Our MCSHRM chapter is growing, and with that, comes members with varying degrees of HR experience and speciales. I think one of the best things about belonging to a local chapter is the opportunity to network with other members to share common problems or quesons, and to learn from one another. As an MCSHRM member, when you have an HR queson or problem, you also have access to all the tools and resources SHRM has to offer its members. If you need an answer to a queson, the HR Answers secon on the SHRM.org site is the place to go. With SHRM’s Ask An HR Advisor, you can call, e-mail or chat live with an experienced, cer- fied HR professional within SHRM’s staff to find informaon for a parcular queson. Advi- sors are available Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 8:00pm ET to answer your HR quesons by phone, or you can email your queson. More informaon on these services can be found on the Ask An HR Advisor page. (SHRM's HR Knowledge Advisors are not aorneys and they cannot provide legal advice. While they can generally discuss employment laws and regulaons, they cannot and will not advise callers on applicaon of the law to the caller's parcular facts. They provide general informaon which is not a substute for legal advice.) For more self-service help and research, check out the Express Requests page. From this page, you can request and receive via email informaon on a wide variety of HR topics - a response is sent virtually immediately. Express Request responses are available around- the-clock and can be found in the HR Hot Topics, Salary Survey Directory, Seasonal, State Law Resources, and HR Careers and Job Search secons. Another secon of the SHRM website that may assist with answering your queson is the HR Q&As page. From here you can browse frequently asked quesons and answers in a variety of HR disciplines such as, benefits, business leadership, California, consulng, diver- sity, employee relaons, ethics and sustainability, global HR, labor relaons, organizaonal and employee development, safety and security staffing management, and technology. And remember, if you can’t find your queson and answer here, the Express Request ser- vice may have relevant resources or you can reach out to the Ask and HR Advisor to help you locate informaon. The resources available to you as a SHRM and MCSHRM member are invaluable. I hope the next me you have an HR queson you can take advantage the benefits available to you and find good and sound assistance that you need. President’s Corner by: Dawn Atwood, PHR, PMP Montgomery County SHRM Montgomery County SHRM Montgomery County SHRM APRIL 2014 MCSHRM Calendar of Events APRIL 16TH DINNER MEETING HOW TO BECOME A VAL- UED HR BUSINESSS PART- NER Hilton Gaithersburg 6pm to 8:30pm Click here for more details. MAY 1ST PROFESSIONAL DEVLEOPMENT SEMINAR Hilton Gaithersburg 7:30am to 12pm Click here for more details Sponsor a Meeting! Contact Ericka Carmona Vega at ecarmona- [email protected]Sponsor a Networking Event! Contact Kelly Collins 301-217-5415 VOLUME 25 ISSUE 4 Join MCSHRM on Social Media Interested in becoming more involved with MCSHRM, but don’t have much time? We are looking for members to volunteer 2 or 3 months at a time to help on the Communications Committee. Email Kim Diebling for more details! [email protected]
Transcript
Our MCSHRM chapter is growing, and with that, comes members with varying degrees of HR experience and specialties. I think one of the best things about belonging to a local chapter is the opportunity to network with other members to share common problems or questions, and to learn from one another.
As an MCSHRM member, when you have an HR question or problem, you also have access to all the tools and resources SHRM has to offer its members. If you need an answer to a question, the HR Answers section on the SHRM.org site is the place to go.
With SHRM’s Ask An HR Advisor, you can call, e-mail or chat live with an experienced, certi-fied HR professional within SHRM’s staff to find information for a particular question. Advi-sors are available Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 8:00pm ET to answer your HR questions by phone, or you can email your question. More information on these services can be found on the Ask An HR Advisor page. (SHRM's HR Knowledge Advisors are not attorneys and they cannot provide legal advice. While they can generally discuss employment laws and regulations, they cannot and will not advise callers on application of the law to the caller's particular facts. They provide general information which is not a substitute for legal advice.)
For more self-service help and research, check out the Express Requests page. From this page, you can request and receive via email information on a wide variety of HR topics - a response is sent virtually immediately. Express Request responses are available around-the-clock and can be found in the HR Hot Topics, Salary Survey Directory, Seasonal, State Law Resources, and HR Careers and Job Search sections.
