Community Blog: Greater Miami Society for Human Resource Management

THE EVENT

Miami Dade College's Stuido Jazz Ensemble opened the evening with its performance during the networking hour. The night’s dinner program then went on to be one of the most interesting ever, as it portrayed a best practices panel, comprised of a number of past Diversity & Inclusion award winners—VITAS, Akerman Senterfitt, Burger King Corporation, Ryder Systems Inc, and Miami Dade College. The panel was presented in a rarely-seen 'talk show' format directed by a moderator. Each panel member spoke about ways their company fosters diversity and inclusion in the workplace, sparking an insightful Q&A discussion with attendees.

The program was pre-certified for 1.25 HRCI recertification credits.

THE WINNER

Founded in 2000, the Early Learning Coalition of Miami Dade/Monroe offers a variety of affordable and innovative early education and voluntary pre-kindergarten programs serving more than 50,000 children in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

The ELCMDM was elected as this year’s Diversity and Inclusion award recipient for its impressive inclusion efforts despite its limited resources. Worthy of mention are its innovative diversity training program now in place at other coalitions outside the Miami-Dade area, its recruitment of minority vendors through its RFP process, and its teen-mentoring program.

At GMSHRM’s festive Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Dinner Meeting, you’ll get all these paybacks. GMSHRM's D&I committee has put together the 2009 Excellence in D&I award event to be held on October 20th at the InterContinental Hotel, West Miami, in Doral. Tickets are available at their events' purchase page or website, www.gmshrm.org. 

This event provides YOU with many opportunities:  

Previous winners of the Diversity & Inclusion Award include AkermanSenterfitt, PBS&J, Jet Stream Credit Union, Ryder Systems, Miami Dade College, VITAS, Miami Dade County, and last year, Burger King.

Although some of these employers are ‘large, or public’ institutions,smaller employers shouldn't be discouraged from recognizing their own efforts. Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace can be found in many different ways – hiring a multi-generational and/or multi-cultural workforce, or hiring employees with disabilities and/or veterans is just the start!

• Does your organization support female and/or minority vendors and suppliers?
• Is there a training and development plan geared to the development of women, minorities and other diverse groups?
• Is a mentoring program in place?
• How is your organization active in the community?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then your organization IS a candidate for this prestigious award! Don’t miss an opportunity to bolster employee morale, earn FREE publicity for your organization, and keep a designation that will last forever!

Nominations will be accepted online at www.gmshrmdiversityawards.com through Wednesday, September 30, 2009.

Awards will be presented at the GMSHRM Diversity & Inclusion Dinner Meeting on October 20th , 2009. This year’s D & I Dinner Meeting will feature a Best Practices panel of workplace leaders eager to share their own Best Practices.

Why have I listed these organizations, you ask? They have all been recognized by the Greater Miami Society for HR Management as recipients of the GMSHRM Diversity & Inclusion Award.

The Diversity & Inclusion Committee of the Greater Miami Society for Human Resource Management seeks to award organizations and/or companies that foster an inclusive work environment in which all employees are inspired and encouraged to contribute, strengthened by their different perspectives, backgrounds and life experiences. 

Will your organization be next?

Submit your nomination today @ www.gmshrmdiversityawards.com!

Nominations will be accepted through September 25, 2009.

Awards will be presented at the GMSHRM Diversity & Inclusion Dinner Meeting on October 20, 2009.

Several agencies and organizations were present at the event to speak and network with the HR professionals attending that day.  This gathering of experts  included:

• Patrick Murphy, M.S., Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Vet Center Team Leader, Miami Vet Center
• Lisa Chowning Garcia, Compliance Officer, US DOL Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)
• Veronica James, M.S., Registered Mental Health Counselor, OEF/OIF Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, Miami VA Medical Center
• Raymond Moreau, Jr., Employment Coordinator, Veterans Benefits Administration
• Arden D. Dickey, State of Florida Ombudsmen Director, ESGR  (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve)
• Nelson Santiago, Phd., Public Affairs Director, FL ESGR
• Walfredo Leiva, Employer Outreach, ESGR
• Dr. Ken Marquard, Director, ACCESS Services/MDC MEED Academy

If you are interested in contacting any of the above representatives, contact GMSHRM Diversity & Inclusion Director Cindy Lau-Evans at diversity@gmshrm.org

SHRM offers a wide variety of D&I webcasts. One great thing about them is that if your schedule causes you to miss them “live” you can find many of them in the SHRM archives online at a time and date that are more convenient for you.

