Employment Law and Policy Changes in the New Administration

We're facing unprecedented times as we live through a pandemic, climate change, social issues and more. Therefore, now more than ever, it's important for companies to rise up in these times and invest in the mental and physical health and wellbeing of their employees. While it may be more challenging, especially while most employees are working remotely for the foreseeable future, the investment will be invaluable when it comes to increasing productivity, engagement and retention. Thought-provoking research and statistics, exciting and innovative tools, practical tips and a wide variety of resources will be provided in this dynamic and engaging presentation you won't want to miss!

7 Employee Wellness Tools:

- Get Organized and Productive
- Exercise is Key
- What You Eat Really Matters
- Sleep Can't Be Underestimated
- Mindfulness is Mandatory
- Claim Time for Yourself
- Make Time for the 3 F’s (Family, Friends and Fun)

Reena Vokoun, Founder and CEO of Passion Fit, is an entrepreneur, writer, public speaker, content creator, media spokesperson and certified health and wellness expert through AFAA, ACE and IDEA Fitness.

She graduated with a B.B.A. in Marketing and Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.S. in Advertising and Communications from Boston University. She spent several years in corporate America working in marketing, sales and business development roles for companies such as Google, Yahoo, Reebok, CNET, GE and a start-up called Grokker.

Today, she serves companies, nonprofits, universities, schools and the media through Passion Fit products, services and content focused on wellness education and training in the areas of fitness, nutrition, mindfulness, work-life balance, stress management, productivity and personal and professional development.

Considering diversity, equity, and inclusion at every step of the talent acquisition process is key. Go beyond boolean searches to do a comprehensive analysis of the ways that intentional and thoughtful attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion are infused from the first moment with a candidate.

Kafi Payne is Director of Human Resources at Gravitational—a company helping engineers deliver applications to restricted, remote, and regulated environments. With over 20 years of professional experience in learning, coaching, talent development, and human resources Kafi specializes in diversity, equity, and inclusion, organizational systems, and change management as well as health and wellness. Dance and Yoga are daily practices for Kafi for focus and balance.

So much time is spent on culture and the front end of the employee life cycle. We focus on Onboarding, Learning and Development, Diversity and Inclusion, etc. but how does your organization handle the end of the employee life cycle? When you have bad off boarding and don't communicate with your team it leaves room for stories and rumors. Not only does it create fear but it also makes your team wonder if they're safe. Coming up with an off boarding plan that suits your organization is just as important as the onboarding process.

Remember people matter just as much at the end of their tenure as the beginning no matter the reason for their departure. So I'll ask - How do you bury your dead?

Three specific Learning Objectives achieved by attending the session:
- How to build a memorable off boarding process
- Ways to communicate with your team in case of a bad off boarding process
- Learn how to get the most out of your exit interviews

Brandi is an accomplished HR Leader with years of proven expertise in progressive, diverse, and broad-based HR practices. A forward-thinking HR Director with demonstrated success in start-ups, restructuring of operations, and aligning HR with company vision to drive optimal results.

She is the Chairman of the Board for HR.com’s San Fransisco Region. She also speaks at conferences, moderates events and consults on all HR matters.

We are living in unprecedented times - ‘work’ as we know it has changed. In order to thrive, organizations must re-invent themselves and embrace the new normal. As a Top 101 Global Employee Engagement Influencer, Jill understands how organizations operate, and what they need to do to attract, retain, and engage employees - whether they sit under your nose or work remotely. Are remote workers incredibly productive? Yes, but they also tend to feel more disengaged and neglected. In a day and age when people are ‘sheltering in place,’ the companies that will come out on top are the ones which create and execute a strategy to effectively manage remote workers.

During this session, you will learn:
o The one thing you must know to keep remote employees engaged, enthused, and effective.
o The importance of Connection, Communication, and Collaboration, and how to bring these things to life for employees, regardless of physical distance.
o A proven strategy that you can apply immediately to re-engage or engage remote workers.
o Clarity on next steps and inspiration to achieve your goals.

What if the talent you're seeking to hire is already on your company's payroll but going untapped? Employees often have capabilities and aspirations that go far beyond their current job descriptions. Edie Goldberg will show you how to optimize and energize your workforce by deploying the skills of the employees you already have inside your firm across organizational boundaries.

This session will describe a bold new talent operating model that helps organizations to operate in a more agile manner. It allows your employees to bring their best selves to work while offering a platform that encourage continuous reskilling to prepare them for the changing skills required by your organization.

