Thank you my dear friends

I have ignored my HR Beyond the Table blog for too long and need to resurrect it.  What better way than to write something that thanks some good friends?

Last week was the annual ILSHRM State Conference, a gathering of HR professionals from across the state, from other states and this year from across the ocean.  The trans-oceanic speaker we welcomed was a friend of mine from Australia, Renee Robson.  As we had breakfast on Monday morning, she wished me a Happy John Jorgensen Day, to which I said…..huh.

As it turned out, another friend of mine, Laurie Ruettiman, organized a day to honor yours truly.  The reasons she did it are outlined in her blog.  I read it and it moved me quite a bit.  Laurie has been a friend for over 10 years in the HR/Social Media world and in real life.  She reached out to a number of our mutual friends in the HR/SM space to write blogs about our friendships that have developed over the years.

Needless to say, I was moved and if you know this old HR curmudgeon, it takes a lot to move me.  The campaign was all over social media and so many people came up to me to wish me a good Day.  Hell, it even got me to smile though thankfully, nobody captured it in a picture.

So without further ado, I want to thank Steve Browne, Sabrina Baker, Tim Sackett,  Mary Faulkner, Robin Schooling, Andi Cale and Kyra Matkovich for the very nice things you said about me and above all, thank you Laurie for creating this probably undeserved great tribute.  Thank all of you at the Conference and across the Internet who picked up this idea and added to the well wishes I received.

Now back to regular programming, whatever that is.

SHRM Certification Accreditation

One of the next major steps in the evolvement of the SHRM Certification process has been completed. As of November 15, SHRM is proud to announce that the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP exams have been accredited by The Buros Center for Testing, a pronouncement that the HR credentials meet the highest standards in testing.

In a statement from Hank Jackson, SHRM President and CEO, “HR professionals around the world have embraced SHRM Certification,” said Henry G. (Hank) Jackson, SHRM’s president and CEO.  “They know — and the Buros Center has confirmed through its accreditation — that SHRM credentials meet the highest quality and standards of an industry-leading certification. This is groundbreaking for human resource certifications.”

The Buros Center for Testing, located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is an independent nonprofit organization that has reviewed or accredited other well-known tests including major state educational achievement exams; admissions tests for medical school, law school and graduate school, such as the LSAT, MCAT, GMAT and GRE exams; and licensure exams for physical therapists, clinicians and technicians. It specializes in auditing major educational and licensure testing programs for fairness in testing and overall psychometric quality of tests based on standards for testing developed by the American Psychological Association, the American Educational Research Association and the National Council on Measurement in Education, the leading authorities in high-stakes testing.

In a statement from Kurt F. Geisinger, Ph.D., director of the Buros Center said, “We not only find that you meet our standards … for accreditation, but we also find that you are thoroughly, competently and appropriately meeting the mission of SHRM, and therefore, the needs of the public.” For more information on the accrediting body, visit buros.org.

Since the launch of the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP two years ago, SHRM has worked to gain recognition as the global standard in HR certification. Achieving accreditation further demonstrates to HR professionals and their employers that SHRM-certified professionals meet the high standards expected and needed in HR today.

We celebrate this milestone with almost 100,000 SHRM-certified professionals, the fastest-growing HR certification community. The SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP are the most widely-taken HR exams in the world. Last year alone, over 20,000 people have taken the examination.

Accreditation does not mean SHRM Certification will be sitting still. SHRM’s work on competencies continues, and an update of the framework for the certification exams—the SHRM Body of Competency and Knowledge—is being released in December. The SHRM Learning System and the Certification exam will be adjusted to reflect that change.

Full disclosure:  I currently hold both the SHRM-SCP (obtained by the Pathway AND testing) and SPHR.  I have no plans on getting rid of either.  I am an Instructor for Northern Illinois University’s HR Outreach program teaching the SHRM Certification Preparation Program preparing HR professionals to pass the SHRM Certification exams since January 2015.  Prior to that I taught the SHRM Learning System preparing HR pros to take and pass the HRCI Certification exam for years.

HE’S ONE OF US

There is some amazing news recently concerning SHRM.  The slate for next year’s Board of Director nominees has been released and a familiar name was on it – Steve Browne. Steve is currently serving on the Membership Advisory Council, North Central Region and he has been nominated to serve on the SHRM Board of Directors starting in 2016.  This is tremendous news for both SHRM members and SHRM volunteer leaders because, as stated in the title of this piece…..HE IS ONE OF US.

Looking at the biographies and titles of the members of the SHRM Board of Directors, I see impressive people.  What I don’t see, with a couple of exceptions, is a lot of SHRM membership experience.  That is about to change.

Full disclosure, Steve and I have been friends for years and we have worked as SHRM volunteer leaders that whole time, in fact that is how we met.  Steve has “worked” his way up the volunteer leader ladder from a local chapter volunteer to a chapter president to an Ohio SHRM leader as a conference director and State Council director to his current position of the Central Area Member Advisory Council representative.  I’ve always been impressed with his passion and concern for the HR profession and the SHRM organization.

That is not to say he is satisfied with the status quo in either area.  He has been an advocate for change in the field and our organization, always representing the professional and the member.  He is a voice of the members and the volunteer leaders and how to get them better served by the SHRM establishment.

He is a true trench HR professional having spent the last 9 years with LaRosa’s, Inc., a regional pizzeria chain in the greater Cincinnati and Dayton areas and he has been in HR his entire 29 year career. If you want to know Steve better and his approach to HR, I encourage you to read his blog, Everyday People:  http://sbrownehr.com/.  He has held his SPHR certification for 7 years and added the SHRM-SCP certification late last year.

