Our annual TSHHRAE conference is in Dallas, September 13-14, 2012.  Don't miss out on this wonderful networking opportunity and important sponsors that help you with your everyday activities. 

SESSION ABSTRACTS

8:30am - 10:00am

Opening Keynote: Dr. Susan Fletcher
Working in the SmartZone: How to Stay at Your Best and Maximize Your Performance

Worry and stress drain intelligence and hold back performance. We can all develop best practices to enhance focus and perspective to successfully meet the challenges in today’s home and work environments. The Smart Zone is where you work to the best of your ability emotionally, behaviorally and intellectually. We benefit from knowing when we are out of the Smart Zone so we can get back on track.  This dynamic and entertaining presentation will enable you to release the hold that drains your own intelligence, maximizing your performance both at home and on the job.  Susan will show you how to:

• Focus your energy and attention to improve efficiency
• Improve communication with just 2 little words
• Increase trust and confidence with clients and coworkers
• Adapt to change with resiliency
• Lead with empathy – not wimpathy!
  

10:15am - 11:15am

Basic Track:  Gil Sullivan
Creating a Culture of Employee Accountability in Healthcare

Without sufficient accountability, healthcare organizations risk a reduction in employee morale and productivity, which can lead to poor performance and negatively impact patient care and patient satisfaction scores. With greater accountability, organizations can unlock the full potential of their workforce and establish themselves as the healthcare organization of choice for patients, employees and job candidates. In this presentation, explore the driving forces behind the push for employee accountability in healthcare, the challenges facing organizations as they try to implement initiatives around accountability and ideas for gaining traction. Experiences and insights of healthcare professionals from a range of organizations will be shared and |
attendees will review best practices for increasing employee accountability.

Attendees will walk away with an outline of manageable action steps that will positively influence employee accountability within their organization.

Advanced Track:  John Hagan
Top Ten HR Blunders

Mr. Hagan will present the top ten HR blunders that escalate employee complaints to government agencies and court rooms.  He will discuss each scenario and show how preventative action
could have avoided disaster.

11:15am - 12:15pm

Basic Track:  Dr. Stephen Werling
HR Basics

People enter the HR profession with varied backgrounds and sometimes limited technical knowledge of specific areas of HR.  The presentation reviews some basic information in the areas of Recruitment, Selection, Compensation, Performance Management and Employee Relations.  The session materials also include a bibliography to assist participants in improving their HR Knowledge.

Advanced Track:  Vu Do
Compliance Considerations When Conducting Employment Background Checks

Are you confident that you understand all of your legal obligations as an employer running background checks?  Employers relying on a third-party to screen their applicants and employees must comply with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  Additionally, a multitude of state laws exist that further shape your screening practice.  Lastly, how does the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s April 2012 issuance of its Enforcement Guidance on use of criminal records affect your employment background screening process?  Discover some of the practical implications of complying with the Commission’s Guidance. In this session, we’ll untangle the compliance web in background screening and learn what considerations, if any, need to be taken by healthcare employers.

1:30pm - 2:30pm

Basic Track:  Jody Holland
Change Management

Change Management For Healthcare / Leaders / Employers:  Change is the only constant that exists in our world.  Whether we allow change to happen to us or became and active leader in directing the outcome of change is up to us.  The key Is understanding the skills of a change leader and the tactics of change management.  Participants in this program will learn the following:

• Understanding change and how people perceive it based on their personal makeup
• Implementing a change program
• Overcoming obstacles to change
• The requirements for a sound change process within your organization

By understanding the principles in these four areas, participants will be best prepared to guide change to a positive outcome.

Advanced Track:  Dr. Stephen Werling
HR Metrics

Organizations are expecting HR professionals to implement plans and practices that improve the organization’s performance.  While other areas such as accounting and marketing have a long history of evaluating effectiveness and proving their value to the organization, the HR profession is still developing the basic models needed to meet the organization’s expectations.  The presentation provides an introduction to the outcome measures used to evaluate the success of the HR practices.  The presentation reviews the basic standards and measures in the areas of Recruitment, Selection, Compensation, Performance Management and Employee Relations.  The session materials also include a bibliography to assist participants in implementing an evaluation process.

2:45pm - 4:00pm

Basic Track:  Rose Ann Martin
Managing Generations

It doesn’t make any difference where you are in your career, managing and leading different generations today has become extremely interesting subject matter.  You may be able to hire very talented people.  You have seasoned candidates and very ambitious graduates that want to take their energy and skills to the workforce and become successful overnight. Each has their own unique perspective on how the job needs to be done.  Seeing eye to eye is not always what happens when the job begins.  Professionals of different ages have different points of view. They bring with them different personal and professional experiences. Who says which approach is right or wrong? As we seek to understand those differences, hopefully when you leave this session, you will be able to have a better understanding of what drives today’s diverse workforce , take action and deliver new results.  No doubt that the generational differences have made an impact on market strategies and approaches to management styles. In today’s workforce, it is critical to be able to develop skills for mastering multigenerational teams.\

When I hear the grunts and groans about veterans versus new employees, I typically ask new nurses what would happen if all the computers go down in the hospital.  What would they do? Then I look at the seasoned employees and remind them that the computer age won’t go away. It’s a matter of give and take. We learn from each other. I have spent many years in hospitals listening to these challenges.   Hopefully the art of “conversation” will not go away – therefore we can discuss the need for critical interaction between employees and the boss, no matter what the generational difference may be.

Advanced Track:  Bradley Howard
The Social Network at Work:  Whose Business Is It Anyway?

This presentation addresses the most difficult legal issues facing employers that seek to regulate employee use of social media. With a focus on the National Labor Relation Board’s most recent proclamations regarding appropriate and inappropriate restrictions on employee use of social media, the speaker and audience will jointly address various workplace scenarios involving employee communications with others on social media and appropriate and inappropriate responses by employers. In this ever-changing world, employers are hard pressed to formulate a social media policy that protects their vital business interests without running afoul of the law or what appears to be the developing law on employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act. We will examine important questions such as: (1) whether employers can monitor and/or act upon social media posts by employees; (2) when employee statements through social media may support discipline or termination at work; and (3) does the employer sometimes just need to look the other way? This 90 minute interactive presentation will help your company better identify and address the hot new issues resulting from employee use of social media.

4:00pm - 5:00pm

General Session:  Elizabeth Owens, Cathy Colley, other panelists TBD
Joint Commission Panel

This panel discussion will involve human resource and education professionals who have recently been through a Joint Commission survey.  It will highlight the HR standards and the commonly asked questions when surveyed.  Topics will include the competency process, licensure, background checks, influenza immunization, evaluation and orientation.