SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management) recently awarded Cleveland SHRM its Learning System Champion Award. The SHRM Learning System Champion status is a recognition of CSHRM's hard work to elevate the HR profession through professional development and HR knowledge among members, gained from SHRM certification.

Help us make a difference in Northeast Ohio’s HR Community!

We’re just like you. We’re recruiters. We’re leaders. We’re trainers and teachers. We’re consultants. We’re advisors.

You name it … we're on the volunteer team here at Cleveland SHRM.

And we all have this one thing in common:

We’re all deeply committed to supporting the growth and development of HR professionals in the greater Cleveland area.

The more volunteers we have united around this mission, the greater impact we can make for our HR community.

All of this to say, come volunteer with us! 

You’ll love this role if you:

• Enjoy networking and building professional relationships in HR
  
• Are committed to helping advance and strengthen the HR profession
• Have a passion for the HR profession

Current volunteer positions we are looking for your help to fill:

• Communications

• Membership

• Legal
  

If you are a CSHRM member (or looking to join!) and are interested in learning more about our volunteer opportunities here at Cleveland SHRM please reach out to volunteer@clevelandshrm.com.

Thank you for helping make a difference in the lives of our HR colleagues! 

During virtual NOHRC this year we had so many wonderful speakers who shared insights and strategies with our conference attendees. We are thankful for those of you who were able to attend and if you were not here is a quick recap from a handful of our presenters. Also, thank you for the hosts of the virtual sessions who took the notes below!

Kendall Ficklin: “Pivoting, Adapting, and Adjusting in Times of Change”

Kendall Ficklin from Kendall Ficklin & Associates presented the case for change in two parts. First, he took us on a journey down memory lane with the different changes in technology from rotary phones to iPhones and from tube televisions to smart televisions. Through high energy and personal anecdotes about his experiences with change, he sent the point home that “change happens with us or without us”. He told the story of Blockbuster and how the entertainment giant fell prey to complacency and failed to see the value of the shifting industry and innovative ideas of Netflix. The pandemic forced many to adapt, much like how other historical technological changes have forced change before and those who have been unable to adjust quickly have been left behind. Next, he took us on a walk through the jungle that is change, pointing out that we need to adapt in the jungle through different strategies. First, we must be self-aware and can use DISC assessment results to help identify our preferences. Are we a lion (D), flamingo (I), chameleon (S), or a turtle (C)? We might have a preference towards one, but we can be others when the situation calls for it. Next, we must embrace our natural tendencies and move forward with awareness. As we become more self-aware, we can pivot seamlessly without feeling some of those growth pains. He gave a question to reflect on: “How am I adapting and adjusting during these times?”
Session Recap Provided By Ashley Moroney

Mai Moore: “The Power of Diversity”

Mai Moore led a discussion about creating and empowering change-makers in the DEI space. She defined diversity as the act of embracing differences and variety of thought and introduced us to an overview of her organization EYEJ, including what the organization values and how they seek to make an impact through the amplification of young voices. Working with people at every level of diversity can be challenging. The current business mindset is based on categorization and segmentation, but in our world at this time, individuality is what gives us an advantage. She helps us understand ways to incorporate diversity into businesses, starting with a vulnerable and honest discussion about diversity. She emphasizes that diversity should be a fundamental aspect of the business, not just a piece of the puzzle, and she offers more specific suggestions on how to connect with diverse talent and customers. Benefits include increased revenue, employee happiness, improved holistic health, and increased innovation. Overall, diversity is a need and not a want. While it can be a challenging process, it is ok to make mistakes along the way for the sake of progress. She ended with a reflection question “What is diversity to you?”
Session Recap Provided By Ashley Moroney

Karin Bonev and Lisa Rose: “Navigating the Change Curve”

Karin Bonev and Lisa Rose led a strong, informative discussion about change management in a post-pandemic world. They presented change through the lens of organizational change, such as M&As, strategy development and implementation, mindset shifts, and disruptions to the normal way of doing things. Businesses are constantly evolving and what was previously considered a crisis is now considered the norm. Karin reviewed the change curve, emphasizing that the process is not linear and everyone moves through change at different rates. Visual aids helped us consider the different areas that change can impact for each person, giving context for why change can be easy for some and difficult for others. The discussion transitioned to the importance of flexible, authentic communication both directly and indirectly via different channels (i.e., ambassadors). In the context of prolonged and extreme change such as what we all have experienced in the last year, the speakers reminded us to “put on our own oxygen masks” first and recognize where we are personally at on the change curve. They left us with their top 10 change management lessons learned and ended with Q&A. 
Session Recap Provided By Ashley Moroney

Carrie VanDaele: Help Your Workforce Re-Connect in COVID Nightmare

Carrie’s energy was contagious from minute one. She kept participants engaged throughout the entire session by using the chat function – not an easy thing to do on a Friday afternoon session!

How do we “people” again? Many people lost income and interpersonal relationships during the pandemic. Some were and still are angry and disconnected with low morale. How do we re-connect as we all get back to work/the office?

How many of us thought about culture when the whole world stopped? Not many, but we need to figure out how to get back to pre-COVID culture – maybe with some tweaks. What is your strategic plan to reconnect your workforce? Human beings are social, we need a strategy to re-connect.

She asked 7 experts for their advice on reconnecting workforce. Here are some of their common answers:

·       Every single expert voiced the need to train and re-train in the classroom. Bring people together to learn and re-learn. A lot has changed whether employees were present for it or not.
·       Debriefing workshop: give employees a voice about COVID
·       Buddy system: pair up employees to interact with each other
·       Peer interaction and group learning activities: re-communicate business goals/org chart for clarity, change management training for leaders
·       Keep “work from home” as an option
·       Hose a “Family reunion” for employees
·       Continue virtual meeting as option – what best fits for each meeting objective?
·       Schedule reconnection time
·       Ask employees for ideas on how to re-connect – HR doesn’t need to plan it all!
·       STOP & ask…make it a point to re-connect instead of a passing, “Hi! How are you?”
Session Recap Provided By Brianna Schultz

Ted Janusz: Leading a Virtual Team

During “Leading a Virtual Team,” Ted Janusz offered an excellent combination of statistics, business leader insight and practice advice to build a case for establishing best practices and maintaining trust on your virtual team. Leading off with various C-suite opinions on virtual work, Ted established that many well-known leaders at prominent organizations held mixed reviews when it came high functioning virtual teams.  He asked the audience for reasons that hinder virtual teams, then debunked many of the common myth surrounding virtual team management. How do you develop a virtual team? The short answer is: build trust. Ted guided us on the premise that “emotional trust grows when both a professional and personal interest develops” between managers and virtual team members. 

Ted address how managers can promote communication among remote workers through a meeting agenda tool developed by Admiral Hyman Rickover that is guaranteed to keep teams on task and engaged during virtual meetings.  Finally, the session offered strategies for leading remote workers from hiring practices, clear work expectations, project management tools, and MOST IMPORTANT -- clear communication. A crucial revelation was Urban Meyer’s quote of E+R=O, or Expectations plus Reaction equal Outcome. While this may seem like basic emotional intelligence, virtual team leaders must learn to develop appropriate strategies to engage their team. 
Session Recap Provided By Ron Smith

Jodi Brandstetter: Hire By Design - The Candidate Journey with Design Thinking

During “Hire By Design - The Candidate Journey with Design Thinking,” Jodi Brandstetter explored how organizations can enhance their ‘candidate journey’ from a design thinking lens. The session focused on the question “Do you truly know what your candidates want in an experience?” Jodi asked, and encouraged us, to put apply for a job through our organization’s applicant process. What did we think? Negative candidate experiences can leave negative company impressions before the interview process even begins! Make those experiences better by gathering feedback from your applicants and current employees. 

Among the many great takeaways, two pieces grabbed my attention.  First, the Candidate Journey Map allows organizations to examine how their applicants view areas crucial to their recruitment process through the how applicants feel during a particular phase.  Based on those feelings and what actions an applicant might take during a phase, companies identify best practices for ensuring a great experience from the moment they click the Apply button through the day they walk in the door as a new hire.  Additionally, the Hiring Blueprint combines an applicant’s thoughts with an organization’s current (and proposed) technology, resources and team members.  These tools make for a truly awesome candidate experience
Session Recap Provided By Ron Smith

Julie Develin: Invisible Ink: The Psychological Contract and the Employee Experience

Hello, my name is Jennifer Cooper and attended my first 2021 Northern Ohio HR Conference. As a senior student I was able to receive an abundance of information that can be applied to future opportunities within the HR department. Julie Develin, Sr. Partner and HCM Advisory at UKG with more than 17 years of experience as an HR practitioner focused on workplace culture and employee experience presented Invisible Ink: The Psychological Contract and the Employee Experience. Julie effectively presented and explained the link between HR practices and organization performance with realistic examples that occur between an employee and employer. Some of the key points mentioned is the psychological contract and exchange between the employer and employee concerning mutual expectations of input and outcomes. There are two types of contracts such as transactional/extrinsic and relational/intrinsic. In addition, Julie covered the importance of setting clear expectations and goals for employees, and how to communicate those expectations effectively. Finding ways to repair broken employer and employee exchange relationships. Julie ended the presentation with “We as HR professionals have more influence on people than we know!” The quote has summarized the entire conference experience for me about how crucial HR’s role is at a company. Overall experience was great, I will be in attendance next year!

