President’s Pen
by Andrea Davis Cranfill, SPHR

Dear HRACI Members,

Happy New Year! I hope that 2006 brings you both personal and professional rewards. While there are many different things that make life fulfilling, I believe that surrounding yourself with talented and inspiring people is one key element. And that’s where HRACI comes in.
What can you look forward to this year?

•More opportunities to surround yourself with those talented and inspiring people at networking and social events (for those of you going on the first ever HRACI cruise this month, we can’t wait to hear all the details!).

•Exciting monthly HRACI meetings with speakers addressing the topics you’ve told us are important to your growth and to the success of your organization.

•More learning opportunities such as the HR Certification Study Groups for the PHR/SPHR certification, Annual Diversity Conference, and Annual Compensation and Benefits Conference.

•Special Interest Groups such as the Employment Management Association (www.emaindiana.org) and our new group for HR consultants.

•The 2006 Indiana State HR Conference in August. Details will follow in upcoming newsletters, and www.indianashrm.org remains your best source for up-to-the minute details.

A Special Thank You
While I’m excited for what the future brings for HRACI, the hard work of the volunteers in the past has allowed us to get to where we are today. Special thanks to the board members whose terms have ended but whose legacies live on. It’s been a pleasure working with each of you the past few years!
•Roger Greenwalt, Vice President of Membership
•Kellie Miller, Director of Sponsorship
•Terri Ryckaert, Director of Communications
As we ring in 2006, I challenge you to continue or increase your involvement in HRACI. Your colleagues will thank you for your attendance at events because they’ll have the opportunity to network with you, and HRACI will benefit from your involvement because our strength is in the talent of our members. Here’s to a fulfilling 2006!

Andrea Davis Cranfill, SPHR

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By Martha Finney

I realize that New Year’s resolutions are about as popular as puns – both provoke the same brand of groansmanship among those who like to think they’re beyond such antics. I, for one, like resolutions so much, I make the exact same ones every year. There’s a kind of comforting familiarity to addressing the same problems.

The same problems seem to haunt the HR community as well. For the last two decades, the list of things that need to change never changes: a certain dearth of respect from the organization at large; frustration that leadership doesn’t want to walk its talk; exasperation at how the employees seem to be “calling it in.” Absolute rage at the ever growing amount of administrivia and accountabilities that really should be someone else’s problem. The chronic anxieties that come from a general agreement that HR in its current iteration is an endangered species, with no clear idea what general shape it’s evolving toward.

Okay. So, with the birth of a new year, we have a fresh set of opportunities for greatness. How are we going to take advantage of them? Here is my proposed list of resolutions designed specifically for HR. They may or may not obliterate the chronic bugaboos that have plagued HR for years. But follow these resolutions and you’ll certainly have a more rewarding and fulfilling 2006.

I will assume the role of CPO. Not Chief People Officer. For the year 2006, your assignment is to become Chief Passion Officer. That title is available to you no matter where you are in the HR organization. All you have to do is achieve the competency of understanding how your company’s mission-critical objectives intersect with individual employees’ personal sense of meaning, fulfillment and drive. High-quality employees want to know that their efforts are doing more than just pulling in a paycheck. They want to know that what they’re doing is helping to make the world a better place. Be the one to connect those dots for them.

I will sell what people want to buy how they want to buy it. Some people traffic in passion. Others prefer a different commodity: statistics, P&L, demographics, probabilities, stock prices, the numbers stuff. Okay. So give it to them that way, in just the form that will make them reach out to embrace it. You’re still about passion. And that will be our little secret.

I will make my office Destination Yes. Cultivate an HR culture that thrives on finding great solutions to creative challenges. There are some terrific consultants and trainers who will come in for a day or two and teach your team the skills and intellectual habits that foster creative problem-solving. Make each individual on your HR team personally responsible for delivering creative solutions, and then celebrate a job well done!

I will stay true to my personal ideals. How do you want people to feel consistently when they work with you on a large project or merely run into you in the hall? What can the company’s leadership know they can count on you for? Authenticity? Integrity? A merry, unpretentious disposition? A deeply sensitive talent for understanding subtleties? A worth ethic that values the spirit of service and stewardship? A clear head for business?
Decide what characteristics you want to be known and respected for. And then stay consistent with those values and behaviors regardless of fleeting moods or the daily storms of doing business in uncertain times.

I will steal ideas. Great solutions to tired old problems are all around you. Open your mind to bolts of inspiration from a variety of sources. Your counterpart from a completely different kind of company. Best practices from different departments (want some hints on how to sell your initiatives? Ask the best salesperson in your organization to coach you on cutting edge presentation techniques.). Your HR friends around the country. (Naturally, always give credit where credit’s due!)

I will share ideas. Give away your best advice to your counterparts – both internally and externally. Don’t even worry about sharing a best practice with a competitor. By the time it’s absorbed into the other company’s culture, it will have changed significantly. In the meantime, you’ll enjoy both the personal satisfaction of being resourceful and an improved reputation in the wider world as being the go-to HR pro.

