February
2016

What a great way to start the year! Our first Professional Development Summit was a great success. Along with great topics and speakers, we had record attendance! Thank you to all those who attended as well as those who helped plan the event.

We recently had a very successful semi-annual strategic planning day. Thank you to the Board and other GMA SHRM volunteers who took time out of their busy schedules to joined us. We had a great group of individuals who participated in a full day of deep discussions and provided feedback to steer us in the right direction for GMA SHRM’s future. We will be updating our strategic plan and will share those with you as they are finalized.

This is also the time of year where we start focusing on our succession plan for our next term starting in July. We have a pretty new board this year and many plan on staying in their role. Although we will always have at least one opening on the board as we fill the role of President-Elect. Our typical process has been to grow from within. Meaning we look at our current chairs or coordinators who might be interested in taking that next step. These individuals have typically been the ones who start volunteering and quickly see the benefits of what they are doing. They meet great people who help them in their career and feel a sense of accomplishment and give back to the chapter and the HR profession. They see all of the great things we are doing and want to be a part of it. I am continually amazed by all the remarkable volunteers that we have in GMA SHRM. It is truly one of the core reason we are who we are. Our volunteers have true passion for their profession, our chapter and our community. If you are ever interested in volunteering, but just don’t know how to get started, please reach out to myself or any board member and we will be happy to find your perfect role.

Networking events are also a great way to start meeting volunteers and other HR professionals. Come join us as we shake up our networking event with a PAINT NIGHT on February 11th. See you there!

Dawn Koopman, SHRM-SCP, SPHR
President
GMA SHRM

Click here to view the full GMA SHRM Board of Directors

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Government Affairs

Save the Date – 2016 Day on the Hill!

WI SHRM is currently planning the 2^nd annual Day on the Hill in Madison. This all day event will take place on April 6, 2016 at the Madison Concourse Hotel with an evening networking event on April 5, 2016. The event provides a great opportunity for you to advocate on behalf of the HR profession and to learn more about the political process.

The day will start with an employment law update, other educational topics and training on how to conduct a meeting with your local legislator. Registration will be opening soon and additional details can be found at: http://www.wishrm.org/2016-Day-on-the-Hill

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SHRM's Health Care Reform Resource Page

It can be difficult and confusing to stay up-to-date on the complex requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA). SHRM has a helpful and intuitive resource page available to assist you. It includes timely information related to reporting requirements, strategies and how-to guides. You will find educational publications on what you need to know for 2016, IRS guidance and instructions and extended due dates for ACA information reporting. To take advantage of this tool, go to: http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/healthcarereform.aspx

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In the Workplace

Using Personality Assessments to Build Great Team

Submitted by Tina Hallis, Ph.D., Professional Speaker and Consultant at The Positive Edge

Why do we bother to create a team instead of giving a project to a single individual? Of course it’s to get different perspectives and more ideas so a better solution can be found easily and quickly. To make this work, you need a diverse selection of team members with different backgrounds and viewpoints. But diversity brings its own challenges, and diversity by itself is not enough. Team members need to trust and respect each other so they can openly share their thoughts and give honest feedback. They need to be able to disagree without worrying about offending others or causing them to disengage from the team. Yet creating an environment that promotes open sharing can be very difficult.

WHY IT’S SO HARD TO OPENLY SHARE ON TEAMS

Do you know someone who annoys you? Do you annoy someone else?

Cindy: “Why does Joe take so long to make a decision? It drives me crazy!”

Joe: “Cindy is so pushy! She is in such a hurry to get things done, she misses important details.”

This might be the type of reaction we have (at least in our minds) when we meet someone who has different preferences and priorities than us. It’s actually a normal response based on how our brains are wired. When we interact with someone with a different perspective, our brains signal “DANGER!” This social threat registers as a real physical danger and can cause us to become defensive, suspicious, and distrusting. You can imagine how this can cause all kinds of problems with our ability to effectively cooperate, communicate and collaborate with others.

WHAT TO DO?

One strategy to counteract this reaction is to help team members understand and appreciate each other better by using a personality assessment tool. There are a number of great options to choose from including Myers-Briggs, DiSC®, or those that categorize based on colors or animals. The true power of these tools is not just in identifying your own personality style, but also in gaining insight into the styles and preferences of your team members. Ultimately this allows you to create more open dialogue so everyone can work together more effectively. Personality categories should never be used as a label but as a place to start a conversation. It’s also important to recognize that one person’s preferences are not better or worse than another’s. They are just different approaches to how we view the world. When we can broaden our perspective to also see the perspectives of others, we gain access to more possibilities and opportunities.

