Morning Keynote

Ross Bernstein - The Champion’s Code: Life Lessons of Ethics and Accountability from the Sports World to the Business World

The best-selling author of nearly FIFTY sports books, Ross Bernstein is an award-winning peak performance business speaker who’s keynoted conferences on four continents for audiences as small as 10 and as large as 10,000. He’s spent the better part of the past 20 years studying the DNA of championship teams and his program, “The Champion’s Code: Life Lessons of Ethics and Accountability from the Sports World to the Business World,” not only illustrates what it takes to become the best of the best, it also explores the fine line between cheating and gamesmanship in sports as it relates to values and integrity in the workplace. There are reasons certain teams win consistently, whereas others come up short, and Ross explains why — in an engaging and visually entertaining style that’s designed to improve productivity, morale and bottom-line profitability. Ross and his books have been featured on thousands of television and radio programs over the years including CNN, ESPN, Fox News, and “CBS This Morning,” as well as in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today. So, who are the champions on your team?

Breakout Session 1

1-A Give Your Employees C.R.A.P…and 7 Other Secrets to Employee Retention, Jeff Kortes

Mr. Kortes is the founder of Human Asset Management LLC, a human resource consulting practice specializing in recruitment, retention and development of “A” talent.  He is a skilled speaker, trainer and facilitator who energizes and engages participants.
 
Mr. Kortes has 25 years experience in human resources leadership roles.  His exposure to both public and private sector organizations has been obtained while functioning in construction, manufacturing, government, and high tech environments.  He has held human resources positions at SPX, Midas International, ConAgra, Inc., Quaker Oats, and Camtronics Medical Systems.  

Presentation Experience:

• MI State SHRM Conference 2012
• MN State SHRM Conference 2013 and 2014
• IA  State SHRM Conference 2013 and 2014
• IL State SHRM Conference 2013
• OH State SHRM Conference 2013
• WI State SHRM Conference 2010, 2011 and 2012

 

1-B  Ethical Decision Making for Leaders, Richard Kyte

Rick Kyte is Director of the D. B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership and professor of philosophy at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he teaches a variety of ethics courses dealing with issues in business, politics, and the environment. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University in 1994. Rick writes a regular column for the La Crosse Tribune titled, “The Ethical Life.” He is also the author of a new ethics textbook published by Anselm Academic.

 

1-C Race to Equity Presentation, Vernon Blackwell, Deirdre Hargrove-Krieghoff, MBA, Steve King, SPHR,  Anthony Dix, MBA, SPHR  and Heather Kennedy, MA, SPHR

Deirdre Hargrove-Krieghoff, MBA
Executive Director of Human Resources, Madison Metropolitan School District
Co-chair, Madison Area Diversity Roundtable
Board Member, Families and Schools Together, Inc.
 
Deirdre has over 20 years of progressive leadership experience. She enjoys the challenge of working with others and has the capacity to recognize and develop talent through coaching and consultative techniques; and embraces the opportunity to work with diverse personalities to capture innovative solutions. As Executive Director of HR for MMSD, Deirdre sees first hand the impact that stable employment has on student achievement and outcomes. She will share how the Madison Area Diversity Roundtable is improving diversity and inclusionary practices within their member companies and what MMSD has and is doing to increase diversity among teachers, administration, and staff.
 
 
Steve King, SPHR
System Leader - Employee Experience at SSM Health
Co-Chair, Madison Area Diversity Roundtable
Alder, District 7, City of Madison
 
Steve has over 15 years of experience in organizational development and talent management, much of it in the healthcare industry.  In addition, Steve was recently re-elected to his fourth term as alder on Madison’s Common Council representing Madison’s far southwest side.  Steve will bring a unique perspective as an employer and community leader on the challenges, strategies and successes of promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Steve will describe how the employee experience at SSM Health tries to promote diversity and inclusion and the benefits of actively participating in the MADR.
 
 
 
Anthony Dix, MBA, SPHR
HR Service Manager, UW Health
 
Anthony J. Dix, HR Services Manager, University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation. Anthony is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and received a Bachelor of Business Administration from University of Wisconsin Whitewater and a Master in Business Administration from Edgewood College.  Anthony is responsible for management of UWMF’s Human Resource Department. He has responsibility for recruitment, compensation and benefits, employee relations and affirmative action/EEO compliance.  Anthony also serves as an organizational resource for physician compensation. 
 
He currently serves on the UW-Whitewater Human Resource Management Advisory Board, Edgewood College Communication Studies Board, Madison Area Diversity Roundtable and the City of Madison Equal Opportunities Commission Employment Subcommittee.  He is the former Treasurer and District Director of the Wisconsin Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) council and President of the Greater Madison Area Society for Human Resource Management. 
 
He is a current member of the Society for Human Resource Management, American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, Wisconsin Healthcare Human Resource Association and World at Work. 
 
 
 
Vernon Blackwell
Sr. Director of Employer & Member Services
 
In his work with the Urban League, Vernon is focused on finding out the skill sets that employers need, training clients in those skill sets, and introducing employers to those candidates. Vernon will share information about the programs the Urban League offers to clients and the opportunities for employers to find and hire qualified candidates through the Urban League.  

 

Heather Kennedy

Heather’s vision is that every workplace is a place people want to be. Through her firm, Sparq Coaching and Consulting, she helps individuals, teams, and organizations achieve that vision and their goals by meeting them where they are and taking them where they want to go.  Heather’s has over 20 years of experience within Human Resources as a Strategic Partner in the areas of Leadership Coaching, Organizational Consulting, and Change Management. 




