Concurrent Sessions

Disability discrimination, harassment and failure to accommodate claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) surged 75 percent in the past decade. Provide reasonable workplace accommodations for employees with mental and physical disabilities, and understand your rights to take appropriate disciplinary action for violation of work rules. Assess work-related limitations and capabilities using the six steps of “interactive dialogue.” Discuss thorny issues such as attendance, use of medicinal marijuana, and poor performance and misconduct that may stem from an employee’s disability.

Immigration and compliance has become a difficult aspect of workforce management in our complicated global economy. Used strategically, immigration supports your organization’s global talent acquisition and deployment plan. Explore best practices to determine who should be responsible for immigration compliance and how to leverage internal expertise and ensure compliance of immigration laws. Discuss recent changes and trends in enforcement and plan oversight coverage in this area.

The need for HR to guide the executive team and provide strategic leadership has never been more critical. Leading authority and international best-selling author, Dr. Bob Nelson will share his research and insight on five emerging workforce trends: the pending shortage of skilled workers, the rise of the millennial generation, the expansion of contingent workers, the evolving role of virtual employees, and the globalization of the labor market. Learn to proactively address these issues before they become problems for your organization and hinder its ability to compete. 

Effective networking skills play a key role in sourcing, recruiting and professional development — and directly affects your professional net worth. Sandy Jones-Kaminski, author of “I'm at a Networking Event — Now What???,” the No.1 pick on the Inc.com 2010 Business Book Wish List, will share tips on how to make the most of every opportunity you have to connect at HR West 2013. Maximize the numerous networking opportunities at this year's conference by polishing your networking skills, engaging in thoughtful in-person conversations, building relationships, and networking more effectively. 

Sandy will participate in our book signing event at the conference, and is donating a copy of "I'm at a Networking Event--Now What???" to be raffled off at the end of her presentation.

In May 2012, innovative timeshare resort management company Grand Pacific Resorts launched the Denison Organizational Culture Survey, which correlates corporate culture to business performance. With 25 years of research behind it, The Denison Organizational Culture Survey has been used by more than 5,000 companies worldwide, including Jet Blue and Hertz. See how Grand Pacific Resorts used data, leadership development, and principles of involvement and inclusion to solve internal problems and ignite passion in their management ranks — developing bench strength to pave the way for company growth. 

When organizations fail to get the most out of their HR technology systems, most blame the software. However, in many cases, the problem is the result of flawed implementation and organizational changes. Find out why inefficiencies exist within your organization and get solutions for resolving them. Discover how to properly implement and utilize built-in system functionality and marry day-to-day processes to the system to achieve significant improvement. 

In business, the companies with the best ideas win! Gay Mitchell, executive vice president of HR at Royal Bank, believes companies must “nurture creativity and motivation…by building a compassionate yet performance-driven corporate culture.” Define and apply tools for creative problem solving and future thinking — changing perspective, shifting paradigms and visioning new possiblities — to give your organization the competitive edge. Understand which factors enhance and which discourage a climate of creativity. 

California is always on the cutting edge of employment law developments, and HR plays a strategic role in managing the California workforce. Learn about trends and changes in wage and hour, equal employment opportunity (EEO), performance management, leaves of absence, reasonable accommodations, documentation, and other key California workplace rules. Walk away with practical tips to ensure compliance, and receive a summary of relevant court decisions along with a California HR audit checklist for reference.

In addition to managing and delivering HR projects and programs, senior HR professionals are expected to contribute strategically to organizational goals. Get a solid introduction to project management to effectively plan, execute and close out projects on time and under budget. Deliver successful HR initiatives with the assurance that organizational goals are met and stakeholders’ needs and expectations are satisfied.

According to HR Magazine, engaged employees perform 20 percent better and are 87 percent less likely to leave their organization than disengaged employees. Disengaged employees not only break the spirits of colleagues, they erode an organization's bottom line. Create positive engagement using three major trends in employee recognition: peer-to-peer, results-based, and social recognition. Master techniques that incorporate rhythm and technology to drive engagement within your organization.

