ASHHRA eNews Pulse
ASHHRA
April 12, 2011Hello ASHHRA Members,
As promised in last month's letter, I wanted to share the goals your ASHHRA Board is working very diligently on for this year. Each of the goals are aligned to our three year strategic plan. I am extremely pleased with the focus and effort to date and I am highly confident we will have a very successful year.
Board members Grace Moffitt, Maureen O'Keeffe, and I are exploring the whole idea of certification for health care human resources professionals. Since our business segment is going to explode with the advance of baby boomers needing health care services, we are exploring the idea of a valued product, an educational component, and a potential partner in this quest. This is very strategic and we are currently in the research phase.
Board members Karmen Reid and Tom McCawley are working on a laundry list of important actions to improve service to the chapters/regions including trying to increase chapter membership, assisting chapters with mentorship programs, and monthly e-mails to chapter leaders. For the regions, goals have been established to include more information on newsletters, regular calls with chapter presidents, and providing at least one advocacy representative at each state conference.
Board member Paul Morlock and President-elect Irma Pye have developed a three tiered approach to establishing an exciting and extremely valuable new program for you. They are currently working on Tier One. We will tell you more about it in the coming months, so stay tuned.
Board members Marit Brock and John Ostrom have defined very specific goals in increasing Non-Hospital membership by three percent, which is 20 additional members for this year. They are planning to reach out to several non-hospital professional groups for partnership opportunities and will develop a Non-Hospital Track of presentations for our annual conference and target market potential attendees. They will also ramp up the ListServ to include all current non-hospital members and propose to update our marketing road show presentation to market the non-hospital segment.
Board members Joe Miccuci and Paul Morlock have engaged the area of technology and have identified and reviewed six areas for potential improvement: optimization of technology, and proposed upgrades including online purchasing, launching e-books, a member spotlight, and establishing blogs, just to mention a few.
Board member Nicole Morin-Scribner and Immediate Past President Jeff Payne have begun work on the issue of wellness and establishing a culture of health in our organizations and providing the tools to our constituency for doing so. This effort will include communicating best practices and presenting findings, but most importantly providing you with the tools you need in your organization.
We have also identified opportunities for our organization to become more proactive in partnering with other Professional Membership Groups (PMG) within the AHA to include leadership in policy and advocacy, education and sponsorships, educational presentations in our field of health care human resources, and collaboration on important and pertinent initiatives in our field. ASHHRA Executive Director Stephanie Drake, CEO Board Member Melissa Kinnaird, and I are working on these initiatives with the entire Board of Directors.
Have a great month and I will continue to provide status on a quarterly basis.
Robert Walters, SPHR
Corporate Director, HR Operations
Health First, Inc.
3550 North Harbor City Blvd.
Melbourne, FL 32932-0069
(321) 434-1957
bob.walters@health-first.org
Visit http://www.ashhra.org/resources/labor_activity.shtml to view the full article online.
Visit http://www.ashhra.org/resources/general_resources.shtml to view the full article online.
Visit http://www.ashhra.org/conference/2011/schedule.shtml to view the full article online.
If you decide to deny an employee his or her old job upon returning from FMLA leave, a new court ruling highlights one thing you’d better be ready to do. A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled that an employer has to prove it has a legitimate reason for not reinstating an employee to his/her former position following leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
SOURCE: HR MORNING
Visit http://www.hrmorning.com/fmla-ruling-carries-new-warning-for-employers/ to view the full article online.
Recent reductions-in-force have sparked a spate of age-discrimination lawsuits. Read the dramatized version of this real-life case and see if you can determine the outcome. SOURCE: HR MORNING
Visit http://www.hrmorning.com/who-won-this-case-was-age-bias-involved-in-rif/ to view the full article online.
Hospitals willing to engage community-based organizations have a tremendous opportunity to maximize the impact of workforce development goals. It’s a concept that has strong and active collaborative stakeholders in Chicago united around a common goal: helping entry-level health care employees gain the skills and education needed to advance. The result is a win-win situation: engaged employees are funneled into high-demand careers, letting the employer fortify pipelines while attracting the best new entry-level talent to fill newly vacated positions.
Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/ahh-nwl/articles/index-v2.asp?aid=141473&issueID=22503 to view the full article online.
Are you cranking up your 2011 recruitment strategy? Research says the overall hiring outlook is the strongest it’s been in three years. Nearly three out of ten employers (28%) reported they hired full-time, permanent employees in the first quarter of 2011, the highest since the first quarter of 2008, according to a recent study from CareerBuilder and USA TODAY. That momentum is expected to continue into the second quarter of the year, researchers said.
SOURCE: HR MORNING
Visit http://www.hrmorning.com/strong-hiring-forecast-means-more-competition-for-top-talent/ to view the full article online.
Visit http://hr.blr.com/HR-news/Compensation/FLSA-Fair-Labor-Standards-Act/New-FLSA-Regulations-Clarify-Provisions/ to view the full article online.
The House Ways and Means Committee has approved a new bill that could halt the tax-free reimbursement of abortion expenses from flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs). If the bill were to make it out of Congress, reimbursement for most abortion-related expenses would be added to an FSA/HSA participant’s taxable income. Currently, abortion-related reimbursements are treated like any other covered medical expenses. The bill passed the committee by a 22-14 vote, reported Business Insurance. It will now go before the full House of Representatives. SOURCE: HR MORNING
Visit http://www.hrmorning.com/new-bill-could-restrict-controversial-fsa-hsa-reimbursements/ to view the full article online.