 

Afternoon Keynote

Carol Grannis and Cindy Maher -  Reaching Resonance: Leading with Emotional Intelligence

Leading Edge was founded by two women: Carol Grannis of Woodbury, Minnesota and Cindy Maher of West Hartford, Connecticut. Carol has over 20 years experience in leadership development and HR strategies, and has worked with clients from a rich variety of industries including colleges and universities, pharma, financial services, advertising and healthcare across the U.S. and Canada. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Organizational Development. Cindy offers more than 25 years of experience in leadership education, executive team development and performance management strategies – and has worked closely with advertising, healthcare, and state & federal government organizations. By night, you'll see Cindy performing in comedy venues around Connecticut. Both Carol and Cindy come to the table with an innovative approach and an infectious brand of humor and enthusiasm that bring results – every time.

 

Breakout Session 2

2-A The Positive Power of Servant Leadership, Tom Thibideau

Tom Thibodeau is the director of the master’s program in servant
leadership at Viterbo University. He is a husband, father, and teacher. He
is committed to helping to build servant led organizations, which create
servant led communities, which can create a servant led state. He is a
founding member of the Place of Grace.






 

2-B What got you here, wont get you there - Kari Lauritsen, SPHR and Tracy Schweitzer 

Tracy Schweitzer joined American Family Mutual Insurance Company in 1997 and has held numerous roles in Claims, Sales and Human Resources.
 
She began her career in Human Resources in Talent Acquisition building partnerships and developing strategies to create talent pipelines. Tracy managed the vendor relationship for our contingent workforce ensuring measures were in place to both control costs and maximize the quality of the contingent workforce.
 
In 2007, Tracy began working with sales leadership, providing talent acquisition solutions including the implementation of an assessment tool and capacity planning services. She became a strategic business partner in 2009, leading and collaborating with human resource teams to identify and deliver solutions for Sales.
 
Tracy was selected as the Talent Acquisition Manager in early 2014 overseeing both our corporate and sales recruitment functions. In that role, she developed and implemented a new corporate service delivery model that provided greater agility and reduced administrative time allowing focus to be placed on proactive recruitment solutions. 

Kari Lauritsen joined American Family Mutual Insurance Company in 2002 after managing Human Resources at a screen printing and embroidery firm.  Since coming to American Family, she has served in numerous roles throughout Human Resources beginning in Organization Effectiveness where she was responsible for the development of performance management and bench strength processes and systems.  In that role, she cultivated an in-house solution that significantly increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the tools and resources.
 
In 2007, she applied the combination of practical and systems experience to a new role within Talent Acquisition.  In the first two years of this role she was instrumental in the sunset of antiquated applicant tracking systems, created new processes for field recruitment and introduced a third party model to increase sales leadership capacity to focus on sales.  In 2009, she was promoted to Manager of the Sales Talent Acquisition team.  As the leader of the team, developed a business case to build an employee model that would be led from within Human Resources for the first time.  Her team was able to increase customer satisfaction (sales leadership) by over 47% while at the same time exceeding sales capacity plans. 
 
In 2012, Kari took on a new leadership opportunity as the interim Field Compensation and Sourcing Director.  In this new role she took on the additional responsibility of the sales compensation programs including the commissioning and bonus programs for American Family agents and agents-in-training.  Approximately one year later, she was promoted into the Organization Effectiveness Director.  Her success continued as she led the organization through one of the largest structure changes in its history.
 
In November of 2014, she began serving in a new capacity as the Talent Management Director.  In this role she is responsible for oversight of the design, development, implementation, delivery and evaluation of integrated talent solutions for American Family Insurance. 
Kari received her Bachelors’ degree in Organizational Communications and she also holds her Masters Certificate in Project Management from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.   She has been active in the Greater Madison Area chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) including 5 years on the board of directors.  She has also obtained her Senior Professional in Human Resources designation (SPHR).
 

2-C Employment Law Update, Jennifer Mirus and Andrew DeClercq  

Breakout Session 3

3-A The HR Professional Competency Model: A Road Map for Success,  Nancy Conway, SHRM-SCP
Nancy Conway is SHRM’s Field Services Director for the North Central Region, supporting 94 Chapters, 7 State Councils, and SHRM members in the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.  Nancy has worked in the HR profession for over 27 years with industry experience in retail, call centers, banking, and health care.  Nancy is proud to be SHRM-SCP certified.







 

 In 1992, Jim was named improvement resources director in Corporate Research, where he was responsible for the introduction of quality management methods within the company.  Jim later became the organization effectiveness director in Human Resources in 2000, where he was responsible for organization design, talent management, performance management, bench strength, career planning, competency models, executive assessments, and executive development. 
 
In 2008, Jim moved to the Personal Lines Division as the east region operations director, responsible for the underwriting and servicing of auto, home, and umbrella policies in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Georgia.  In this position he worked with the Sales, Actuarial and Claim divisions, and was accountable for the profit and growth of those states, including rate change recommendations.
 
In 2011, Jim became a corporate program director, serving as the Advance integrated program lead. In this role, he encouraged and integrated work on this major corporate initiative across divisions.  He was accountable for monthly program metrics regarding time, scope, cost, quality and risk to the organization. Jim was also responsible for the Business Process Management department that provided business process improvement expertise, facilitation, methods and tools. 
 
In July of 2013, the Board elected Jim as the Vice President of Human Resources, including accountability for talent acquisition, development, compensation, benefits and organization effectiveness.
 
Jim earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, with a major in Accounting and minor in Computer Science. 
 
Active in both professional and community organizations, Jim currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Dane County Salvation Army and on the council of the South Central Synod of Wisconsin - Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

3-C Employment Law Update, Jennifer Mirus and Andrew DeClercq