Instead of taking Cindy’s bluntness personally, people appreciate her focus on getting things done.
Instead of getting frustrated with Sarah's optimism, everyone recognizes the energy she gives the group.
Instead of feeling that Joe is too quiet and skeptical, the team values his attention to detail and quality.
Instead of getting irritated that Tom won’t make up his mind, the group knows that he makes sure everyone gets a chance to share their opinions.

Suddenly ideas flow more freely, people choose the action items that fit their style and preferences, and when disagreements arise, the team can more easily discuss the bigger goal and the compromises that are needed to get there.

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Deliberate Creativity Leads to More Innovation

Submitted by Amy Climer, Climer Consulting – a featured speaker at the March 8^th GMA SHRM Professional Development Summit

Some people are just born creative, right? Actually, that’s not true. The truth is creativity is a skill that can be developed with practice. It is not an inborn trait that some people have and others don’t. We all have incredible potential to be more creative by following an intentional, deliberate creative process. What most people don’t realize is that highly creative people don’t sit around waiting for inspiration to strike, they get to work making creativity happen. They naturally follow a process called the Creative Problem Solving process. The Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process was first discovered in the 50’s and since has been researched extensively and taught to hundreds of thousands of people with amazing success. The process has four simple stages: Clarify, Ideate, Develop, and Implement. I’ll explain each of these in more detail here.

Clarify
When you want to be creative you must first Clarify your challenge and narrow in on the specific problem you are trying to solve. Perhaps it’s creating a culture of feedback within your organization, designing a new leadership training that will appeal to millennials, or increasing retention among new hires. All of these problems lend themselves to innovative solutions. The Clarify stage involves fully understanding the current state of the problem and narrowing in on a specific challenge statement to guide the rest of the Creative Problem Solving process.

Ideate
Once you have the specific challenge, you move into generating lots of ideas. Quantity leads to quality so the more the better. I don’t mean 3-5 ideas, but rather dozens or hundreds of ideas. If you truly want to be creative you have to get past the typical and the typical always emerge first. In the Ideate Stage, there are numerous techniques that can be used to generate wild, creative ideas. I like to move beyond the traditional brainstorm to other techniques that are very effective. Once many new ideas are generated the best ones are selected.

Develop
The best ideas from the Ideate stage are further refined and developed into more complete concepts. It is rare, if not impossible, for an idea to come out completely formed. It takes time to adjust it, mold it, add to it, and tweak it. That’s what happens in the Develop stage. Once it’s more developed, it’s ready for implementation.

Implement
Creating action plans, finding supporters and addressing resistors, developing prototypes or pilots are all part of the implementation process. This is where things can get exciting. It’s also where things can get really tough. Sometimes ideas don’t quite work the first time. So, you make changes and adjustments and try again. It’s not about getting it perfect for the first time, it’s about doing it and refining over and over. Keep going until it’s amazing, not perfect, but amazing.

Using the Creative Problem Solving process can have impressive results and lead to greater innovation. Companies have generated and implemented ideas that led to millions, even billions of dollars of revenue and savings by using CPS. The process is almost too simple, but it works. For each stage there are dozens of tools and techniques. These will be taught in more depth at the March 8 GMA SHRM Event or learn more from The Deliberate Creative, a free podcast on iTunes.

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Professional Development

HRCI aPHR

HRCI is introducing the new Associate Professional in Human Resources™ (aPHR℠) certification! The aPHR was developed specifically with entry level HR professionals in mind. This credential is the first of its kind within the HR community and is targeted towards recent college graduates, armed services men and women who are looking to transition into a civilian profession and other professionals seeking a career transition into the HR field. For more information, go to http://www.hrci.org/aphr.

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GMA SHRM Social Media

Forward HR

Want to know what’s going on in HR for the other areas of Wisconsin? WI SHRM has a new blog, Forward HR. Click here to take a look.

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GMA SHRM Announcements

Help Wanted!

