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PERSPECTIVESSEPTEMBER 2017

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EMPLOYMENT LAW DAY

ATTENDEES WILL GAIN INSIGHT ON:  1. Complex world of workplace legislation and court decisions that impact how you do business. 2. Latest regulatory and enforcement activities from those on the front lines of implementing federal employment laws. 3. Common pitfalls that can put your organization at risk, such as, transgender rights in the workplace, mastering the legalities of the pre-hire process, sexual harassment claims and fiduciary liability. 4. Tools, tips and resources that help minimize your organization’s exposure to litigation.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: 1. Senior HR Professionals who need to know what’s next in workplace law & legislation seeking to successfully position their organizations. 2. HR professionals seeking practicable, actionable guidance on workplace management. 3. HR managers seeking to build compliant organizations and manage risk. 4. HR practitioners who want to hear from leaders on how workplace law affects them.

Friday, December 1, 2017 | 8:00 a.m.  to 4:30 p.m. DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh Cranberry

Investment:  $179 PHRA Members | $199 Non Members Approved for 6 PHR, SHRM-CP & SHRM-SCP Credits

WWW.PITTSBURGHHRA.ORG/EVENT/LAWDAY

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Dear Colleagues,

The Pittsburgh Human Resources Association (PHRA) Annual Conference provides proven, comprehensive learning that will boost your professional and personal potential whether you are new to the HR profession, hoping to supplement your workplace experience with strategic and tactical education, or seeking to increase your competencies for career growth.

Our comprehensive programs will help you overcome challenges or develop new solutions and help you make connections that will motivate and energize you. Return to your office ready to blaze new trails — to be the best HR professional you can be.

With over 20 sessions that encompass the full scope of a well-rounded HR education, from business essentials to human resources innovations, you will be able to choose the sessions that will get you the tools and resources you need to achieve your professional and personal goals.

No matter how long you’ve been in HR or what position you hold, chances are there is still something you want to learn. Trends and laws change, new strategies and innovations pop up in our HR world all the time; to stay up-to-date we all need continuing educational opportunities that provide us with a wide range of HR concepts and ideas. It is our intention that you find a number of these educational opportunities at our Annual Conference, People, Purpose & Passion: The Pathway to Success!

The PHRA Annual Conference is a lot of learning packed into a short amount of time, so have fun, enjoy learning and networking, and plan your Pathway to Success! I look forward to connecting with you on October 10th and 11th at the conference. Reserve your seat today: http://www.pittsburghhra.org/event/2017.

Regards,

Ron Kubitz, PHRA President

PHRA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

PEOPLE, PURPOSE & PASSION: THE PATHWAY TO SUCCESSRon Kubitz, President, PHRA

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CREATING LINE OF SIGHT: GET TO THE BOTTOM LINE THROUGH YOUR EMPLOYEESBy Ed Krow, ed@turboexecs.com, TurboExecs

It’s a catch-22: employees feel like their contributions don’t

support the organization’s goals, and business leaders don’t

see the results they want because employees can’t see how

their work contributes to getting the business where leaders

want it to go.

If you can win over employee’s hearts and minds by creating

a line of sight, they’re going to be willing to help you achieve

business success.

What is line of sight?

Line of sight is defined as the employee’s perception of the

degree to which his or her contributions are linked to the

success of the organization.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s the most front-line employee

or the highest executive. Think about someone in charge of

maintenance in an organization. If they’re not doing their

job— if the floors aren’t shiny and the trash isn’t empty—

what message does that send to our customers and vendors

who come into the workplace?

Line of sight doesn’t simply deal with the “most important”

employees. It deals with all employees.

According to a recent study done by the Wharton Business

School, one of the key obstacles to a business being able to

execute its strategy effectively is the lack of ownership-style

thinking among employees.

If we can create this line of sight, we can drive employee

engagement and get their buy-in to the business strategy.

Doing this properly helps businesses attract, motivate, and

retain the key talent they need to achieve their goals.

When we talk about creating a line of sight, we’re talking

about creating a real understanding among employees of the

business strategy and their role in contributing to it. Ultimately,

the execution of business strategy becomes a collaborative

approach between leadership and employees.

In my session at the Pittsburgh HR Association Conference in

October, you’ll learn:

• The 4 steps it takes to build line of sight

• How to identify the key behaviors of employees and the link

between those behaviors and the company’s bottom line

• How to create a line of sight in employees that will motivate

them to achieve results

• How to determine the types of variable pay that can be used

to motivate behaviors that will impact the company’s bottom

line results

But creating an understanding of the business strategy isn’t

enough. A big theme running through my session is how

critical communication is, particularly of progress towards the

business strategy with employees.