Kathleen Schultz: Building, Measuring, and Leading for Organizational Wellbeing & Resiliency  

In her session Kathleen defined organizational wellbeing, items related to it, and how stress and the lack of wellbeing affects resiliency and emotional health. Employers’ priorities regarding employees have been re-prioritized since the COVID-19 pandemic, with Gallup polls suggesting that emotional and physical health have come to the front of their concerns. This issue of wellbeing also complicates things because of the unique impact of the pandemic on caregivers and minority employees. She also reported the need for agility and adaptivity for organizations to keep up with the evolving work environment, namely how, when, and why employees work to keep and attract talent. Kathleen then presented to us how employers are addressing these issues by shifting their approach to more compassionate, person-centered methods to foster a positive environment to build trust and relationships with individuals. This positivity leads to many benefits, including positive attitudes, less sick days used, and less stress levels reported. Finally, Kathleen presented a model to help employers respond to these needs, using transparent communications, training leaders to help with wellbeing and resiliency, assessing and creating policies when relevant, and developing inclusive strategies to enhance wellbeing and employees’ perception of it.

Session Recap Provided By Corey Adams

Ethan Wall: Social Media Risk Management in a Post COVID World

As social media screening becomes more prevalent, the related legal challenges exhibit unprecedented challenges. Ethan Wall is a professional social media legal attorney who has sufficient experience in social media risk management and has published seven related books. In this session, he worked through the three most frequent issues of social media legal risks in a post-COVID world along with corresponding practical solutions with audiences. In the first part, Ethan addressed two major flaws in the hiring process – negligence hiring and discriminant hiring, suggested a three-step solution that is adopting the social media hiring procedures/policy, providing the right type of training program to hiring personnel, and retaining and using the information on social media in a consistent, indiscriminate and defensible manner. Next, Ethan analyzed multiple real cases of the situation of firing employees to help audiences to understand how to handle employees’ negative posts on social media in a legal way. Last but not the least, Ethan not only highlight some practical legal solutions but also reinforced the loop of the three step which enables employers to mitigate potential discriminations in the first place with a more solid ground of the lawful social media policy and trained professionals.

Session Recap By Xiang Li 

Jill Windelspecht: The Science Of Leadership, Culture & Learning Speaker 

Understanding the underlying principle of management is crucial for leaders. In this session, Jill Windelspecht discussed how leaders and organizations grow and reach their full potentials from the perspective of neuroscience and emotional intelligence. In the first part, Jill introduced some neuroscience concept (e.g. neuroplasticity) to help audience to acknowledge the basic mechanism of culture and learning. Then Jill highlighted the importance of emotion in the workplace that not only employees’ emotion can influence their performance but also the importance of emotion in leadership. Understanding that heads and hearts are connecting, and the emotions do belong to the workplace. Helping leaders to understand both leaders and employees have emotions, that there are ways to regulate emotions in a powerful way if managed appropriately. Last, Jill introduced two models (e.g. AGES, SCARF) which can help leaders to build a system to support this. Because most of times, leaders can not impact every employee personally, but an effective and supportive systems can reduce bias as well as improve engagement overall. Clarify the organization value, help employees to understanding themselves, bringing awareness will impact how they perform. Everything we think about impacts how we react, response and our health. Understanding science can benefit leaders to manage change, make better decisions and create an environment that encourages employees to show up with their full selves at work, thus contributes organizations overall. Understanding that heads and hearts are connecting, and the emotions do belong to the workplace. Helping leaders to understand both leaders and employees have emotions, that there are ways to regulate emotions in a powerful way if managed appropriately. Also, using multiple models introduced by Jill, people can create systems to support this and help the team to reach their potential. Most of times, leaders can not impact every employee personally, but an effective and supportive systems can reduce bias as well as improve engagement. The brain continually reorganizes itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. This phenomenon is known as neuroplasticity. Understand how to leverage neuroscience & social science to develop leaders, build a growth-mindset culture and design learning initiatives that stick. Science helps us understand how to improve decision making, motivate ourselves and others, and manage change effectively.

Session Recap By Xiang Li 

Stacy Cozart: Updates in Immigration

Keeping up on all the changes of immigration for HR professionals has been a challenge as immigration policies altered. In response to this dilemma, Stacy Cozart provided multiple valuable and practical guidelines in this session. First, she compared the immigration policies changes from Obama time to Biden administration. Next, she listed a number of ways to help HR professionals being updated with these changes. Then, Stacy introduced the core concepts in immigration and several key issues of I-9s, H-1Bs and Green Card, such as how to effectively maintain I-9 or do employer need to update I-9 when they get green cards. Specifically, because any cap gaps will result legal risks for organizations, Stacy repeatedly emphasized to pay attention to the preparing time of documents due to the influence of Covid. Last but not the least, Stacy highlighted different kinds of travel bans and DACA updates, as well as potential risk of H1B lottery process and prevailing wage updates. Immigration changes?! The last four years have included a series of immigration regulations, proclamations and slow downs that altered the landscape of both documented and undocumented immigration policies. Keeping up on all the changes has been challenging. This session will focus on what you need to know to successfully navigate the ever-evolving world of immigration including I-9s, H-1Bs and Green Card updates. What agency can we consult when we meet very critical situation. For example, we want to hire an exchanger visitor, whose waver application has been rejected. Can we hire him in a lawful way in this situation?

Session Recap By Xiang Li 

Diversity as a Solution 

At EYEJ: Empowering Youth, Exploring Justice where we drive social justice reform by empowering young advocates for change, we've had over 900 very diverse persons, donors, organizations help move us forward. We believe in diversity throughout the organization from top down, and throughout our programming. In fact, our core program: YODJ: Youth Online Discussing Justice, where we have served 1,600 unique undeserved youth in a specifically designed format and design where we have front-end volunteers purposely of different backgrounds partner together to facilitate the discussion, and to be speakers in back and forth engagement with the youth. Why do we do this? So that youth can learn different perspectives on topics that kids face such as toxic stress, conflict resolution, entrepreneurship etc. Now we also implement this concept throughout the organization, whether it's the Managing Board, Day to Day team, EYEJ Youth Council etc. Why? We believe that people from different backgrounds coming together create solutions for social justice. Now in the workplace, your organization may or may not be solely focused on social justice, however what I can share with you is the benefits of holding diversity as a pillar of your everyday work culture. At EYEJ, we believe in looking at each other as humans, and embracing the experiences, education, and people for who they are as an individual. 

Having experience directly helping to launch two tech companies (Travelzoo Inc. and United Online), have them go IPO and managing over $50M in budgets, I've been lucky to experience diversity in multiple industries, multiple ethnicity, age groups and education levels. Here are some benefits for implementing diversity into the workplace: 

• Diversity brings new solutions to the table for problem solving

• Diversity brings innovation, product development and thought learning/sharing
  • Wow does diversity bring new ideas to the table. When our team gets together to brainstorm, it's like magic happens, because each one is coming to the table as themselves, with their expertise, knowledge and openly sharing transparently unified with a common goal. We have seen program innovation, evaluation upgraded, deeper impact, new funding opportunities, new product ideas, it is honestly endless what can occur when diversity takes place.
    
    
• It's important to make sure that whom you service, sell too i.e. your target customer are in your workforce and at the table for decision making. As with any business how can we truly understand our core customer, if we don't have their voice, thoughts, buy-in for the product? Your product may not sell, and could lead to being perceived as a not a credible organization, not knowing their customer base.
  • This tactic allows for empowerment of your employees, customers as well and for personal growth and a deeper understanding of the human race
  • Also, it's simply the right thing to do

Diversity is fun, exciting, innovative, necessary and important. I hope that your workplace implements planning and action around inclusivity and diversity throughout your organization to improve in areas of solution-building, innovation, and are focused on your overall mission and products.

For Elevating Human Resources, Improving Workplaces

Cleveland, Ohio, April 20, 2021 — The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently awarded Cleveland SHRM its prestigious EXCEL Platinum Award for the Chapter’s accomplishments in 2020.

