2023

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Breakout & Keynote Session Descriptions

 

Morning Keynote
Session 1 Breakouts
Late Morning Keynote
Lunch Keynote
Session 2 Breakouts

Time   Program
7:30 to 8:15   Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:15 to 8:30   Welcome
8:30 to 9:30  

 

Morning Keynote

Justin Jones Fosu - Work to a Different Beat: Own your mindset, meaning and performance at work and home.

An inside-out approach powered by practical research that empowers your people to bring their best selves to work everyday. Using the African drum as a metaphor of bringing meaning, Justin creates an unforgettable experience that will inspire us to take immediate action in how we show up.  

Attendees will leave with:

  • An instantly applicable and personalized plan to take ownership of their work lives.
  • An actionable understanding of the 4 Work Meaningful Quadrants and how to maximize productivity and positively impact their work life.
  • A deeper commitment to self-development and practical skills to shift their mental rhythms at work and at home with the 3 Rhythm Model.

 
9:30 to 9:45   Break

9:45 to 11:00		  

Breakout Session 1

1-A Leadership in an Age of Permanent Whitewater
Jeffrey Russell, Russell Consulting, Inc.  

How do you lead your company and engage your workforce when there is so much uncertainty in the world? What actions can you take to help your employees stay healthy and resilient while navigating the turbulence of today’s workplace? What is the role that you and leaders at every level need to play in facilitating employee engagement, building resilience, retaining your talent, and just keeping people healthy? In this session you’ll learn the six crucial competencies of “Whitewater Leadership” that you and others in your company should seek to develop to effectively guide people with empathy during these uncertain times. You’ll also explore actions that you can take to strengthen these essential competencies in yourself and others at all organizational levels.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

  1. Identify the unique challenges of today’s turbulent environment that require a new form of leadership at all organizational levels.
  2. Describe the six competencies of Whitewater Leadership that are needed for guiding others during this time of turbulence and uncertainty.
  3. Explore strategies for developing/strengthening these capacities in yourself and others.

 
 
1-B Modernizing the Employee Lifecycle Using an Equity Lens
Lisa Imhoff, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin–Madison 

Is your employee lifecycle equitable? Organizations that utilize an equity mindset and practice at all stages of the employee lifecycle are more successful at recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. They also have higher rates of employee engagement and employee well-being. They can better foster a workplace environment that promotes psychological safety, which drives inclusion and innovation. This breakout workshop is interactive, and participants will come away with ideas to share with coworkers and ideally implement in alignment with organizational goals and objectives. 

During, and at the end of the workshop, participants will:
  • Define their or their organization’s “why” to utilize an equity lens in the employee lifecycle.
  • Discover equity strategies to modernize their organization’s approach to recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and retaining diverse talent. 
  • Assess if you/your organization is ready to integrate and sustain equity-minded strategies. 
  • Prioritize and assess which strategies are achievable within the next few months and what strategies might take longer to implement. 
  • Identify next actions steps to start (or continue) modernizing your employee lifecycle.
 

 

1-C Employment Law Update
Jennifer Mirus and Brian Goodman, Boardman & Clark Law Firm

Legal issues surrounding employment continue to evolve, even with a divided government at the state and local level.  Recent regulatory developments and court decisions continue to impact the workplace.  HR professionals need to keep abreast of these changes and assess how these changes might impact their organization going forward.
 
The Annual Employment Law Update will provide an overview of developments in several major areas of employment law and will help you identify the issues you need to know to be an effective business partner in your organization.  This information–packed session will leave you better equipped to assess your organization’s needs with respect to employment law compliance.  

Participants will learn:

  1. Key federal and state legislative and regulatory developments; 
  2. New regulations and administrative guidance relating to wage and hours; and
  3. How recent judicial cases might affect your practices regarding discrimination, harassment, disabilities, and more. 
 
 11:00 to 11:15   Break 
 

11:15 to 12:15		  

 

Late Morning Keynote

Mike Aitken, SHRM Chief Membership Officer -  Workplace Issues:  Now and Looking Ahead

 The workplace is the intersection of people, culture, and business. When the three are aligned, people thrive, businesses grow, societies advance. SHRM and the HR profession operate at the nexus of this intersection, and the issues we face are also the ones shaping our society in the 21st century. The skills gap, immigration, the emergence of automation and AI, harassment, equity and inclusion—they all show up at work. We can leverage HR leadership to create a better world by creating better workplaces.

 
 12:15 to 1:15   Lunch, Announcements and Recognition
 

1:15 to 2:30		  


Breakout Session 2

 

2-A   Mental Health in the Workplace: Tools and Processes for HR Professionals,  Brittany Meoska, Work It Out With Britt 

We ALL have mental health just like we all have physical health, and there are many things we can do to impact both!  This session will provide a quick overview of what mental health entails, and offer some new perspectives of how we can think and talk about this HUGE topic so we can work to end the stigma surrounding it!  Making positive, impactful change does not have to require tons of time and resources.  This presentation will have three distinct sections covering tools and processes that can specifically help HR professionals.

Takeaways:
  • Tips to end the stigma associated with mental health
  • Mental health resources for HR professionals to use and share
  • Processes to foster your own mental wellness and share with others.

 

 

2-B The Critical Role of Compensation in the Recruitment Process


Attendees of this program will learn:
  • how to best position their total rewards offerings to attract top talent.
  • the importance of pay transparency as a differentiator and how to align on pay expectations with candidates.
  • the value of pay equity and how it all starts with the offer process.
  • how to balance candidate experience with internal equity.
  • tips on how to avoid perpetuating pay inequity among women & POC in comparison to their white male counterparts.




 
 

 



 

3-C Employment Law Update, Jennifer Mirus and Brian Goodman 

Legal issues surrounding employment continue to evolve, even with a divided government at the state and local level.  Recent regulatory developments and court decisions continue to impact the workplace.  HR professionals need to keep abreast of these changes and assess how these changes might impact their organization going forward.
 
The Annual Employment Law Update will provide an overview of developments in several major areas of employment law and will help you identify the issues you need to know to be an effective business partner in your organization.  This information–packed session will leave you better equipped to assess your organization’s needs with respect to employment law compliance.  

Participants will learn:
  1. Key federal and state legislative and regulatory developments; 
  2. New regulations and administrative guidance relating to wage and hours; and
  3. How recent judicial cases might affect your practices regarding discrimination, harassment, disabilities, and more.





 
 

 
2:45 - 4:00  

Closing Keynote

Justin Jones-Fosu - YOUR WHY MATTERS NOW 

Justin demonstrates how your leaders and teams can blend their purpose and productivity to realize better outcomes with everyday actions. 

Participants will leave with:

• A personalized approach to understanding and aligning their values and efforts that enables them to lead themselves and others.
• An ability to courageously combat the distractors of their 'why' and 'now', and learn how to have intentional accountability to themselves and their teams.
• A deliberate approach to being fully present to consistently learn, develop meaningful relationships and impact positive change.
 4:00 to 5:00   Networking Reception
     




 

 

 

 

 


 

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mended  Equal Opportunities  

 

 

 
   

 Amended