By attending this session, conference participants will learn:
• The business case to change the way we work
• How to uncover the hidden skills within your workforce
• The Inside Gig Talent Operating Model that changes our approach to work
• The six core principles that support the Inside Gig
• A Case study to demonstrate the ROI of this new approach to work

In a rapidly changing economy that demands the constant reskilling of workers, the future belongs to companies that can access and deploy talent quickly and efficiently. Today’s organizations need to be able to quickly pivot and move talent to the greatest area of need. Unlock the hidden skills within your organization to keep your employees happy and engaged, improve your organization’s agility, and lower your costs.

Curious about why employees prefer a more diverse workplace? Looking for ways to boost diversity and inclusion efforts in your organization? Interested in hearing about the latest happenings in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the remote workplace of today?

Join us along with leaders from the HR tech industry as they share their experiences, strategies, and get your questions answered. Learn about new tools and worthwhile ways to improve your efforts in retaining your top talent.

Panel:
Chuka Ikokwu, Founder & CEO, Divercity.io (divercity.io)
Carolyn Peer, CEO, Humaxa (humaxa.com)
Diane Wismer, COO, Sparck (sparckco.com)
Lola Browne, HR Director, Netflix (netflix.com)

Future-proofing your talent pool with the right skills and development is one of the most critical tasks at hand. It takes deliberate effort and, done right, can help build a powerful pipeline of qualified internal leaders. Done wrong or not at all, can lead to ineffective managers, weak teams and little to no growth potential for employees.

What are some of the key skills missing in internal talent pools and how can we better prepare them for success?

In this training session, you’ll learn key skills for emerging talent to be better equipped to step into bigger roles, PLUS unexpected (and low-cost!) ideas to future-proof your talent development strategies in an ever-evolving workplace.

Key takeaways:

- Understanding Changing Workforce Needs and How They Impact Company Growth
- Learn the #1 Roadblock to Developing Rising Talent
- Identifying Low-cost, No-cost Tactics for Building a Stronger Talent Pool "Within Your Four Walls"

Cecilia Gorman is a veteran of the advertising industry where she spent 20+ years in production, recruiting and human resources. She presents frequently to HR audiences and brings energy and enthusiasm to the stage.

Cecilia hails from Orange County, CA, spending the bulk of her career at Y&R Advertising where she was VP, Creative Services. She led Global Creative Operations at Oakley and was head of HR and Training as VP, Organizational Leadership at Innocean USA.

Cecilia is a DISC-certified Executive Director with the John Maxwell Team and is the owner of Creative + Talent + Partners, a training consultancy that specializes in the development of new and struggling managers and the teams they lead. Her signature program is Manager Boot Camp, a 4-week digital training experience for managers of all levels.

What could we have done to keep you? This is a typical question posed to top talent as they’re leaving your organization. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. In other words, you probably have a lot more control over retention than you think.

Gallup data shows that 51% of U.S. employees are actively looking for a new job or are open to one. The odds are relatively good that you probably have one or a few on your team who are looking to leave your company right now, even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the positive side, slightly more than half, 52%, of voluntarily exiting employees say that their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job.

This session, led by Adriane Massey, a GALLUP-certified Strengths Coach, explores how to use Strengths now to prevent unwanted employee exits later.

Adriane Massey is the founder of Strengths Zone, an organization that specializes in Gallup-Certified Strengths Training & Coaching. She leads virtual workshops nationwide and coaches people through career and personal hurdles, using their natural talents. A former hospital Vice President, she has a BA from University of North Texas and MA from Stanford University.

Today employees are looking for supervisors who can lead, manage, coach, and mentor. What they are not looking for is a typical "boss" to command and micromanage them. Successful supervisors know that coaching is a critical tool in their toolbox, however, not everyone knows exactly how to do this. We all want to be heard, but in this increasingly distracted time, we don’t always feel heard. By employing coaching techniques to better connect with your employees, you’ll build stronger—and more successful—relationships. In this session we will explore how to retain top talent by becoming a leader from the side to your top employees—and empower them through coaching.

Key takeaways from this session are:
- Learn the difference between listening and active listening
- Understand what it means to lead from the side
- Learn the difference between a good coaching question and a great coaching question


Tracy Maher is a veteran human resources professional with almost 30 years of business experience. She began her career in administration and subsequently held hold roles in marketing, project management, and operations before moving full-time to Human Resources for the last 15 years. She leverages her diverse background to connect with and understand how the employee/employer relationship contributes to great outcomes. Currently, she is an Area Human Resources Manager for HDR.

