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HR Excellence Awards
Overall Winner: Belmont University!
Pictured from left to right are Mandy Hodge, Donna Gwaltney, Deborah Nunn Baruzzini, Sally McKay, and Susan Saunder
Facet Award Winner: First Tennessee for HR Management
Standing from left to right are Matt Knight, Ken Bottoms, Randy Houston, Phillip Phy, Derrick Williams, and Bob Dugan.
Seated are Paula Mansfield, Leslie Johnson, Cindy Cleveland, and Paula Hulette.
We couldn't have done it without you!
Many thanks to the HR Excellence Committee and our volunteers! Committee members: Rebecca Myers-Leslie, Mark Marshall, Denis Blackwelder, Don Holmes and Kellie Conn. Examination panel: Don Holmes, Jean Schmidt, Perry Stahlman, Carolyn Kitts and Susan Heard. Our Volunteers: Rhonda Sherry, Kim Allen, Kelley O'Brien, Lisa Patrick, Heather Beshore, Brandy Burke-Schratter, Jim ClenDening, Kristie Cantrell, Barbara Stewart and Mary Lynn Skinner.
Special thanks to Bob McKown and Art Smith for presenting at the luncheon.
Rhonda Sherry took the above photos, thanks Rhonda!
Tennessee Salary, Wage & Benefits Surveys:
Get High-Quality Regional Wage & Benefit Information at No Charge
The Tennessee State SHRM Council and its affiliated chapters have partnered with Effective Resources, Inc. to conduct a salary, wage and benefit survey for the State of Tennessee.
Here's a brief overview of the program:
Complete the online questionnaire anytime during the month of August. You will be able to save your data and return to it for review or editing as often as needed. The compensation professionals at SalarySurveyOnline will proof, analyze, compile the data and publish the final surveys in September. Participants pay nothing – zero – for online access to complete, accurate wage and benefits data specific to your region (East, Middle or West Tennessee). Because you are a participating member, you get online access to your region’s results at no charge.
Detailed information will be sent in July for use in August.
To learn more about the survey in general, visit SalarySurveyOnline.com to view a sample survey and questionnaire. Your participation will make this survey a useful tool for HR professionals, their companies, and the Tennessee business community. We are pleased to bring you this opportunity and encourage everyone to participate!
Make the business case for attending the State Conference
Need to ask your boss about attending and/or sending your staff to the Tennessee HR and Legal Conference this fall, but don’t know where to start? Keep it all about the business.
Here’s an example communication you can edit as appropriate, cut, paste and send to your boss to make the “business case.”
I would like to attend the 2009 Mid-South/Tennessee HR and Legal Conference in Nashville, September 30-October 2, 2009.
This 2½ day regional conference (no long-distance travel required) features an expanded educational agenda with more than 50 technical, educational, and hands-on workshops covering current business challenges in the areas of Human Resources, Performance Management, Staffing & Talent Acquisition, Compensation & Benefits and one full day of sessions devoted to the latest developments in employment law and the recent legal and legislative changes currently being considered and passed by congress.
In addition, I will have the opportunity to see and learn about products and services from more than 150 companies providing “best practices” to the challenges facing businesses like ours—and to network with and learn from other professionals and industry leaders.
I realize that our budget is as tight as it’s ever been, but I believe this conference will return far more for our company than the small investment we make. And, if I register before August 15th, we can save 30% over the regular conference rate of $535.
Most importantly, attending this conference will allow me to gain knowledge to deliver practical business solutions to our organization, stay abreast of current legal developments, and maximize the return on the investment we make in our people—our most valuable asset.
Thank you for considering my request.
If you have other ideas, or have written a letter that was successful, send it to me and I’ll share it with the membership!
Mark your calendars! SHRM’s Southeast Regional Team will be holding special webinars to showcase new additions to the website, enhanced member benefits, ways to earn recertification credits, and more! Plan to join in on the webinars as listed below.
SHRM will also be giving away a free membership to someone who is a chapter member but NOT a current SHRM member on the August 5th call. Angella Clark from Louisville KY was the lucky winner of a free membership in April. Upon winning, Clark said, “I’m excited to win! I now have access to a variety of reliable and current HR information.” YOU could be the next winner!
Wednesday, July 22, at noon ET/11:00 CT
Wednesday, August 5, at noon ET/11:00 CT (giving away a membership for non-SHRM members)
Wednesday, August 26, at noon ET/11:00 CT (special content for small businesses with <100 employees)
To participate in these webinars, watch your email inbox. Details for each one will be sent via email, so make sure your spam filter allows emails from @shrm.org. Each webinar is limited to the first 100 participants. If you can’t get into the webinar, it is likely full, so be sure to login early.
Article & Photo by: Rhonda Sherry
Pictured left is MT|SHRM member Jill Russell.
More than 13,000 cases of swine flu (H1N1 virus) have been reported in the United States. H1N1 is now a pandemic according to the World Health Organization. Most swine flu cases are mild and treatable. However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is concerned about an outbreak of the flu in the coming fall season. Here’s how some Nashville employers are responding to the threat of pandemic.
Jill Russell, Director of Human Resources for Embassy Suites in Cool Springs says the hotel is prepared. Embassy Suites is part of John Q Hammons Hotel & Resorts with 80 U.S. properties and over 20,000 employees - 140 at the Cool Springs property. “Safety precautions started as soon as word got out about the swine flu”, said Ms. Russell. “It starts with communication and training of all employees regarding hygiene, symptoms and recommendations for employees with potential symptoms”. The hotel also has plans in place for guests with symptoms of the swine flu and had proactively placed hand sanitizer at the front desk for everyone to use.
At Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon, an engineering firm with 375 employees, Corporate Development Director Denis Blackwelder says they primarily work with their healthcare provider to ensure that employees understand what a pandemic is and what precautions to take to avoid H1N1. “We wanted to be sure that our employees had the information they needed to deal with the situation and understood that preventing the swine flu was possible if everyone did their part”. We also wanted to make sure that employees had resources if they had questions or issues”.
According to Matt Tiller, Human Resources, and Kim Chandoin, Communications, Lipscomb University prepared for the avian flu a few years ago. At that time, Lipscomb University set up a taskforce to investigate and put a plan in place. They considered where they would house people and what to do with the students. Currently, 50% to 60% of Lipscomb’s 3,000 students live on campus and 625 employees work there. When H1N1 became a concern, the University was already prepared. The taskforce reviewed the plan and made changes to prepare for the current flu.
Globally, pandemics will come and go in the years to come. It is good to know that Nashville is prepared.
Congratulations to the Tennessee SHRM State Council for attaining and being recognized as a 2008 SHRM Superior Honor State Council! By achieving this recognition, our state council distinguishes itself as a national leader dedicated to the professional advancement of our members and the Human Resource Management profession.
Selection as a Superior Honor State Council indicates that our Council has achieved excellence in fulfilling its mission of:
Serving as a conduit for communication between SHRM members and chapters.
Coordinating chapter efforts at the state level.
Facilitating services and programs for the collective interests of our state membership and chapter leaders and all SHRM members in the state.
Throughout the year, SHRM will continue to recognize our State Council’s achievement – at the SHRM Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA and at the SHRM Leadership Conference in Arlington, VA.
Special congratulations to Mike Willard and each of its board members for achieving this award.
Thank you for a job well done!
Don Ray
State Director
TN State SHRM Council dray@orgill.com
News, book reviews, story ideas, coverage of HR-related events and photos are welcome!
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