Employee terminations are never easy and often present a legal quagmire even when handled correctly. Review disciplinary procedures, revisit legal issues, and learn valuable and practical steps to make terminations go as smoothly as possible — for the employee and for the company. Learn about at-will employment and identify key types of employment claims including discrimination, defamation, violation of public policy, and breach of contract. We'll bring some levity to the topic by sharing our worst termination stories.

Making and reporting findings in an investigation of harassment or misconduct is a necessary evil. It must be done but it's not easy! Without a direct witness to an event, how can you determine who is telling the truth? Too many investigators throw up their hands and give up. But a failure to make findings leads to lawsuits and liability. Learn how to establish who is lying and who is telling the truth, and discover which commonly-used methods are most the reliable indicators.

Productive conflict is essential to effective working partnerships, but fear of conflict causes many leaders to stifle the creative and innovative outcomes that result. The key to managing conflict is learning to manage yourself and your default reactions to conflict. Get a better understanding of your own tendencies and identify the different types of workplace conflict. Practice new skills for managing yourself and enjoy the potentially positive outcomes that stem from conflict.

Social networks within an organization, such as project teams, business units and affinity groups, have the power to transform your culture to support diversity and inclusion efforts. When a critical mass of employees participate in a network unit, inclusion becomes the dominant mode of operation. Learn to tap into these naturally existing social networks and transform the culture of your workplace so inclusion is the norm.

HR professionals must deal with conflict every day — from managing tough personality clashes between employees to resolving employee disputes about performance, discipline, promotions and conditions of employment. Examine the role of mediation as an effective tool for resolving workplace conflicts and disputes. Learn how mediation assists in managing strong emotions during conflict, and how best to introduce mediation into your conflict management system. 

As organizations expand their talent pools and fill positions with H-1B visa holders, a properly managed immigration program reduces HR headaches. Closely examine the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services laws and regulations and discover how to accommodate inspections and site visits from the Department of Labor. Plus, learn cost-effective solutions to mitigate financial risk and maintain legal compliance.

Health care reform and its major provisions take effect in 2014 and will have a major impact on employers’ benefits strategies. Employers must address compliance issues including recent San Francisco Health Care Ordinance revisions, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act audits, and the possible release of final Section 125 cafeteria plan regulations. Gain insight and practical information to successfully address the benefits and compliance issues resulting from health care reform over the next 12 months.

Hiring poorly risks alienating high performers and compromising productivity and retention. A solid talent strategy— how people will be recruited, assessed, developed, and measured — reduces hiring risk and serves as a source of competitive advantage. Learn to use workforce planning to identify development and recruiting strategies; and workforce analytics to understand what positively affects employee behavior and performance. 

The problems and issues you face are real, shouldn’t your network be too?  Join your peers — meet friends old and new — at this 80's-themed reception featuring libations, light hors d’oeuvres, and great conversation with your colleagues.

Engaged employees bring higher productivity and positive business outcomes. But research shows only 29 percent of the current workforce is engaged, and 54 percent of employees say they will begin looking for a new job as the economy improves. Build a magnetic culture that attracts top talent, engages them, and reduces their likelihood of leaving to remain competitive in this dynamic business world. 

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) actively enforces protected concerted activity, commonly referred to as employee section 7 rights. Most employers with a non-union workforce do not understand the full scope of protections provided to non-union employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).  As a topical example from 2012, in cases against employers based on their social media policy the NLRB found provisions in the employer’s policy to be unlawful in almost each instance. Understand nonunion employees’ rights under the NLRA and effectively design and implement policies that will withstand NLRB scrutiny.

If you are considering HR certification — don’t delay. Certification shows that you know the most current principles and core practices of HR management, and you become more marketable when competing for top HR positions. If you currently hold a PHR, SPHR or GPHR, learn how to earn recertification credits through a variety of professional development activities, many of which you may already be doing. 

Introverts make up about 25 to 40 percent of the general population, but have a strong showing at 60 percent of the gifted population. Every day in our businesses, introverts are inadvertently overlooked and undervalued — their ideas not heard, their leadership not developed. Look at common HR practices that work against introverts and find ways to improve them. Plus, identify seven common HR practices that impede introverts and seven that include introverts. 

