You might have already guessed that I’m pretty passionate about HR. It’s challenging but I am just so interested in making it a career to be proud of, because that’s good for all of our wellbeing right?

So what this means is yep, I’m all about HR Club Sydney and getting people together to share ideas about HR.

This year, I’ve also had the opportunity to take on the position of the AHRI Young Professionals Group Convenor. Some people have asked me about this recently and yes, my story is still the same- I’m about anything interesting in HR and learning as much as I can.

So I hope to be able to share and communicate ideas from both AHRI and also other neat stuff I find. This way, we all have access to everything and we can all kick ass.

Speaking of kick ass. Few things happening in September that I wanted to mention.

1) HR Club Sydney drinks- 13th September 2011- register via LinkedIn It’s been too long between drinks so let’s catch up to see who has joined the network and what the pressing issues are in HR in Sydney.

2) You may have read a post that I wrote ages ago about the book “Your Brain at Work”

Well I'm jealous of anyone who's registered to go to the AHRI Sydney Leadership Conference on 12th September, because he's speaking! Check out the program here.

If anyone is going and would be happy to write some blog posts to be shared on HR Club Sydney I would be extremely grateful!

Well hi there. Yes it’s been a while… one of my longest breaks yet. I like blogging, but I never blog because I feel I have to. I only write when I’m up for it and sometimes, other things take priority. So what’s been happening in my patch in the last few weeks?

For those who attended the last HR Club Sydney Event- thank you. Again, it is just fantastic to get to meet so many of you and think about some of the different challenges we face at work. It was a great opportunity to hear Michael McQueen speak, and thank you to Rookie Recruits for helping me organise for Michael to attend. Here are some photos from the evening so you can get an idea of what the HR Club Sydney events are like.

I’ve been learning heaps at work and getting some great experience in things I have not managed before. While challenging, there’s so much satisfaction at the same time. I’m hoping to get back into the swing of things and share some of this with you over the next few weeks.

I’m also very excited to have jumped in as the Group Convener for the AHRI NSW Young Professionals Group. My mind is racing with all the different things we can do for young HR Pros in NSW so please stay tuned and let me know if you have any ideas you’d like to share.

I’ll be at the Welcome Reception and Exhibition Launch for the AHRI National Convention on Monday 6th June at the Young Professionals meet up. It’s free to attend but you must register so please visit the AHRI website for details.

Although a lot has been said about Generation Y in recent years, much of the discussion regarding this young group has stopped at simply describing what they are like and how motivate and engage them. Behind the symptoms, however, what is really driving many of the conflicts and misunderstandings between different generations in the workplace today?

In this revealing presentation, bestselling author and social researcher Michael McQueen will explore some of the reasons each generation (not just Gen Y) see the world so differently. In addition, Michael will outline a series of practical strategies for HR professionals who are looking to get the best out of the various generations within their organizations and work teams.

Bio

Michael McQueen CSP, is an Australian-born speaker, social researcher and business owner. Graduating from university in 2002, he is the founder of a training and consultancy company called The Nexgen Group. Nexgen’s mission is to help generations better understand and connect with each other. Over the past 6 years, Michael and his organization have presented to and worked with over 100,000 people across 4 continents.

Michael has written three bestselling books. His first book, “The ‘New’ Rules of Engagement” focuses on demographic trends and strategies for engaging with Generation Y, while his more recent releases “Memento” and “Wisdom” are designed to help parents and grandparents pass on their stories and life lessons as a legacy to the next generation.

Michael is a sought-after keynote presenter and features regularly on Television and Radio programs. In addition to his work in the government and education sectors, Michael’s corporate clients have included Vodafone, Pepsi and GIO Insurance.

Please please join us for this event on Wednesday 20th April, 2011 at 5:30pm, at Level 7, 68 York Street, Sydney. In conjunction with the hosts of the event (yes you will indeed get to sample some tasty Lion Nathan beverages), Rookie Recruits is our sponsor for the evening- so do me a favour and check them out.

You must register for the event on LinkedIn and while you are there, if you haven’t already- please visit the HR Club Sydney Group page (over 800 members and counting!). I look forward to seeing you there!

You may have seen the details recently about a casual dinner for HR people to get together and have a good time. I always get nervous wondering whether it will be a bit awkward. Will people talk? Will they have a good time? Will it be worthwhile?

I need not worry. I forget that HR people love to let loose amongst their own and share stories and experiences.

In case you missed it. Here’s what you missed.

Good food. Good wine (a fair bit of good wine). Great conversation.

