Greater Miami SHRM / Greater Miami Society for Human Resource Management

July 2010 - Message from the President

July is here and as we start this third quarter we are full of hope and excitement about the rest of this year!!

For July we have the bestselling author Tony Schwartz, President and CEO of the Energy Project.   Have you taken the Free Energy Audit Assessment that its listed on our website? You will immediately get a score and the results probably will make you stop and reflect. This event is a great opportunity to see and listen to a renowned author without leaving town!

Needless to say, feel free to bring guests to this and any other event. We all are proud of our GMSHRM Chapter and especially welcome others to join our programs. Please remember that early registration is a must! I do want to bring to your attention the logistical challenges that we face when we have a significant number of walk-ins or no-shows. We strive to provide the best member experience possible and it's hard to accommodate everyone if we don’t have an accurate number of guests. This affects your experience and service at the event – from catering to seating. PLEASE RSVP in our website, for our July 20th event.

Our events cannot take place without the support from our sponsors, a heartfelt thanks to CBIZ, our July sponsor and to INCAE, our Global Forum sponsor.

I am proud to say we continue our Soles4Haiti initiative, collecting Flip flops for Haiti. We have seen more and more human resources professionals that are launching this initiative in their own workplaces. Burger King,TransRe, Dade County Federal Credit Union and others are undertaking this initiative with energy and commitment. We also had a spot highlight on CBS 4! It is so fulfilling to see how our efforts are taking this initiative to another level!   Together we can Make the Difference!

On the national front, I attended the SHRM National Conference (June 30th), very impressive, eleven thousand attendees, 800 were international attendees representing 70 countries. Once more, SHRM it’s a Global Home for HR.  I felt very proud as an human resources professional, to attend a conference with such high standards and great content!

Do you have a suggestion or idea on how to improve our programs? Starting this month, we invite you to send us questions, ideas or recommendations to: president@gmshrm.org. I am always open for suggestions and ideas and so are the rest of the Board Members. We will try to answer most of the questions and will raffle a $20 gift card, per month, amongst all the individuals that send us their ideas.

Have a great month!

Magali Jarrin, M. A. GPHR

2010 GMSHRM President

June 2010 - Message from the President

Memorial weekend has just passed, and in addition to the festive activities we all shared with friends and family, hopefully, we also reflected on the brave troops that keep our country safe. Whenever I feel stressed, I think of our young men and women that are overseas under dire conditions and I feel I have no right whatsoever to complain. A heartfelt thank you to them and to their families for their sacrifice.

Moving on to June, half of the year is over already… Sales targets have to be achieved, our special projects are underway and the chapter is full of energy. Many thanks to our Board Members and Committee Members, as we continue building our community, we continue growing with members and sponsors. May showed an outstanding outcome of our efforts. We launched the first HR Executive Forum, with excellent speakers from Mercer and a solid attendance of decision makers in the HR field. And continuing with our international flair, the Social Networking event at SAWA, was also a great success and included a beautiful Middle Eastern dance, priceless! The May Global Forum presented Dr. Lisbeth Claus, one of the five members of the SHRM core group that drafted the certification course for the GPHR certification. Relevant topics presented by renowned speakers were a constant for GMSHRM in May.

We are getting ready for our June 15th event, the Social Media Revolution – HR and Social Collaboration. This time, our meeting will follow a keynote speaker and concurrent session’s format that promises to deliver something special for everyone. Special thanks to our sponsors SkillSoft, TalentWise, and our marketing sponsor Jobing for helping us bring this event to you. We are also proud to announce our third Global Forum of the year on June 25th. The breakfast series continues with another relevant topic "Reducing the cost of delivering benefits in Latin America." Many thanks to our sponsor, AON Consulting.

Are you planning on attending the SHRM National Conference in San Diego? We will try to get our group together through our LinkedIn GMSHRM group. So, make sure you stay connected and abreast of the discussions and plans in preparation for the conference. We also have one HR Florida Conference registration available at the Super Saver Rate of $360.00 each (now is $535). The first two to confirm will be eligible to receive the registration(s) contingent upon payment being remitted within 5 business days. For more information, contact Toni Corleto, GMSHRM HR Florida Ambassador. So looking forward to seeing you soon at our next events.