The award aligns individual chapters’ and state councils’ activities with SHRM’s aspirations for the HR profession. The award recognizes accomplishments and strategic activities and initiatives that enhance the human resource profession.

“So much of SHRM’s positive impact on our workplaces can be traced back to the dedication of our chapters and state councils like Cleveland SHRM. I’ve seen firsthand how these leaders drive meaningful changes to build workplaces where employers and employees can thrive together,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, president and chief executive officer of SHRM. “The Platinum EXCEL Award not only honors Cleveland SHRM and its accomplishments in 2020, but it’s also a testament to the hard work it took to get there.”

The EXCEL Award can be earned at four levels: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Each level has a prescribed set of requirements and accomplishments that must be met. Cleveland SHRM will receive recognition in SHRM publications and at conferences, a logo to display on its website, and information to share with its members about the significance of this award.

For more information about Cleveland SHRM, visit http://www.clevelandshrm.com.

Media: For more information, contact Andy Hollander of Cleveland SHRM at communications@clevelandshrm.com.

About the Society for Human Resource Management

SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, creates better workplaces where employers and employees thrive together. As the voice of all things work, workers and the workplace, SHRM is the foremost expert, convener and thought leader on issues impacting today's evolving workplaces. With 300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 115 million workers and families globally. Learn more at SHRM.org and on Twitter @SHRM.

The Most Underutilized Feature in Successful Zoom Presentations

Ted Janusz
Certified Speaking Professional and Certified Virtual Presenter
Janu Presentations

Thirty million PowerPoint presentations are created each day. Given our current pandemic environment, many now delivered via Zoom. But when giving a presentation using Zoom meetings, the most underutilized feature for the success of a Zoom meeting presentation is breakout rooms.

It may be because breakout rooms do not appear with the standard setup of a Zoom meeting. Before your presentation, be sure to enable breakout rooms.

Why Are Breakout Rooms So Important?

It gets back to Presentation Skills 101.

The success of your Zoom presentation depends on how you make the event be about your participants and not about you.

While the content that you present is important, the most important factor in the success of any presentation is making a connection with your audience. Remember that unlike in a physical environment, your competition is now just a click away!

If your virtual presentation fails to be interesting and engaging, participants will likely have it running in the background, as they check email or Instagram in the foreground. If you fail to actively engage your participants, you may never know whether or not they received your message.

That is the beauty of the breakout rooms. Utilizing breakout rooms in your virtual presentation encourages active participation; the participants never know when you just might next call on them to join in with you.

It may seem to be more efficient to use your presentation to simply dump content. But you are probably looking to be more effective. Participants are more likely to retain information from a presentation that they feel they were a part of.

With breakout rooms, participants do not want to be embarrassed that everyone else will be talking, laughing, and joining in the fun, and they will be missing out. They will not want you or anyone else to know that they were the only one to not accept your invitation to join a breakout room.

So strategically place breakout room sessions throughout your presentation. Have one early on in the session (resist the temptation to make your presentation be all about you). Keep your participants guessing as to when the next breakout room session will be!

For a three- or four-hour virtual presentation (which, because of “Zoom fatigue,” is about the limit that most participants can endure a virtual presentation), incorporate two breakout room sessions before the break, then one or two after the break.

Be careful not to overuse the breakout room feature, either. Use it just enough to give your participants a mental break from you. (Remember, you know your material, they don't. They  need to think about it. Thinking is hard work, which is why most people don't like to do it.)

What Do Participants Crave and Miss Most?

The answer to the above question is human interaction. Many of them have not seen their other colleagues, possibly in months. Even if it is not their regular associates they are engaging with on the Zoom call, many are just so happy to actually see other adults besides those in their houses during this quarantine.

Since April 2020, I have delivered 100 three- and four-hour virtual presentations. And while I would like to think that I delivered stellar programs, the feature of those programs that gets the most rave reviews from participants is the breakout rooms.

Another challenge for virtual presenters is to get your audience to turn on their cameras. That is primarily what presenters miss most about a virtual presentation: seeing the participant reactions.

Most of your audience will not want to let you into their lives if they feel disconnected from you. However, if you have a breakout room session early on, they probably won't want to be the only participant in the room with their video off. Then they are more likely to leave the camera on for the rest of the presentation, especially if they anticipate another breakout room  session coming up soon.

All in all, the use of breakout rooms in your Zoom meetings is worth heavy consideration.

Ted Janusz, MBA, facilitates workshops, and has presented more than 6,500 hours on business- related topics internationally. He is a dynamic keynote speaker who helps improve business relationships and will present “Leading Virtual Teams” at NOHRC2021!

3 Simple Steps to Preventing Burnout

We are only here for an INSTANT in eternity - do you want to spend that time BURNT- OUT?

More and more I'm seeing burnout everywhere. People are overwhelmed and overworked and they don't know what to do. As an entrepreneur, it's easy for me to always believe that there is ONE MORE THING to do,

ONE MORE EMAIL to write, ONE MORE client to call,

ONE MORE task that might be the game changer. WHEN IS IT ENOUGH?

If you're looking to prevent burnout - below are my top 3 tips that have helped me navigate this tricky sucker!

1)  FIND BALANCE with work and home (in a NEW WAY!)

Is your work full of extroverted tasks? Sales calls, presentations, phone conversations and meetings? TAKE TIME TO BE QUIET. When you finish work, read a book, take a bath, spend time doing a quiet activity like going for a walk or flipping through a magazine. On the other hand if your work is quiet and solo, you might schedule a dinner with friends, catch up on a phone call with a loved one or go to a community event.

We all need activity AND rest. If your work is one way, balance your time off with the other.

2) SAY NO TO SOMETHING

What's one thing you can say 'no' to this week?

Maybe it's a commitment on your day off, or a volunteer task. Maybe it's saying NO to working late, perpetuating the lie that BUSY = PRODUCTIVE. Maybe you say ‘NO’ to needing to complete that one last task - you know - the one that makes you feel rushed or even late to your next commitment?

Saying NO to something allows you to say YES to yourself.

3) TAKE TIME TO SLOW DOWN

Our minds build MOMENTUM. When we're going at a fast pace through our days it's no wonder that slowing down feels impossible! Teach yourself to slow down with a few minutes of mindfulness! Set a timer for 1 minute, and simply focus on your breath OR download the free app Insight Timer and listen to one of my guided meditations.

Warning: THIS MIGHT BE DIFFICULT! Remember it takes TIME to slow down a Mack Truck and it will take time to slow down your mind.

Life is not just one big long to do list. It’s mean to be lived, breathed, loved and experienced. I believe a 'successful' life is one filled with WELLBEING, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.

What's one small step you could take today to support your WELL-BEING?

Join me to learn more about avoiding burnout using simple mindfulness techniques at NOHRC 2021!

Other ways to connect with Trish:

facebook: @TrishTuttonMindfulness
Instagram: @trish_tutton
twitter: @TrishTutton
linkedin:@trishtutton

Inversity™ is likely a new word for you; and may even be an entirely new concept for those well versed in traditional diversity and inclusion efforts. Several years ago it became quite clear to me that regular diversity efforts were not working. Not only did we need a new strategy but new terminology if we were going to revolutionize our approach. 

So what exactly is inversity? And why is it needed now more than ever?

Inversity, much like the conversation around diversity- harbors the same goal and purpose of acknowledging the incredible history, attributes and characteristics we as individuals bring to the table, all while honoring the unique and collective experiences we have had in our lives. But with inversity the main objective is to take division out of the process.

Just looking at the root of the word diversity; it has division and divide within it. The goal of inversity is to shift the conversation from what separates and divides us to focusing on what we have in common; how we can be truly inclusive of one another and most importantly introspective- meaning understanding your value, your worth- your connection to humanity. It is this connection aspect that is really the most critical component; because when you see those things in yourself (value, worth, connection to humanity) it is then that you can see them in someone else. This is where the missing piece has been with traditional DEI -diversity, equity and inclusion programming. For decades we've been placing people into categories and assigning one another labels; furthering the divide and creating unnecessary polarization. Now is the time to nip that in the bud so that we can have fruitful conversations which lead to meaningful relationships regardless of our individual backgrounds. 

Without question conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion still need to be had. However, these conversations can be less threatening, more inviting, deeper and authentic. This path allows for much more effective communication and connection so that we can see our efforts reflected in society and in our immediate personal and professional relationships. This isn't a check-the-box situation or a “cya” move for organizations this is for people truly dedicated to elevating the conversation around DEI because they care about themselves and others; and they desire to nurture healthy relationships.

We can start this process by navigating  the 7 C's of  Inversity.

#1 Compassion. The ability to harness feelings of care and empathy for someone other than yourself. It is easy to have compassion for someone you are close to and  know. It may take a little more effort to have it for someone who is not in your circle, and even more effort to find compassion for someone who you don't agree with or relate to as all. But finding a commonality, even if it’s simply that they are a fellow human being, is a place to start with compassion. Compassion breeds empathy. Empathy in turn breeds understanding.