Thinking of changing jobs? It seems almost everyone is. CareerBuilder says 15 percent of workers are actively looking, but 76 percent of the rest would jump ship if the right opportunity comes along. Given the acceleration in hiring, that right opportunity may come along sooner rather than later. So if you happen to be one of those active job seekers, or you’re just waiting for the right job to come along, you should know that HR jobs in general and recruiting positions in particular are trending up.
SOURCE: TLNT
Visit http://www.tlnt.com/2011/03/31/latest-numbers-show-that-hr-jobs-are-trending-up/ to view the full article online.
As I was conducting a workshop last week focusing on health insurance coverage, an employee asked if he could put additional money in his Health Savings Account (HSA) above and beyond what the employer contribution was. "Of course!!" I said, and even better, if he made the contribution prior to April 18 it could be used as a deduction for his tax return NOW. So it got me thinking about other tips that could be shared with employees over the next few weeks to help them muster through the chore of doing their taxes and save a few extra bucks.
SOURCE: TLNT
Visit http://www.tlnt.com/2011/04/07/employee-communications-last-minute-tax-tips-that-may-help/ to view the full article online.
Human resources professionals often do not have time to pontificate on the role of ethics in business and health care. Milton Friedman, the legendary economist, was quoted as saying, "The business of business is business (1970)." Others would argue that ethics do matter. Ethical scandals have plagued health care companies like Columbia/HCA, a featured case study in "Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases," a leading business ethics textbook. Ethics in human resources in health care is not solely academic; it is a matter of strategic and reputational importance to any senior leadership team and board.
Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/ahh-nwl/articles/index-v2.asp?aid=141479&issueID=22503 to view the full article online.
By this point, just about everyone understands the "whys" for having a wellness program in place. The new question is "how" – how do HR leaders help create programs that generate participation, excitement and results? We thought it would be helpful to our readers to provide some concrete examples. So we came up with a list of some of the nation's top health experts, and asked them to share their thoughts on what constitutes an innovative wellness program.
SOURCE: HUMAN RESOURCE EXECUTIVE ONLINE
Visit http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=533334542 to view the full article online.
SOURCE: HR.BLR.COM
Visit http://hr.blr.com/HR-news/Benefits-Leave/Employee-Benefits/Employers-Said-to-Be-Putting-Less-into-Workers-Acc/ to view the full article online.
It’s no secret that budgets are lean in this economy. Employers estimate an average increase in health care costs of 8.9 percent for 2011*, which means employees may feel the pinch with higher out-of-pocket costs. Since benefits are linked to attracting, retaining and motivating top-performing employees, HR professionals in the health care industry are continually faced with the challenge of identifying ways to make their benefits packages more attractive without increasing costs.
Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/ahh-nwl/articles/index-v2.asp?aid=141486&issueID=22503 to view the full article online.
Health care organizations, just like most other employers in the United States, are facing an unprecedented tsunami of poor employee health. Chronic health problems, increased absence and disability, turnover of key talent and loss of productivity are undermining many hospitals’ ability to properly execute their business strategy.
Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/ahh-nwl/articles/index-v2.asp?aid=141488&issueID=22503 to view the full article online.
I have had the privilege of defending physicians and hospitals throughout the state for more than 40 years. For many of those years, I’ve tried more medical malpractice cases than any other defense lawyer. In 1968, I founded the law firm of Post & Schell and by the time I was retired several decades later, my firm was the largest law firm in the state that was devoted almost exclusively to the defense of physicians and hospitals. The recommendations contained in this article arise not only from my experience as a defense lawyer, but also as the President of Professional Casualty Association, a malpractice insurance carrier insuring approximately 1,900 Pennsylvania physicians.
SOURCE: PHYSICIANS NEWS DIGEST ONLINE
Visit http://www.physiciansnews.com/2011/04/04/how-physicians-can-avoid-yet-another-malpractice-crisis-and-reduce-their-insurance-premiums/ to view the full article online.
You just have too much on your plate and, chances are, your employees do as well. You suspect that you could all be making better use of your time, completing more projects and achieving more goals. You want to be more productive and help your team be more productive, but you aren’t sure where to start.
SOURCE: HRM TODAY
Visit http://www.hrmtoday.com/featured-stories/five-ways-to-increase-your-productivity/ to view the full article online.
The litany of leaders who've founded and built their companies in their twenties and thirties is long and storied. It's hard to read much of anything in the news these days without Mark Zuckerberg, Biz Stone, or Andrew Mason weighing in. But more and more today, even the average young professional, the Millenial, is taking on increased responsibility at work, and managing and leading others far older than themselves. SOURCE: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
Visit http://blogs.hbr.org/glickman/2011/04/leading-older-employees.html to view the full article online.
Many people remember seeing encouraging comments written on the top of their elementary school homework assignments. The friendly green ink and accompanying colorful stickers always seemed to bring a smile to an ordinary moment during the day. Teachers make these comments to build their students’ self-esteem, and to show their hard work is noticed and appreciated. In turn, children take these words to heart, soaking up the praise and reveling in a sense of accomplishment.
Visit https://www.naylornetwork.com/ahh-nwl/articles/index-v2.asp?aid=141503&issueID=22503 to view the full article online.
