HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATE
PROGRAM
UNION GRADUATE COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
HR in the NEWS
April 6, 2008
NEW YORK STATE HR NEWS
LOBBY DAYS SET FOR APRIL 14 & 15
The Business Council of New York State has announced that the
annual legislative days for HR professionals are April 14 & 15.
Let Harry Hayes, Legislative Chair of the Capital Region HR Association, know
if you are interested in joining us for Lobby Day and/or joining the
legislative committee. He may be reached at 373-0069 or at hhayes@jaegerflynn.com.
CAPITAL REGION HR NEWS
CAPITAL REGION HR ASSOCIATION 2008 CONFERENCE
The Capital Region HR Association sponsored their annual
conference on March 26 at the Holiday Inn on Wolf Road in Albany. UGC exhibited in the conference marketplace. Thanks
to Joanne Fitzgerald for supporting UGC's participation.
Thank you to: Haimanot Kelbessa, Derek Dunbar, Rachael DeCrescendo
and Nick Salvatoriello for staffing the UGC booth.
CAPITAL REGION HR CONFERENCES AND
MEETINGS
April 11: Hudson-Mohawk Chapter of the American Society of
Training and Development: "Exceptional Presentation and Training
Skills". Time: 8-11 AM at the Marriott Hotel on Wolf
Road. Contact: wwww.hudsonmohawkastd.org
April 16: Albany JSEC presents: "Labor Law
Legislative Update," featuring Tom Minnick, VP, HR at the Business Council
of New York State, Inc. Location: 100 White Pine Drive, Albany,
from 8-10 AM. Contact: Cathy Bucci at
462-7600.
April 16: Southern Saratoga JSEC presents:
"Better Front Line Customer Service for a Better Bottom Line,"
featuring Tracey Camponera and Michael Howard.
Time: 7:30-9:30 AM. Contact: 371-7748.
June 10: Workplace 2008 One Day Conference, Desmond
Hotel. Presented by Bond, Schoeneck
and King. Topics include: HR Audits, Immigration Issues,
Electronic Workplace, Terminating Employee Benefits.
Contact: www.bsk.com
eHR RESOURCES
Staffing: Fieldglass In. added a recruitment module to its human
capital management software package: InSite
5.0. This module will help organizations to identify and recruit job
candidates for all job levels as well as to gain better access to available
talent pools. Contact: www.fieldglass.com
Staffing: New from
Employment Screening Services: E-View, a third party exit interviewing
service. This is designed to assist organizations analyze organizational
strengths and weaknesses to improve retention and reduce costly turnover.
Confidentiality is guaranteed so employers can obtain information about the reasons why employees depart and their attitudes
toward the company and its policies. Contact: www.es2.com
Workplace
Management: eCopy Inc. recently launched a
portfolio of document imaging tools that quickly transform paper documents into
electronic formats for easy use and storage. Contact: www.ecopy.com
NATIONAL HR CONFERENCE
June 22-25 in
Chicago: Society for Human Resource Management Annual Conference and
Exposition. Keynote speakers include: Sidney Poitier, Patrick Lencioni, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Nancy Giles.
Contact: www.shrm.org
SKILLS THAT ADVANCE A CAREER IN HR
The Society for Human
Resource Management has recently begun a series of career-themed surveys.
The first dealt with factors necessary to help HR professionals move into or
advance their careers. HR professionals reported the following skills as
very important in moving into or advancing their careers:
Interpersonal
communication, drive/ambition, reputation in the organization,
strategic/critical thinking skills, HR work experience, leadership skills,
business acumen, HR generalist experience and Human Resource Certification
Institute certification. More than 600 members of SHRM responded to this
first survey.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
In the recent issue of
the International Journal of Training and Development, Fenwick and Bierema reported their research on corporate social
responsibility with HR professionals in North American corporations.
Research indicated that the HR professionals had
a different understanding and "lack of connection" with corporate
social responsibility. Fenwick and Bierema
recommend the following ways HR professionals can become involved more:
Familiarizing themselves with the principles of corporate social
responsibility
Assessing their roles
Ensuring that employees' rights are on the company's agenda
Auditing HR activities and including them as part of the corporate
social responsibility report
Serving as advisors in corporate social responsibility activities
HR IN THE COURTS: INFORMATION YOU CAN USE
"Me, Too"Testimony
Depending on the facts
of the case, "me, too" testimony may be relevant in discrimination
claims. District courts have discretion to bar this testimony, according
to a new Supreme Court ruling on February 26.
The case in brief:
Ellen Mendelsohn worked for Sprint from 1989 to 2002,
when she was laid off. She subsequently filed an age discrimination suit
and argued that "me, too" testimony should be admitted in her
lawsuit. She wanted to introduce testimony of five Sprint employees who
also stated their employer discriminated against them because of their age, in
keeping with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Sprint argued that
the testimony of the five employees would only be relevant if it had come from
employees similarly situated with the same supervisor.
The district court granted Sprint's motion but the 10th circuit reversed the
decision. The Supreme Court ruled that the appeals court should have sent
the case back to the district court for clarification. To read the
case: Sprint/United Management Co. v. Mendelsohn,
No. 06-1221.
DIVERSITY
MANAGEMENT TRAINING
Cornell Interactive
Theatre Ensemble will offer an interactive discussion on dealing with
disabilities, including: misconceptions about people with disabilities,
organizational communication regarding disabilities, supervisory and employee
responsibility for dealing with reasonable accommodations.
8-10 AM with breakfast
buffet from 7:30-8 AM on May 14. Contact: Fannie Glover, Chair,
Diversity Committee, Capital Region HR Association: fglover@nyscccc.org
NEW RELEASES FROM SHRM
BOOKS
Hiring Success: The Art
and Science of Staffing Assessment and Employee Selection
Evaluating Human Resources Programs: A 6-Phase Approach
for Optimizing Performance
HR and the New Hispanic Workforce: A Comprehensive Guide to
Cultivating and Leveraging Employee Success
HR Magazine Guide to Managing People: 47 Tools to Help Managers
Investing in People
Contact: www.shrm.org
to order these and other publications.
To submit material for this Newsletter, contact: Michele
Paludi at paludim@union.edu.