Ultimately, if we can create line of sight from an employee

standpoint then we’re going to attract, motivate, and retain

key talent. From the business side, we’ll then have motivated

employees who stay focused on continuous operational

improvement.

If you want to increase employee engagement, attract,

motivate, and retain key talent, and achieve your business

goals, you need to be at my session at the conference this fall.

Done correctly, creating a line of sight has the potential to

revolutionize your business.

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RESILIENCE. AGILITY. CHANGE.Richard Citrin, Ph.D., MBA

As a senior manager, John was completely supportive of the announced acquisition of the company he worked for.

Despite concerns among his team, reassured them that information would be forthcoming and all would be good. He

said it but he wasn’t sure he believed it.

A few days after the announcement, John met his new boss. The first meeting got off to an awkward start when he

walked into the conference room and there were literally (as well as figuratively) not enough seats at the table for

everyone. John’s new boss chuckled about the situation and while everyone kind of laughed, no one thought it was really

that funny.

When John returned to his office, he told his team that he wasn’t sure how it would all work out but that he was hoping

for the best. He listened to his team’s concerns, validated their apprehensions and discouraged “catastrophizing.” That

night, neither John nor his team slept very well.

The Impact of Change

Everybody knows about it, but no one knows what to do about it. Change is stressful and leaders aren’t equipped with

the skills or effective models for addressing the psychological impact of change in the workplace. Mostly we tell our

employees to hang on, tough it out, just try to manage as best as possible.

As an organizational psychologist I must bear some responsibility for falsely helping people to believe that somehow they

can manage stress. Unfortunately, the stress management model, which we have been teaching people for over 70 years,

is fatally flawed.

It is biologically impossible to manage stress. Consider, for example, what happens when you drop your pen and it falls to

the floor. It does so, of course, because of gravity. Gravity is what is known as a physical imperative. You do not control

gravity. Gravity controls you. In the same sense, stress is a biological imperative. Our bodies automatically respond with a

full stress reaction when placed in a crisis situation like a mad driver cutting us off on the highway. You can’t stop that as

your body is automatically responding to that stress event. Therefore the idea that we can somehow manage all that is

absurd. When change happens in the workplace, the same kind of fight, flight, or freeze response occurs. In fact, it could

be even more difficult in the workplace may exacerbate the situation by ruminating about it over time.

Taking Charge

When I met with John a few days after the meeting, he told me that while he was pretty unnerved. He wanted to be

positive and hopeful but wasn’t sure how to do it. I told him about that the 3 “Cs” of psychological resilience could

help his team make that transition. These 3 dimensions, identified by Salvatore Maddi and Suzanne Kobasa, include

building commitment among team members, giving people as much control as possible and challenging them to work on

something that creates new and inspired thinking. Providing John with one way to begin thinking about resilience and

agility gave him an approach that he could use for himself and his team.

John began formulating a plan that he hoped would demonstrate the kind of value his group could bring to the enterprise.

He met with his team, told him he wanted to formulate a proposal to take to their new boss. He assigned responsibilities

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RESILIENCE. AGILITY. CHANGE.(continued)

for the report that included gap analyses, product reviews, talent assessments and revenue projections. John shared the

finding with his boss who asked for a full out proposal. John and his team were pumped…and engaged.

Building Resilience and Agility:

Our normal biological response to change is to fight it. We seek balance and routine and the more we can keep our lives

stable the better we feel.

Resilience and agility represent two skills that help us shift our thinking to a more effective way of dealing with change.

Both attributes represent two sides of the same coin, which is known as “adaptive capacity.” Adaptive capacity relates to

how much energy and strength we need to effectively address challenging, changing and adverse situations.

Resilience is our ability to quickly and effectively recover from a difficult situation. Resilience requires that we reprogram

ourselves so that the automatic stress response does not overwhelm so that we can respond to the situation effectively.

While the mechanics of resilience may include everything from an optimistic orientation to energy management the

essential key is to find the growth opportunity that comes out of the challenge.

Agility is our ability to move quickly and decisively and to do so with some ease and comfort. Agility translates to an

ability to remain calm during changing times, to seek out the best information and to act on opportunities while managing

risk. Rapid prototyping is one example of organizational agility.

Bringing resilience and agility practices into the workplace is helping shift the “mindset” of employees away from the

victim mentality that often accompanies our stressful workplaces. Managers who understand these principles help their

teams gain confidence that allows them to increase efficiency and effectiveness. to the challenges confronting everyone.

