March 9, 2010,
Chapter Monthly Meeting, Employee Wellness Programs: Maintaining a Healthy Workforce and Managing Healthcare Costs

March 11, 2010,
Oregon State Council and Stoel Rives Labor & Employment's 8th Annual Labor & Employment Law Conference

March 17 - 19, 2010,
SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Conference

March 17, 2010,
Board Meeting

April 13, 2010,
Chapter Monthly Meeting, Stace Gordon: Union Relations - Strategies for Successful Collaborations

April 26 - 28, 2010,
SHRM Staffing Management Conference

April 26 - 28, 2010,
NCHRA - HR West 2010

April 28, 2010,
Board Meeting

May 11, 2010,
Chapter Monthly Meeting, David K. Gerstenfeld, Presiding Administrative Law Judge - Office of Administrative Hearings - Unemployment Hearings

May 26, 2010,
Board Meeting

May 27, 2010,
YWCA (SHRM - Oregon State Council) Diversity Conference

June, 2010,
SHRMA's HR Basics Seminar

September 29 - Oct 1, 2010,
NHRMA Conference

Greetings!  It’s hard to believe that spring is just around the corner.  We hope that 2010 is treating you well thus far.   

We are pleased to announce that we are in the preliminary stages of researching options for a vendor to host our web site.  Our goal is to provide a web site with a fresh new look and feel, is easy to navigate and provides our members with everything they need to take advantage of the benefits of Chapter membership, all in one location – one stop shopping, so to speak!  While implementation of a new site may not occur until 2011, we wanted to let you know we are working on this, and we will keep you posted as we continue our research and ultimately choose a new web site host.   

Our January and February meeting presentations were both upbeat and informative.  Judy Clark of HR Answers met with us in January to exchange ideas on how HR professionals can enhance their relationships and boost HR’s visibility and value in their organizations.  BOLI Commissioner Brad Avakian met with us in February to discuss BOLI’s past and current year activities, as well as opportunities for strengthening Oregon’s workforce development system. 

We are excited about programs we have planned moving forward, including a presentation by our Student Chapter members in March on health care reform.  You won’t want to miss this one, and we hope you will take this opportunity to support our Student Chapter.

Save the date and watch your mail for an invitation to our annual HR Basics conference scheduled for Friday, June 4 in Salem.  This conference presents a valuable opportunity to not only gather information on current events and issues affecting HR professionals, but it is an excellent networking opportunity as well. 

Please refer to the Calendar at a Glance section of this newsletter for other upcoming events.

We Are Very Excited About This Upcoming Year

We have established a goal to increase our Chapter’s membership numbers by 10%, and to further educate existing and potential members about the benefits of membership with SHRMA.  Increasing our membership not only strengthens our Chapter, it also enhances networking opportunities for our current members. Remember, membership with our Chapter is free if you are a SHRM member.

We are excited to announce that this year will be the first year we participate in the Salem Chamber of Commerce Show Biz tradeshow scheduled for Thursday May 13. As we begin planning for our Chapter’s participation in this event, we will be recruiting volunteers to help staff our booth and spread the word about SHRM membership benefits. If you are interested, please contact our Membership Director Ellen Strickland.stricklande@wcb.com

We encourage you to invite a guest, or guests, to attend future meetings with you. And, if you have ideas you think may be helpful in our efforts to increase membership, we also ask that you share them with us.

Obtain your HR Certification before Eligibility Requirements Change

We have some interesting times ahead of us as HR professionals.  2010 begins a year of uncertainty in many areas, such as our economy’s recovery, health care, unemployment, and the possibility of retirement for many Baby Boomers due to the deterioration of their retirement savings.  

Times like these, and the HR challenges that come with them, place more emphasis on the importance of credibility and competence in our roles as human resource professionals.  The knowledge, expertise and experience that an HR certification represents is a valuable asset to any organization. 

There’s no time like the present to achieve your goal of obtaining your HR certification.  There are only two exam-testing periods left before the eligibility requirements for the PHR, SPHR and GPHR change – May-June 2010 and Dec. 2010-Jan. 2011.

