President’s Pen
by Andrea Davis Cranfill, SPHR

Like everything, the world of human resources continues to change. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently asked its Special Expertise Panels (comprised of subject matter experts in the field of HR) to identify key trends that will have a significant impact on the workplace and the HR profession. Here are just a few of the newly identified trends that could impact you, your job, and your organization in the near future.

New Health, Safety, and Security Responsibilities for HR
If you’re an HR generalist, chances are you find yourself with increased responsibility for managing this area. This trend means that HR professionals need an increased understanding of workplace health and safety as laws and regulations continue to evolve.

Greater Involvement in Crisis Management and Disaster Recovery
As recent catastrophic events demonstrate, you can’t be too prepared. Advance preparation requires involvement from various functions in the organization, commitment from top management, and strong HR leadership. HR professionals must be better equipped to provide services to their organizations before, during, and after a crisis.

Increased Demand for Multilingual Training and Information
With the changing demographics in most workplaces, cultural sensitivity and multilingual skills (including translated versions of policies and procedures, safety requirements, etc.) are essential if you want to maximize employee and organizational productivity.

Whistle-Blowing
What is HR’s role in corporate compliance and ethics? One key responsibility is ensuring that the organization has an open environment for employees to voice a concern and sound practices in place for dealing with whistle-blowing.

Executive Compensation
With the increased scrutiny on executive compensation packages, HR must understand the organizational and economic factors that influence executive compensation. New requirements such as Sarbanes Oxley will require more attention from HR in areas such as the design of reward programs and processes.

For more information about SHRM, full details of these findings, other SHRM-sponsored research studies, and benefits of membership, visit www.SHRM.org. Together, memberships in HRACI and SHRM can give you the professional network, education, and resources you need to face these trends.

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On April 20, 2006, the HRACI held their half day annual diversity conference. This year’s workshop and luncheon featured Steve L. Robbins, PHD, principal of SLRobbins & Associates, presenting "Unintentional Intolerance". Dr. Robbins has experienced racism first hand with many tragedies in his life as a result. http://www.slrobbins.com/
grpress-profile.html provides in-depth information about Dr. Robbins life and his work. His powerful concept of unintentional intolerance has helped people to better understand complex cultural competency issues in a safe and non-threatening manner. An expert communicator, Dr. Robbins engaged his audiences through a dynamic blend of humor, stories and in-depth knowledge.

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HRACI Second Quarterly Social Event

What: Human Resource Quarterly Social Event.
Why: Come and enjoy Drinks and Hors d‘oeuvres while learning more about Costco merchandise and stores.
Various door prizes will be given away.
Who: HRACI members
When & Where: June 6th 5:00PM-7:00PM, at Costco in Castleton

More information will be forthcoming.

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The monthly "HR get-togethers" will continue as always:

What: Human Resource and related folks meet, talk, and enjoy a drink or two.
Why: Just a place and time for HR and guests 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!
When & Where: Wednesday, May 17th, at the Bella Vita Ristorante on Geist, 11699 Fall Creek Road, Indianapolis, IN 46256. Ask for the HR group.

April's After-hours at Scholars Inn, Indianapolis
Thursday, April 20, 2006, Scholars Inn was the destination for the HRACI After-hours mixer. Introducing ourselves to other HRACI members and guest, we enjoyed good conversation with drinks and appetizers.

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SHRM Foundation Raffle

We will once again be holding a raffle to benefit the SHRM Foundation at the May and July monthly luncheon meetings. We will be giving away 5 paid registrations to the Indiana State SHRM Conference to be held on August 28th – 30th. We will give away 3 registrations at the May meeting and 2 in July. Members may purchase a raffle ticket for $5/each and attend the May and July meetings for a chance to win. There are two ways members can purchase raffle tickets – when they register for the meetings or at the meetings. You must be an HRACI member to enter and be present to win. If you do not win in May, your ticket will stay in for the July drawing.

If you are unfamiliar with what the SHRM Foundation does, you may want to look at their website for more information – http://www.shrm.org/foundation. The Foundation funds research, publications and education to advance the HR profession and enhance the effectiveness of HR professionals. We have a special treat for the May meeting – during the networking portion of the meeting, from 11:30 – 12:00 p.m., we will be showing the “Fueling the Talent Engine – Finding and Keeping High Performers” DVD which is a product the SHRM Foundation created. The video, through a series of interviews with senior Yahoo executives, explains how Yahoo’s talent management strategy builds competitive advantage for the organization. So, we hope you’ll join us and take advantage of this opportunity.

Greg Medcalf
Milestone Contractors LP.

Happy Spring everyone. Spring arrived this year bringing with it lots of rain, lightening, thunder and even hail. Some HR professionals have likely been put to the test – ensuring their disaster recovery plans are working properly and office emergency instructions are understood by staff. We experienced numerous tornado alarms and weather damaged facilities.

In this month’s HRACI member profile, we’ll meet Greg Medcalf. Greg has 18 years of service in the HR industry. I’m sure you’ll find his experience as interesting as I did.

Was it your career goal to become a HR professional? Describe your journey into the profession.
No. I wanted to be a rock star! As a carpenter out of the military, I went back to school. I became a supervisor in my first job and eventually moved into Human Resources.

What aspects of HR do you find most interesting? Most challenging?
For me, the most interesting and most challenging aspects in HR are training and development and union labor relations.

What are some things you have learned as an HR professional that you were surprised to learn?
I was surprised to learn that positively motivated people are the best to be around, coaching, mentoring and assisting employees brings great rewards, and having strong analytical skills are very helpful in this field.

Describe something you wish someone had told you about the industry when you started.
Don’t “live” at work and learn as much about the business side as possible. Everyone will help you do so if you show sincere interest.

Do you currently hold any HR certifications? If so, which ones and describe your experience in obtaining them.
Yes. SPHR – it’s not too difficult with some studying and preparation…and some luck I’m sure.

What previous knowledge or experience have you found most helpful to perform your job?
My military experience conditions you to perform under stressful situations.

Do you or have you participated in any HR organizations other than HRACI? How would you rate their helpfulness?
I am a member of the Central Indiana Society of Training and Development. It’s helpful in that it helps provide the skills to assist employees in realizing their full potential.

How would you rate the level of importance of HR networking?
I think it is very important. It’s the core part of business success. Information sharing is the main benefit combined with life-long business relationships and friendships.

What path is HR taking you?
Sky’s the limit!

What has been your biggest learning experience as an HR professional?
How to maintain strong relationships through impartiality, friendship, and varying approaches with others based on their personalities and work styles. Coaching training is very valuable in this area.

What kind of advice would you give someone new to the field?
Again, learn as much about the business side of the business as possible and aggressively provide guidance, even when it is not received well.

Where do you see the industry in 5 years?
I see training and development taking a much stronger role in HR combined with metrics, measurements, and increased cost accountability.

What are your thoughts on the questions you’ve been asked?
Valid and interesting. Maybe a summary of the business they are in would be enlightening.

What is your level of interest in reading about the history and experiences of other HR professionals?
Great interest.

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Cedric A Martin
Rosalyn Harris
Angela Meyer
Stacy Jenkins
Brigit Green
Kurt Steigerwald
Tammy Gossman
Pam Green
Sherri W Clark

David W. Clingan
Angela Newby
Pam Rennekamp
Michael A. Lake
Nancy Balensiefer
Rick W. McKeldin
Shannon S. Snyder
Carol C. Whiteman
Barbara Burcope
James E. Thomas