#2 Connection. Creating a genuine bond with others is paramount. Connection entails a feeling of closeness and belonging. Of course there are different levels of connection. A mother and child will not have the exact same connection as neighbors or co-workers would have with one another. But that does not make connection any less critical, because what comes with connection is the ever important sense of belonging. This also happens to be #3 on Maslow's hierarchy of our basic human requirements and needs.

#3 Communication. Communicating effectively is something we all can stand to improve upon - (even professional speakers can brush up our communication skills.) Because true communication is not just talking and hearing. It is effectively relaying a thought or idea and having that idea not just heard but comprehended. This is a skill that may never be "perfected" but it is certainly one we can hone when we pay attention and give it attention. When the lines of communication are open, developing healthy relationships surely follow.

#4 Courage. Yes, courage is mustering up enough chutzpah to go for it and try something new. But living in your courage means being yourself and letting others be who they are without judgment. This is not just a two-way street, but a six-lane highway.

#5 Consciousness. Raising your consciousness means raising your awareness so that your scope isn't entirely self-centric, but also encompasses those in your family, work, community etc... We are all the stars of our own life's play. But the idea behind having consciousness is recognizing you aren't always the only person on the stage.

#6 Clarity. When we have clarity that literally means there is no fog or confusion.  We can see clearly and understand the issue at hand. For example clarity allows us to see that what may have been construed as a micro- aggression or something that might trigger us, was actually an innocent comment. Or, what was an insult or slight was really someone else's insecurities and hate getting the best of them. Clarity lets us see the difference so that we can rise above the circumstance and live in our greatness, not someone else's miscommunication, pettiness or depravity.

#7 Conditioning. We would be remiss to discount the parts our upbringing, education and interactions up to this point- all conditioning- has played in how we see ourselves and the world around us. What role has conditioning played in shaping the world? How have we learned and been taught to see ourselves and one another through the lens of media, social media and society at large? If we as individuals have been conditioned, then so has everyone else. This revelation should be a prompt to extend curiosity, grace and understanding to others as well as ourselves when having current and future interactions with our fellow humans beings.

The 7 C’s of Inversity™ do not hold all the answers for how we can create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive society, but they certainly are a good place to start. And they benefit yet another C to consider- Community. We are all part of a community. Some we've chosen for ourselves; some that we have fallen into. The wonderful aspect of this, is that we each have a choice in defining what community means to us. We also have the option of growing each of our communities to reflect values of openness, love and thoughtfulness by how we show up in them.

So when we finds ourselves feeling isolated, judgmental, or living in ego-driven fear, hopefully looking to one, if not all of these seven C’s, offers grounding and guidance for navigating this incredible journey we call life.

COVID-19 has taken an emotional toll on employees, and has compounded stress and loneliness in an already stressed and increasingly lonely workforce. The continued fear, uncertainty, upended routines, financial pressure, and challenge for parents trying to tackle work and child care from home has impacted our daily emotions — reducing our joy, increasing our stress and magnifying our feelings of loneliness.

Read the full report here

How Leaders RISE amid the COVID-19 pandemic environment

Kevin M. Coleman “The Empowerment Coach”

KMC Empowerment, LLC

America’s # 1 Empowerment Coach, Trainer and Speaker

Kevin is a speaker at NOHRC 2021!

It is obvious that the current pandemic environment has taken a great toll on many organizations and most importantly the leaders that lead the organizations! Therefore, it is critically imperative that leaders RISE to the occasion in this COVID-19 Pandemic Environment. Please see four (4) key leadership attributes needed to R.I.S.E. to the occasion during times of adversity.

Cleveland SHRM (CSHRM) is excited to announce our recent partnership with the Cleveland Leadership Center (CLC), a nonprofit organization that “provides leadership and community engagement opportunities across a wide spectrum of life and career stages to inspire, connect and challenge individuals to make a positive community impact.” As an organization, Cleveland SHRM is proud to partner with organizations whose mission aligns with our own, much like the Cleveland Leadership Center.

Over the next year, our partnership will include a collaboration where CSHRM provides a $500 scholarship to a CSHRM member to attend a CLC program and, CLC members will have the opportunity to participate in our mentoring program as mentors. Additionally, CLC will be supporting our Emerging Professionals Special Interest Group by providing access to their The Way Forward Leader Lunch Break.

As with any partnership, Cleveland SHRM’s goal is to provide value added educational programming and events to our community that support growth and development.We thank the Cleveland Leadership Center for their support and look forward to the next year and beyond.

For more information, please contact Tamara Hagerty at president@clevelandshrm.com.

by Elizabeth Click, DNP, ND, RN, CWP

Medical Director and Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University

2020 has been a year unlike any other.  In January, a glimpse of pandemic-related chaos was apparent in many social media and journalism publications; however, few realized the extent of the COVID-19 crisis that would develop as the year progressed.  During a “normal” year, Human Resource professionals maintain busy, frequently hectic work schedules trying to meet the people needs present within their organizations. Now, HR professionals are seeing increased absenteeism; management issues; new barriers to work, such as the challenges facing parents of school-aged children; the ubiquity of remote work for many that used to primarily work in an office; and, decreased social connections, with a concurrent rise in loneliness, for those who are actively trying to avoid the virus.   Work demands have increased exponentially, yet bandwidth to handle the unique needs associated with the pandemic has stayed the same. The ability to manage the current situation may have actually diminished given the widespread impact of COVID on our personal and professional lives. Although meeting the people needs of the organization is a requirement, prioritizing time for yourself is critical. You must take care of your own needs to be able to meet the needs of others. While that may require great balance and grace, the importance of self-care and overall well-being has become quite clear during this pandemic. Recent evidence points to the power of strategic time away from work, and active practice of stress management techniques as a path towards higher functioning and greater productivity. Taking the time to engage in proactive planning and stress reduction practices is more important than ever.

While the negative impact of stress on work is clear, the personal effects physically and mentally may be less visible. Activation of the “flight or fight” response triggers a cascade of physical effects that puts strain on our whole bodies:  increased respiratory rate, increased blood pressure, gastric distress, increased heart rate, and other physical effects join with mental ones such as distracted thoughts, difficulty focusing, and anxiety to impact our entire being. Living with those effects over a period of time can be detrimental, leading to the development of chronic conditions.  Active practice of positive stress management techniques is suggested so that the negative outcomes frequently experienced during stressful episodes are diminished.

While there are a variety of ways to manage stress, three effective strategies are recommended.  Using your breath to relax, practicing quick physical activity exercises to re-energize, and taking a brief “time out” for self-care each day are strategies that can minimize the negative effects of stress. When we experience stress, we tend to take shallow breaths and we may breathe rather quickly. Deliberately slowing down your breathing rate and emphasizing deep breaths (to fully fill your lungs) will focus your body and mind, create a more centered feeling, and will minimize the impact of stress over time. Consider taking a minute or two for slow, deep breathing throughout the day. You may choose to do this practice every hour or two. The practice will serve as a nice mini-break in your day and will help you better understand how your physical body experiences stress and the physical differences associated with breathing for relaxation.

Integrating movement and physical activity into each day helps ground your energy, releases pent-up physical stress, and represents another way to change your energy use to reduce the negative effects associated with stress. Consider taking five minutes out of each hour to perform squats, walk up and down the stairs a few times each day, do jumping jacks, engage in regular stretching throughout the day, or take a few brief walks each day.  This will enhance your circulation through use of your muscles and will simultaneously release physical stress while generating new energy throughout the day. Consider incorporating these specific strategies into your life and realize higher levels of energy and productivity while at work and at home.

Prioritizing self-care activities will also help you manage stress. Serving others at work, through your HR role, tends to emphasize the needs of others over your own personal needs. Focusing outward on a continual basis presents a quick path to burnout. Learning how to carve time out for yourself is critical. Think about the ways in which you care for yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Consider your environment too. Identify one area to focus on each week to enhance your overall well-being.  One week you might consider getting 7-9 hours of sleep. Another week, you could focus on creating an ergonomically sound work area to facilitate good posture and ideal body positioning while at work. Incorporating nutritious foods into your day and taking time for lunch, without working at the same time, would be helpful. Identifying social connections to engage with more often for enhanced community well-being is another self-care strategy to consider.

Think about using these effective self-care strategies to enhance your daily work experience.  Carving out time for you is a critical step towards greater well-being. Use slow, deep breathing and active movement throughout the day to decrease the impact of stress on your mind and body. Incorporate self-care strategies into your week on a regular basis. You are an important human resource for your workplace.  Maximize your impact at work through proactive focus on yourself while simultaneously improving your personal well-being.  Now is the time to take these steps. Make plans to insert these strategies into your day and experience less stress and enhanced well-being!