The 2016 WISHRM Student HR Games will be held March 11 and 12, 2016 at Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, WI (just south of Manitowoc). Volunteers will be needed - save the date now - more information to come in January! Questions? Please contact: Matt Nechodom, SHRM-CP, PHR, CIR, College Relations Director, mnechodo@amfam.com or 608-242-4100, ext. 38692 or Ashly Woosypiti, SHRM-CP, PHR, College Relations Director Elect
Ashly.woosypiti@gmail.com or 414-732-5246

The Education & Professional Development Committee is currently seeking GMA SHRM Chapter Members to volunteer and serve as a mentors for UW Madison SHRM chapter students. Please contact Jeff Westra at jwestra@herzing.edu to sign up and find out more information.

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GMA SHRM Upcoming Events

February 11, 2016 - GMA SHRM Networking - Paint Night

Members Only - Registration Required

Hang onto your paintbrush for a night of artsy fun! Join your fellow GMA SHRM members for a night of sipping on wine, painting a featured artwork piece with step-by-step instructions. At the end of the night, you’ll have had some laughs, made some new friends and leave with your own masterpiece.

Attend just the pre-painting social for free or join your friends and colleagues for Paint Night for only $15.

Appetizers provided along with a cash bar.

More information...

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March 8, 2016 - Professional Development Summit

Session 1: Why Avoiding Conflict may be Biggest Single Contributing Factor to Corporate Failure, and What to do About It
•8am-10am

Session 2: Deliberate Creativity - Innovating on Demand
•10:30am-12:30pm

Session 1: Why Avoiding Conflict May Be the Biggest Single Contributing Factor to Corporate Failures, and What To Do About It.
Susan Thomson, CEO, Partner, ActionCOACH of Madison

Conflict is a loaded word – one that strikes fear in the hearts of the most seasoned executives, and fatigue in the hearts of others. We were taught that conflict is something that nice people don’t do, and nice companies don’t tolerate. But what if...

Session 2: Deliberate Creativity: How to Innovate on Demand
Amy Climer, Owner, Climer Consulting

If you want to be creative and you wait for inspiration to strike, you might be waiting a long time. Artists, inventors, entrepreneurs and other highly creative people deliberately use creative strategies to help them be more innovative and implement change. In this workshop...

More Information...

GMA SHRM Member News

GMA SHRM Member Spotlight

Name: Jennifer Kalka

Where do you currently work?
Spectrum Brands

What is the focus of your position?
I am the Talent Acquisition Manager for Spectrum Brands. In my role manage our team of Talent Acquisition Specialists that are responsible for recruitment of operations related positions, supporting all of our brands, across 4 divisions.

How long have you been in the Human Resource field?
Nine years!

Which of your career accomplishments makes you proudest?
One of my proudest moments was receiving a card in the mail from a woman who reported to me in a previous position. She had just recently received a promotion into a leadership role. In her message, she shared with me what she learned from me that helped prepare her for that position, through her observations and our interactions. I’ve kept that card and pull it out every time I need a little boost! It is exciting to see members of your team become promoted – especially into leaders!

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Right out of college I was working in sales and had a great manager. From day one, he instilled in me to be authentic and maintain a high level of integrity in all that I do. And…to make sure I do what I say I am going to do! This advice has stuck with me ever since. And while at the time he shaped it in such a way that was very applicable to ensuring my success in sales, I believe it has also attributed to my successes along the way now in the Human Resources field. I bring this into my daily interactions with my internal customers, peers and my direct reports.

Why did you decide to join GMA SHRM?
To continue my knowledge in the HR Field. I have been fairly specialized in Talent Acquisition during my time within HR, so the workshops are critical to helping me stay in the know of things going on outside of TA.
Additionally, I really enjoy the networking and meeting other HR Professionals in the area!

GMA SHRM Volunteer Spotlight

Name: Kathy Konichek

How long have you been volunteering with GMA SHRM? 3 years +

What committee are you volunteering with? Have you volunteered on other committees? If yes, which one?
Since July, 2013, I am the Co-Leader, along with Mary Jo Speakerman, of the HR Advice Network Group with 31 members which meets monthly and emails daily on issues/challenges. Our group has been together for 4 years. In the past year, the HR Advice Network has expanded; Lisa Adkins & Michelle Wallace are now Co-Leaders of Group A, and Nikki Ryberg & Tracy Niesen-Breunig as Co-Leaders of Group B.