I will be eager to serve but not eager to please. There are so many quick, easy, and cheap things you can do to help your company on a daily basis. Dumb little stuff that just needs some attention. Or major projects that can be completed more quickly with more focus. A conversation that needs to be had. A sales comp program that needs an ever-so-slight tweak to skyrocket the sales numbers. A coffee pot that keeps burning the morning brew. A squirrelly light fixture that needs an engineer’s attention – to be had with just one phone call. You have the power to make it happen. Pick a department a month, ask them what’s going on that’s especially irksome, distracting, or counterproductive. And then fix it.
But also remember that you’re nobody’s servant or scapegoat. Carry out your day with dignity and backbone. And your coworkers will know to come to you for help, not for a time- and spirit-vacuuming vent session.

I won’t fear the reaper. As per usual, business is expanding and contracting all over the country, all the time, all at once. And it’s not uncommon for the HR person who has been tasked to prepare lay-off packages to then be asked to prepare one last package before turning out the light, if you get my drift. Pour heart and mind into the work at hand. But reserve a bit of your energy and intellectual bandwidth to make sure you’re building your competencies and contacts in such a way that you’re consistently presented with new opportunities well before you’re called into your boss’s office “for a chat.” Knowing that you always have options will give you the personal power you need to always be your most effective and innovative for the year coming up.

Martha Finney is an HR career coach and employee engagement consultant. She is also the co-author of the book, HR From the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business. Contact her at martha@marthafinney.com.

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Retention and Loyalty Highly Related to a Company Diversity Policy

(Alexandria, Va., December 8, 2005) — In the past year, 15 percent of American workers have experienced some form of discrimination in the workplace, according to a Gallup Poll conducted in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The poll was partially sponsored by Kaiser-Permanente, The Society for Human Resource Management, and United Parcel Service.
The poll found that while the overall discrimination rate among Americans employed either full-time or part-time is 15 percent, the rate varies considerably by race and gender. Women are more than twice as likely to report that they have been discriminated against in the past year (22 percent) as are men (nine percent). Among racial and ethnic groups, Asians and blacks are most likely to report experiences of discrimination (31 percent and 26 percent, respectively), while 18 percent of Hispanics and 12 percent of whites also report such incidents.
“ We are grateful to The Gallup Organization and its sponsors for this important information,” said EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez. “At the Commission, we deal with concrete charges of discrimination that workers file, and this insight into the perceptions of discrimination by a sampling of the workforce will aid us as we continue our emphasis on proactive prevention, outreach, and law enforcement.”

Promotion and Salary Most Likely Areas of Discrimination
The difference in discrimination among men and women is found primarily among whites, with only 3 percent of white men, compared with 22 percent of white women, reporting such experiences. Black men and women report similar rates – 26 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Similarly, 20 percent of Hispanic men and 15 percent of Hispanic women report incidents of discrimination.
The poll also found that the two types of discrimination most frequently cited are based on gender (26 percent) and race/ethnicity (23 percent). In addition, 17 percent of those reporting such incidents mentioned age discrimination, 9 percent cited disability, 4 percent sexual orientation, and 4 percent religion.
The work areas that are most susceptible to discrimination are promotion and pay, cited by 33 percent and 29 percent, respectively, of people reporting incidents. Thirteen percent of such workers also cite discrimination in getting a job, and 11 percent mention the way they were treated at work.
“ The survey results underscore the importance of Kaiser-Permanente’s historical commitment to diversity and inclusion, to cultural competence in healthcare, and to the clear articulation of the business imperative that demands workforce diversity,” said Kaiser-Permanente VP and Chief Diversity Officer, Ron Knox. “The survey strengthens Kaiser-Permanente’s determination to make workplace discrimination a thing of the past.”

Retention and Loyalty Highly Related to a Company Diversity Policy
The survey included a seven-question index that measures employees’ evaluation of their companies’ efforts to provide diversity and to protect against employee discrimination. The results show that employees’ satisfaction with their company, their likelihood of retention, and their loyalty are all highly related to their companies’ Diversity Policy Scores.
The Gallup Organization’s Government Division Partner, Max Larsen, observes, “These data make it pretty clear that it makes good business sense to have operable diversity efforts in organizations.”
“ In today’s global marketplace, workforce diversity is not a politically or morally correct obligation – it is also a business imperative,” said SHRM President and CEO, Susan R. Meisinger, SPHR. “It simply makes good business sense to use the talents of all workers.”
Among employees who rate their company’s diversity efforts in the upper third of all companies rated in the survey, 61 percent say they are extremely satisfied with their company. But among employees who rate their company’s diversity efforts in the middle third or lower third, only 34 percent and 21 percent, respectively, are extremely satisfied with their company.