Another section of the SHRM website that may assist with answering your question is the HR Q&As page. From here you can browse frequently asked questions and answers in a variety of HR disciplines such as, benefits, business leadership, California, consulting, diver-sity, employee relations, ethics and sustainability, global HR, labor relations, organizational and employee development, safety and security staffing management, and technology. And remember, if you can’t find your question and answer here, the Express Request ser-vice may have relevant resources or you can reach out to the Ask and HR Advisor to help you locate information.
The resources available to you as a SHRM and MCSHRM member are invaluable. I hope the next time you have an HR question you can take advantage the benefits available to you and find good and sound assistance that you need.
President’s Corner by: Dawn Atwood, PHR, PMP
Montgomery County SHRMMontgomery County SHRMMontgomery County SHRM A P R I L 2 0 1 4
The Maryland SHRM State Conference will take place this year at the Conference in Ocean City, Maryland – Sunday, October 5 to Tuesday, October 7, 2014.
Conference details can be found on the MD SHRM website http://md.shrm.org/maryland-state-conference
The conference agenda is jam-packed, so you can create the perfect conference experience for you. Want to take it all in and maximize your HRCI recertification credit opportunities? Then you’ll appreciate the early-morning and late afternoon concurrent sessions that squeeze a few more hours into your day. Want to make sure you find time to network with colleagues and our conference sponsors and exhibitors? Then you won’t want to miss the Opening Welcome Reception hosted by the Platinum, Diamond and Gold Sponsors on Sunday evening at the Princess Royale Hotel at the four-story oceanfront tropical atrium level or the Deck Party at Fager’s Island on Monday night.
Conference registration rates:
$395.00 per attendee Standard rate for registrations through 5/1/14
$475.00 per attendee Late Registration rate for registrations after 5/1/14
Interested speakers can reach out to Kim Diebling ([email protected])
Maryland SHRM State Conference October, 2014 Ocean City
Many HR practitioners find FLSA to be a daunting challenge in complying with regulations and also meeting the needs of their business. In fact, most organizations are out of compliance in some shape or form with the current regulations. And, given the heightened focus on FLSA over the last several years, it behooves us to regularly conduct FLSA audits to ensure compliance with. It appears that the scrutiny will continue given President Obama’s recent statement re-leased on March 13th, regarding updating and modernizing the overtime regulations under the Act. At issue is the $455 per week threshold (which has not kept up with inflation) as well as the tests for determining who is an exempt employee. In seeking to simplify the tests for the “white collar” exemptions, it appears that the administration is looking to preserve the protections for employees that the law initially created to protect. While any new regulations on overtime will through the full formal rulemaking process with input for all stakeholders and likely wouldn’t be implemented for many months, there are far-reaching implications for human resources. For more information, see http://www.shrm.org/legalissues/federalresources/pages/white-collar-exemption.aspx
Congratulations to the MCSHRM members who recently earned their HR certifications! Way to go! You will be recognized at the April Chapter meeting so be sure to attend!
Althea Hunt - SPHR
Charis Johnson - PHR
Lori Leatherman Belke –SPHR
Kelly McNiff - PHR
Jennifer Meltzer - PHR
Allyson Mueller, PHR
Jana Panneton - PHR
Vivie Yen - PHR
If you have any questions about certifications or the MCSHRM Certification Reimbursement Program, please contact [email protected].
FREE MDSHRM Webinar for 1 Business Credit (Strategic)
MD SHRM Webinar: Disaster Planning and Recovery with Shelly Trent for 1 Business Credit (Strategic)
This program will cover issues to consider when de-veloping and implementing a disaster recovery plan and resources that will aide you in planning for and reacting to a disaster. With so many natural disasters occurring in recent months, this program is very timely. By attending this program, you will under-stand what issues to consider when creating a disas-ter recovery plan and what might be missing from your current plan; understand the benefits of cre-ating a recovery plan; assess your organization’s alignment of disaster recovery strategies with your business objectives; and know what resources are available before, during, and after different types of disasters.
We're excited to welcome guest speaker Susan Ways, the President and founder of Inspired Success Coaching is an author, transformational change coach, leadership development expert and inspirational speaker focused on teaching people to em-brace their authentic self and understanding how to weave that into their style to help achieve their maximum potential. She will talk to us about - Pow-HR-Ful (powerful): Empowering Human Resource professionals to be seen as a valuable business partner who deserves a seat at the Executive table.
