New Resource Center for AHRMA Members - Launching July 30

The AHRMA Workforce Readiness Committee has partnered with a Career Development Ad Hoc Sub-Committee, headed by Angela Loëb, to develop a new members-only Resource Center for the AHRMA website.

On July 30, members will get to listen to podcasts on career management, specifically about career transition. Initially, these 10-minute podcasts, will feature advice from Subject Matter Experts in six important topic areas: resumes, networking, interviewing, on-line presence, assessments and salary negotiation.  Later, more career management podcasts will be included on such topics as mentoring and strategic paths.

The intimate, Q&A format of each podcast allows HR and employment insiders to focus on day-to-day issues they encounter in that topic area.  These unique perspectives help the listener gain clarity and insight into other, more traditional on-line resources.

The new members-only Resource Center will be fully expandable and can be adapted to any future AHRMA membership educational needs, such as Diversity, Workforce Readiness, Legislative Action, etc.  AHRMA will also have the future capability to add connecting links in each topic area or podcast for on-line and networking references to related or complementary topics.

In fact, soon after the Resource Center is up and running, more podcasts will be added.  And there is enormous potential for additional educational content in the coming months and years.  So starting on July 30, please go to the AHRMA website (sign in through the Member Area tab located on the AHRMA home page) to listen to one or more of the podcasts and start thinking about how to use and develop this resource to its fullest potential.

Gamification: Hot HR Trend?

Are you familiar with the term 'gamification'?

According to gamification.org, gamification is "the concept of applying game-design thinking to non-game applications to make them more fun and engaging".

Apparently, companies are applying the concept of gamification to foster employee engagement and, in turn, open new doors for their respective companies. A Google search will pull up links to endless examples of ways the HR professional could apply gamification tools to motivate and inspire employees while further connecting them to the mission and vision of the organization. A win-win, right?

Have you heard of or seen this concept in action? What are your thoughts? If you are a proponent of gamification, would you consider presenting on the topic for an AHRMA event or through some other type of AHRMA communication?

Please provide your comments below, or email me at vpdiversity@austinhumanresource.org

2012 Workforce Readiness Day

By Rosemary Hook

This week, the Workforce Readiness committee held its last pre-WFR Day meeting and we poured over last minute details on speakers, panels, employer sponsors, and the Workforce Readiness Fair in preparation for Workforce Readiness Day on Thursday, May 24th.

The majority of the 2012 Workforce Readiness Day agenda is focused on current WFR programs in place from organizations in the public, private, and non-profit sectors as well as howto put together a program for those companies concerned about upcoming predictions of talent shortages in greater Central Texas. Yet, someone in the meeting asked, what we know will be asked at WFR Day and what we expect will be answered by our panels and speakers:

Q. Whose role is it within an organization to care about or be worried about workforce readiness?
A. Right now, everyone’s and no one’s.

Before deciding who within your organization might own workforce readiness, there has to be a general understanding of What is Workforce Readiness, why should we care as companies, how can we get executive support, and finally, what should organizations be doing to prepare for it.
All of these questions will be answered at AHRMA’s Third Annual Workforce Readiness Day on Thursday, May 24^thand we’d like you to Register today for Workforce Readiness Day:

• Morning: WFR Day will kick off with the State of the Texas Talent Pipeline with panelists Hannah Gourgey with E3 Alliance, Amelia Folkes with Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC) andState Farm Community Relations, Scotty Parrish with Adecco, Rhonda Boyer with AISD, Melissa Richardson Curtis with Austin Community College, and Isaac Abram Torres with Texas State University’s GenTX program.
• Lunch: Then after lunch, we’ll hear from business and government leaders on Bridging the Gap Between Employers and Job Seekers with panelists Tom Pauken with the Texas Workforce Commission, Tom Palladino with the Texas Veterans Commission, Jeff Quade with the growing, emerging WhaleShark Media, and Nathan Green of Campus2Careers
• Afternoon: And just to make sure you get a full day’s worth of HRCI credits, the afternoon will be packed with How to Build a Veteran Recruiting Program by speaker, Allen Bergeron, a Veteran Consultant with the City of Austin and a talk by Alan Miller, Executive Director of Workforce Solutions - Capital Area and theWorkReady Austin Certificate Programwhich will walk attendees through how to prepare entry-level applications with basic work ready skills.

