International Women's Day - Today, March 8th

AHRMA's Diversity and Inclusion Committee is in the midst of planning and implementing our initiatives for 2013. One of our ideas is to survey AHRMA's membership to discover how their companies celebrate the various national holidays, national ____month, and other celebrations occurring each month of the year.*

To kick off this initiative, Monica Verma (AHRMA's CoVP of Diversity and Inclusion) has submitted the following excerpt from her company, Sodexo, as they celebrate International Women's Day!

First celebrated in 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day honoring the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In honor of IWD, Sodexo is launching a new website dedicated to profiling women’s perspectives on Quality of Life.  Please visit www.womensinsight.sodexo.com to discover the insights of Sodexo employees, partners and clients from around the world on Quality of Life.

  You can also read more on IWD here: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/


*How does your company celebrate the various national holidays, national ____month, and other celebrations throughout the year? We want to know! Please share with us how your company celebrates (no minimum or maximum length, just your own words), at vpdiversity@austinhumanresource.org. Send pictures, links, videos, a written summary - anything goes.

We look forward to hearing from you, and we are excited for what the year will bring!

Your AHRMA Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Groundhog Job Shadow Day

By Julia Menegay, Chair of the School2Work subcommittee of the Workforce Readiness Committee

One of the focuses of AHRMA’s Workforce Readiness Committee is to connect K-12 students with businesses and provide opportunities for these students to learn about the business world.  The WFR Committee partners with Communities in Schools (CIS) and promotes the mentoring program, as well as other CIS projects. 

One recent project, Groundhog Job Shadow Day, is an example of what students can learn when they have the opportunity to interact with employers.

Groundhog Job Shadow Day is held every year around February 2 and is an opportunity for students to visit businesses and learn about different industries and careers.  This year AHRMA helped recruit businesses to participate.

One business, Alliance Abroad Group, hosted four high school students and both the students and the employees had a lot of fun.  Ana Marisa Militano, who coordinated the day for the company, shared these comments from an employee:

"It was such a fun time!! We had 4 young ladies, 1 senior, 2 juniors and a sophomore. They met with the various teams and were very dialed into the conversations asking questions and participating. The lunch was a lot of fun as they got a chance to mingle with the employees and ask questions about travel, college and how we got to AAG. One especially funny time was when we were talking to them about the benefits of working for AAG and jokingly one of the ladies said “oh let me guess you have a gym too” everyone laughed and said yes! It was really funny. At the end of the day, I got a few minutes to speak with the ladies and their chaperones one on one and let them know from a hiring/recruiting standpoint how important education is and staying in school. I pointed out that everyone in the room with them at lunch had gone to college and applied themselves and through that they reaped the benefits of working for AAG. I also tied in how important and “why” they have to be in class at a certain time, follow rules at school, listening to their teachers (because we all have bosses!!!) and the importance of excellent grammar, spelling and public speaking in any work environment. They all seemed dialed in and held eye contact while we were chatting. Overall, it was a lot of fun, we were able to showcase our business and it was especially neat having 4 ladies there and seeing their faces when we told them that we have a female CEO, almost all the managers are female and we have a majority female staff. It definitely seemed to resonate with them."

We’re so glad that we could help make connections and contribute to the success of this project.  If your business can help with work-based learning opportunities for students, or if you’re interested in becoming involved with the WFR Committee please let us know.  We can help connect you for mentoring and other CIS projects, and we often have requests for speakers for career days in the schools.  

For more information, contact vpworkforcereadiness@austinhumanresource.org.

2013 is Your Year to Lead Strong

Juanita Baldwin, PHR
AHRMA 2013 President

___________________

Leading the Human Resources function in 2013 is no small fete.  We know it requires considerable personal skills/ traits including planning, organization, perseverance, risk-taking, creativity, a compelling vision, and a passion for learning.   Increasingly, we “dance as fast as we can” to juggle competing demands and, often, end up multi-tasking badly.  While I sometimes attribute this dilemma to being “protein-deficient” (more on this topic in a future article), I value having “just-in-time” access to information, people, and resources.  

2013 is AHRMA’s year to LEAD Strong.  Our goal is to bring you topics, speakers, and professional development opportunities that will inspire you and strengthen your ability to lead your team, organization, profession, and your community.  If you missed our last two monthly programs, we missed you!  In December 2012, Coach Jody Conradt and two of her star players spoke on the leadership lessons learned both on and off the court.  In January, we hosted a panel of business leaders including Heather McKissick, Jeff Evins, Dave Porter, Regina Rogoff, and Kevin Johns, who provided insights into emerging economic trends and the related challenges which may impact our workplace.

On February 28, we are proud to host our Annual Legislative Action Day to keep you informed on what’s happening with the 83^rd Legislature and the latest developments in employment law.  The Honorable State Representative Mark Strama is our featured speaker for this not-to-be-missed program. 

Behind the scenes, your AHRMA Board of Directors is excited about embarking on a year filled with challenges and opportunities that are stretching us as leaders and strengthening us as a team.  I’m reminded of the wisdom of Albert Einstein, who observed, “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”  Whether it’s knowledge or imagination, you seek, we would be honored to have you join us at an upcoming program.  We’re saving a seat at the AHRMA table for you.  

All the Best,

Juanita Baldwin, PHR

AHRMA 2013 President

WE Are Austin HR.  LEAD Strong.