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Quarterly News & Updates from Kansas SHRM
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Greetings!
I hope your year is off to a fantastic start, global pandemic notwithstanding, and that you have much to look forward to in 2020!
**KSSHRM is evaluating opportunities to provide resources and support to members during this time, please stay tuned for future communications.**
As we move into March, I am so thankful for the wonderful community we have in Kansas SHRM. I have had the pleasure of connecting with new and long-time colleagues over the past several months as part of my volunteer leader role and feel so fortunate for all we are and all we do. Thank you to our dedicated and supportive volunteer leaders - both here on the State Council and across the state in each of your Chapters!
We kicked off the year with our annual Leadership Academy, held this year in Emporia. Over 50 volunteer leaders attended this day and a half event designed to professionally develop and train our incoming Chapter and State Council leaders. As per usual, January weather in Kansas threw us some curveballs - but everyone was flexible and safe! Here are a few highlights:
- Back by popular demand, we brought in Judith Honesty from VitalSmarts to teach us about Crucial Accountability - and she didn't disappoint! Thanks to the Wichita SHRM chapter, every attendee walked away with a copy of the Crucial Accountability book!
- We were fortunate to have two representatives from SHRM with us, Mary Cheddie, Divisional Director, and Delight Deloney who was serving as our interim Field Services Director at the time. They facilitated a membership workshop for our all in attendance.
- We met with a member of SHRM's Young Professional Advisory Council, Andrew Marcotte, who shared insights around connecting and engaging with emerging professionals in HR.
Presentations and resources from the Leadership Academy are available, please reach out to your Chapter President for more information. Thank you to everyone that helped us create and put on this event - and thank you to our attendees for your engagement and resilience throughout the Academy! One last big thank you to the Emporia Chapter members who helped with logistics and planning efforts!
We have a lot of exciting plans for 2020! I know many of you joined us in Topeka last month for our annual Employment Law and Employee Benefits Conference, which included a Day on the Hill - a wonderful opportunity to meet legislators and see how things work at the Capitol.
We are also well on our way toward finalizing programming and events for our annual Kansas SHRM State Conference! Please mark your calendars for September 16-18 and join us in Mulvane for this amazing event and go "All In for HR"! Attending state conference is such a great way to network with other HR professionals across the state and get information I need to do my job better. On top of that, we already have an awesome lineup of keynote speakers! Be sure to watch your inbox for announcements related to this year's conference and
register
before the Early Bird rate expires on April 30.
Once again, I would like to thank you all for your involvement in Kansas SHRM, either through your local Chapter or as an at-large SHRM member!
Jenny Locanthi Dowell, SHRM-SCP, SPHR
Kansas SHRM Director
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Upcoming Webinar: An Employer's Guide to Coronavirus
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March 23, 2020
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic charts new territory daily, employers must follow specific guidance from regulatory agencies and existing law in managing their workplaces. In this free webinar, Foulston Siefkin LLP partner Tara Eberline walks you through key employment issues sparked by the COVID-19 outbreak. Topics include employee leaves of absence, ADA considerations for high-risk employees, Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements related to safe workplaces, and more.
We're also keeping a close eye on HR Bill 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, as it goes through Congress and will provide any update available on the Act's effect on employers.
Please register here to join us for this important session on Monday, March 23, from noon to 1 p.m. CST.
For More Information
For questions about this webinar, please call 316.291.9721 or email aclark@foulston.com. If outside Wichita, call 800.267.6371.
Foulston is carefully monitoring the ongoing COVID-19 developments; visit our website here for our alerts and updates related to the virus and its impact on organizations' responsibilities. If you do not already receive our communications and would like to make sure you are on our mailing list, please sign up here.
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2019 Student Summit & HR Games Winners
Jessica Danford and Alex Klema (pictured L-R) took home the win for Emporia State University last year. Best of luck to this year's teams!
From Jessica Danford:
Our experience at the HR Student Summit was great! The event provided many opportunities to meet professionals and learn about what being an HR professional is like. The socials were fun and friendly allowing for us to meet other students in the field with similar interests but a variety of experiences. The HR games portion of the conference was challenging and exciting. With the question coming from previous SHRM certification exams, we were able to gain a realistic preview of the knowledge that is necessary to gain certification. The competitive element is also a lot of fun and we are both appreciative of the opportunity we had to participate in the games. We encourage any school to send future HR professionals to this conference in the future. There is plenty to do for just two days of conference!
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COVID-19 Resources
As we continue to navigate these interesting times, the KSSHRM team thought it would be helpful to compile a few resources to help support you and organizations. Here are just a few links and materials that may be of assistance:
Information
Displaced workers can file for Unemployment Insurance at
www.getkansasbenefits.gov
. They can also call 800-292-6333. The call center is experiencing a high volume of calls, so filing online is best when possible.
