IOHRM

Summit Schedule and Session Information

  1. Home
  2. HR Summit
  3. Summit Schedule and Session Information

7:30am - 8:00am: Seating and Breakfast

8:00am - 8:25am: Welcome 

  • Dr. Tim Huelsman (IOHRM program director) 

  • Dr. Tim Ludwig (HR Summit emcee) 

8:25am - 9:20am: The language we use matters: Why calling ourselves HR is holding us back (Sarah Light)- Parkway Ballroom

  • What people expect out of work and the companies they work for has been evolving for decades and the pace of that evolution has massively accelerated in recent times. HR professionals and teams have had to step up and navigate multiple disruptive workplace challenges, such as a novel virus and lockdowns, talent shortages, a huge increase in sustained remote and hybrid work, and a lagging economy. No easy feat. The thing is, even though HR is doing more for organizations now than ever before, the field's reputation is still stuck in the past. The way we see ourselves as HR and the work that HR professionals do on a day-to-day basis does not align with how the rest of the world sees us. This session will dive into specific approaches we can take to reshape HR’s reputation and leave the old stigma behind. 

  • Learning Objectives: 
    • Develop alternate language to talk about HR that better aligns with the contributions HR professionals make to organizations and in the world of work. 
    • Understand how vulnerability and authenticity are powerful tools in changing the narrative around HR.
    • Learn ways to use framing and messaging to change the way HR is perceived and the impact HR can have in your organization and beyond. 

9:20am - 9:35am: Break

9:35am - 10:30am: Diversity, equity, and inclusion in an uncertain world (Kristen Kaufmann)- Parkway Ballroom

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) has been around in various corporate forms for over five decades starting in the 70s with employee resource groups to continued legal protections enacted in the 90s and 2000s.  The current era and practices of DE&I started during the global pandemic and for many USA-based organizations, the tragic murder of George Floyd.  Recent DE&I efforts have been in a reactive state due to the greater focus put on supporting employees bringing their whole selves into the workplace and creating a community that supports employee health and retention. The challenges of working in the DE&I space are constantly evolving, as world events like the COVID-19 pandemic,  and the ever-increasing bleed-over of social and political events changed how employees interact with each other and the outside world.  This session will first discuss the important events and context of how we got to today’s corporate DE&I organizations and how those events affected different groups and companies. We will discuss how to more effectively embed DE&I principles and champions throughout an organization. This session will help practitioners better take equity and equality lenses across their organization. 

  •  Learning objectives:
    • Understand the evolutions of DE&I particularly over the past 3 years and the current and future challenges organizations are facing
    • Develop a holistic and critical equity/ equality mindset in determining how to embed DE&I ideals throughout an organization   
    • Develop knowledge and tactics on how to respond to and support employees through major political, social, and impactful world events

10:30am - 10:45am: Morning Coffee Break

10:45am - 11:40am: Morning Concurrent Breakout Sessions  

  • Managing behavioral and mental health for HR professionals: How to recognize and respond to a situation when it presents itself (Dr. Lisa Curtin)- Rough Ridge 

    • The workplace has frequently been a source of stress for supervisors and employees alike.  Over the past several decades, workplace stress has steadily increased with organizations seeing increases in absenteeism and associated stress-related issues in the workplace. This has led to supervisors more frequently interacting with employees who are experiencing some level of mental distress in the workplace. HR professionals and frontline managers, however, often fail to recognize these signs of distress and/or are not sure how to respond.  As a result, opportunities to meaningfully engage with co-workers, assist them through a difficult time, and build organizational morale are often missed.  This session will provide attendees with what to look for when engaging with employees in different levels of distress.  This interactive session will also walk attendees through some of the common situations encountered in the workplace and provide strategies and resources for how to respond to these situations.  Attendees will have an opportunity to ask about tactics to handle situations they have encountered.  This session will help equip HR professionals and frontline managers with some practical skills to recognize the signs of distress in their employees and successfully engage in the moments when their co-workers need support and assistance. 