Delivering The Goods

John’s presentation was full of data driven findings, actionable recommendations, and organizational processes and

structures that would create immediate efficiencies. Perhaps more importantly, he shared his findings with a passion that

was contagious.

John’s boss was impressed by the report and energy that John brought to the project. Among John’s peers, others had

been asked to take on specific projects but no one had stepped forward to look for ways to build a synergy across the new

entity.

A few weeks later, John was back in that same conference room but this time it was just John, his manager and his

manager’s boss. They told him that they were realigning divisions within the newly organized firm and wanted John and

his team to take on the project ideas that had proposed along with several other key projects and that his team would

double in size. John was thrilled and was even happier to bring that great news back to his team.

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RESILIENCE. AGILITY. CHANGE.(continued)

Returning to Balance

Change is disruptive and in the face of it, everyone strives to return to a normal state of balance. This natural tendency is

referred to as homeostasis. The challenge in a changing environment is to see how change can be used to take the team

and organization to a more productive and effective level of operation and productivity and happiness. John had applied

several key resilient and agility principles:

1. Accepted and honored his own and his team’s reactions to the announcement: John didn’t try to sugarcoat the

concerns that people had about the changes that were coming, but he also did not endorse their worst fears. Change

is hard and leaders have to allow people to have their fears and concerns before they can move forward to look at new

possibilities.

2. Created a change-ready and positive mindset: A key aspect of resilience is to recognize that our true natural tendency

is to move forward and not languish in suffering. Being able to vision a path forward is a vital skill for any leader.

John’s simple decision to take charge created a resilient opportunity for him. Seeing disruptions in the workplace as an

opportunity rather than a punishment immediately gave John the extra burst of energy he needed for his plan.

3. Shifted the Team’s Thinking and Behaviors: It was not enough for John to be thinking differently if he could not get his

team to do the same. John’s directive to his team to focus on researching and developing a proposal forced them to act

differently. Words are important but action is key.

4. Move Quickly: John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach at UCLA told his players to “be quick, but don’t hurry.”

John’s strategy was successful because he moved quickly but did not create additional pressure that could lead to

rushed and inappropriate findings

5. Delivering Value: John maintained a focus on delivering value to the newly merged enterprise. His emphasis was not on

his or even his team’s advancement but on how they could help the company to be successful. John superordinated his

team’s dismay into a positive solution.

Conclusion

Our innate biological response to change activates the stress reaction and there is nothing we can do to stop that. As

leaders it is essential that we recognize that response and respond appropriately. By developing skills in resilience and

agility we move past the victimization that occurs when people feel powerless. By building a mindset of resilience and

acting with agility in the face of challenging and difficult situations, we can turn these adversities into advantages.

Richard Citrin is president of Citrin Consulting, and whose mission is to help leaders and their teams create a workplace where people’s full value is maximized and utilized. He is the author of The Resilience Advantage: Stop Managing Stress and Find Your Resilience (Business Expert Press, 2016).

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TAILOR YOUR WORK CULTURE Bonnie Artman Fox

My grandmother was a local celebrity. She was an excellent seamstress known

for her exquisite draperies, dresses, and quilts. I can still picture the pattern she

purchased from McCall’s or Simplicity neatly placed over material on her kitchen

table. She would sit at her sewing machine or in her favorite chair with a needle

and thread for hours giving a little something extra to each item. I’ll save the

story of her mending jeans I’d worn holes in. Today people pay for worn out

jeans as a fashion statement!

In the work setting, leaders are like a tailor. High performing leaders follow a blueprint or “pattern” for their

business. Although, most leaders don’t have a culture pattern to guide employees as they work together and

service clients. The 2016 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends Survey reports that 82 percent of senior

leaders recognize culture as an important part of competitive advantage. Only 28 percent understand what to

do about it.

Many leaders avoid the topic of culture because it’s considered an abstract concept and difficult to measure.

Unlike other aspects of business that are based on measurable outcomes, culture is often perceived as foggy.

Simply put, culture is defined as the behaviors that affect the way people do their jobs. Every group that comes

together has an unwritten set of rules of how people operate, what’s okay to joke about, what’s not okay to

talk about. Whether it’s a work setting, sports team, or service organization, every group has a culture.

What kind of culture does your organization have? Does your organization have a culture that fosters

productivity and employee engagement that creates or diminishes bottom line results? If you recognize your

culture undermines your business strategy, contributes to high staff turnover, or generates regular complaints

about an abrasive boss, keep reading!