Best regards,

Magali Jarrin, M.A. GPHR                                                                                                                              2010 GMSHRM President

May 2010 - Message from the President

May is here and the year is in full swing, at work, at home and in our Chapter. Thank you to all the volunteers in the Board of Governors and the various committees, that dedicate so many hours of their personal time to make GMSHRM your Human Resources community for you, the HR professionals and for you, the HR Service Providers.

HR for HR - On May 10th we will be hosting our free Coffee Break series for members in transition. Many thanks to our host, Right Management and to our speaker, Bay Elliot.
Also in May, our monthly meeting will be a Networking event, May 18th, at Sawa at the Village of Merrick Park. We are partnering with Miami Dade Business Leadership Network (MDBLN) and our sponsor, TALK International, to bring you another great event.
Global Forum Breakfast Series - As most of you know, GMSHRM has been a long standing pillar for our HR professionals who work in corporations that engage in International business. In line with this, we will be hosting an event in partnership with International SOS, on May 26th, at the Intercontinental Hotel, Doral. Great speaker, great content, and free to attend for our members. .. and yes, if you are not a GMSHRM member yet, it brings a lot of benefits. If you already are a SHRM member, you only need to designate us as your primary chapter and register in our website. I am also honored to announce that GMSHRM has been awarded SHRM's Superior Merit Award for 2009. Congratulations to the 2009 Board members, hard shoes to fill.. and now in 2010 we are going for the gold!

If you were not able to attend our April event, you missed a magical night. More than one hundred people attended, a new venue, awesome topic and our Community Relations committee worked hard on launching the "Soles4Haiti" initiative. There is so much need in Haiti that we feel compelled to call for your help! Please keep bringing flip flops and crocs. We will be collecting them all year long!

Last but not least, Happy Mother's Day to all our lady members, no matter how stretched we are, how overworked we feel, we have our priorities clear and try to be the best role model for our children!

All the best,

Magali Jarrin, M.A., GPHR
2010 GMSHRM President

April 2010 - Message from the President

First Quarter is over. In each of our companies, salespeople have been running to achieve their sales quota and we, HR, trying our best to enable them: by motivating them, by writing the sales incentives plan and by focusing on our talent acquisition strategy.

Multi-faceted and ready to contribute to the bottom line, HR professionals are essential players in today’s businesses. It is for that reason that GMSHRM’s 2010 focus is to become your source for local and international human resources expertise.

There are a couple of events coming up, which we would like to bring to your attention:

April 20th, our monthly dinner program "Personal Branding." I personally invite you to attend this compelling and very relevant presentation as it is our reputation and credibility as HR professionals   what allows us to "sell" our ideas.   Join us at the Sofitel Hotel at 5:00 pm for networking and 6:00pm for dinner. Special thanks to our sponsor, OrthoNow, who will show us, ways to save on employer's costs.

And for our college graduates or undergraduate students, we will be hosting the "Home Runs and Human Resources" event on April 13th. What a better way to meet new and potential colleagues than at this fun and relaxing event. Come ready for tailgating!

GMSHRM has also partnered with Mercer' 2010 Latin America HR Forum (May 12 – 14). This means that if five or more GMSHRM members attend the event, they will enjoy a group discount. If you are interested in attending please register and send an email to president@gmshrm.org.

Finally, if you are not a GMSHRM member, please join us today and make sure to designate GMSHRM as your primary chapter! SHRM is currently offering a special rate membership. Learn more about it at www.gmshrm.org or contact membership@gmshrm.org.

We want you in our ranks and we need your support! Join us today!

Best,

Magali Jarrin, M.A., GPHR
2010 GMSHRM President

March 2010 - Message from the President

March is already here and we, HR practitioners, are all trying to finish the 2009 performance review process. Hopefully we are also granting merit increases and paying bonuses as well. It has been a busy first quarter so far. Many of us have been coaching our managers to facilitate those meaningful performance conversations; and if performance is not there, we have advised them on how to establish Performance Improvement Plans for the underperformers. This year, setting goals has been especially challenging, but nonetheless, a prime opportunity for human resources professionals to lead the strategic process.