Currently, applicants must have two years of professional (exempt-level) HR work experience to be eligible; however, beginning with the 2011 May-June testing period, applicants will be required to demonstrate a combination of work experience and education to be eligible.

We encourage you to go the HRCI website for more information regarding new eligibility requirements for each certification exam, as well as application deadlines and fees associated with testing for the PHR, SPHR and GPHR. 

For more information, visit http://www.hrci.org/certification/ov/

LINE: Hiring Anticipation Grows As Recovery Gains Traction
More manufacturers and service-sector companies are expected to add to their payrolls in March 2010 than did so in March 2009.

House Passes Tax Breaks for New Hires
Despite doubts among lawmakers that it will create many jobs, the House on Thursday passed legislation giving companies that hire the jobless a temporary payroll tax break.

Thousands of Mine Safety Cases Pile Up
With 16,000 cases contesting safety violations pending before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, Congressional leaders want to know the cause of the backlog and how to alleviate it.

Employees Have Ideas. Anyone Listening?
Employees' suggestions show they care about the company. This can be a great opportunity for employers—if they know how to take advantage of it.

Regs Set Up Mental Health Treatment Parity
Take an in-depth look at the interim final regulations and applicable deadlines for establishing parity between medical benefits and mental health benefits.

Jobseekers Should Lose the Flip Flops, Arrogance
HR professionals can empathize with their peers who had to deal with these outrageous blunders made by job seekers.

To read these articles and more in full go to www.SHRM.org

HR by the Numbers - Conflict in the Workplace
Can’t we all just get along?  Human resources managers report that they spend anywhere from 24% to 60% of their time trying to resolve workplace conflicts, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  SHRM says that almost 60% of survey respondents have seen violent incidents in their workplace over the last three years, with “personality conflicts” as the main cause.  Another study found that HR professionals say that addressing performance issues is far easier than addressing behavior issues – a 4:1 margin of difference.

In addition, researchers at the University of North Carolina have even more troubling results:

• 53% of workers have lost time at work over worries about a previous or potential confrontation with a colleague.
• 28% have lost work time in their attempts to avoid confrontations.
• 37% are less committed to their employer because of a hostile workplace altercation.
• 22% say they’re putting less effort into their work due to conflicts at the office.

Say “Hello” to Social Media/Networking
Social media has arrived in the workplace (as if there was any doubt), according to a survey conducted by Internet marketing firm 6S Market­ing.  A recent survey drawing on a database of more than 10,000 respon­dents, found that 70% of workers use some form of social media, with Facebook most popular (named by 70%).  Forty-seven percent use Twitter (the majority are 19 to 25 years old), and only 20% depend on MySpace.  Fifty-eight percent responded that they blog, with 47% blogging for personal reasons, 57% blogging for work, and 35% for both.  Sixty-one percent of the businesses say they track what’s being said about their organizations online.

The Generations
Survey data indicates that more than four in ten workers over the age of 35 currently work for a younger boss.  As generations continue to mix in the workplace, many older workers are reporting to younger bosses. A new CareerBuilder survey finds that 43 percent of workers ages 35 and older said they currently work for someone younger than them. Breaking down age groups, more than half (53%) of workers ages 45 and up said they have a boss younger than them, followed by 69% of workers ages 55 and up. This survey was conducted from November 5 and November 23, 2009, among more than 5,200 workers.

Three Bad Excuses for not Communicating with Staff

Sharing company information with employees is a valuable manage­ment strategy, but some organizations are hesitant, fearing the consequences of too much openness. Here are three common excuses—and some responses:

1) “Employees don’t care about anything outside their own departments.” Most employees will appreciate that the organiza­tion is trying to be open and honest with them. And even if some employees don’t care, why deprive people who sincerely want to know what’s going on with their organization?

2) “If employees have access to information, they won’t listen to management.” The concept of the manager who knows everything and makes every decision is primitive and counterproductive. Managers who give out information freely will reap trust, cooperation, and productivity.

3) “If employees hear bad news, they will assume it’s the result of bad management.” Candid reports will earn more respect than dodging responsibility. You can also use this opportunity to talk about the challenges your company faces and the risks involved in staying in business.