Three Ways to Tailor your Work Culture Pattern

1. Define Behaviors – Most mistakes, misunderstandings, and mishaps happen when people act on impulse

instead of intention. The solution is to have clearly defined behaviors of how you want your employees to

interact with each other, clients, and vendors. When people know what’s expected of them, they know how

to make alterations, patch up differences and mend mistakes in order to drive results.

2. Make Culture Systematic – A solid culture plan enables teams, departments, and off-site locations to

seamlessly follow the same set of expectations. Employees have a process that interweaves each employee’s

unique contribution and serves as a “go-to” when unexpected challenges arise.

3. Create Sustainability – It takes practices for habits and behaviors to have lasting impact. My

grandmother met with her quilting guild regularly. By setting aside time for continuous work on her craft,

she developed skills that produced sought-after quilts. In the same way, if you want your employees to

consistently behave in a specific way, you have to teach and practice those behaviors over and over again.

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TAILOR YOUR WORK CULTURE (Continued)

High performing leaders recognize that work culture leverages business strategy. If you’d like to learn

more about how to tailor a culture of behaviors that is systematic and sustainable, attend the workshop

Strengthen Organizational Health through Work Culture at the PHRA Conference on October 10th.

You’ll walk away with a pattern that accelerates your business results, establishes a competitive advantage,

and makes your work easier.

Bonnie Artman Fox works with senior leaders who want to create work cultures that bring out the best in

their employees, attract peak performers, and build cohesive teams. From over 25 years as a Psychiatric Nurse

and Marriage & Family Therapist, Bonnie applies her expertise to coach and consult with leaders to replace

behaviors that sabotage organizational health with positive behaviors that eliminate infighting, office politics,

and dysfunction.

2016 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends Survey: Click Here

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Did you know that Millennials will make up over a third of the global workforce by 2020?

We will present key insights from a recently (2016) conducted qualitative

research by Manpower Group involving 19,000 Millennials, including

8,000 associate employees and more than 1,500 of our own hiring

managers. The research asked what they look for in a job, what

development opportunities they seek and what would make them stay

with an employer.

The results of the study dispel several myths about this workforce

segment. In addition to sharing key insights from this significant research

effort, we will also examine the benefits of leveraging a mentoring

program to support leadership development efforts. We will present

some case studies to share best practices for implementing a mentoring program to gain the most out of

leadership development efforts, with a particular focus on the needs of Millennials. In this creative effort, we

will explore how organizations can leverage more for less with the inclusion of mentoring. We will discuss

the benefits to the mentors, the organization and to the Millennials. To summarize, the session objectives

will be:

• Review and discuss key insights to leadership development of Millennials from the 2016 research study.

• Provide a strategic perspective to anticipate workforce changes and development of the next generation

of leaders

• Explore the benefits of an underutilized resource pool of mentors to engage millennials and sustain

organizational momentum

Attend this session to learn more about what organizations are doing to anticipate and develop a diverse

workforce. Wednesday, October 11, 2017 | 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM | Salon 1 & 2

MILLENNIALS AND MENTORING: A STRATEGIC AND CREATIVE LOOK AT THE INTERSECTION OF YOUTH AND WISDOM TO SUSTAIN ORGANIZATIONAL MOMENTUMNaina Bishop Ph.D., A.C.C. Right Management

Millennial Careers: 2020 VisionFacts, Figures and Practical Advice from Workforce Experts

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Katie Abbott Confluence

Caitlyn Anderson Westmoreland Casemanagement and Supports, Inc.

Ana Arriaga Donnelly-Boland and Associates

Dana Bacsi Port Authority of Allegheny County

Sarah Bookhammer Conco Services Corporation

Lori Brown Allegheny Health Network

Elizabeth Bush M*Modal

Mary Butch University of Pittsburgh

Melanie Carter-Perkins, SPHR|SHRM-SCP Siemens Corporation

Ruth Casey Emmaus Community

Robert Castagnero

Carla Corey

Cynthia Cullen Rapp Central Electric Cooperative

Kelly Cummings

Chad Cygnarowicz VBA

Gina Davis

Dawn DePasquale

Christina Dering, PHR Michael Baker International

Anthony Downs Carnegie Mellon University

Katie Dudas ScareHouse

Lindsey Duncan Arsenal Resources

Ashley Farkas Nicholson Construction Company

Klara Fisher

Joelle Flatt Decision Resources, Inc.

