As we head down the home stretch for 2011 and into the holiday season, let me be one of the first to wish each and every one of you, and your families, a very happy Thanksgiving! Personally, I know that I have much to be thankful for in my family, work, and ASHHRA life. It’s a great time for all of us to reflect on the blessings we have received throughout the year, and especially in these tough economic times.

We are in an amazing profession and there is never a dull moment. Many of you are doing your end of the year compensation work, or developing your plans for 2012, budgeting, and of course, who can forget benefits open enrollment. Our strategic minds continue to be stretched in this time of doing more with less, and many of us are trying to keep our entire workforce team engaged in a time of little or no pay raises and reductions in benefits! The message has been worse in 2011 than it has been for some time now, and we can only hope things will get better. Keep the faith!

You have probably seen, and hopefully have participated in, the informational survey offered recently by board members Maureen O’Keeffe and Karmen Reid. We are seriously looking at the possibility of making health care human resources certification a reality. I worked in high technology HR for twenty years before entering the world of health care in 1999. We are definitely unique and health care HR has complexities that are synonymous only to those of us in the business. As we continue to press forward with this initiative, please feel free to send us your thoughts and ideas.

In closing, please check out all of the informational items that ASHHRA offers to you on a regular basis in support of your HR initiatives. Your membership in ASHHRA is important to us and we want to continue to offer you the very best and most-up-to date information. We are paving the way on many legislative fronts and we seek your participation and feedback on all initiatives. Your ASHHRA staff and board, committee chairs, and our regional and state leaders are here to work for you and we are always open to any suggestions or ideas to improve our support to you and our chapters. And, we would love for you to get involved!

Until next month,

Bob 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