Funnily enough, the night started out a bit reverse to what you’d expect. We started out talking about what we like to do on the weekend and what the best food to get when you are hungover is. Later on after a few wines, a serious debate emerged about psychometric testing and the validity of particular tools.

From left to right: Lynne Simpson (currently seeking a perm HR position), Mayuri Kai-Best (HR Manager at Planit Test Management Solutions), me, Kelly O’Shaughnessy (Head of Talent at Peerlo), Anna Clarke (Talent Pipelines Advisor at OneSteel), Peter Robinson (Senior Consultant at Team Leadership Services) and Phillip Tusing (Director, Destination Talent).

Thanks to everyone who came along. I’d like to keep the momentum going so stay tuned!

Now that we’ve all hopefully had a bit of a rest over the Christmas/New Year break, a lot of people have begun asking about when the next HR Club Sydney networking evening will be, and as we haven’t had one in a while I thought it would be a good way to start the New Year.

This year I’ve come to realise that there are a lot of events out there at the moment, particularly for those who work in the Sydney CBD. This made me reflect on what I thought might add value for the HR Community.

Being free- has always been important, especially for the up and coming HR professionals and even grads
No sell jobs- occasionally I’ll come across a product or service I think is unique or worth sharing but for the most part I enjoy inviting people to a sales pitch (cos I hate them too!)
Learn something really awesome that you can use- so I’m trying to find speakers that will have something really valuable to share that can add to the development of you as a HR professional
Getting to meet other HR people- being young and more inexperienced than so many others in the HR community I can’t tell you how much value I place on the privilege of meeting other HR professionals. I learn so much from what they are doing, have done and what they’ve learned. Even working on proposals recently, I’ve asked about what is best practice in remuneration and been overwhelmed with people willing to help. This is what I think will really add value.

With that said, if you’d like to join me for dinner in Surry Hills on Wednesday 23rd February feel free. I’m recommending a place called Abdul’s that does amazing Lebanese food for around $25. It’s very casual and is BYO. Given I have had the privilege of purchasing a number of great wines recently I’ll bring along a few for us to try!

If you’d like to come along please just leave a comment on this blog with a contact email address so that I can confirm numbers with the restaurant on the day.

Hope to see you then!

Every now and again I come across something a bit different, and share it because I think people will be interested. You may have read about this in HC Magazine or even heard the reviews from our sister club, HR Club Newcastle.

I think most of us in HR are interested in employee engagement and value services like Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) for the support that they can provide people during difficult times.

Current research shows the extent of financial ill health in the Australian community is significant – 70% of Australian couples experience conflict over money, 86% of individuals saying they should know more about personal finance than what they do, and 95% say they experience difficulties with managing money.

Financial stress leads to significant mental, emotional and physical costs to the individual, and in turn, the organisations they are a part of.

This is one way to look at it. Another is to look at a benefit that you could provide for your employees that could mean much, much more than a pay rise or bonus- and this is what interested me. I was first introduced to Innergi when I was working at a law firm, and spoke to a lot of employees in their 30s who were earning extremely good money but weren’t doing anything useful with it. This is a tool that could help employees get in control of their finances and value the total reward package you offer them.

Intrigued?

On Wednesday 1st December, Matt Linnert will share a light hearted look at the serious challenge of raising financial wellbeing in Australia, including an overview of the strategies which leading organisations are using today and are predicted to use in the near future.

The event will be held in the Oak Room, at Swissotel Sydney, Level 8, 68 Market Street, Sydney. There will be a light breakfast served from 7.15am (yum!) and the presentation starts at 7.40am sharp so you can head off to start your day.

Registration is essential so please register via the eventbrite link. It’s a good way to meet and network with others in the HR Community

Some quick photos from the HR Club Sydney Event the other night. Thanks to everyone who came along!

Get all the details here and then RSVP via LinkedIn (please note you must be logged into LinkedIn in order to RSVP)

Starts: Tuesday June 08, 2010, 06:00PM
Ends: Tuesday June 08, 2010, 08:00PM
Location: Aurora Place
88 Phillip St, Level 5
Sydney Nsw 2000, NSW 2000 AU
Price: Free!

In case you don’t have the budget to attend HR Summit this year, I’ve managed to secure Muffy Churches from A.S.K Learning to present a case study around developing the learning roadmap for an award winning program they developed with Siemens Ltd. The award in question is actually the highest honours in the LearnX Asia Pacific Training Awards 2010 for Best Leadership Training Program.

Read more about the event here and then RSVP on LinkedIn here.

