response checklist to internal charges of disparate treatment and/or harassment should include:

admonishment to any person making off-color or biased jokes or statements, reflecting improper bias,
disavowal of any such jokes or statements to anyone within earshot, or receiving such communications vial email.

This message is not legal advice.

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Diversity Conference Recap

Submitted by: Heidi Herald, pictures by Susan Martin

Here are just a few of the bullet points that came out of all of the great information from this day! These notes came from the presentations given by Mark Butler, Nancy Beck and Rita Murray. It was a great day packed with informative and engaging sessions.

Most valued asset = People
Need to maximize that potential
Diversity=break down barriers so we can maximize potential for the good of the organization
Diversity: is inclusive, is respecting and valuing, improves personal and Corporate performance, increases productivity through increased creativity via difference of thought, includes diversity of thought, experience and organization.
Diversity definition: inclusion process designed to foster an environment where the talents, skills and differences of all employees are respected and valued for business success.
Employees’ Problems with Upcoming Retirement: Unrealistic expectations, not financially ready, long term care costs
The top 5 reasons older employees stay: competitive health care (61%), competitive retirement package (54%), work/life balance (35%), caliber of people with whom they work (25%), recognition for work (27%).
Attractive incentives for workers 50+: Flexible work arrangements (41%), Training to upgrade skills (34%), time off to volunteer (15%), phased retirement (14%), reduced shift work (14%), job rotation (12%), sabbaticals (11%), reduced responsibility(8%), mentoring as primary job (5%).
“Transition” planning vs. “Retirement” planning
6 keys to retirement transition: Risk management, cash management, investment planning, tax management, retirement planning, estate conservation.
Leaders succeed when they learn to build more effective relationships to others and Get to know themselves.
Generational identifiers: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millenials

View More Diversity Conference Photos Here

View Presentations from the Conference Here

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Welcome New Members

Shannon bitler
Linda Wood
Koleki Wright
Samantha Morris
Sarah Shea
Michele Christy
Michael Padgett
Lauren Moffatt

Christine Irbe
Patricia Marshall
Britt Griffin
Rick McKeldin
Karen Murphy Griffis
Jeremy King
Mary Belec
Mark Wyatt

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