Vote for Steve to increase membership and volunteer leader presence on the Board.  You won’t regret it because…. HE IS ONE OF US.

What to do with gun totin’ employees?

When I started in HR and pretty much ever since, I thought guns in the workplace was a no-brainer. Just say no. Well that all changed last month when Illinois was forced to pass a concealed carry law.
What the law says is that anyone who obtains a concealed carry permit (and it doesn’t appear to be that hard) has the right to carry a concealed handgun on their person or in their car. That means unless certain conditions are met, you could very well have employees on your premises who are packing. The authors of the law did include some businesses/ institutions that are exempt from this law. They include schools, universities, hospital, government buildings and (whew) establishments that earn at least 50% of their gross revenue from the sale of alcohol.
If you are not among those types of establishments, concealed carry is permitted. That is unless you take the affirmative step of posting a sign of at least 4” by 6” stating that concealed handguns are not allowed. Without such a sign, it is assumed that concealed weapons are permitted. The signs must be posted on the entrances to the establishment and the exact design has yet to be determined.
Even if you post a notice banning the guns, employees can still have them stored in their vehicles in your parking lot as long as they are locked and out of sight. As I read it, you cannot stop employees from carrying a firearm in a company vehicle or having it with them on company business off the company’s privately owned real estate. You can’t even ask them in an interview if they have a permit and plan to use it.
One thing I have only seen mentioned once or twice is an issue of liability on a company’s part. It is not addressed in the law as far as I can tell but I am sure sooner or later it will be the subject of a court case (or two). If the company allows concealed guns on site and an employee decides to use it for whatever reason, is the company liable for injuries or death caused by that employee exerting his right to carry and the company’s “approval” of that right. Conversely, if the company bans handguns and a person (employee or customer or visitor) brings in a weapon and kills or injures people, is the company liable for not allowing guns to be brought in for self-defense. Hope this never comes to court but you never know.
Have you and the management team at your organization thought or discussed this? If so, I would love to hear what decisions you reached and why.  For non-Illinois HR pros (who have had to deal with this before, Illinois being the last state to have a concealed carry law) what have you done?
For full disclosure, I have no problem with the Second Amendment and the right to own guns responsibly. But like all rights, there has to be some control that they don’t infringe on others rights.

Layoff by phone….someone is a coward

A friend of mine (not even in HR) posted a message recently that he had heard that the Cleveland Plains Dealer was going to have a major layoff and told their employees to sit by their phone so they could be notified if they were affected or not.  Is it just me or is this one of the most cowardly things I have heard of in HR in ages.

Of all the interactions that HR has with employees this is not one to do in any manner than face to face.  Having done this more than once, I know it is one of the worst duties that anyone in human resources has to perform in their jobs.  I would much rather have to sit in on hundreds of firing of individuals for cause than one person losing their job for reasons beyond their control.  If you have never had to perform this task, consider yourself very lucky.

This is an enormously emotional time for those employees being given what is occupational equivalent of the death sentence.  This is the time that “management” needs to be present, transparent and available to answer questions and give details of the separation.  The way you deal with the departing employees can show you as empathetic, truthful and trust worthy.

The layoffs need to be done in a face-to-face meeting, whether in a one on one or group setting.  Information needs to be prepared ahead of time concerning final pay, accrued and/or accumulated paid time off, COBRA and what the unemployment system has in store for them.  There will be questions to be answered on other subjects such as the possibility of rehire, future of the company, etc.  This is not the time to hide behind a phone handset or a computer screen.

Not only is it important for the departing employees, it is also important for the “survivors”.  The effect of such callous and cold ways to handle such a sensitive subject can have disastrous effects on the remaining employees affecting their morale and commitment to the ongoing endeavor of the company or organization.

I hope the HR department at the Plains Dealer did not just rollover and accept this decision, much less be the ones who thought of this disaster of an idea.  If so, turn in your HR card and find a different profession.

Have you ever done a lay-off in anyway but face to face?  If so, why and how did it turn out?

 

As always, I would like to hear your thoughts on the subject, either echoing my thoughts or telling me I am full of it.

Welcome to the new John Jorgensen blog 2.0

Welcome to John Jorgensen’s blog 2.0.  My first, the HR Tailgate, has gone by the wayside (along with the URL) and considering my tailgating days are over, thought I could use a fresh start.  So welcome to HR Beyond the Table.

Like its predecessor, the blog will be mostly about HR and its various facets.  We are NOT going to talk furniture here but all aspects of HR, from tactical to strategic to social to silly.  My intention is to look at all aspects of HR, especially those as seen from the perspective of trench HR practitioners.  Those of you who know me well know I will also be throwing in thoughts on HR as it relates to concepts found in sports (especially those of the Hawkeye or Blackhawk type), history (I am a huge Civil War armature historian ‘cause no one will pay me for that), music (only surpassed as a music geek by Steve Browne) and humor. Considering I am a long time member and volunteer leader of and within the Society of Human Resource Management, there will be some discussion about SHRM on the local and national level and who it relates in services and value to its members.

One thing I would love to do is to get discussions going in this forum so I am asking for those who might have questions, thoughts or ideas they would like to share it to reach out to me.  I would love to get arguments started, generate new thoughts and would be happy to allow guest bloggers for those who don’t have their own and want to share….or those who have something they don’t want on their own site.  Anonymity might be able to be arranged.