I’m very pleased to announce our next HR Club Sydney Event which will be the third for 2010. It’s great to keep the ball rolling and with so many in attendance last time, I hope we can keep building the local HR Community. Save the date- 8th June- Level 5, 88 Phillip Street, Sydney.

One of the aims of HR Club Sydney was to provide a place where local HR people could meet in a casual environment and share experiences. Another aim for me was to provide access to some of the top HR resources available and provide it to people for free. It may be that you are early on in your HR career or you just don’t have the budget to attend all the conferences you’d like to. My hope is for people to be able to read and hear from others what the key takeouts were and start a discussion, or to provide you with the access to those speakers for free.

This is why I’m excited about this one. In case you don’t have the budget to attend HR Summit this year, I’ve managed to secure Muffy Churches from A.S.K Learning to present a case study around developing the learning roadmap for an award winning program they developed with Siemens Ltd. The award in question is actually the highest honours in the LearnX Asia Pacific Training Awards 2010 for Best Leadership Training Program. Very impressive!

Why should you attend?

Well there will be information shared on the training needs identified, key objectives of the program and how this complete approach provided a long term solution, as well as addressing cultural transformation around people management.

The second half of the presentation will be an interactive session of a simulated training rollout. Muffy will take you inside a sample roadmap and experience two key training moments along that timeline; such as live leadership training activities including: a) Experimentation with the Coaching Model “GROW”, and b) The adaptation of conversation to various personality styles.

The session will be fun and highly interactive and can be used as an example as a model for developing your own internal learning strategies and roadmaps.

Learning Points

• See how a major transformational strategy map can grow organically from one key internal pain point.
• Understand the importance of aligning learning initiatives to business goals and getting buy-in from stakeholders at all levels.
• Move inside the strategy map to experience a critical learning piece.

Muffy Churches Biography (GM, Performance Skills – A.S.K Learning)

Muffy Churches Bio

Muffy is the principle developer, designer and facilitator of A.S.K Learning’s performance skills courses and employee development programs. She combines over 15 years of soft skills training, executive coaching and facilitation across three continents.

She is renowned for her preparation, enthusiasm and the ability to provide the linkage between conceptual models and practical business outcomes for participants and their companies. Muffy’s energetic style and ability to involve all participants in the training journey has delivered outstanding results for an array of blue-chip organisations such as Qantas, Dell, Canon, Siemens, Westpac, Telstra, Bayer and AMEX to name but a few.

A special shout out goes to Jane Copeland for this one, as she’s helped me out with organizing another great speaker for HR Club Sydney (for free!).  To find out more about award winning L&D strategies that are working, for global companies such as Dell, Siemens, Canon, Commonwealth Bank, Toyata and HP you should connect with Jane via LinkedIn. Even if you don’t have the need now, its good to keep up-to-date with what’s going on that space.

Finally, if you have a speaker that you think HR Club Sydney would benefit from, don’t hesitate to contact me. Although I understand everyone works for a business, the idea is to share information and learnings through things like a case study- not a hard sell for your product so please keep this balance in mind if you have a suggestion for a speaker.

Otherwise- I hope to see you there!

Hey there blog,

Remember me? We used to talk… more often than at the moment.

I just wanted to check in with you and let you know that it will be ok, and that just because I’ve been busy, doesn’t mean I don’t care or that I haven’t been thinking about you.

So last week was hectic. I wrapped up from my last job in less than 8 days since the time in which I resigned. 8 days isn’t a long time to get things sorted or even pack up my office. I had so many books and folders I’m getting a courier to bring it all in to my new office.

Thursday night was another successful HR Club Sydney Event. I want to thank James and the Red Balloon Crew. They did an awesome job. Over 30 people came and enjoyed a sneaky beverage (thanks for supporting The Burdekin) and it was a really lovely night- thank you to everyone who came along.

My partner also finished up his job on Friday so the celebrations went quite late into the night.

Monday I started at my new job and wow is it overwhelming, but in a good way. I’m already forming plans in my head about what is possible here, whilst trying to learn the business and the people that make it happen.

Tuesday night I was on the panel for a Next Gen event (run by The Next Step), which featured discussions on employee engagement, the new legislation and the use of social media. This took a bit of preparation (albeit last minute on my behalf) but it was a great night and I got to meet some very cool, high potential HR people. Also thanks to The Next Step for your support and also for my beautiful flowers!

So here I am Day four into my new job and hoping you’ll forgive me for neglecting you.

I hope you have had an awesome week and if not, there’s another public holiday coming up soon!

Jess