Scherrita Folks

Marc Foremsky Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

J FUEHRER PYROTECNICO

Elizabeth Giecek, PHR RETAL PA, LLC.

Nita Gordon Reed Smith LLP

Joelle Graf Rice Energy Inc

Jennifer Hall Nicholson Construction Company

Courtney Halle #1 Cochran

Stephanie Haugan

Roxann Heilman Vector Security, Inc.

Diane Houser

Carrie Kadunce VBA

Evan Kaffenes Versatex Building Products, LLC

Kevin Kelly Rhabit

Andrea Kimple

Sara Kirkwood, PHR|SHRM-CP Coen Oil

Rajeev Kumar Electronics for Imaging

Lori Lafferty

Michelle Lapinski FHLBank Pittsburgh

Megan Law The Geo Group, Inc.

Ashley Lawrence

Cecelia Mallamo All Occasions Party Rental

Kimberly Mallory Comcast

Megan Mantia

Yvonne Mathis Pittsburgh Public Schools

Sheena McClelland Paychex

Lisa McTiernan

Kimberly Moore MSA Safety

Hailey Mowrey Adagio Health Inc.

Gloria Mullner

John Myers

Rhonda Nesbit

Ashley Noel Limbach Facility Services

Kelly O’Toole

Alannah Owens Henderson Brothers, Inc.

Beth Paclawski

Mark Panichella

Chris Powell Fastest Labs of Pittsburgh

Kelly Rager Galliker Dairy Company

Amy Reed South Hills Movers, Inc.

Lauren Roney Kopp Glass

Natasha Schiemer City of Pittsburgh, Department of Personnel & Civil Service Commission

Carmella Sciulli Confluence

Lindsay Seal Highway Equipment Company

April Sheatz J.V. Manufacturing Co., Inc.

Selina Shultz The Alternative Group

Lisa Simeone

Amy Smith, PHR|SHRM-CP Primary Health Network

Justin Smith

Brent Sobieralski Limbach Facility Services LLC

Richard Stewart, SPHR|SHRM-SCP Rivers Casino

David Storey

Emily Taylor Cigna

Cassidy Tenney Pittsburgh International Airport

Samantha Thauvette Robert Morris University

Tanya Thomas

Dave Treece Emmaus Community of Pittsburgh

Jennifer Turner Port Authority of Allegeny County

Samuel Uhler Primanti Corporation

Hana Uman 412 Food Rescue

Kimberly Walker Heeter Direct

Samantha Weber Point Park University

Dana Yanni BI Worldwide

NEW MEMBERS

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The Pittsburgh Human Resources Association offers many valuable networking and education programs throughout the year. Keep an eye on the PHRA online event calendar for a complete and up-to-date listing of all programs. Register for an upcoming event today!

September 28Stations to Success Networking Event

Tres Rios

December 1Employment Law Day

DoubleTree – CranberryHRCI & SHRM Credits

October 6th – 8th3- Day Intensive SHRM Prep Course - Fall 2017

PHRA Training Center

October 10Meet Your PHRA Colleagues Networking Event

DoubleTree – Green Tree

October 10th & 11thPHRA Annual Conference & Exhibition

DoubleTree – Green TreeHRCI & SHRM Credits

December 6PHRA Holiday Party

DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh- Downtown

Pittsburgh Human Resources Association

One Gateway CenterSuite 1852420 Fort Duquesne Blvd.Pittsburgh, PA 15222Phone: 412-261-5537www.PittsburghHRA.org

2017 EVENTS

Congratulations to the following PHRA members on recently achieving their SHRM certification:

Congratulations to PHRA Member Brianna Kline for recently bring selected as one of Pittsburgh’s 50 Finest for 2017 by WHIRL Magazine!

Jen Hemme, SHRM-CP, Family Services of W. PA

Julia Rakar, SHRM-SCP, InVision Human Services

ON THE MOVE

LA ROCHE’S MASTER’S PROGRAM IN HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PROVIDED ME THE SKILLS TO LEAD A DIVERSE TEAM ACROSS DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. I LEARNED FROM BOTH HIGHLY RESPECTED AND SUCCESSFUL PROFESSORS, AND FROM CLASSMATES WITH DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES, PERSPECTIVES AND IDEAS. LA ROCHE IS THE PERFECT CHOICE FOR WORKING PROFESSIONALS LOOKING TO GROW THEIR LEADERSHIP ABILITIES.

- MICHAEL CONLON ’17, MSHRM Vice President BNY Mellon

20% TUITION DISCOUNTFOR PHRA MEMBERS

laroche.edu/HRM

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