Introduction to Enlightened Solutions

Enlightened Solutions is a workplace advocacy firm dedicated to creating, implementing and publishing research-based solutions that center the lived experiences of diverse people. We initially founded Enlightened Solutions in 2018 to support individuals navigate exclusionary systems in the workplace. Our success has led us to expand operations to include cutting edge research and client-based inclusion-forward development for organizations. Our intervention model remains closely tied with real-time inclusion-forward developments in a rapidly evolving field.

C leveland Ranked Worst Place in America for Black Women

Due to COVID-19 and greater socio-political and economic upheaval, Cleveland and more broadly, Northeast Ohio has the opportunity to position itself as poised for seismic and innovative change.

In 2020, Cleveland, Ohio has earned the following distinctions of note:

●      Cleveland is the worst place in America for Black Women^{1 2}

●      Cleveland is the poorest big city in  America³

●      Ohio in general holds the 45th place on  equality⁴

Additionally, consider the following points:

●      Millennials (born between 1981 and 1994) are now the largest portion of the workforce, with the eldest Generation Z members (born after 1995) entering the workforce this year⁵

●      48% of Generation Z identifies as racially/ethnically  diverse⁶

●      33% of Generation Z identify as LGBTQ+⁷

P roject Noir and Accounts

In late summer 2020, Enlightened Solutions embarked on a survey which collected the workplace experiences of Black Women in Cleveland, Ohio called “Project Noir” based on the CityLab/Bloomberg article, “What Liveability Looks Like for Black Women”. The above statistic and accompanying survey responses below are important indicators in understanding the experience of Black Women and other diverse populations in Cleveland.

¹ Mock, Brentin. “What ‘Livability’ Looks Like for Black Women .” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 9 Jan. 2020.
² Howell, Junia, Sara Goodkind, Leah Jacobs, Dominique Branson and Elizabeth Miller. 2019. "P ittsburgh's Inequality across Gender and Race ." Gender Analysis White Papers. City of Pittsburgh's Gender Equity Commission.
³ Campbell, Erica. “Cleveland Is Now The Poorest Big City in the Country .” Communitysolutions.com, The Center for Community Solutions, 21 Sep. 2020.
⁴ McCann, Adam. “ State Economies with the Most Racial Equality.” Wallethub.com, WalletHub, 17 Jun. 2020.
⁵ Dimock, Michael. “Where Millennials End and Generation Z Begins .” Pewreasearch.org, The Pew Research Center, 17 Jan. 2019.
⁶ Wang, Hansi Lo. “ Generation Z Is The Most Racially And Ethnically Diverse Yet.” Npr.org, National Public Radio (NPR), 15 Nov. 2018.
⁷ Lewis, Mary Grace. “Study Says Only Two Thirds of Gen Z Is Straight.” Advocate.com, Advocate, 6 Jul. 2018.

Organizations that prioritized diversity and inclusion organizational change before the 2008 economic crisis, survived the crisis and actually increased their market share due to prioritizing and empowering diverse perspectives. The future of innovation and talent will be deeply tied to the ability of human resource professionals to foster diverse talent.

Based on these trends we can anticipate that the demand for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity will only continue to increase through political, legal, and economic systems. And we will be ready.

Behind the Scenes of NOHRC 2021: Shaping the Future
By: Amber F. Mirza, MSHRD, PHR
Editorial Director, CSHRM Newsletter

NOHRC 2021: Shaping the Future will be taking place March 10^th - 12^th, 2021. I had the opportunity to connect with NOHRC 2021 organizers Kristin Vidmar, Scott Adamonis and Andy Hollander. Read on to learn more about NOHRC 2021!

Part I: NOHRC 2021

1.   What is your role with NOHRC and what does your role entail?

K: I am the NOHRC Chair. I oversee several subcommittees including the Exhibitor and Sponsor Committee, Speaker Committee, Registration Committee and Social Media Committee. There are over 20 people on the team.
S: I am the Co-Chair for NOHRC 2021 – my responsibilities are to provide support to the Chair in whatever capacity is needed. I also support all the other committees as needed, helping them stay on track and on budget. I work together with the Chair on all aspects of the conference.

A: I am the VP of Communications with Cleveland SHRM and in this role, I am supporting NOHRC 2021 along with the Cleveland SHRM Communications team. My team and I are working on strategies to build messaging for registration, exhibitors, and sponsorships for this three-day, virtual event. I also am building out the virtual environment through the virtual platform vFairs.

2.   For members who have not had the opportunity to meet you before, tell me about what you do professionally.

K: I work at Farmers Insurance and am an HR Consultant there. I work with the leadership team regarding employee coaching and development.

S: My day job is Vice President of Staffworks Group. We are a leading provider of flexible staffing services, including temporary, temp-to-hire and direct hire placements all while delivering quality people, superior service, and better results. I am also Vice President of Sales on the Cleveland SHRM Board.

A: I am the Account Director for Think Media Studios, a full-service video production company located in Mayfield Heights. While we are a Cleveland company, our work has taken us all around the world and the content we create has won us awards and acclaim from Emmys to the Sundance Film Festival. 

3.   What do you most enjoy working on behind the scenes for NOHRC 2021?

K: This year, it is exciting because we’re creating a 3D virtual conference that we’ve never done before. Researching the options is fun. I also enjoy the project management side of leading the NOHRC team, i.e. how to make it happen and best practices of a virtual conference.

S: I enjoy working on the conference details. How can we make the attendee and sponsor/exhibitors experience the best it can be? Being creative and seeing what will help enhance the experience.

A: I really enjoy getting to know people on the volunteer committees throughout Cleveland SHRM and NOHRC. As a leader of a volunteer organization, I have had the opportunity to take on strategic marketing and communications responsibilities that allow me to learn how to lead a team and build successful programs and implementation of processes.

4.   Why do you feel NOHRC is an important event for the Northeast Ohio HR community?

K: It’s a combination of different things: education, keeping skills up-to-date, knowing what’s going on within the HR profession and also the ability to network and learn from others. Being relevant and knowing where things are headed and what the hot topics are will help you advance your organization within that area. This conference offers all that as well as the opportunity to learn about new products and services for HR through our sponsors and exhibitors.

S: This conference is the pinnacle event of the year for our Human Resources community. It brings together our local HR professionals, incredible industry leaders and speakers, necessary third-party industry partners and organizations of all shapes, sizes, and industries from all over Northeast Ohio.

A: NOHRC is dedicated to elevating the HR voice in our region. Everything we do at Cleveland SHRM is to build out content and events that showcase the importance of the HR profession and support emerging HR leaders in our region who are the backbone of our companies and organizations. NOHRC is a time to celebrate our HR professionals, bring multiple days of relevant, inspirational, and engaging thought leaders, and provide a platform for our audience to network and gain access to each other’s knowledge collective.

5.  What are you most excited about for attendees to experience for NOHRC 2021?

K: The platform we are using is really cool! It’s animated, you can see avatars walking around, and it allows attendees to interact in so many different ways. It almost feels like you are in a video game. Although you can’t be your own avatar in the conference, your view will be through your “eyes”. You can move through different areas and engage in a variety of experiences with other attendees, speakers, and exhibitors/sponsors. It’s all about the interactive component of the platform and creating a feeling of togetherness.

S: Since this is the first year we have had to host a conference of this magnitude virtually, we have partnered with one of the industry’s leaders in state of the art, 3D, virtual platforms available. I cannot wait to see this event kick off and witness this cool experience!

A: NOHRC 2021 will be a virtual event that attendees will distinctly remember as they will have the opportunity to explore virtual rooms including a lobby, exhibit hall, and network lounge. Our guests will interact in activities and events throughout three days in addition to the thirty presentations with SHRM and HRCI certification credits.

6.   Obviously, this is the first year NOHRC will be in a virtual format. What do you foresee as the advantages of this layout in comparison to previous NOHRC events?

K: Three things:

·      Anybody, anywhere, can participate. If you have co-workers or friends that work with you, but they’re not in the same area in Ohio, they can still participate in the conference.

·      Not limited by weather.

·      Given that we’re in the middle of the pandemic, we’re committed to a virtual space in the interest of safety for members. Obviously, we like to meet in-person, but given the unique situation, we wanted to avoid any potential risks. With that, we wanted to make sure we had a best-in-class virtual experience and committed early on to create virtual event.

S: Being a virtual event allows us to be creative. We have the use of some incredible technology that we would not have been able to use at a live event. The layout allows you to see, hear and experience things at you own pace. While nothing takes the place of live, face-to-face interactions, this year allows you to attend the conference from the safety of your office or home and still gain valuable information and quality interaction.