For better or worse, wellness programs are no longer viewed as soft benefits with results that can’t be tracked. Wellness efforts can and should be measured. Proving return on investment for your wellness program leads to sustainable growth and great places to work. Learn to calculate direct savings and avoided costs, with results that would impress the toughest CFO. Understand what components are important to measure and how to ensure sustainable ROI over time.

Recruiting and staffing today requires a strategic understanding of the business and the ability to align effectively with hiring managers and others as a true consultant, not just a facilitator. Using the RecruitCONSULT! philosophy, leverage challenging recruiting situations to develop consultative relationships with hiring managers and candidates. Adopt skills used by outside search firms and transform yourself into a powerful recruiting expert consultant. 

In today’s multicultural, global workplace, there is a critical need for more culturally competent managers.  Identify what a global mindset is and why it’s so vital today.  Using case studies and interactive exercises, you’ll uncover the competencies that differentiate successful global leaders, and understand the individual and business fallout when managers lack these skills. Plus, discover five concrete ways to get high ROI from a global leadership development investment. 

The outplacement industry is changing rapidly with new players using technology-centric delivery models. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, "As demand rises in the $4 billion-a-year outplacement business, providers increasingly offer standardized services, which some workers say offer little value.” Evaluate traditional outplacement service providers and technology-based providers. Examine the advantages and disadvantages of both models to enable objective decision-making in the selection of an outplacement service provider.

Forward-thinking organizations are recrafting their employee value propositions and total rewards strategies so their offerings better match employee needs and preferences. To ensure success, total rewards programs should align with business strategy, optimize investments and yield the best return, and drive employee behaviors that will achieve business goals. Learn strategies to achieve these three goals and understand how employees think about and value total rewards. Gain insight from relevant findings from Towers Watson's global research initiatives.

Creating a strategic plan represents a significant ongoing leadership challenge. But the practice establishes the discipline for exercising long-term thinking about future direction, recognizing opportunities and threats in the environment, and aligning internal resources to adapt to changes. Dimensional Strategy, a new model for strategic planning, provides a framework for strategic planning tasks and allows leaders to navigate an organization’s complexity to create a unifying, compelling and achievable strategic plan.

As the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in “Staub v. Proctor Hospital” highlights, if HR acts as the “cat’s paw” when management makes an unfair decision about an employee, the organization always pays the price. Learn to avoid or reduce legal liability, solve workplace problems, and improve employee morale by effectively gathering information about employee complaints. Walk away with strategies and options for developing appropriate responses to challenging incidents in the workplace. 

California and federal leave of absence laws present complex challenges for employers trying to effectively manage employee attendance. Under leave laws, employees may be entitled to take intermittent leave in the smallest increment of time measured by your company's payroll system. Be sure you are using recommended language in your leave policies and mandatory leave notices. Properly track and document intermittent leave use and know what you can — and should — require of employees requesting intermittent leave. 

Enterprise resource planning systems, customer relationship management, and other business systems and ebusiness portals make for more competitive companies that are agile and knowledgeable about their outcomes. HR is ideally suited to manage the implemention of such systems, as well as deliver the necessary ROI measurements and change initiatives involved. Gain tips on executing long-term business system projects, including how to manage change and set expectations.

The use of independent contractors is on the rise and with it comes increased risk and liability, especially regarding misclassification. Examine the current landscape surrounding the use of independent contractors e.g., trends in utilization, government oversight and scrutiny, potential penalties and fines, and identify the risks associated. You’ll leave the session able to put in place business processes and procedures to ensure the appropriate classification of independent contractors.

Recruiters seeking the best and brightest Millennials are rethinking how they reach out to these workers. Forward-thinking companies are integrating social and mobile media platforms into their sourcing, recruiting and onboarding processes. Find out how to target members of Generation Y with an employment brand and company persona that speaks the same language, and leverage  technologies to connect with and recruit this valuable workforce group.

The vast majority of corporate training activities do not improve learning, retention or on-the-job performance. While technology is rapidly eliminating the role of trainer, the rush to online tools is not without problems as employees click through training while checking emails and voicemails. Identify and eliminate training waste and learn to set goals, add real learning value, select proper learning technologies, and dramatically increase training’s return on investment using the “lean” methodology.