    • Learning Objectives:
      • Learn to recognize the range of signs of different levels of mental distress
      • Understand strategies to help engage others who might be struggling
      • Identify mental care resources and strategies that can be utilized in today's workplace

  • ESG: What it is and how it is the next big thing in HR (Dr. Tammy Kowalczyk)- Beacon Heights 

    • The concept of "ESG" (Environment, Social, and Governance) is a hot topic in the business world but is not well understood outside the realm of investing. ESG is a new name for "sustainability" and the primary emphasis of this term is the focus on a company's responsibility to be transparent about measuring, managing, and reporting on its environmental, social, and governance issues so as to make sure it maximizes positive impacts and minimizes negative impacts on stakeholders in each of these 3 areas (also known as the "triple bottom line"). This session will provide attendees with a foundational understanding of the concept ESG. The session will show how ESG is related to human resource management (HRM), both from the standpoint of how HRM affects the measurement of ESG, as well as how ESG management strategy influences HRM activities, including recruiting and retention. Topics discussed will include challenges in managing the social ESG metrics related to HRM, new standards on human capital reporting requirements, and best practices in sustainable HRM. The session will prepare attendees for what is next in the world of HRM and the vital role that ESG will play in recruiting and retaining top talent.

    • Learning Objectives:  
      • Develop a foundational understanding of the concept of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG)
      • Learn how ESG impacts a variety of human resource management (HRM) areas and functions
      • Understand how the ESG new standards in human capital reporting impact HRM metrics
      • Identify how the best practices in sustainable ESG will play a vital role in employee recruiting and retention

  • Emotional intelligence: What is it and how can it be crucial to your career (Wendy Ratcliff)- Parkway 

    • Intellectually, your capacity to learn is developed early in life.  Your ability to increase your emotional intelligence, however, is infinite!  Research shows that your Emotional Intelligence (EI) is actually a much bigger predictor of happiness and success than your Intelligence Quotient (IQ).  This interactive session will allow attendees to learn more about your own emotional intelligence and ways to develop it further.  

    • Learning Objectives:  
      • Develop a foundational understanding of the concept of Emotion Intelligence
      • Identify the benefits of a high Emotion Quotient (EQ)
      • Learn the four core Emotional Intelligence skills (Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Management)
      • Reflect on your own EQ by completing a self-assessment and gain tactics for further developing your EQ

11:40am - 12:30pm: Networking Lunch

12:30pm - 1:25pm: Afternoon Concurrent Breakout Sessions 

  • Talent acquisition adaptation in a rapidly changing job market (Michael Boitnott)- Rough Ridge 

    • The COVID pandemic created a massive disruption across the job market. While employers laid off 1000s of employees, they found themselves in serious need once the economy restarted. The issue is that many employees found different jobs and pivoted their careers entirely. Bracing for rapidly changing markets can be quite hard, and this session will cover some key aspects of talent acquisition in a post-COVID and ever-evolving market.  This session will first discuss how to build a recruiting team that can flex rapidly with changing markets. The session will also share some tips and strategies for utilizing innovative hiring processes to create quicker pre-employment processes.  Finally, this interactive session will cover how to leverage talent branding to boost your company’s recognition and generate inbound leads.

    • Learning Objectives:
      • Understand the current state of the market and the difficulties of finding quality talent
      • Develop knowledge of the different ways to build a talent team that can flex with the market
      • Learn new methods for hiring that maximize efficiency and save time
      • Appreciate talent branding and how it can help attract quality talent

  • The seat HR holds at the international table (Tasha Kolbe and Morgan Powers)- Parkway 

    • With increasing globalization, the need for HR talent that can maneuver in an international business is becoming all the more essential. This session will cover the intricacies that an HR leader will tackle in a global company including multicultural environments, immigration, cultural awareness and ethnocentrism, and the ability to flex leadership styles. You will have a base foundation for how HR in the US can differ from your global business counterparts. One size won’t fit all – being part of an international organization means that as an HR professional you will need to foster global competence for not only the employees you support but also within your own HR function.