Tracy graduated from Indiana University, Kelley School of Business with a Master of Science, Strategic Management, and received a Bachelor of Arts, Politics & Government from Ripon College. Tracy is Co-Active Training Institute trained coached. In her free time she travels and is an avid reader.

Challenging times add to the struggle of leadership. That’s where empathy comes in. Leading with empathy is not about being nice. Nor is it about agreement. It’s about understanding. Empathetic Leadership can save you time and lessen the energy it takes for you to lead. This engaging interactive session will show you how to activate the power of empathy to save time and energy and gain a business advantage.

In the session you will:

- Examine the hunger for empathy in the workplace
- Learn what Leaderitis is and how to break through
- Uncover why empathy tops the list as the most critical driver of interaction skills in job performance
- Experiment with an immediately applicable technique
- Accelerate and continue momentum with additional tools

You will take away:

- Techniques and tips to differentiate your leadership to gain a business advantage
- Increased awareness of your tendency towards empathy at work
- 1 in depth technique to activate understanding
- 2 tools to continue taking impactful action
- 3 tips to experiment with further

Patricia Bravo is dedicated to helping leaders sharpen their empathetic edge using Empathetic Leadership. As a consultant, speaker and author, she draws on her talent development experiences to increase leader business results through her company, Bravo For You. Teaching undergraduates at University of Washington, Bothell and professionals at UCLA Extension fuels her commitment to emerging and experienced business leaders. Her chapter on empathy was published in Authentic Leadership and Followership: International Perspectives and she is currently working on a book.

It is so important for employers to understand Health and Wellbeing at a deeper level (especially since Covid-19) to create healthy and supportive workforces. In this session, we will cover:

- The true meaning of Health and Wellbeing
- Our duty as employers to identify and mitigate risks to health and wellbeing
- How we can support health and wellbeing for remote employees

Olivia Cheung is a People & Culture Officer working at We are Futures, an agency that focuses on connecting businesses with young people and their families. Alongside building strong People & Culture strategies, Olivia is also exploring her passion for building healthy workforces by studying a part-time Masters in Workplace Health and Wellbeing at the University of Nottingham.

Recent history has seen several key shifts in the way organisations go to work and manage employees. So why are we doing the ‘same old thing’ when it comes to growing and nurturing talent?

Building on well-known research from Maslow, Hofstede and Herzberg, we’ll explore why starting a talent management revolution is critical for companies wanting to maintain their competitive advantage in the Knowledge Era.

About Louise Woodcroft-Letham:
Louise has over 10 years’ experience in recruitment, talent management and organisational development within the technology, construction and advertising sectors. Named a ‘HR Rising Star’ by HRD Magazine in 2016, her experience covers global, SME and listed businesses, enabling her to develop award winning best practice solutions across onboarding, talent and engagement with each business’s unique challenges in mind. Currently residing in Sydney Australia, Louise is working as a People & Culture Business Partner for IR specialising in global talent development.

Now more than ever companies must create environments where DE&I is an integral part of the organizational culture. Join Victoria Pelletier, Vice President, North American Talent & Transformation Leader, IBM Services to learn intentional strategies that help organizations create a genuine, lasting DE&I culture. Victoria will explore unconscious bias, ways to address and educate employees, as well as technology that assists in Talent Acquisition/ Recruitment using DE&I strategies. Walk away with actionable steps on how to develop DE&I strategies and tactics to move the needle, taking the conversation from talk to measurable action.

Even before the pandemic sent all but the most essential workers home, more than 50% of all knowledge workers were routinely working from somewhere other than a traditional corporate office. Add to that the trend toward flexible work hours, the gig economy and an increasingly tech-savvy employee base, and you can understand why we are in a true revolution when it comes to the employee experience. As companies continue to allow employees the flexibility to work from anywhere, new challenges arise: All these disparate, mobile and even disruptive people and technologies must continue to work as one team in order to drive innovation and deliver measurable results. Chances are, the methods and tools you’ve used for years will not cut it in an increasingly diverse and dispersed workplace.

Join us for this in-depth discussion to learn:

- What are the most important changes taking place in the workplace right now?
- What’s driving these changes, and are they inevitable?
- How can you ensure your business is on the front lines of management best practices?
- What are some old management styles that simply won’t cut it in 2020 and beyond?
- How can companies recruit talent in an uncertain world?
- How should companies keep their remote workers connected—whenever they need to be, on any device or network?
- How do I get buy in from my own managers and colleagues?
- How should I rethink compensation, benefits and the like?