Holacracy is a business operating and governance structure designed to distribute power from a single leader to the whole employee population. It harnesses the collective talent and knowledge of the organization and creates an empowered, engaged, agile and diverse workforce willing to meet the needs of the organization and the marketplace. Hear real-world experiences of Holacracy turning disengaged employees into strategic thinkers actively engaged in their role and responsibilities. Address employee turnover, under-performing employees, unhealthy culture grievances, time wasteful meetings and much more.

Giving feedback is challenging for everyone. No one wants to hear that she isn’t doing a good job. And thus no one wants to tell her. Telling your boss you’re frustrated or aren’t hitting your targets can be even more difficult, and thus many of us say nothing. Worse is that most feedback, positive or negative, is uselss because it’s vague. Get a simple formula to make even the most difficult conversations easier. You’ll be able to say what you want to say, when you want to say it, in a way that people can hear you and take action.

Enjoy a delicious seated lunch and networking time with your colleagues. Plus...

Healthcare Reform Jeopardy!
Put your benefits expertise to good use—winning cash prizes! Just like in the real Jeopardy, this quick, educational lunch session will address key knowledge points in the newly enacted Affordable Care Act (ACA) Healthcare Reform. And, just like the real Jeopardy, you can win cash!

Every year, there are numerous changes in workplace laws and regulations. Get up to speed on current developments in employment law, and ensure your policies and practices minimize your organization's exposure to legal risk. Review key legal developments from the past year and learn how these developments affect employee relations. Then, identify the necessary steps to take in order to address any areas of risk.

Leading companies are using new and innovative methods to connect with candidates, including the latest trend to break onto the recruiting scene: talent communities. Learn how talent communities quickly and efficiently bolster recruiting efforts and stock pipelines with candidates. Examine case studies and client snapshots to understand the holistic approach to building a talent community. Discover new ways to build your career opportunity pipeline, boost employer branding and use technology for ultimate success.

Health plan benefit costs are often the second-largest corporate cost after salary and compensation. To maintain employee satisfaction and ensure a market-competitive benefits package, organizations must find ways to manage and control employee benefits costs. Learn how plan eligibility, administration, compliance and vendor choice impact the bottom line of health plan costs. Examine innovative concepts and plan designs available in today’s marketplace and understand the value of wellness to your organization’s health plan cost containment strategy.

Companies may want to look the other way when key employees — rainmakers, high-level managers, partners or owners — behave badly. But sexual harassment, unprofessional or politically-incorrect behavior, tantrum throwing, and the like, create liability for the organization. It is a critical HR function to bring solutions to the table in such situations. Overcome barriers to taking action and learn various techniques to manage challenging individuals and minimize liability for your organization.

HR practitioners need to understand the factors that will impact leadership success in the future and how programs such as succession planning and talent management will change. Examine the latest research on leadership mega trends and HR challenges, and find out what behaviors leaders will need to demonstrate to lead organizations to success in the future.

After conducting 12,000 hours of research on 40 high-performance companies, PearlHPS has found the link between leadership capability and true business outcomes. Uncover these ground-breaking insights and learn to make critical business decisions based on fact. Discuss three key areas: competency, continuity and alignment, and learn how to incorporate these elements into a model for success. You’ll takeaway ideas for creating a high-performance, winning organization.

Strategic HR practitioners must be adept at clear thinking that drives complex decisions — drilling deep into issues, identifying assumptions and testing ideas to move solutions forward — even amid information overload and rapid change. Join a lively session to learn the communication practice of Precision Q+A, using issues directly relevant to your work. Results of Precision Q+A include improved critical thinking, better decision-making, more productive meetings and enhanced credibility.

Research shows that 96 percent of HR professionals check references, yet less than 25 percent of those checks produce information beyond employment verification. Dramatically develop your reference-checking to improve candidate quality and predict retention and performance. Study best practices to understand how reference-checking influences hiring, and examine case studies.

Despite tremendous investment in leadership development, succession planning and executive recruitment, leaders still fail at an alarming rate. Actively preventing leadership failure results in measurable return on investment for the organization, and produces a powerful ripple effect that elevates the success of otherwise average leaders. Uncover the hidden cause of leadership breakdown and the No. 1 way to prevent failure before it begins. Determine when and how to intervene when derailment is already in progress.