    • Learning Objectives: 
      • Appreciate the social and cultural complexities of working with and leading an international workforce 
      • Learn the similarities and differences between HR practices in the US and abroad 
      • Develop contingent approaches that are needed to successfully manage multicultural talent
      • Identify strategies that will allow your organization to compete in a global marketplace  

  • Workplace Change Initiatives: It’s not the why, but the how (Parker Wassilchak and Lucy Wise)- Beacon Heights

    • A constant theme over the past few years has been change. Social change, economic change, and profound change in the workplace and the nature of work. Through all of this continuing flux, leaders must find ways to help their teams navigate change successfully. This session examines the psychology of change and how our brains process change. Through interactive discussion, we will learn why people resist change and what needs they may have as they experience change. We will explore various strategies to engage employees so that they see the value and benefits of the change being implemented. Finally, we will discuss how engaging your employees in the process will accelerate change and strengthen your business outcomes.

    • Learning Objectives: 
      • Understanding the psychology of change
      • Identifying employee needs during a period of change
      • Strategies for engaging employees in the process
      • Using change accelerators to be more effective in accomplishing your objectives

1:25pm - 1:40pm: Break

1:40pm - 2:35pm: Return to work: Organizational culture and employment engagement in a post-COVID world (Carlton Brunson, Amber Harrison, Wendy Ratcliff)- Parkway Ballroom

  • The COVID-19 disruption and the accompanying technological innovations have dramatically altered the way that employees were able to work.  While some employees remained on the frontlines and in the office, a large proportion of people transitioned to remote work, and work-from-home became the norm for many companies.  As the public health disruption begins to subside, organizations are once again looking to adapt to the changing nature of work.  As a result, companies are trying to determine how to find the “right” balance of remote and in-person work, how to maintain an organizational culture as people come back to the office and continue to work from home, and how to keep all employees engaged regardless of their work situation.  This session will feature a panel of industry experts that will share the issues they are seeing as people return to in-person work and the effect that it is having on workplace culture, employee satisfaction, and worker engagement.  The panel will discuss solutions they have put into place to address these issues along with the degree of success of those solutions.  The expert panel will also take questions from the audience and lead an interactive discussion where ideas and solutions to current challenges are shared.  This session will help prepare HR professionals and frontline supervisors for the next evolution of the workplace, ensure that workers with different work arrangements are engaged, and organizational culture is strong. 

  • Learning Objectives:
    • Learn about trends across a variety of industries regarding remote and in-person work arrangements 
    • Discover the effects that bringing employees back to in-person work has on organizational culture and strategies for maintaining organizational culture
    • Learn about the employee engagement challenges that organizations are experiencing as they balance remote and in-person work arrangements and the solutions being used to address those issues 

2:35pm - 2:50pm: Afternoon Coffee and Snack Break  

2:50pm - 3:45pm: Do I smell?  How stinking at your job can help you adapt to the changing nature of work (Dr. Shawn Bergman)- Parkway Ballroom

  • The magnitude and pace of workplace change mean that individuals also need to adapt and change their approach to solving modern business problems.  The fact that analysis, creativity, and adaptability skills are continually listed as some of the most in-demand employee skills indicates that the workforce has not kept up. Instead, people rely on experience and intuition to solve novel problems.  This reliance is concerning because neither have ever been listed as in-demand employee attributes and because experience often has a negative relationship with job performance.  The session will introduce a decision-making framework and problem-solving approach, which first involves understanding the difference between experience and expertise.  Relevant information from research findings, data and analytics, and stakeholder input is then incorporated with this professional expertise to create a more complete problem-solving process, enhance decision-making, and improve results.  The session will use an interactive series of activities to illustrate how changing the nature of how people solve problems will help individuals and organizations successfully adapt to the changing nature of work.  

  • Learning Objectives:
    • Appreciate why experience, intuition, and past performance are insufficient to successfully adapt to the changing work environment
    • Understand the difference between experience and expertise and how to turn experience into expertise
    • Discover how using a more complete approach to problem-solving and decision-making can improve business outcomes 
    • Learn how to incorporate the phases of an evidence-based framework into the decision-making process

3:45pm - 4:30pm: HR Summit Wrap-Up- Parkway Ballroom  

  • Drs . Tim Ludwig and Shawn Bergman will lead attendees through an interactive recap of the HR Summit that highlight lessons learned, connections made, and strategies attendees can start using on Monday.