Panel:
Melanie Turek, VP of Research and Fellow, Connected Work, Frost & Sullivan
Katie Evans-Reber, VP of People and Culture, Wonolo
Tony Holmwood, Culture Strategy & Change Facilitator, Outperf4m
Ira Wolfe, President and Chief Googlization Officer, Success Performance Solutions

We know we need to hire a diverse workforce so why are we not changing our recruitment approach and systems? We have developed plenty of strategies and we have the data – so how do we make it happen The importance of ensuring your workforce reflects the communities we serve requires us to implement changes, and that starts with your entire recruitment process from attraction through to day-1 onboarding. Everything you do needs to feel inclusive, equitable and safe, and it’s important to shift to new approaches if you want to secure diverse talent.

This might feel like an enormous task so how do you figure out which stages are most impactful? Here’s the reality: your talent attraction methods will need to reflect your organisations culture, willingness and authentic acceptance to hiring a diverse workforce - telling the whole story, leads to transparency and potentially an organisational change.

If you have a D&I strategy or are looking to build one, this webinar will help you focus on effective areas to create change, with results. You’ll learn how to:
- How to attract diverse talent you need, and why - shift to using the right approach
- Reviewing every step of your recruitment process.
- Understand what data metrics you need to collect to measure success
- Overcome critical barriers around D&I approaches – rethinking roles and minimum requirements
- Address common myths and mistakes around some diversity groups

With a greater understanding of how to attract a diverse workforce, you’ll gain results that enables truly meaningful results – in more ways than one.

Founders and CEOs of startups in their first few years of existence regularly struggle with the questions: When in my company's lifecycle should I hire a Head of People? When is too soon? When is it too late? Or do I not need one at all?

In this talk, I'll share my hypothesis for how startups definitely need a People advisory lens from it's company's infancy; but would benefit from thinking about a Head of People function in a vastly different manner and set up, which would:
i) Be more cost effective for the company
ii) Enable the talented leaders to fill this function to work in a more prioritized, empowering, and agile manner

According to a recent article by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), the labor market continues to improve - 1.4 Million job gains in August 2020 and unemployment rates falling to 8%.

That said, the number of individuals in the job market remains in the millions, and employees are nervously keeping one eye on the job boards anticipating company furloughs and layoffs. The pace at which employers are bringing back employees and adding jobs is slowing amidst the growth, requiring organizations to create a laser focus on their hiring strategies.

Savvy hiring managers and talent acquisition experts are recognizing the opportunity to impact their organization by identifying talent that aligns and engages with the company’s culture, mission, and business objectives.

The challenge becomes, how to efficiently and effectively identify high caliber talent from the abundant pool of qualified candidates.

Today’s session equips hiring managers, recruiters, talent acquisition & HR professionals with the insight and tools to identify candidates who have clarity and confidence in how they will generate positive results immediately and impact the organization’s success.

Specifically, we will address:
- How does an applicant’s personal brand translate to your hiring success?
- What should you look for in a candidate to improve confidence in your hiring decision?
- When & where does your own employer brand impact the type of candidates you will attract?

You will leave today’s session with tangible tools and ideas to implement immediately in your organization to optimize the identification and prioritization of a candidate pool, and ensure the hiring you generate impacts business outcomes, aligns with the organization’s values and needs, and is engaged and excited to retain employment.

When we hire well, we are hiring individuals who challenge us to become better. We don’t hire great people and tell them what to do, we hire great people, and they tell us what to do. Together, we align and become something greater than we were before. Learn how to attract and select top talent to join your company by finding individuals who believe in and act on what you stand for.

Key takeaways:
- Commit to attracting and hiring exceptional talent that drive great results for the long-term
- Increase your ability to effectively identify the right talent
- Avoid common pitfalls of rush hiring

As the Director of Employee Engagement Services for Leverage, John Spanczak understands the importance of putting employees first to inspire business growth. His background in social work offers him a unique perspective into the motivators that drive engagement. John is a part of the same Talent Enrichment Team that has helped land Leverage’s parent company Clickstop Inc. on prestigious lists such as, CBJ Coolest Places to Work, CBJ Fastest Growing Companies, Inc. Magazine Best Places Workplaces, Google Economic Impact Report, Iowa Top Workplaces, and many others.