Engaged employees provide critical competitive advantages, yet many companies struggle to increase engagement among their workforce. Despite your best efforts to engage employees, a lack of effective action planning and follow-up will cause your hard work to fall short. Learn principles of high impact employee engagement action planning, and map out activities that are cohesive and accountable. Explore principles that have been effectively applied at three vastly different organizations to create major change.

Clear, lawful workplace policies that employees understand and follow are critical to preventing devastating liability. Legal action, confidential data loss, wage and hour violations, and loss of confidential information can bankrupt a company. Few employers currently maintain compliance with five essential policies that meet today’s needs: social media, retaliation, data protection, wage and hour, and confidentiality. Examine these essential policies and how they overlap with other policies you may have in place. 

Understanding and applying HR metrics is an essential skill for HR professionals who want to leverage strategic partnerships and act as business drivers rather than service providers. Understand why business analytics are important to HR and gain the basics of analyzing data to provide insight. Learn fact-based decision-making techniques to improve your strategic capabilities and increase your value.

Most organizations today face the challenge of doing more with less. According to research in Liz Wiseman’s book, "Multipliers," leaders can double their workforce for free by accessing knowledge and greater capability in the people they've already hired. Learn how to benchmark and measure progress when accessing the intelligence of your organization. Apply key accelerators and best practices to improve the work of middle management.

Negligent hiring is one of the fastest-growing areas of employment litigation. Hiring someone with a criminal record or falsified background can result in workplace violence, lawsuits for negligent hiring, and time wasted recruiting and hiring the wrong person. Hear about cutting-edge issues, such as the use of social networking sites, and the EEOC approach to the use of criminal records and credit reports.

Follow a tried-and-true outline when auditing your written (and unwritten) HR policies and procedures, and make sure your company is legally compliant in California and properly functioning.  Working through the checklist, we’ll examine recent trends and developments in privacy, employment law compliance, class action avoidance, workplace crisis management, and issues that are often raised in a self-audit — including the most important concern — “Now that we found it, what do we do about it?”   

The new economy is fueled by the fast eating the slow. HR must be ready to anticipate, respond, adapt and, above all, lead through critical threats. Learn about five threats facing today's businesses and how each can be eliminated through HR's leadership. Apply HR competencies to lead organizational change and enhance your position as a business partner.

Have a great idea, but not sure how to get budget from finance to make it happen? Come find out how to create and communicate a business argument that Finance will respect and listen to. You will learn how to frame a business opportunity, see samples of Return on Investment (ROI) tools and understand how to find “hidden” budget opportunities to turn a costly company issue into dollars needed to solve the problem.

Performance reviews often do not accurately reflect business performance at the highest levels in a corporation. Some executives are retained or rewarded, even when they fail to produce necessary business results. Create a concise, well-drafted business plan that serves as both a performance review document and a business plan for that function. Coach the executive team through the process and track progress throughout the year.

It is time for HR professionals to “break the mold” — successfully integrate and plant your flag as a key member of leadership. Sell and communicate your value to ultimately change how HR behaves and interacts within your organization. Provide a fresh, unique style and approach to HR that will affect how employees view you, how you manage teams, and how you hold yourself accountable. Leave the session re-inspired and re-motivated to champion HR.

Sometimes the best way to promote ethical practices, cultural diversity and professionalism in the workplace is to learn stories from real people who have demonstrated these values. In an engaging presentation, Marty Brounstein shares such a story from his book, “Two Among the Righteous Few: A Story of Courage in the Holocaust.” After engaging with the story directly, explore lessons of ethics and integrity, and identify practices to apply in your organization to promote ethics and professionalism.

In today's increasingly competitive hiring environment, many companies compete for the same talent. Talent communities bring together like-minded people who not only bring the right skills, but also the right fit. By building talent communities, you create a hire-on-demand function within staffing, and stay within your budget. Learn to use social media to reduce recruitment costs, and create strategies to hire great people when you need them.