Legislation
See the attached for a legislative resource re: FMLA and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
You can learn more about the bill here:
Remote Work
Are you or your teams suddenly faced with remote work situations? Here's a great resource from Trello with guidance for successful remote work programs:
- Dispelling myths & providing tips, i.e.
- Myth - "Remote workers are slackers"
- Tip - In addition to a chat tool for quick conversation, managers should also be having weekly check-ins via video call with their direct reports to answer questions and learn of any setbacks
- Communication & collaboration - It is important to establish communication rules in a joint team-code-conduct manner that includes teams and their wishes directly in the creation. When do we use chats? Why do we write emails? At what point do we pick up the phone? These answers should be a joint effort and one that is reflective of the team's efforts versus that of one person.
- Creating a remote team culture - remote culture rules to live by
In moments like these we're especially thankful for our Kansas and local HR communities - colleagues to share resources with and to work through uncertain times together.
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Callie Colgin Awarded 2019 KSSHRM Certification Scholarship
Callie is a dedicated HR professional, currently working in the non-profit sector, seeking to earn her SHRM-SCP. Callie has been an active volunteer in her community, with organizations such as Mosaic. Callie has also been an involved member of her local SHRM chapter, South Central Kansas, and has held the volunteer leader position of Legislative Director at the state council level. Callie is committed to earning her SHRM-SCP in order to advance her career and to better support others in her workplace. As Callie described in her application,
"this certification will enhance my career by allowing me to assist organizations see the value that they have in their team members and assist in moving them forward towards their strategic goals."
Congratulations, Callie! We are so proud to support you in your certification journey!
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KSSHRM Student Summit - Cancelled
In light of recent events, we have made the decision to cancel the Student Summit and HR Games scheduled for April 3-4 at Kansas State University. Due to the fact we can't predict how prolonged the recommended social distancing measures will be necessary, we felt canceling and focusing our attention on our 2021 event made more sense than trying to postpone to a later date. While we didn't want to cancel, the health and safety of participants and volunteers is of the utmost importance to us. Our team will begin discussions regarding ways we might facilitate some virtual networking opportunities for students and KS SHRM professionals over the next several weeks. Stay tuned for updates as those opportunities become available.
I would like to personally thank our team who worked so hard to pull together all the details of this event: Amy Billquist, Bailey Bush, Kylie Brenneman, Natalie Bright, Kylee Fink, Unique Hiram, Jenny Locanthi, Wendy Pfeifer, Shelbye Smith, and Cindy Volanti. I truly appreciate the hours these folks put in to ensure we had a great event for everyone to enjoy. We will table our plans and come back to them in 2021.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Warmly,
Stacey Moeder
KSSHRM College Relations Director
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Be Alert for Phishing Scams
You and your staff may see an uptick in the number and variety of phishing schemes targeting payroll professionals or even the general employee population as we progress through this pandemic situation.
These communications may offer links to view paychecks and other important information - they may prompt users to confirm or verify direct deposit information - they may even request personal information or funds. Unfortunately, with anxiety and concern elevated - employees may be more prone to fall victim to these scams.
Linked below is one resource that may offer helpful strategies for:
- Spotting phishing scams
- Avoiding the scam
- Protecting your company
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SHRM Advocacy Team (A-Team)
226 people signed up to join the A-Team at the state conference, which was more than 50% of participants! The A-Team is a group of people who said they want to be notified via email when there is proposed legislation that affects the HR community. The email notification they receive explains the proposed legislation (whether national or KS state level) and explains SHRM's position on the legislation. It also provides a template for an email to the individual's specific legislator and their contact info if the recipient would like to let their legislator know their thoughts.
The A-Team isn't about being political and you don't have to agree with all of SHRM's positions. It's about being informed and using our voices to help educate our legislators when needed and shape policy that makes sense for the workplace BEFORE it becomes a law. If you missed the sign up at the conference, you can sign up online
here.
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With all the uncertainty we are facing, we have decided to include a link to the Kansas State Council's website and you can click
here or on the Affiliate Chapters tab to find any one of our chapters to be directed to their website to find upcoming events.
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Want to see your Chapter's content next quarter?
As a reminder - if you would you like to share updates or content from your Chapter's activities in the KSSHRM newsletter please review the content & publication dates below:
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Anticipated
Publication Date
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Content Submission Deadline
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Q2 2020 - April 30, 2020
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April 15, 2020
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Q3 2020 - July 15, 2020
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July 1, 2020
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Q4 2020 - October 15, 2020
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October 1, 2020
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We would love to feature your Chapter's annual seminar program or any of the other great activities you are working on this year; i.e. certification prep courses, special awards or initiatives, etc.
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If you would like content featured in the next newsletter, please contact Angie Davis, Communications Director at adavis@datacenterinc.com.
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Thank you to our sponsors!
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