NHRMA | Agenda / General Sessions

It’s Okay to Be the Boss™
Sponsored by: Avature Recruiting Services LLC

Everyone is familiar with the term micromanagement. But there’s a bigger problem in today’s workplace - an undermanagement epidemic affecting managers at all levels and in all industries. Based on his new book, It’s Okay to Be the Boss, Bruce will open our eyes to the undisciplined workplace that is overwhelming managers and frustrating workers, and offer a clear, step-by-step guide to becoming the strong manager employees need. Bruce’s message: Accept the sacred responsibility of managing people, set employees up for success, and help them earn what they need. Or in other words - It’s Okay to Be the Boss, so be a great one!

Bruce Tulgan is internationally recognized as one of the foremost experts on leadership and performance management in the workplace. He is the founder of RainmakerThinking, Inc., a management training firm based in New Haven, CT. Bruce is the author or coauthor of sixteen different books, including his newest book, It’s Okay to Be the Boss (released by HarperCollins in March of 2007), and Managing Generation X, the classic study of Generation X in the workplace. Bruce’s work has been the subject of thousands of news stories around the world and he has written for the New York Times, USA Today, and Harvard Business Review.

Thursday, October 4
General Session
8:30 am – 10:00 am

HR Offense: A Game Plan for Linking HR Work to Business Strategy
Sponsored by: Intelius

Presented by:
Scott Pitasky, General Manager, Talent Acquisition and Engagement, Microsoft, Redmond, WA

We’ve often heard that HR can work at a tactical or strategic level, but HR practice can also be divided into defensive and offensive strategies. Scott’s HR model takes us on the offense, rethinking how we connect HR work to business strategy and bringing more value to our organizations. Scott will show us the link to building business acumen as a core competency for all HR professionals, and provide ideas on how to implement the “HR Offense” model within your organization.

Scott Pitasky provides leadership for Microsoft’s global staffing organization and is responsible for all aspects of worldwide talent acquisition, including industry and university recruiting, employment branding/marketing, partner management and staffing systems. In addition to leadership roles at amazon.com, iQuantic, Inc. (San Francisco) and Allied Signal, Scott has also held several consulting roles with firms such as Citicorp. Scott is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance and Management at the University of Pennsylvania.

Friday, October 5
General Session
8:30 am – 10:00 am

Employment Law Overview

Presented by:
Lawton Humphrey, Chair, Firmwide Labor and Employment Group, Davis Wright Tremaine, Seattle, WA
Carol Bernick, Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine, Portland, OR
Mark Berry, Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine, Bellevue, WA
Parry Grover, Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine, Anchorage, AK

In this general session, come get an up-to the minute view of what’s happening in employment law, both from a legislative and court perspective. Three partners from Davis Wright Tremaine will bring us the latest judicial developments at the Supreme Court and 9th Circuit Court, and legislative updates from all three NHRMA states (Washington, Oregon and Alaska). Given the landmark year we’ve had with the legislatures and some groundbreaking decisions in the courts, you can’t afford to miss this!

Lawton Humphrey
Lawton’s practice focuses on employment litigation and preventative counseling. She regularly partners with employers to identify the most cost-effective manner to resolve employment disputes in a way that maximizes the employer’s interests and goals. Lawton represents employers at all stages of dispute resolution, from pre-filing negotiations through trial and appeal. She assists employers in managing difficult employment situations in ways that achieve the employer’s goals and minimize the risk of litigation.

Carol Bernick
Carol exclusively practices employment law and litigation. She represents employers in all aspects of employment law, both in advising on personnel policies and representing employers in state and federal court. Carol has significant experience representing employers in single-plaintiff and class action wage and hour litigation. She is the principal editor of the Oregon Employment Law Deskbook and conducts numerous CLE and client trainings on employment law issues each year.

Mark Berry
Mark has more than 20 years of experience counseling employers of all sizes and industries. He focuses his practice on advising employers through complex employment situations, providing employee and manager training and representing employers in employee disputes including litigation, arbitration, administration charges, complaints and investigations.

Parry Grover
Parry represents management in employment discrimination and wrongful discharge litigation and in labor relations matters including representation cases, unfair labor practices cases, collective bargaining, arbitration, wage and hour cases and other employment related cases. He also advises employers in preventive employment practices, labor relations and employer education.

Friday, October 5
Closing General Session & Lunch
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

People Management: Touching People’s Lives
Sponsored by: First Tech Credit Union

In other professions, if you make a mistake you can typically just correct the numbers, the designs or the marketing efforts --- and life goes on. But in HR we cannot go back; we must do it right the first time. If we don’t we touch people’s lives in a negative way, and there is no greater disappointment than that. But if we do it right and help someone’s career and more importantly, their life, there is no greater joy. As we close the 2007 Conference, Mike will take many of us back to the reasons why we got into this profession in the first place. HR touches lives every day -- for good or bad -- through the work we have been called to do.

Best known as the President and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management for 10 years, Mike is now an independent consultant specializing in maximizing organizational and employee potential through management competency, advocacy and ethics. Losey is a frequent speaker to HR, general management and trade association leadership on human resource and workforce issues. He also continues to contribute to the professional programming of SHRM as well as being a spokesman to numerous international groups, organizations, media, and Congress. Together with Dr. David Ulrich of the University of Michigan, he contributed to and helped edit the book, Tomorrow’s HR Management. John Wiley and Sons recently released their newest book, The Future of Human Resource Management.