Operating overseas creates hurdles that are different in every country. By developing an HR infrastructure that supports a global benefits philosophy and management system, you can meet your objectives in a global environment. Review global compliance and related Issues including, international workplace harassment, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act training and UK Bribery Act training. Gain a solid grasp of international terminology, and put in place a thoughtful and strategic process surrounding global, local and domestic issues.

An internal HR business partner and external OD consultant reflect on their nine-month project to measure managers' effectiveness at the North American Engineering Group of Genentech, which resulted in changing the behavior of 17 leaders and 12 teams, and was eventually implemented globally for Roche counterparts. Find out how to develop leaders, and leverage resources and system dynamics to transform manager relationships with employees, their departments and the organization.

The development of high-potential employees is widely recognized as critical to an organization’s future growth. Preparing your next generation of leaders ensures you will have experienced, capable employees prepared to assume leadership roles during economic, market or organizational crises. Analyze your leadership development strategies and discover how HR, senior executives, and high-potentials collaborate for predictable, sustainable results. Use a pragmatic, four-step process to bring speed and accuracy to decision-making and allow future leaders to take ownership of their development.

Research shows that, on average, companies overpay about 25 percent of their employees and underpay another 25 percent. The costs of overpaying are obvious, but underpaying is also expensive due to the many costs associated with undesirable turnover. Determine competitive, equitable wages and salaries that improve the bottom line by applying innovative techniques to job evaluation, classification and salary structure design.

Wikipedia defines gamification as the use of game design techniques, game thinking and game mechanics to enhance non-game contexts. Gamification in the workplace makes technology more engaging and encourages desired behaviors in employees while helping to solve problems. Discover how to use gamification to transform your corporate training or team building into a more memorable experience. 

The problems and issues you face are real, shouldn’t your network be too?  Join your peers — meet friends old and new — in the Skyline Room atop the Oakland Marriott for libations, light hors d’oeuvres, and great conversation with your colleagues.

Employment laws in other nations vary significantly from those in California. India, for example, does not recognize employment at will and mandates written employment agreements. Even in countries with a substantial English speaking population, common HR terms have dramatically different meanings. For example, an Indian national may request "leave," meaning they wish to take vacation. Develop a working dictionary to communicate clearly with multi-national employees.

There are so many moving, yet intersecting parts during a merger and HR plays an integral role in many of them. Learn how to add value to your organization as it goes through the entire merger lifecycle. Discover the important role of culture in the M&A process and develop a good culture assimilation strategy. You’ll leave the session able to identify the various components of an M&A HR Toolkit and explain why each one is critical to the overall success of any merger.

Securing employment is the No. 1 obstacle veterans identify in their transition from military to civilian life. Veterans bring valuable skills to the workplace, including team leadership, the ability to meet deadlines under pressure, a global outlook, and a commitment to excellence. Learn from the Combat to Community Training Program for Hiring Professionals how military skills translate to the business sector, and how to leverage local, state and federal veteran hiring initiatives.

Credit and blame lie at the heart of workplace relationships, and prove critical in determining how teams develop and interact with each other. By taking a mindful approach to credit and blame, individuals, teams and organizations can overcome the “blame game" and successfully adapt to new challenges. Consider academic research and theory, as well as psychology, to improve HR practices within your organization. Download his free eBook: http://www.creditandblame.com/bookrequest.html 

83% of HR professionals indicated that personal financial challenges have an impact on employee work performance in their organizations, with ability to focus and overall stress being most negatively affected.  Find out how to implement an effective financial wellness program that includes increased participation and contributions to retirement plans, greater use of flexible spending accounts, improved employee productivity, and heightened satisfaction with employee financial situations. 

The Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) maintains strict guidelines for how federal contractors and subcontractors must define, track, maintain and monitor applicants. Federal contractors and subcontractors must understand and comply with these regulations. Learn techniques to manage and track applicants, analyze data to determine possible and unintentional discrimination, and put compliant record-keeping and self-monitoring into practice.

Two highly successful plaintiffs’ and defense lawyers will provide a rare glimpse into how they approach litigating, mediating and settling their cases. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your own legal disputes by examining the facts and circumstances that cause our presenters to win and sometimes lose cases. This is a rare opportunity to walk away with a better understanding of how to prevent and resolve costly and protracted employment litigation.