About the Program:
Pow-HR-Ful (powerful) will focus on what frustrates CEO's about HR and how HR professionals can overcome these to build a strong relationship with the Executive team, gain credibility in their role and transform the HR function within their organiza-tion. Participants will walk away with:
7 key areas that frustrate the CEO
Practical tips to overcome those points of frustration
Understanding of key players in an organization and how to build relationships with them
The real role of HR as a strategic business player and how to align yourself with that role
The program will provide insight to the dynamics of the C Suite and allow participants to use those insights to build relation-ships. This will assist them in transcending the barrier of being a transactional HR tactician to presenting themselves as a Stra-tegic Business Partner. This will increase their span of control and introduce them to the inner workings of the Executive world.
About the Speaker:
Susan Ways, the President and founder of Inspired Success Coaching is an author, transformational change coach, leadership development expert and inspirational speaker focused on teaching people to em-brace their authentic self and understanding how to weave that into their style to help achieve their maximum potential. Certified Life/Executive Coach with expertise in utilizing a holistic coaching method that shows employees how lead more fulfilled lives both in and out of the workplace. Susan has nearly 20 years of Human Resource experience and has as an Executive HR leader building strategic human resource initiatives and dealing with people on all levels and at all stages in their lives. Her approach to Human Resources as a behavior and leadership development expert along with her relatable style have defined her as a trusted coach and leader.
Susan holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Masters degree in Organizational Communications. She has held the Sen-ior Professional Human Resource certification (SPHR) through HRCI, since 2006.
Programs Continued on page 5.
Date: April 16, 2014, 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Organizer: Ericka Carmona-Vega
Location: Gaithersburg Hilton, 620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg, MD 20877
This event has been SUBMITTED for 2.0 HRCI Business Recertification Credits
P A G E 5 V O L U M E 2 5 I S S U E 4
Programs Continued by: Ericka Carmona-Vega, SPHR
Special thanks to our Executive Sponsors…
”We work for your benefit”
Providing Employee Benefits and Commercial Insur-
ance to Washington Businesses for over 20 years
All we do is work.
Susan’s natural speaking ability, practical experience, and willingness to share her personal experiences quickly engag-es those she works with and draws them into her message. She is an experienced certified trainer in many areas of Human Resources including accountability, diversity, teamwork and customer service.
Susan's unique approach to coaching incorporates real-life experiences to provide relatable context that guides indi-viduals through the process of identifying their limiting beliefs and unlocking their potential. This powerful approach shows others how to live inspired lives and experience personal transformation that applies to all areas of their lives.
This coupled with her ability to deliver honest, direct and targeted feedback is what differentiates her from many coaches and delivers desired outcomes, oftentimes resulting in transformation change.
2014 Sloan Awards Now Accepting Employers may submit applications for the 2014 Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility through April 21. The awards program is part of the When Work Works flexible-workplace initiative, a partnership be-tween SHRM and the Families and Work Institute (FWI).
Congratulations! Montgomery County SHRM Receives Distinguished Award
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has awarded the Montgomery County SHRM Chapter the EXCEL Bronze Award for 2013.
The award is part of the SHRM Affiliate Program for Excellence, which aligns individual chapters with SHRM. The award recog-nizes a chapter’s accomplishments and strategic activities and initiatives that promote the human resources profession at the local level.
“This recognition is a distinct indication of the chapter’s successful partnership with SHRM to serve the networking and profes-sional development needs of human resource professionals and to the advancement of the human resources profession” said J. Robert Carr, senior vice president, membership, marketing & external affairs for SHRM.
Montgomery County SHRM Chapter will be recognized in SHRM publications and at SHRM conferences. As an Excel winner, it receives a certificate of recognition and a special banner to display at its meetings and events.
This month’s “Pass it On!” article was published by Forbes
and written by contributing author Victor Lipman , “6 Funda-
mental That Can Make You A Better Manager in 2014,” It
provides insight into what today’s leaders need to ask of
themselves and their employees to obtain success in 2014.
