Maine Human Resources Convention

Welcome! Convention registration remains open until noon. You may also visit the Owl & Turtle Convention Bookstore and the Internet Cafe hosted by MyJobWave.com. A special thank you today to: Convention sponsor – MEMIC. Keynote sponsor – Goodwill Industries of Northern New England. Brunch sponsor - Bangor Daily News and mainevillejobs.com.

Join us in the keynote hall for a delicious brunch and a chance to win prizes from the Friday EXPO participants. With special thanks to our friends at the Bangor Daily News and mainevillejobs.com

The Business Case: Why Diversity and Inclusion are Good for Business. If HR and Diversity professionals want to get their organizations behind diversity and inclusion initiatives, they need to be skilled at making a strong business case for them. We must show how these efforts will drive organizational success, sustainability, profitability, and competitive advantage. In this presentation, learn how to leverage the internal processes, programs, policies, and practices within your organization as well as the external environment to build a solid Diversity and Inclusion business case. While highlighting four key steps, Eric Peterson (SHRM’s Manager of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives) from Alexandria, Virginia, will outline how these steps fit into a more comprehensive model, called the SHRM Strategic Diversity Management Plan®.

With special thanks to keynote sponsor: Goodwill Industries of Northern New England

Track A: Employee Management and Development. Paul Bolin, SPHR, Director of Employee Relations at EMMC, Mile Bennett (from Cianbro), and Annmarie Murray (from Lima Murray Management) will share individual HR Stories relating to successfully implemented HR initiatives, HR career development, and finding a strategic role for HR. The intent is to engage you in imagining what is possible for your workplace and career, and this session is designed to flow from two other initiatives at this year's convention: 1) We are creating a film of HR success stories, snippets of which will be seen on the keynote stage throughout the four days; and 2) The Maine SHRM State Council's first annual HR Awards Day and Hall of Fame - the ceremony for which is Thursday afternoon at the convention.  

Track B: Legal Compliance and Risk Management. Peter Lowe and Dan Stockford of Brann & Issaacson offer for your consideration a staged sexual harrassment case with an HR professional – one of you - on the Hot Seat. Peter Fitch, HR Director at Lee Auto Malls, has agreed to tackle that role. Follow what appears to be a straight forward and routine deposition, as the HR witness is exposed to common vulnerabilities seen in any type of case. Seven key shortcomings covered include: note keeping/documentation, correct use of email and retention of email, staff training, investigations, maintaining personnel and medical records, employee confidentiality, and background screening. This session will enhance your compliance skills and help keep you (and your organization) off the hot seat!

Track C: A Strategic Role for HR. The more positive control employees have over their jobs and in their overall work experience, the greater their productivity, initiative, and capacity for dealing with high workloads without burnout. David Lee, from HumanNature@Work, guides participants though ways in which HR can help management understand more about human nature and its effect on maximizing employee engagement and in turn help an organization become an employer of choice. Participants will be able to explain to management five key human needs that must be satisfied in a work experience, how stress affects the human brain, and how the desire for justice appears to be hard-wired into the human brain.

Track D: HR Skill Building. WSI Maine or Workplace Scene Investigation is a two-actor skit used to discuss the forensic and practical techniques used to solve grisly workplace disputes. Learn how to avoid mistakes in the investigative process that could later have devastating legal, financial, and public relations consequences to your company. In the process you'll learn how to promptly turn investigations into the ability to take appropriate remedial actions. Mike Messerschmidt and Matt LaMourie from Preti Flaherty will provide you all the tools to prepare for, conduct, and follow up on any investigation.

The closing convention keynote – If HR Ruled the World – is delivered by Portland-based motivational speaker Susan Arledge. Susan has taught in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and the U.S. This session wraps up the four-day conference and will send participants off on a high note, inspired to apply what you have learned at the conference back home to your organizations. The talk will be upbeat, idea-packed, and readily applicable to the HR challenges attendees face on a daily basis. This session will remind you why you chose HR as your career and what a critical impact you have on your organizations. (You DO Rule the World!) Please bring your sense of humor!

With special thanks to keynote sponsor: Goodwill Industries of Northern New England