President’s Pen
by Betty Lonis, SPHR

Thank you to everyone who accepted the challenge and submitted their name for consideration as a candidate for one of the board positions that is up for election this year. We were very excited that we received so many candidates who are interested in serving the chapter in this capacity. The Nominating Committee of the Board will be meeting over the next couple of weeks to select a slate of candidates for your consideration. The candidates will be presented and voted on at our October 16th meeting.

I also want to remind you of our membership drive. This is a great deal - we are offering new members the opportunity to join HRACI at the normal new member fee of $100, however, this fee will cover membership for the rest of 2003, all of 2004 AND all of 2005. But hurry, this offer ends October 16th.

And don’t forget, if you’re an existing member, for every three new members you “sponsor”, you receive a $20 gift certificate to Simon malls. Sponsor three and get $20, sponsor six and get $40, etc. In addition, the person sponsoring the most new members will receive one of our REALLY cool HRACI shirts! For questions or additional details, please contact Rog Greenawalt at vpmembership@hraci.org.

Please feel free to contact me at (317) 277-5345 or president@hraci.org.

I look forward to seeing you at the October meeting!

HRACI Presents: Crisis Management & Readiness

Crisis (definition): A crisis is any event, or series of events, that threatens a severe negative impact to an organization’s financial, brand, reputation or relations with employees, customers or suppliers.

Is your organization prepared for a crisis? The need for crisis management has never been more acute than it is today. Some of the events that can lead to a crisis are: accounting irregularities, class action lawsuits, product tampering or recall, new government regulations, workplace violence or labor stoppage. On average, a company will be hit by a crisis every 4-5 years (Marsh, 2002) and 40% of all companies hit by disaster go out of business within five years (Gartner, 2001). Bring your Chief Security Officer, CFO, and CEO and learn how you can prepare today to be ready to manage a crisis of tomorrow.

11:30 a.m. - Registration and networking
Noon - Luncheon
12:20 p.m. - Announcements & Keynote Presentation
1:20 p.m. - Adjournment

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by Cindy Wenz, Education Director

Occasionally I take time to visit the bulletin boards on the SHRM web site just to see what some of the hot topics are across the country. A while back I came across a thread lamenting the sorry state of education in our nation and the resulting lack of basic skills among job applicants. One of the sad but humorous examples given in the first post was about a high school graduate who, in response to the application question, "Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" responded, "a mister meter." That started a lengthy discussion about how and why so many students are graduating from high school and college without the basics. Some felt too much reliance on technology is the problem, while others blamed lack of parental involvement, lowering of standards, and inadequate funding for schools. Eventually someone posed the question: what can the human resources profession do to help?

SHRM has a Workforce Readiness Committee whose mission is "to inspire the HR professional to be a catalyst and a resource in developing connections that result in educational excellence and workforce readiness." At the local level, within the new HRACI committee structure, a workforce readiness subcommittee chaired by Patti Daniels has been charged with identifying, supporting and fostering partnerships with schools, businesses and organizations that promote workforce readiness.

In coming months we will be highlighting some of the existing workforce readiness initiatives in our community and encouraging your involvement with them, either as individuals or through company-supported projects. We will bring you information and help match you and/or your company with volunteer efforts in organizations that have a focus of preparing youth for the world of work. Some of the opportunities may include giving career talks, conducting practice interviews, mentoring/tutoring "at-risk" youth, or providing workplace tours and/or job shadowing experiences. If you are already involved in these kinds of activities, we would like to hear about your experiences.

We believe our profession and this association can and should have a significant role in preparing central Indiana youth for tomorrow’s workplace. Please contact Patti Dainels (pattidaniels@spherion.com) or Cindy Wenz (cwenz@carmel.lib.in.us) if you would like to help.

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We're rapidly coming to the close of another year. Fall is here and the cold weather days of winter won't be far behind. Before the year does come to a close, I wanted to remind each of the Chapter's members of our SHRM Foundation matching contribution campaign for 2003. Earlier in the year, the Chapter set a goal of matching individual contributions that members make to the SHRM Foundation on a dollar for dollar basis. Overall, the Chapter set aside $1,500 in funds to match member contributions.

Contributions can be made by check or credit card directly to the SHRM Foundation in amounts beginning at $25. The full list of recognition levels includes:

Chair's Circle - $1,000& up
President's Circle - $500 - $999
Vice President's Circle - $250 - $499
Director's Circle - $100 - $249
Manager's Circle - $50 - $99
Professional's Circle - $25 - $49

All contributions of $25 or more are recognized with a one-of-a-kind SHRM Foundation cloisonné lapel pin, your name in the SHRM Foundation Thank You brochure and on the Foundation Web site, and a Thought Leaders publication "Engaging Your Employees: 6 Keys to Understanding the New Workplace" by James Clifton, Chairman & CEO of The Gallup Organization.

And better still, your contribution is 100% tax deductible!

Whether you're a newcomer to the profession, been around a while like I have, or nearing the end of your active career, making a contribution makes sense from a number of perspectives. Not only will your contribution go a long way towards supporting the Foundation's work, you're actually investing in yourself and your future as a HR leader.

Contribution forms will be available at the October luncheon meeting and they are also available online at www.shrm.org. At the home page, see the site map and go to the SHRM Foundation. Click on Donate Now and you're on your way. Just let us know what you've done as a contribution so that we as a Chapter can match your donation.

If you have any questions that I can assist you with, give me a call at (317) 469-5862 or message me at kvosburg@glickco.com.

Best regards,

Kim Vosburg, SPHR
Past President & SHRM Foundation Chair
Human Resource Association of Central Indiana

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The SHRM Fall 2003 Seminars are coming to a location near you.....

Listed below are the Fall 2003 Professional Development Seminars being offered through SHRM:

The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy and Performance
October 20-22, 2003 - New York, NY
October 27-29, 2003 - Chicago, IL

The HR Generalist Certificate Program
October 20-22, 2003 - Chicago, IL
October 27-29, 2003 - Atlanta, GA
November 3-5, 2003 - Las Vegas, NV
November 10-12, 2003 - Dallas, TX
November 17-19, 2003 - Washington, DC
December 1-3, 2003 - Tampa, FL

The Certification Preparation Course
October 15-17, 2003 - Washington, DC
October 20-22, 2003 - San Diego, CA
November 3-5, 2003 - Atlanta, GA
November 10-12, 2003 - New York, NY
November 17-19, 2003 - Miami, FL

The Advanced HR Generalist Certificate Program
November 3-5, 2003

Compensation Basics
November 10, 2003

Variable Compensation
November 11, 2003

Introduction to Employee Benefits (U.S.)
November 12, 2003

The Fundamentals of Human Resource Management
October 23-24, 2003
October 30-31, 2003
November 6-7, 2003

Conflict Management at Work: Collaboration Skills for Human Resources Practioners
November 17-19, 2003 - Dallas, TX

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