Harassment and discrimination prevention is on most every California HR professional's radar. But could you spot the subtle risks that lead to claims such as defamation, fraud, negligent hiring and invasion of privacy? As an HR professional in California, you also need to be prepared for social media usage, trade secrets, non-competes, solicitation and savvy employees. Come to this lively session to gain tips and tools to minimize your litigation risk.

As businesses develop globally, they must leverage talents, expertise, creativity and contacts from multiple geographic areas, cultures and languages. Job performance depends on effective working relationships and the ability to capitalize on diversity and knowledge. Manage your company’s global growth and strengthen your strategic value. Understand how connectivity and interaction across cultures influences engagement and organizational effectiveness.

Four generations comprise today’s workforce – distinct groups competing, sometimes cooperating, and often struggling to communicate. When the generations connect, it is possible to harness the synergistic power of four different world views. Learn to facilitate empathetic understanding and create willingness to partner effectively. Capitalize on strengths, address practical differences in preferred work and communication styles, and call forth leadership from each generation.

HR intelligence is a proactive and systematic process for gathering, analyzing, communicating and using insightful HR research and analytics results to achieve strategic objectives. It focuses on descriptive and predictive analytics rather than intuition. Results from the largest research study to date, The HR Analytics Project, will be revealed. Discover emerging ethical issues associated with predictive analytics. 

According to Proctor & Gamble, a "brand" is what your company or product stands for in the hearts and minds of customers. When employees live your brand, they deliver the kind of work that builds loyalty with customers, drives profits and accelerates growth. When HR and marketing work together, they create amazing brand power. Learn to spark innovation and grow your company's bottom line while creating a culture of loyalty, productivity and alignment from the boardroom to the lunchroom.

Effective post-investigation interventions remediate problems, mitigate damage and restore trust and resilience in the workplace. HR’s credibility and strategic effectiveness in carrying out the organization’s core values and ethics are most critical in the aftermath of workplace investigations of harassment, retaliation and other misconduct. Take a deliberate and thoughtful approach to restoring the workplace, maximizing relationships with legal counsel and senior leaders, and ensuring that the organization’s strategies are aligned.

Successful HR professionals don’t stop when they gain a seat at the executive table. They leverage that achievement to communicate the business value of HR to their colleagues on up to the board of directors. Learn to define and articulate the return on investment for human resources initiatives, and communicate the compelling business case for investments in HR. Leverage proven best practices to test and defend the business case at the board level.

As the economy improves and competition for skilled employees heats up, companies are refocusing their efforts to attract and retain talented managers and employees. Recognize talent management as more than just another HR initiative. Based on the presenter’s experience helping to design, develop and direct talent management for The Coca-Cola Company, you’ll re-examine your current approach to talent management, and ensure management ownership and strategic alignment. 

Leadership failure is rampant at a time when results are expected faster than ever. Even when leaders survive into their second year, performance of their business units is dampened by indecision, overreactions and delays as they onboard. Focusing on the success of newly-hired and promoted leaders is one of the best investments a company can make. Promote new leader success with critical support from functional colleagues within HR. Learn practical, time-efficient ways to accelerate the business performance of new leaders and their teams.

Employee wellness programs are now common among organizations with 100+ employees. Unfortunately, as they proliferate, some dangerous trends are emerging. Identify the five most undesirable trends in employee wellness and learn specific, practical steps to ensure your organization creates a model (or modifies your existing program) to avoid them. Brad will be raffling off a couple autographed copies of his book, Employee Wellness: Implementing a High Impact, High ROI Strategy during the session.

The key to successful professional development and career transition is communicating with stories that demonstrate integrity, precision, motivation and knowledge. HR professionals who want to be heard and want a voice at the executive table must develop the communication skills that get them recognized at the highest levels. Improve your communication skills using methodology derived from communication experts.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports voluntary turnover is increasing despite slow economic growth yet, employers are having difficulty filling jobs due to a lack of qualified applicants. Organizations need to develop talent internally to ensure a strong talent pipeline for the future. Learn innovative employee engagement strategies and leverage technology for career development.