A: I am really excited as I have been working with the virtual event platform vFairs to build out this experience. By choosing this platform we will be able to create moments that will simulate the live in-person event. Throughout the three days, we will build moments and micro-events to remind people that there is an actual audience of people virtually attending this event in virtual halls and areas. Of course, because this is a virtual event, you can attend the event in the comfort of your own home!

7.   One of the attractions of NOHRC is the opportunity to network. How will this year’s event allow attendees to network? For example, will there be breakout rooms?

K: This is one of the biggest things that we’ve been looking at this year. You don’t want to feel isolated or alone, and the ability to interact with others is important. We are going to have a networking lounge and exhibit hall with opportunities for people to join breakout rooms where they can interact and have conversations.

S: Attendees will have the same opportunities to interact and network with their peers and HR partners in both a networking lounge area that will have live interactions, Zoom chat areas, and virtual games, and in an incredible exhibit hall that features Human Resources supporting companies from various industries.

A: NOHRC, because of this elaborate virtual environment, will have multiple opportunities for attendees to network in activities and games via group moments in the network lounge and exhibit hall. Also, there are one-on-one moments that, if you would like to video chat with an attendee or an exhibitor at the event, that you would have access to.

8.   What do you feel attendees will be most surprised by?

K: How cool it’s going to be! A lot of us are stuck at home, working from home - it’ll be something different where you feel connected within the platform. We stretched the conference to three days for 2021 so that attendees can jump into sessions that are of most interest to them. There will also be downtime to participate in the networking lounge and exhibit hall activities. The attendees will be most surprised about the way we can all interact in a virtual space.

S: They will be blown away by the technology being used to host this event and the incredible speaker line-up.

A: The attendees will be most surprised by the virtual floor plan and how interactive the conference will be. NOHRC will have a command center that will be directing the event - it will, in every way, be a live event with users that will not want to leave the platform as they will miss out on unique experiences that this event will be providing.

Part II: The Organizers & Their Volunteering Experiences

9.   How did you first get involved with CSHRM and NORHC? What made you decide to do so?

K: This is my 6^th year of volunteering with NOHRC. I started on our Exhibitor and Sponsor Committee, then moved up to a Lead, and then moved up to the Chair for the Conference. What got me started with NOHRC was that I had several friends who were volunteers for NOHRC and talked about how much fun they had! At the time, I was looking for ways to develop leadership skills and push myself out of my comfort zone. This was a good way to do that.

S: My first experience with CSHRM/NOHRC was as an exhibitor many years ago. I saw what this group was doing, and I wanted to be part of it. After one of the conferences, I was asked if I had any interest in volunteering, so I jumped at the chance. Since then, I have held several roles with both CSHRM and NOHRC and even chaired the conference back in 2017.

A: I was volunteered (or “volun-told” as we lovingly put it at CSHRM) to be the VP of Communications for Cleveland SHRM by Past President Robin Doerschuk. I chose to take the position because I knew that Robin, as a business professional peer I highly respect, would allow me to flourish under her leadership in my role as VP of Communications.

10.  How has your involvement with CSHRM/NOHRC influenced how you approach matters in your professional life or vice versa?

K: Through CSHRM, I have been able to further develop my project management and leadership skills.  I’ve also learned so much from others and grown personally through my volunteer experiences.

S: As a volunteer with this organization, you are surrounded by some very intelligent, passionate, and dedicated people. I have had the opportunity to absorb so much information, knowledge, and skillsets for some incredible people, that it has made me a better person in both my professional and personal life. I have learned to listen, process and plan much, much better.

A: Being involved in Cleveland SHRM and NOHRC has allowed me to better understand the strengths and weaknesses I have as a leader and as a Marketing and Communications professional. Understanding the gaps in my knowledge and abilities helped me understand the people I needed on the team and those individuals, in turn, have helped me build out what we now have. Looking at my current team of Anna, Alyssa, Amber, Dani, Phillip, and Susan, I truly have surrounded myself with brilliant individuals and I cannot wait to see them rise to leadership positions within Cleveland SHRM!

11.  For individuals who may be interested in volunteering, but are uncertain about the time commitment, how do you manage your time between being involved with CSHRM/NOHRC along with work, family and other demands or priorities?

K: For me, it all comes down to being organized, having fun, and loving what you do.  My employer also encourages and supports volunteerism. CSHRM has a variety of options that can fit in with your schedule.

S: This organization allow you the option to put forth as much of or as little time as you desire. There are varying levels of commitment throughout the organization. Some volunteer opportunities meet monthly and others meet weekly. You’re able to navigate the use of your time accordingly and can find a committee that suits your schedule and fills your desire to volunteer. This group recognizes the importance of work, life and volunteer balance.

A: Each potential volunteer member has to decide the time they have available and the tasks they would serve the organization best doing. For example, when I started in my role, I would build out time to work on tasks during available lunch periods. Being a member of Cleveland SHRM is a fantastic way to network among peers, but being a volunteer member of the organization with hundreds of other volunteer members, you will truly feel connected as you work together to meet shared goals.

Part III: Closing Thoughts

12.  Is there anything else you wish to add?

K: I’m excited about NOHRC 2021, HR: Shaping the Future! It’s going to be a totally new experience, and I hope to “see” you there.

S: If you are considering attending a conference in 2021, you won’t find a better one out there. NOHRC 2021 is Shaping the Future!

A: I am so proud to be a Cleveland SHRM board member as it has been one of the best professional organizations that I have been a part of. I would sincerely encourage all professionals (and I am not an HR professional) to consider being a member of Cleveland SHRM as the people have led to many friendships I will keep and continue to cherish. Connect with me if you would like to find out more about my experience with Cleveland SHRM at andy@thinkmediastudios.com.

Welcome to 2021!  This year provides a clean slate to start afresh, create new strategies, and support our community in a new and innovative fashion.

2020 was a challenging year for everyone, yet it proved the resiliency of all, including Cleveland SHRM.  We hosted our first SHRM Certification  Study Group with 16 participants. We redesigned our Mentoring Program. We reimagined our Leadership Day.  We started our first-ever Book Club with Steve Browne!  We honored our Members of the Year: Jared Daly, Dani Kimble, and Jodie Gilbert.  On top of that, we realigned our programming to the virtual environment. In fact, we hosted 58 Learning Education events for Cleveland SHRM Members and non-members, free of charge.

We have partnered with the Greater Cleveland Partnership and implemented our updated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy in alignment with our long-term goals.  This strategy includes: metrics and tracking to better understand the demographics of our members, facilitating stronger partnerships with diverse organizations, creating dynamic training, driving a more diverse network, and a Speakers’ Bureau.  In addition, we have implemented our Leadership Development Program, which creates a succession plan and development program for our volunteers whose goal is to transition into leadership non-profit board roles.  Of course, we would be remiss if we didn’t discuss our 2021 Northern Ohio Human Resource Conference (NOHRC).

The NOHRC committee is planning a space-tacular 3D virtual experience March 10-12, 2021 with a mission to present educational content to “Shape the Future.”  The team has created an event that allows attendees to explore new ways to network, learn, and most importantly, have fun through interactive tools and gamification features.  The three morning keynotes (Kendall Ficklin, Karith Foster, and Colene Rogers) bring a diverse background of knowledge and expertise in the areas of coaching, change management, personal growth, transformation, social change, inclusion, talent acquisition, retention, and more.  In addition, the Speaker Lineup includes 27 concurrent sessions over three days covering a variety of topics for all levels of HR professionals and leaders.  Most importantly, our speakers will be on the platform with us, ready to engage with all attendees to answer everyone’s questions.  As a reminder, the conference offers recertification credits and the sessions have been submitted for HRCI, SHRM, and CLE credits.

In our profession, people are the heart of what we do and being connected and having opportunities to make personal connections is important to us.  It may be hard to envision what that looks and feels like at a virtual conference, but we want you to know at NOHRC, you are not alone.  We created a networking lounge where you can participate in face-to-face meet-ups with other conference attendees, engage in discussions, participate in games, or just hang out and listen to music.  We even have some pretty cool avatars you can interact with as you navigate our virtual “space.”

All of this is possible thanks to our exhibitors and sponsors.  You will be able to explore our interactive exhibit hall, meet with exhibitors, work with customized booth spaces and avatars, watch videos, gather information on products and services, add handouts to a virtual bag, engage in sponsored events and contests, and so much more. We don’t want to ruin all of the surprises, but trust us, you won’t want to miss this!

On behalf of the Cleveland SHRM Board, we are very excited for 2021 and the opportunities to learn, grow, explore and develop!

Please visit our website to learn more about our board, our events, and our commitment to Cleveland and our community. 