I was able to catch their live webcast on How to Recruit, Hire and Build Inclusive Workplaces for Transitioning Combat Exposed Veterans and People with Disabilities, presented by Ed Crenshaw, President & CEO of DESTIN Enterprises, LLC.

The session covered much material:  Veterans statistics; Challenges for the returning Veterans;  Overall US depression and disability facts;   Employer challenges;  The moral imperative, as well as the business case, for a friendlier workplace for Veterans and individuals with disabilities; etiquette, respect, sensitivity and inclusion; and, more…….

If you would like to check out this webcast for yourself, here is some guidance on how to look for this presentation (as well as other archived Diversity  webcasts):

Go to the www.shrm.org  website
Click on the Education tab towards the top of the web page
Select Webcasts (Member Benefit)  from the drop-down menu
Scroll down to click on See all available Webcasts
In the SHRM Webcast Archive, click on the Diversity section
There,  look for “Recruiting and Assisting Combat-exposed Veterans and People with Disabilities.”   Presenter Edward Crenshaw, Jr., of DESTIN Enterprises

In this article posted on July 9, 2009, SHRM online manager/editor Alicia Wright writes of some of the findings contained within a Bendixen & Associates poll of 1,102 women from a number of Latin American, Asian, African and Arab countries.   The poll was released by New America Media in May 2009.

In the latter part of the 20th century women immigrated to America in ever-growing numbers and are now on the move as much as men.  

Female immigrants indicated great obstacles after coming to the United States with many finding it difficult to find comparable professional jobs to those they held in their home countries; when they did find such employment, they reported wages that were less than what they earned previously.

Despite these challenges, many stated that they were more empowered here than they’d been in their home countries.  The poll reveals that many female immigrants experience changes in their roles since living here with almost one third reporting that  they were now the heads of their households or that they were sharing equally with their spouses in various family matters.   Furthermore, many of the polled women felt that they were more assertive now, within and outside of their households.

I'm attending this Thursday's GMSHRM Diversity and Inclusion workshop, "Transitioning our Veterans into the Workplace." I look forward to learning of ways to make a difference within my own organization- in being able to address a national concern with targeted recruiting and employment practices. Information will be plentiful, with speakers from the Miami Vet Center, the OFCCP, Miami VA Medical Center, Veterans Benefits Administration, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, and Miami Dade College.

Workshop participants will also have the opportunity to tour a state-of-the-art Navy warship station at the Coast Guard Station in Miami Beach on Sunday May 31, 2009.  

Interested? Check out the workshop on the Events page or by clicking here.

As an HR Professional, I am very excited for such an event. Especially with President's plan to return troops, there will be a huge influx of veterans in the workplace in 2009 and 2010, and I know I need coaching on how to prepare! Do you?

For more information or to register visit: www.gmshrm.org/events.html

Based on views of close to 90,000 workers in 18 countries around the world, Irina Konstantinovsky, will share the results of the Towers Perrin’s Global Workforce Study “Closing the Engagement Gap:  A Road Map for Driving Superior Business Performance”  and provide important insights to what attracts, retains and engages the workforce.