This article will help your personal leadership development
and you can also “pass on” to the leaders and managers
within your organizations.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/
victorlipman/2014/01/01/6-fundamentals-that-can-
make-you-a-better-manager-in-2014/
The Six Fundamental Are:
Be open to new ways of looking at things
Expect Excellence
Make sure your employees know clearly – where they
need to focus
Protect your time as if it were gold
Communicate regularly by providing meaningful feed-
back that is in real time
Don’t duck conflict, but deal with it directly and fairly
Pass It On! by: Robin Marquart, President Elect 2015, PHR
2011 Had Its Share of Wacky Work Stories by: Kathy Gurchiek SHRM Online
Benchmarking Benefits and Strategies Around ACA Signed into law on March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has put in place comprehensive reforms intended to improve access to affordable health coverage and protect consumers from abusive insurance practices. The ACA im-poses new requirements on individuals, employers, and health plans. It restructures the private health insurance market setting minimum standards for health coverage and in some cases providing financial assistance to individuals, and small employers.
The 2013 National & Regional Mid-Market Survey requested data on medical plan information, health care reform op-tions, time-off, wellness and disease management, cost con-trol strategies, retirement, and other miscellaneous infor-mation from more than 4,900 employer participants repre-senting 2.9 million employees across 35 major cities.
The ACA section of the survey included questions regarding employers’ opinions and strategies surrounding health care reform. Similar to 2012, concerns for 2013 stem from the associated costs of reform, keeping up with the legislative changes and communicating/educating the employees. How-ever, when asked if a formal analysis measuring the cost impact of health care reform had been completed, only about a quarter of employers, or 27% , said “Yes”, 63% said “No”, and 10% said they “Didn’t Know”.
In 2013, the responses for strategies employers are consider-ing in response to the ACA were:
64% - More Likely to Make Plan Design Changes
41% - More Likely to Charge Dependent Tiers More in Contri-butions
24% - More Likely to Go Self-Funded
18% - More Likely to Hire More Part-Time Employees
10% - More Likely to Terminate Employer Spon-sored Plans
5% - More Likely to Increase Salaries
Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is ever-changing, it will be interesting to see how the responses to the health care reform section of this years’ survey have changed compared to the last few years.
Have more employers completed a formal analysis revealing the cost of health care reform than in the last couple years?
What percentage of the population do em-ployers think will move to the state or fed-eral exchanges now that they have had some time to digest everything?
Do employers still feel the same as they did before about the exchange plans being able to offer a richer benefit at a lower cost than their current health plan?
What are their top concerns regarding health care re-form and what strategies are they considering in re-sponse?
For the 12th year, The Insurance Exchange offers the 2014 National & Regional Mid-Market Benefit Survey. This two-in-one report offers employers in this region, and across the nation a chance to benchmark:
Affordable Care Act Strategy Survey Responses
Medical Plan Cost Increases
Monthly Premiums (Single/Family)
Monthly Employee Contributions (%)
Deductibles
Wellness Initiatives
Office Visit Copayments
Retail Prescription Drug Copayments
Retirement Plan & Other Benefits Offered
This mid-market focused survey has over 1,000 data ele-ments, and is compiled by one of the largest and most re-spected independent actuarial firms. Survey participants receive a complimentary customized report just for partici-pating. Returning participants have the added benefit of their data being saved from previous years to minimize the time required to complete the survey.
For more information on this regional and national mid-market benefits survey, please go to WWW.TIE-INC.COM or call Rebecca Fuller direct at 301-545-1569.
This is the second installment in a series profiling HR-related blogs. If you have an HR-related blog to suggest, please contact me at [email protected].
This month’s HR blog is Ask a Manager (www.askamanager.org), authored by Alison Green. Alison Green has been an HR consultant, specializing in management, since 2010. Prior to that, she was the chief of staff for a medium-sized, successful organization. She is also a published author and her book How To Get a Job: Secrets of a Hiring Manager is available for purchase on the website.