Tamara Hagerty, PHR, SHRM-CP
President 
Cleveland SHRM

           

Cleveland SHRM Awarded

For Elevating Human Resources, Improving Workplaces

Cleveland, OH, May 26, 2020 — SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management) recently awarded Cleveland SHRM its prestigious EXCEL Platinum Award for the chapter’s accomplishments in 2019.

The EXCEL award is given to state councils and chapters to recognize major accomplishments, strategic activities, and tactical initiatives that elevate the profession of human resources.  

“So much of SHRM’s impact on the world of work can be traced back to the dedication and hard work of our chapters like Cleveland SHRM. These leaders took the initiative and drove changes to make workplaces where employers and employees can thrive together,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, president and chief executive officer of SHRM. “The Platinum EXCEL Award is not only a celebration of the great work done by Cleveland SHRM—it’s also a recognition of the grit it took to do it.”

The EXCEL Award can be earned at four levels: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Each level has a prescribed set of requirements and accomplishments that must be met. Cleveland SHRM will receive recognition in SHRM publications and at conferences, a logo to display on its website, and information to share with its members about the significance of this award.

For more information about Cleveland SHRM, visit http://www.clevelandshrm.com.

Media: For more information, contact Andy Hollander at communications@clevelandshrm.com.

About SHRM

SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, creates better workplaces where employers and employees thrive together. As the voice of all things work, workers and the workplace, SHRM is the foremost expert, convener and thought leader on issues impacting today's evolving workplaces. With 300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 115 million workers and families globally. Learn more at SHRM.org and on Twitter @SHRM.

Cleveland SHRM has been awarded the recognition of  SHRM Foundation Chapter Champion.

Through our support of the SHRM Foundation, we are empowering real social impact, allowing the foundation to continue to deliver on outreach initiatives that lead positive change affecting work, workers, and the workplace. We are also helping the foundation prepare the next generation of professionals for a future in HR. Our continued support will help the SHRM Foundation in these ways:

• Continue to engage and integrate military veterans in the workplace
• Deliver more than 300 scholarships in 2020 to HR professionals and students
• Advance workplace inclusion initiatives for individuals with disabilities
•  Provide outreach that helps those formerly incarcerated as they are reintroduced to the workforce

Congratulations to Kerry Fels - SHRM-SCP, Stephanie Wills - SHRM-CP,  Shannon Doyle - SHRM-CP, and Jerry Armstrong - SHRM-CP who recently passed their SHRM-SCP and SHRM-CP exams! 

In light of Governor DeWine’s ban on gatherings of over 100 people in the state, the rest of our Northern Ohio Human Resource Conference is cancelled and no events will be held on Friday, March 13.

Cleveland SHRM is committed to providing our members and attendees with ongoing professional development opportunities and the sufficient recertification credits. As such, we have been recording sessions throughout the conference and will record four (4) sessions that were scheduled for tomorrow. Once complete, the recordings will be made available to attendees at a later date. These recordings will satisfy the recertification credits for the Northern Ohio Human Resource Conference.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support of Cleveland SHRM.

2019 SHRM Learning System Champion Recognition

December 2, 2019: Cleveland SHRM has been awarded the SHRM Learning System Champion status is a recognition of Cleveland SHRM's hard work to elevate the HR profession through professional development and HR knowledge among members, gained from SHRM certification. SHRM created this prestigious distinction in support of its premier educational product. This status also helps to promote the HR profession at the local level by using the SHRM Learning System® for SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP. 

The competency-based SHRM-CP® and SHRM-SCP® credentials are the new global standard in HR certification. These credentials are among the first HR certifications focused on teaching and testing the practical, real-life information HR professionals need to advance their organizations, and excel in their careers today, including knowledge, skills, and behavioral competencies.

Cleveland SHRM Wins Pinnacle Award from SHRM for Exceptional HR Program

Cleveland, Ohio, 11/22/2019— Cleveland SHRM announced today it has earned the 2019 Pinnacle Award from SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) in recognition of its high achievements advancing the profession of human resources.

Created in 1991, the Pinnacle Award is the most prestigious award SHRM state councils and chapters can receive, honoring programs that exceed the standard activities of SHRM affiliates in enhancing HR management. Cleveland SHRM was one of 12 human resource organizations—out of more than 600—from across the country to win the award in 2019.

“The people of our chapters and state councils are among the most dedicated and passionate professionals in HR,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, President and CEO of SHRM. “That makes it difficult to select just twelve winners. But the great work done by this year’s recipients truly speaks for itself. From relief outreach in the wake of Hurricane Michael, to addressing domestic violence and assisting underserved communities, each winner translated big ideas into local actions—and made a real difference.”

Cleveland SHRM was awarded the Pinnacle Award based on the continued success of their annual Women’s Leadership Conference of Northeast Ohio (WLCNEO) considered the pre-eminent business-focused women’s conference in Northeast Ohio. This event connects the HR and broader business communities in a way that no other local conference has done. This conference created a space where women can learn about negotiations, finances, branding, and other applicable tools for the workplace.

Winning programs, selected from 75 applications, received a $1,000 prize given by Paychex Inc., which is the sponsor of this year’s Pinnacle Awards. The award was presented at SHRM’s Volunteer Leaders Business Meeting (VLBM) in Washington, D.C., which was attended by Cleveland SHRM.

Winners of the 2019 SHRM Pinnacle Award are:

·      Association for Human Resource Management (Mich.) – “HR for Small Business & Non-Profits”

·      Bay County SHRM (Fla.) – “Hurricane Michael Outreach and Recovery Efforts”

·      Chesapeake Human Resources Association (Md.) – “A More Focused Approach

·      Cleveland SHRM (Ohio) – “Women’s Leadership Conference of Northeast Ohio”

·      Colorado SHRM (Colo.)– “Diversity & Workforce Webinar Series”

·      Human Resource Association of the Midlands (Neb.) – “Addressing Domestic/Sexual Violence in the Heartland”

·      Lower Columbia Human Resource Management Association (Ore.) – “A ‘Crucial’ Training Series”

·      SHRM New Mexico State Council (N.M.) – “SHRM New Mexico and Indian Country: Kindred HR Spirits”

·      South Central MN SHRM (Minn.) – “Operation Employment: Building a Community One Hero at a Time”

·      Southern Indiana SHRM (Ind.) – “SISHRM Remote Access”

·      Western Arkansas Human Resource Association (Ark.) – “Restore Hope: 100 Families”

·      Wyoming State Council (Wyo.) – “WDOC ReEntry Partnership”

Media: For more information, contact Andy Hollander at communications@clevelandshrm.com.

About Cleveland SHRM
The Mission of the Cleveland Society for Human Resource Management (Cleveland SHRM) is to Develop HR Professionals to Advance Their Organizations. Cleveland SHRM exists to provide resources and opportunities for members at all levels to expand their knowledge to help achieve the goals of the organizations they work for.

 About SHRM
SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, creates better workplaces where employers and employees thrive together. As the voice of all things work, workers and the workplace, SHRM is the foremost expert, convener and thought leader on issues impacting today’s evolving workplaces. With 300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 115 million workers and families globally. Learn more at SHRM.org and on Twitter @SHRM.

Post-Meeting Spotlight: Dr. Stacy Feiner
By Amber F. Mirza, MSHRD, PHR

Dr. Stacy Feiner was a panelist for Cleveland SHRM’s September meeting: “Identifying the Need for Psychology in Business.” Following the event, Amber Mirza, Communications Committee Member and Newsletter Content Contributor, sat down to chat with Dr. Feiner about her work, her fresh insights and her thought-provoking recommendations. Read on to learn more!

Dr. Stacy Feiner is a business psychologist with a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School for Professional Psychology. Her firm, Feiner Enterprises, LLC, developed a method using the science of psychology to help leaders advance their goals, overcome challenges, improve company culture and more.

Dr. Feiner has worked with clients from a range of industries, from Fortune 500 companies to academic institutions. “By blending psychology, business and leadership, my method accelerates a business owner’s ability to achieve goals,” Dr. Feiner states on her firm’s website.

When asked for a deeper explanation, she replied, “By culminating the multitude of business dynamics owners face into one strategy, we achieve business goals faster and better.” Decision-makers—whether owners, partners or board members—learn how to use their own psychology to impact the overall health of their organizations.

Dr. Feiner started her firm with a mission “improve the health of our nation.” When asked how her mission influenced her career, Dr. Feiner explained, “Growing up, dinner time was a time for serious discussion. We talked about the news, what was going on in the world, and how we would make a difference. Making a difference became the theme for my ambitions.”

Indeed, Dr. Feiner’s focus on making a difference led her to achieve a great deal, including living and working in Asia, serving as a psychotherapist for families, registering with the SEC as a financial advisor, performing in leadership positions in corporate HR, and investing in two start-ups – all before she started Feiner Enterprises, LLC. in 2005.