Save the Date:         Friday, June 5, 2009

GMSHRM Global Forum
Registration   8:00 AM                            
Program:       8:30 AM– 10:30 AM
Location:       FIU University Park – College of Business Complex                             
                   CBC 223 (Parking: Use reserved parking spaces in Lot 9)
                   Use Tamiami Trail/112th Street Entrance (Map link)

  About the Presenter: Irina Konstantinovsky of Towers Perrin

Irina Konstantinovsky is a Principal and a Group Leader for the Change Implementation Practice at Towers Perrin.  Irina has worked in the area of organization transformation including design, change management, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and the implications on leadership and talent.  Her expertise is in the development and implementation of strategies, programs and interventions to ensure the alignment of business strategies with organization structure, culture, leadership and employee behavior.   Before joining Towers Perrin, she worked in the human resource division of General Electric, Capital Services.  She was born in Argentina and moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies.  Irina holds two Master degrees from Cornell University, one in Adult Education and Training and the other in Human Resource Management.  She speaks Spanish and Russian fluently.This session was submitted for 2 Credit towards re-certification GPHR, SPRH, PHR.

Event Sponsor:

GMSHRM Professional Development Seminar will be held on May 21st at FIU Business Center (Main Campus) 8:30AM to 12:30PM. The seminar has been approved for 3.5 HRCI Certification. 

Register now - Click here to buy tickets!!!

This session will explain Systems Theory and its application to the corporate environment. That is, that a system underlies all strategic relationships inside and outside a company. The understanding of interconnectedness at every level of the firm is key to an HR person's success at driving and implementing strategy and change.  It will address customer service, policy making and change processes that affect all members and stakeholders.  This session will enable HR professionals to take their seat at the table, to create and promote policy, mission, vision as a social catalyst for change within an organization.  It will give a basic practical understanding of how strategy and systems can drive performance improvement moving culture from compliance to total engagement
 
This program hs been pre-approved for 3.5 HRCI recertification credits.
The use of this seal is not an endorsement by the HR Certification Institute of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met the HR Certification Institute’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification credit  

Cost of $15 per person will include hors douvres, and 2 drinks per person.

For more information, please visit GMSHRM's website. Stay tune for more details.

In the coming school year, GMSHRM and Junior Achievement will team to teach the JA 'Company' program, which helps high school students learn what it's like to run a business! Junior Achievement is the largest and fastest growing economic education not-for-profit organization in the world that links the private sector with education.

The 'JA Company' program helps high school students learn how to start a business.  They sell stock to secure the 'capital,' create a product, sell it, and liquidate the company at the end of the semester to, hopefully, return a profit to their investors...all under your guidance!  

All of JA's programs focus on dropout prevention, self-esteem and workforce readiness for the global marketplace of the 21st century. The teachers who use JA programs do so at no cost to schools.  Read more about Junior Achievement of Miami at www.jamiami.org.

To volunteer, contact Scott Galvin at JA by calling (305) 687-3977, ext. 26.  Or simply email him at sgalvin@jamiami.org.  Be sure to let him know you're with GMSHRM!

Please visit GMSHRM's website for more information on Chapter activities, initiatives and special events.

While the article cautions against stereotyping people from different generations, it covers key aspects of the US multigenerational workforce and asserts that leaders can create a competitive advantage by “capitalizing on the strengths and values of different generations.”

Be sure to read this report for practical suggestions and data as they relate to the generational groups: workforce demographics; leadership style preference; differences in ethics; attraction, employee engagement, retention strategies, and more!

As the SHRM Research Quarterly notes, “Demographic and social trends will have a significant impact on the workforce in the coming years.  Thus, in today’s struggling global economy, it is more important than ever that organizations leverage the knowledge, skills and abilities of all workers –from all generations.”

By Cindy J. Lau-Evans, Diversity Director, Greater Miami chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management

March 17th
GMSHRM will host its first social networing event of the year on March 17th. Yes! We are gearing up for a fabulous St. Patrick's Day celebration and look forward to seeing you there. GMSHRM has partnered with the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce for this event. The networking session will follow the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce (GMCC) Human Resources and Business Education Training Conference - another "must attend" human resources conference in South Florida. We expect a great turnout of both local human resources and business professionals. The social networking event is just $15 per person.

For more information about these events, please visit www.gmshrm.org.