I discovered Ask a Manager through another HR blog, the HR Maven (www.thehrmaven.com). Ask a Manager is updated with new posts several times a day. The format of the blog varies
from post to post and may include:
The “short list” (a list of five reader-submitted questions seeking advice about a variety of workplace conundrums),
“Ask the readers” (a question or open call that she poses to the readers on topics such as workplace best practices, tips and tricks, workplace horror stories, etc.),
Or her perspective on management topics that she feels passionately about
In all of the blog posts, Alison provides the rational management perspective that she is well-known for and then often ends the post by asking readers what they think about the situation. Readers are very active in the comments section of the posts, providing alternate viewpoints based on their real life experiences as HR practitioners, managers, and seasoned employees. Another nice feature of the blog is that she posts updates from readers whose questions were previously asked and answered to let the other readers know how the situation turned out and if her advice was good or bad.
An excerpt from a recent post is below:
Recently I gave a part-time employee a pay raise. All our part-timers are paid pretty modestly, but he got a significant raise for his stellar performance. When I gave him the good news, his response was to be completely underwhelmed and say “thanks for the information” before skulking out of the room looking visibly sour.
As I would expect any of my employees to be glad to see an extra bit of money per hour, I am ad-mittedly flummoxed. Should this be a red flag? Do I need to follow up with him, or is it possible I just caught him on a particularly bad day?
To continue reading this blog post from Ask a Manager and to see Alison’s answer, please click here.
2011 Had Its Share of Wacky Work Stories by: Kathy Gurchiek SHRM Online
Welcome New Members! We are happy to announce the following new members~
Please introduce yourself to them at our next chapter Meeting
Membership Update by: Karin Wentz, PHR
Evelyn Barrenechea
Maya Chavez
Trina Colie
Tabu DeLucco
Jacqueline Fabitore-Matheny
Phillip Gaines
Sheila George
Karen Hochberg
Vivian Hsia
Jennifer Jackman
Charis Johnson
Julia Lang
Jana Panneton
Mary Thomas
Cara Wynn
Applications for the 2014 Susan R. Meisinger Fellowship for
Graduate Study in HR now being accepted
Aug. 18 is the deadline for submitting applications for the 2014 Susan R. Meisinger Fellowship for Graduate
Study in HR. Eligible applicants must be HR professionals pursuing a first-time graduate degree and be
SHRM members or hold a professional certification from the HR Certification Institute. All eligible first-time
master’s degree students attending accredited universities around the world may apply. Click here for
more details.
I hope everyone enjoyed the March Chapter meeting at which Patrina Clark taught us about Masterful Living. Those of you that attended, like me, surely left the meeting feeling reenergized and committed to making one personal change. I took to heart what Patrina said about not measuring ourselves by others expectations for us; I feel a lot lighter as a result.
MCSHRM Career Center Reach HR Professionals in Montgomery County
The MCSHRM web site and Newsletter is a very targeted and cost-effective way to reach Human Resource Managers and Decision-makers in Montgomery County, Mary-land.
To post a job on the MCSHRM web site, please send the information listed below to Allyson Mueller, job Bank Coordinator at: [email protected]
If you would like the job posting advertised in the newsletter please send a copy of the posting to Kim Diebling, SPHR, Communication Chair at: [email protected]
There is no fee for current members of MC SHRM. There is a $25 fee per posting for non members. This fee provides a Job posting on the web site for one month, and you can place your ad in the next edition of the Chapter newsletter at no additional charge (see below for newsletter contact information).
If interested, please provide the following information: Please be sure to indicate if you are a current member of Montgomery County SHRM. If you are not a mem-ber, you can pay by debit/credit card payment through PayPal on our website under the Career Center Tab. You can also send your check or money order of $25 made out to Montgomery County SHRM and sent to:
Montgomery County SHRM Attention Treasurer (Web Job Posting Payment)
P.O. Box 633
Germantown, MD 20874 Don’t forget to check out the Job Postings on the MCSHRM website!
Job Title How to Apply or Contact Information Job Description
Brief description of the com-
pany (optional but encour-
aged)
Job Qualifications (both required and
preferred)
Required Equal Oppor-
tunity Statement
MCSHRM Job Board
U.S. Pharmacopeia in Rockville, MD, is hiring a Learning & Development Program Manager. This is a hands-on position responsible for designing, developing and implementing learning and development programs that increase efficiency, strengthen employee knowledge, improve leadership and support professional development. Must have seven years of experience in learning and development, organizational development, human performance im-provement, including five years of experience in instructional design and classroom-based training and facilitation. Please apply at www.usp.jobs.