Dr. Feiner emphasizes the role of psychology in business and psychological awareness can improve business systems. She references various data points and highlights these findings for a Gallup Report: “The importance of psychology to business is evidenced in how engaged employees personally ‘own’ the results of their work and look out for the needs of the enterprise overall.”

Despite the research, Dr. Feiner finds that business leaders do not always incorporate this idea of “owning it” into their strategies. “Too often, I notice business leaders asking the wrong questions to the wrong professionals when they are seeking to be more effective at growing their companies,” she remarked. “Often, their accountant, attorney or even banker operates with a blind spot to solutions that are outside of their training. They hold on tightly to the idea that profitability is just a numbers game. Psychologists, on the other hand, understand that it’s a complex system, not a competition.” Dr. Feiner continued to explain, “Psychology is the most sophisticated science available for channeling human drive, purpose and talent.”

Shifting to an actual challenge of leaders, Dr. Feiner shared that a prevalent obstacle her clients experience is not being able to get their workforce to buy in to their vision. “This recurring issue is the result of an old mindset that limits their ability to be effective,” she says. “It starts with the opinion that talent management is an expense and a cost, a necessary evil. Such an opinion sets in motion a series of decisions that contribute to a broken system and lead to perpetual disappointment.”

To prevent this and better build an engaged workforce, Dr. Feiner points to psychological factors that influence a company’s ability to retain more employees. She explained, “Having purpose is ranked more important than having the highest compensation. Having a reasonable and conscientious boss is ranked more important than the highest compensation. Being able to communicate freely without the constraints of ‘the chain of command.’”

By fusing these elements into the foundation of a company’s culture, leaders can build a more engaged and productive workforce. Facilitating positive change effectively is what Dr. Feiner focuses on. She believes it’s important for leaders to be aware that employees adapt to change at different paces: “The more self-aware the leader is about their own expectations and how that translates to their workforce often makes all the difference in the world. The primary reason change initiatives fail is so often due to leaders mislabeling slow adopters as resistant. Mislabeling instantly turns off a slow, willing adopter.”

On the flipside, some companies do realize that engaged employees drive their organization’s productivity and overall success. Consequently, companies utilize strategies linked to employee benefits and wellness initiatives as vehicles for fostering employee engagement. Many of these are labeled as supporting more flexibility for employees to manage all aspects of their lives better.

Throughout the conversation, Dr. Feiner is careful not to reference the concept of work-life balance. She weighs in that: “Work-life balance is a trendy campaign to counter the campaign from a decade earlier that women can have it all. It’s lip service from a corporate system that ignores the gender pay gap and the lack of affordable and quality childcare.” Dr. Feiner asserted that closing the various pay gaps can be accomplished within 18 months to three years when boards focus on it seriously.

Although Dr. Feiner typically works with clients who are the heads of their organizations, she also offers advice for individuals who want to bring change to their organization, but do not have an official leadership title. She suggested, “There are voids in leadership wherever you look. Lead by example. Don’t confuse authority with leadership. Think about leadership as helping people grow.”

Dr. Feiner also offers advice for Human Resources professionals and leaders as to how they can make psychology a part of their strategies when trying to establish themselves as business partners across their companies. She explained, “Finance departments seek outside counsel from their accounting firm, bankers and board members. Legal decisions are made with outside legal counsel and board members. But who does Human Resources have? Human Resources departments have not been afforded the same outside resources that these other departments do.”

She confidently offers that, “Human Resources can have the same ready counsel from business psychologists. Business Psychologist offer strategic insights and when issues extend beyond the expertise of the HR professionals on staff.” By seeking outside counsel and implementing psychological principles within their work, Human Resources leaders and professionals can better engage their workforce, leading to success for their organizations and their communities.

If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Stacy Feiner and her work, please visit www.stacyfeiner.com. 

CSHRM Foundation Academic Scholarship: Christine Sullivan-Vacca
By Amber F. Mirza, MSHRD, PHR

Amber Mirza, Communications Committee Member and Newsletter Content Contributor, had the opportunity to sit down with Christine Sullivan-Vacca, a previous recipient of the CSHRM Foundation Academic Scholarship. Read on to learn about Christine’s story and experience! 

Christine Sullivan-Vacca is currently the Director of HR for Pinnacle Construction. Pinnacle Construction is a Cleveland-based federal general contractor that works on federal construction projects. Locally, they have worked on several projects at NASA, who is their biggest client as well as the Wright Patterson Air Force base in Dayton, OH. Pinnacle Construction has also done projects outside of Cleveland, including projects for SelfRidge Air National Guard Base and Detroit Arsenal, both in Detroit, Michigan.  

On top of serving as the Director of HR for Pinnacle Construction, Sullivan-Vacca is also pursuing a double major of HR Management and Organizational Leadership at Baldwin Wallace University. Last year, Sullivan-Vacca was granted the CSHRM Foundation’s Academic Scholarship, which she has found to be very beneficial.  She stated, “For summer, [the scholarship] paid for one of my summer classes. That’s money I didn’t have to borrow and then pay interest on. It was one less class I have to worry about making sure it’s covered.” 

Sullivan-Vacca has been a CSHRM member since 2010. Due to pursuing her Associate’s degree at the time, she did not have the opportunity to get more involved until 2014. “The first thing I did to get more involved was to volunteer on the Chapter Champion Committee with the Annual Golf Outing. All the committees have fun together and it was nice networking with other professionals. It gave me the opportunity to compare notes, a chance to learn what other people were doing within their companies and talk through challenges. It also gave me the opportunity to make friends,” Sullivan-Vacca explained. 

Through her involvement with CSHRM and the Chapter Champion Committee, Sullivan-Vacca learned about the CSHRM Foundation’s Academic Scholarship. “The interesting thing is that since I am a part-time non-traditional student, there aren’t as many scholarships for students like me. The scholarship gave me an opportunity because I’m paying myself and taking out loans, which isn’t exciting. It’s helped to defray costs and I’m now nearing the last several semesters,” Sullivan-Vacca mentioned. Upon finding out she had won the scholarship, Sullivan-Vacca was thrilled. She recalled, “I was extremely thankful and excited. Any time people recognize the hard work you’re putting in, it’s greatly appreciated. This meant a little more because this is a group I’ve invested a lot of time and energy into. I feel I’ve made great HR connections and friends.”

Balancing the roles of being a professional and a student is no easy task. When asked how she manages the two roles, Sullivan-Vacca replied, “Sometimes I wonder how I do it too. I think organizing myself and making sure I have a realistic calendar. Being proactive and keeping track of all the tasks I have that need to be done.” Organization is key. However, Sullivan-Vacca also pointed out that she has a strong support system as well: “I’m extremely thankful I have an employer that supports my decision to be in school. If not, then one or the other wouldn’t work. My family also supports me and that’s really awesome too. My husband takes ownership of bath time and whatever else so that I have time to study. I think it’s about making sure to have a good support system – I certainly do not do it all by myself.” Sullivan-Vacca mentioned that her mentor encouraged her as well, citing that the best career advice she had ever received was to finish her education. She also added, “On a personal and professional level, it helps to have the HR community backing you as well. They will have different perspectives and can give advice to you.” 

In addition to providing insight on how she manages schoolwork with her professional life, Sullivan-Vacca also provided advice for others. For those considering applying for the CSHRM Foundation’s Academic Scholarship, she stated: “I would encourage them to get involved with CSHRM – definitely involvement before applying really is more helpful so that they understand what CSHRM is about and what it offers.” For those trying to break into the HR field, Sullivan-Vacca revealed what her own experience has been. She emphasized, “Building a network is where they need to start. Being in CSHRM has helped me to find connections who have been helpful in helping me flourish in my HR role. Building a network is step one – there are so many functions within HR; until you’re aware of the pieces, you don’t know where your focus will be or where that connection can be for you.” 

Sullivan-Vacca is naturally passionate about the importance of education. In fact, she recalled encouraging Seeds of Literacy, a non-profit organization, to apply for another of CSHRM Foundation’s initiatives, which is the Non-Profit Partner. Along with supporting HR professionals pursuing higher education, the CSHRM Foundation also conducts various fundraising efforts every year. The money raised benefits a local non-profit organization which has been selected as the Non-Profit Partner for the year. Sullivan-Vacca mentioned, “I was very impressed with what Seeds of Literacy does for those who don’t have that level of education or have that level of opportunity in the workplace. I encouraged them to apply. They didn’t get it the first time, but they did get it the second year they applied, and I was very excited for that.”

If you are interested in applying or learning more about CSHRM Foundation’s Academic Scholarship and Non-Profit Partner applications, please visit: ClevelandSHRM.com. Deadline to apply is September 30, 2019.