The next AHRMA-WFR committee meeting will be Tuesday, June 19th, 5:30pm-7:00pm at the Workforce Solutions, 6505 Airport Boulevard, Austin, TX 78752. To be included on the AHRMA-WFR committee email distribution, email Kristin Huber or Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks, Co-VPs of the AHRMA Workforce Readiness committee.

Evaluating your policy for creating and maintaining engagement among community using Social Media

Many businesses today can easily take advantage of the social media tools available. 

The first question to ask is which is right for your work force, customers and community. While there are many tools - you want to be selective to be sure you have a communications policy in place and you are committed to maintaining a presence. 

I know I'm dating myself, but there was nothing worse than turning on the TV and finding a "We'll Be Right Back" message on your favorite channel...fast forward to 2012 and nothing is worse then seeing the same, irrelevant, or lame (that may sound harsh, but my time is valuable!) updates from businesses in markets you want to follow. If you are going to lead the industry...be the one setting the pace, not playing catch up. The next question is how do you put this in action? 

According to the folks at dreamgrow.com, a social media and marketing resource, reported research conducted by EdgeRank Checker who examined a random sampling of 5,500+ Facebook Pages with 80K posts during Oct. 2011.  The research conducted offers the following guideline regarding Clicks (on average) expected per type of action on Facebook. What the study found was if a post received two likes the link typically received an average of six clicks. With a comment inserted, the click rate improved up to four times that amount. So can you figure out a way to work this into your social media strategy? 

Read more here: http://www.dreamgrow.com/facebook-edgerank-research-comments-4x-more-valuable-than-likes/.

Contributed by:
Cristina Salinas
Business Development, Austin HealthWorks
Sponsor Coordinator, Marketing and PR committee - AHRMA

Hiring Veterans - Resources are out there!

By now, it's likely that you've become aware of a growing predicament: many of our servicemen and servicewomen are returning home from serving abroad, only to be met with the growing difficulty of finding employment in the civillian world. You are interested in hiring these veterans, but how do you find them? How do you decode the common differences in verbage used in the military world versus the key words for which you're accustomed to searching for a resume? It all seems impossible, right?

Well, I have good news for you. There is a wealth of available assistance, for free (yes, free), right here in Austin. At just a phone call or click away, you can quickly find answers to your veteran-related questions. You can find help in actively seeking out a veteran to fill that key job opening.

Here is an example of sites and companies here in Austin, who are here to help you in your quest to actively seek out and employ veterans. Please leave comments to this post if you have more to add, or if you wish to share your own contacts and/or success stories:

1. ESGR

http://www.esgr.mil/site/Home.aspx

Resources on their site include: resources for employers; USERRA information; fact sheets; toolkits

2. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

http://www.va.gov/

Resources on their site include: Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment Service (http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/vre/); VetSuccess program (http://vetsuccess.gov/)

3. Texas Veterans Leadership Program

http://www.twc.state.tx.us/tvlp/tvlp.html

Read their Mission Statement for a great description of their services, to include finding employment for veterans, helping companies find veterans to hire, and serving as a resource for medical care and training. A map of Texas helps you find a local point of contact.

This is definitely the season to give thanks.  Thanks for our family, friends, health, and so many other things.  Let us not forget to thank our veterans who have missed being with their family and friends on holidays and birthdays, missing school plays, football games, cheer competitions; have been subjected to freezing in sub-zero and roasting in115º  temperatures, exposed to dangerous chemical agents, losing limbs and far too often, losing their lives, so that we may have the right to protest Wall Street and other things we perceive to be wrong in American society.   The right to voice my opinion to my legislators without fear of severe punishment and/or death. As a female, I'm thankful for the freedom to go places unescorted if I choose, to wear what I feel to be appropriate, the right to vote, etc.  I am also thankful to the families of these men and women - moms / dads, husbands / wives,  brothers / and sisters, sons /daughters - who also sacrifice a lot to take care of the day-to-day "homefront" so that the sailor / marine / soldier / airman / guard soldier / reservist can do what they have to do and hopefully return home safely. In earlier times, many men didn't have a choice - they were drafted into the military when their country needed them.   Today,  (most often very young) men AND women VOLUNTEER to make these sacrifices so that they can "be a part of the solution," and continue to ensure our freedoms.  At least, that's what my 19-year-old daughter told me when she enlisted in the US Navy.  I have always been proud of our veterans, but now, as my family and I prepare for this year's Thanksgiving feast together, these sacrifices mean even more - she leaves for boot camp 4 days after Thanksgiving.

by Lori Rohre