About the Poll
To mark the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The Gallup Organization, Kaiser-Permanente, The Society for Human Resource Management, and United Parcel Service joined resources to document the perceived discrimination situation in the workplace today. These organizations conducted this survey of employees to explore satisfaction, retention, and loyalty – all of which contribute to improved employee, and consequently, organizational performance. During the planning phase of this project, the EEOC willingly shared its broad and varied experience gathered over its 40 years of ensuring equal opportunity in the workplace.
Gallup conducted telephone interviews with 1,252 adults from March 7, 2005 to May 8, 2005, who were either currently employed, had been employed within the past two years, or were actively seeking employment during the survey’s field dates. A disproportionate random sampling plan was used to permit breakouts of racial/ethnic minorities; specifically, blacks, Asians, and Hispanics were oversampled. Included in the final analysis were 302 blacks, 310 Hispanics, 104 Asians, 492 whites, and 44 individuals in the “Other” category.

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The CTRD job fair, now in its 24th year of operation, brings together students, prospective graduates and alumni from 12 Indiana colleges and universities with employers from around the state and region. The 2006 event is scheduled for Wednesday, February 8, 9:30-2:30 p.m., at the Indiana Convention Center and RCA Dome.

400-500 candidates from the following schools participate in this event:
Anderson University, Butler University, DePauw University, Earlham College, Franklin College, Hanover College, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Marian College, St. Joseph’s College, Taylor University, University of Indianapolis and Wabash College. These students and recent alumni have pursued studies in a wide assortment of fields, including business administration, marketing, financial analysis, accounting, economics, computer information systems and computer science, engineering, various life and physical sciences, supervision, organizational communications and organizational leadership, public affairs, and a range of liberal arts disciplines. They are in search of beginning career-track opportunities, internships and career advice.

CTRD is an event put together by the career services staffs of the sponsoring schools to provide their students and employers with a relatively low-cost, convenient, and direct way to link up with each other. The registration fee is $275 ($200 for government agencies and $100 for organizations with 501c (3) status) and includes lunch for two. No late fee will be charged an organization learning of this event through the Human Resource Association of Central Indiana.

For further information and registration materials, you may call the /CTRD/ event coordinator, Barbara Benson, at the Marian College Career Services Office at (317) 955-6341
Fax: (317) 955-6590 or
E-mail: bbenson@marian.edu, or the Career Services Office at the University of Indianapolis, (317) 788-3296 or
ocs@uindy.edu.

Note: this is not a SHRM or HRACI sponsored event

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Your Foundation at Work: Directory of Undergraduate HR Programs

In October 2004, the SHRM Foundation created a new online directory of undergraduate HR programs. The directory includes detailed profiles of more than 270 undergraduate degree programs. Users may search the database by university name, location, public or private school, and the competitiveness of the admissions process. To facilitate use by students and faculty members, the directory is open to the general public and does not require a SHRM ID to access. The undergraduate directory is a useful tool for students researching HR programs, and for faculty interested in benchmarking their degree programs with other universities. This project was accomplished with the generous support of contributors like you. To access the directory, visit www.shrm.org/foundation.

The Society for Human Resource Management Foundation funds research, publications and education to advance the HR profession and enhance the effectiveness of HR professionals. To support its important work, the SHRM Foundation conducts an annual fundraising campaign and all contributions to the Foundation are tax-deductible.

If you have not done so already, you may make contributions online at https://sapphire.shrm.org/foundation/form2.cfm. We will also have contribution forms available during the November and December HRACI luncheon meetings.

We encourage you to visit the SHRM Foundation website (http://www.shrm.org/foundation/) to view currently funded HR research projects, foundation research findings, information on grant applications and other foundation resources.

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Special Human Resource Informal "Get-Together" on a Thursday

What: Human Resource and related folks meet, talk, and enjoy a drink or two.

When: Thursday, January 12th, 6:00 PM,

Where: The Fox & Hound, 4901 E. 82nd Street (behind Logan’s Steakhouse) (317) 913-1264. Ask for the HR group. (Location will change each time we meet.)

Why: Just a place and time for HR types and friends to “get away” for a bit. No planned agenda or presentations, just casual discussion, advise, war stories, or just relax and network.

Who: You and any guest(s) you want to bring along!

Contact Greg Medcalf, 317-788-6890, ext. 257 with any questions.
See you there!

Marion County Protects Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

On Monday, December 19, 2005, the Indianapolis City-County Council approved revisions to the Human Rights Ordinance that add protections based upon sexual orientation, gender identity and United States military service veteran status. As a result, Indianapolis employers (including all of Marion County) should update existing non-discrimination policies and training programs to ensure that they are consistent with the revised Ordinance.
For details regarding the revisions and the impact on your company, visit the HRACI website at www.hraci.org. Click on Legislative Update and view this article in its entirety.

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Linda LeBlanc
Cindy Hefner
William Rodewald
Wendy Walters
Anthony Drykos
Pamela Dye
Orville Lynch
James Moffitt
Kimberly Hockett-Jackson
Diana Garcia
Danielle Chiudioni
Melanie Emmert