As we evolve in our roles as human resources professionals, we are required to master project management and analyze new requests with a sound business perspective. That is why, GMSHRM, as your local HR expert brings outstanding presenters, leaders in their field to continue your professional development throughout the year.   Our March 16th dinner meeting will focus on the “Building Your Business Case” and how to develop the necessary skills to manage initiatives as projects, and deliver them on time and within budget.

Also in March, the popular Global Forum Breakfast Series kicks off with a phenomenal presentation designed for the international HR practitioner. We look forward to seeing you on March 12th at Hotel Sofitel.

We are also proud to announce the launch our “Ask Andy” column, a venue for members to send their legal questions, and get assistance with research and best practices. Many thanks to Andrew Rodman, GMSHRM’s Legal Affairs Director, for spearheading this new feature.

Last but not least, we need your support as Sponsors, as Members and as Colleagues to continue building this, your Chapter. Please remember we are all 100% volunteers that strive to support you all the best way possible.

All the best,

Magali Jarrin, M.A. GPHR

February 2010 - Message from the President

Dear Colleagues and friends of GMSHRM:

We started the year with a lot of initiatives under HR's responsibility - performance evaluations, salary reviews, bonus calculation, Reductions in Force, and if you do international human resources we also have to deal with mandatory salary increases or union mandated increases.

This year, many of us probably have to deal with the fact that the organization is not going to give a salary increase and yet we still have to keep our employees and sales forces fully motivated and engaged. Challenging issues on our plate. Luckily we have in our toolkit, past experiences, knowledge and GMSHRM colleagues in our GMSHRM chapter, that are always sharing best practices.

Personal and professional life may be stressful. That's why in GMSHRM we alternate between our monthly dinner meetings and a networking event. For February 16th, we will meet at Villagio in the beautiful Village of Merrick Park, in Coral Gables. We will celebrate with a very festive theme: MARDI GRAS!

In other fronts, GMSHRM continues supporting our "members in transition" through the free Coffee Break Series. Twenty-six colleagues have met with experts in resume building, interviewing skills and networking abilities. We also offer them the possibility of posting their resumes on our job board and when headhunters or agencies call us looking for talent we direct them to our job board.

Last but not least, we need your continued support by attending our events, renewing your membership and letting us know how we can continue adding value to what we do for you, GMSHRM members.

Thank you and see you at this month's event!

Magali Jarrin, GPHR
2010 GMSHRM President

January 2010 - Message from the President

New Year 2010 and New Opportunities

On behalf of the GMSHRM Board, I want to wish our 750 members and sponsors a great New Year 2010! We are looking forward to a successful 2010 and do look forward to your active participation in the Chapter. GMSHRM is committed to serve the human resources professional and advance the profession in our community. To this end, our board has developed a robust and diverse set of programs to help us balance career, professional and personal development while maximizing access of the superb talent we have in South Florida.

We are excited to expand member benefits through a Career Development Center that specifically caters to the professional development of the human resources professional.   Keeping in touch with trends and colleagues will be easier than ever in 2010 through our expanded social media network. Make sure you are connected to our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn groups. And back by popular demand, the annual Legal Update, Diversity & Inclusion Awards and Social Networks will provide yet another venue to earn certification credits while expanding your professional network. We will also continue supporting our strong base of international human resources practitioners through the workshops of the Global Forum and the HR Executive Forums, designed for the senior level practitioner. We will tackle relevant topics and provide hands on approach to key issues.

Considering human resources professionals have to be close to the business environment and understand the trends of the local economy, we are going to start our 2010 programming with “an economic overview” by the representative of the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade’s official economic development public/private partnership. Please ensure you register for this event next Tuesday January 19th.   We will also be collecting donations to support people in Haiti that are going through such difficult times.

If you haven’t done it yet, renew your membership with GMSHRM, before the end of the month and take advantage of all our member related services.

Whether this is your first year as a member or a long time supporter of our Chapter, we encourage you to actively participate in our events, lend your expertise, get to know your colleagues and expand your network and knowledge. It is perhaps the best way to maximize the benefits of being part of the largest South Florida SHRM Chapters.

Sincerely,

Magali Jarrin, GPHR
GMSHRM 2010 President