Since July, 2014, I also became involved with the Programming Committee and the Technology Committee. In June, 2012, I volunteered a day with about six others from GMA SHRM to help build a Habitat for Humanity house in Middleton. About 3 years ago, I volunteered with Mary Jo Speakerman and Tim Seifriz on a GMA SHRM volunteer project where we put together a webinar on HR101 for small businesses for the Greater Madison Area Chamber Ask the Expert series.

Since 2011, I have presented twice to the UW Madison Student SHRM Chapter on HR & Life Lessons.

Back around 1992, I helped put together the DARN (Dane county Area Resume Network) for anyone who can remember back that far.

What do you enjoy about volunteering?
I enjoy learning from others, helping others learn from my experiences, both personally and professionally, and moving HR forward.

What would you say to others who are considering volunteering with GMA SHRM?
Do it early and often! It’s a great way to get connected to your HR peers. I wish I would’ve gotten more involved years ago. In 2012 when I moved back into the area after some personal challenges and was awarded the GMA SHRM Professional Award, I vowed to get more involved in my local chapter and desired to do more volunteering. So, I guess, that’s why I’m diving in now after almost 27 years in the HR field.

What have you gotten back from volunteering with GMA SHRM?
Great connections and knowledge that you can’t put a price on.

If you’d like to be published in an issue of HR InTouch, please complete this profile and submit (along with a photo) to Brittany Hanson @ bhanson@theedgewater.com

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Welcome New Members!

GMA SHRM welcomes the following members who joined our chapter in December 2015!

Abigail L. Dillard	Madison-Kipp Corporation
Cari Giesen	Tormach, Inc
Jill Guzman	MSTC-Wisconsin Rapids
Hannah Jones	National Guardian Life
Mary Khamphouy	Milio's Sandwiches
Devin Piche	The Payroll Company
Shannon Rehlinger	The Payroll Company
Mindy Statz, SHRM-CP, PHR	Raymond Management
Deborah Tobin	Paul Davis Restoration
Susan Vann	The Little Potato Company
Nathan Wagner	Ultimate Software
Meghan Walsh	Remedy Intelligent Staffing
Kimberly Williams	National Guardian Life
Andrew Yoblonski, SPHR	Spectrum Brands

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Movin' Up

Have you started with a new company? Has your organization recently promoted you to a new position? Or do you want to recognize a new person or promotion within your department? If so, we want to hear about it. Send us an e-mail, and we’ll publish your good news in the next HR InTouch!

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In Transition

If you are a member who is in between jobs, or who is currently employed but seeking new positions or career paths, write us a brief description of your skill set, areas of expertise, what you’re looking for, etc. Send us an e-mail. We’ll publish your information in the next HR InTouch.

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HR InTouch Guidelines

Article Writing:

Do you have an interest in writing for the HR InTouch? We have an interest in learning more about your area of expertise!

Why should you volunteer? Top three reasons: 1) to share your knowledge and experiences to educate others; 2) to become more connected in the HR and Dane County communities; and 3) to contribute towards the advancement of GMA SHRM and the HR profession.

The first step is for you to choose a submission option: you can pre-submit an article to GMA SHRM at any time for us to use in any of the upcoming newsletters, you can sign up to write for a particular month, or we can put you on a list of people to contact in future months whenever we need articles.

Article length:

Because the HR InTouch is now in an online format, the size is flexible. The article should be engaging and hold readers’ attention. Include the core information in your article, and we will advise if it is too lengthy.

Solicitation:

GMA SHRM is conscious not to allow solicitation through the articles, in an effort to protect the interests of our partners and members. The nature of the article should be educational (i.e., what are the business advantages of having a product like yours) or informational. Otherwise, if you truly are interested in advertising through the HR InTouch, you can work with our Marketing Committee. As a rule of thumb for article writing, if the submission relates to a for-profit event, or specifically markets your company (vs. your industry), it is an advertisement, and should be purchased. If it is a not-for-profit event that your company is hosting, or an announcement (i.e., a SHRM member recently joined your company), it is an acceptable addition to the HR InTouch content. If you have any questions related to the appropriateness of your submission, please contact us.

If you have questions, or to submit an article, contact GMA SHRM at chapteradmin@gmashrm.org .

February
2016

HR InTouch