Dear ASHHRA,

It’s spring and it’s time to celebrate human resources! Imagine a day without the human resources department in your organization. Just one day! Candidates waiting to apply would not be able to do so. New employees might have to wait for new employee orientation. The mom or dad with a new baby wouldn’t know how to enroll them in the health plan. Managers throughout the organization might hesitate to counsel or terminate. Plus, who would lead the way with employees on biometric testing and flu shots? Yikes!!!

It’s time to stand up and cheer. Think of it as a spring resolution. The season is the perfect time to celebrate, after all this season already hosts St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Memorial Day, why not Health Care HR Week! The week of March 11–17, 2012 has been designated to recognize human resources professionals in hospitals and non-hospital organizations across the nation for the daily issues they face in workforce, compensation and benefits, employee relations, health care reform, and wellness – just to name a few. So celebrate the rest of this week or even next week. Just be sure to recognize your HR team.

How do you recognize HR in your organization? Check out the ASHHRA website for ideas that include lunch for your team with the CEO as well as health fairs and fun contests. If those ideas aren’t what you had in mind here’s some more that were recently provided by your peers.

• Buy a small gift for each staff member – it doesn’t have to be expensive: fun magnets, post its, or really cool pens
• Send an email to the other executives letting them know the names of your staff (just in case) and ask them to thank the HR staff by sending them an email or stopping them in the hall and expressing their appreciation
• Make lunch for the staff; if you aren’t much of a cook (that would be me!) make breakfast or your favorite dessert for an afternoon tea
• Host a mini-conference for the staff, ask a peer at another hospital to come and provide an educational opportunity in exchange for you providing one for their employees
• Write an article for the company newsletter and include some of our cool numbers... how many people apply each year how many address changes we process annually, the number of changes people make to their benefits each year – most of our peers in the organization can’t even begin to imagine the volume of work processed in HR 
• Compare your number with something cool... miles to the moon, drive across the U.S. twice and to Alaska one time, anything that provides perspective.

I know what you are thinking! We have too many weeks to "celebrate" in health care already. Or, our health care organization celebrates them all at one time in the year to avoid the distraction. I totally understand. If this is the case, then use this as an opportunity to engage your own HR employees, to thank them for their hard work and for their continued support of all the initiatives in the organization. Thank them for their support of you as their leader. Our employees are our lifeline, our connection to the rest of the organization. Use this as an opportunity to express your heartfelt thanks!

Leading People Through Change,

Irma L. Pye, SPHR
ASHHRA 2012 President
Senior Vice President & CHRO
Valley Baptist Health System
Harlingen, Texas