Defined contribution health plans enable employers to engage employees in a new way — focusing on the value of coverage and linking cost with health management. Employers have greater control over costs, but can also emphasize total rewards. Design, communicate and price health plans in a new way that maintains employee choice yet keeps programs affordable for both employer and employee. Enjoy predictable costs, greater employee accountability for health spending, higher employee satisfaction and lower rates of increase.

Lawsuits have been filed by employees claiming they were fired for being too attractive, while other employees have sued claiming they were fired for being too homely. Is an employer's preference for or against attractive employees illegal? Learn just how far you may lawfully go to regulate the dress, grooming and appearance of your employees. Examine a few court cases on this subject to fully understand the regulations and precedents.

As companies increasingly go global, enforcement of international regulations covering rights of employees and obligations of employers is also intensifying. Get strategies for dealing with the complexities of local practices and frequently strict employment regulations in multiple countries, as well as with U.S. laws affecting multi-national employers. Plus, take actions to enhance international recruitment, employment, benefits, compensation and tax processes for the success of your organization.

As HR leads the workforce evolution, innovative technology is proving powerful in changing business culture and connecting the global workforce. Discover the latest technology being used to solve problems of socialization and measurement of the new dynamic workforce. Learn how HR can use new tools to manage our evolving workforce.

Lead your department to a new level of accomplishment by building strategy-based business planning into HR operations. Apply your knowledge of HR analytics to develop, implement and communicate an HR strategy process that is aligned with corporate or department business goals. 

Among the many roles internal HR business partners play — change catalyst, trusted advisor, performance consultant— add another: organizational detective. Internal consultants often have information nobody else is privy to. Learn how to best use your special skills, knowledge and relationships to help clients solve problems and manage change. Read between the lines, ask thought-provoking and provocative questions, and connect disparate information to develop insightful conclusions and recommendations.

Identify your greatest HR priorities based on where your company is classified on Adizes' Life Cycle. Discover what stage your company is in and how to best prioritize your HR initiatives at each stage. You’ll find out how HR can partner with executive management to support growth, and where you should spend your HR budget at each stage of the corporate life cycle to achieve the greatest impact for your business.

According to Tom Peters, “Success in business today is 15 percent technology and 85 percent emotional intelligence.” Twenty years of research demonstrates that leaders with high emotional intelligence (EQ) produce superior performance for their organizations. Become familiar with EQ, how best to assess it, and how to implement practical strategies to increase your own EQ and that of your team or organization.

Today’s business challenge is to produce more with fewer people for customers who demand more for less. To overcome this challenge, an organization must be able to hire, discover and retain top talent. Discover the Performance DNA process, a job benchmarking tool that measures job requirements, compares talent to the position and creates the best job fit. The Performance DNA process identifies, prioritizes and calibrates performance criteria —helping you overcome today’s challenge.

With retirement looming, the necessity for mentoring leaders is at an all-time high, but the right mentoring solution is nebulous. Individuals continue to be promoted into leadership roles without the requisite development to ensure their success. Discover how to engage leaders at every level in strategic mentoring. Using a paired mentoring exercise and interactive discussion, you’ll  explore the potential and implementation of a strategic mentoring initiative in your organization.

A December 2011 SHRM report showed 83 percent of U.S. employees felt overall satisfaction with their jobs, but only slightly more than 40 percent were satisfied with their career development and advancement opportunities. Employees who do not receive the training or development they desire are not motivated to give their best to their company. Provide tangible career direction and growth opportunities for staff to reduce turnover, and increase engagement and satisfaction.

A working knowledge of California employment laws is essential to the development and implementation of policies, procedures and day-to-day practices in the workplace. In an interactive town hall environment —opened with “The 2013 Changes in 13 Minutes” —you’ll gain a broad overview of the laws and discuss recent legal developments with experienced, local employment law attorneys. Topics likely to include employee classification, wage and hour compliance, social media in the workplace, responding to government audit requests, and investigations.

Enjoy a delicious seated lunch and networking time with your colleagues!

Don’t miss your chance to win $2,000 in cash! Drop your grand prize ticket in the box at the NCHRA booth by 12:00pm on Wednesday.  Drawing will be held in the General Session Room during the closing session. You must be present to win.