2023 Conference Sessions - Sacramento Area Human Resource Association

All of the greats have one, a trusted advisor. Athletes call them coaches, CEO's call them boards of directors, criminals call them attorneys, employees call them mentors. Who do leaders have? Coaching isn't just for executives. Leaders at all levels need a sounding board, accountability partner, or advisor to help leaders gain clarity and accomplish goals. Priorities can get muddled, or pushed aside. How do your leaders stay razor-focused on the vision? Coaching individuals and teams provides leaders with the vision and resiliency to set and achieve mission critical objectives.

Jannene is the President Litchfield Human Resources Management and Best Coach for You, providing leadership training and career coaching for professionals. Utilizing a competency-based approach, she partners with leaders to help them improve their managerial skills, expand their leadership capacity, improve their organizational effectiveness. Jannene's has served as the Vice President of Human Resources for Schools Financial Credit Union and Director of Human Resources for Verizon Wireless, where she led the talent management and human performance side of the businesses. She continues to coach and teach leadership at California State University, Sacramento and Coach leaders at Better Up. Jannene earned a Bachelor's of Business Administration from Texas Tech University, and a MBA from National University. Additionally, she has earned her Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SCP) and Associate Certificated Coach (ACC) Certification through the International Coaches Federation.

Much attention has been focused on employee misconduct like racial discrimination and sexual harassment, but complaints of bullying are on the rise too. Bullying behavior can range from overt aggressive conduct to microaggressions. Most people probably think of an elementary school setting when hearing the term "bullying", but this behavior transcends the playground to the boardroom. We will discuss the California laws and policies that prohibit bullying, identify bullying behaviors, and address how to mitigate risk when these complaints arise.

Christina Dixon is a Managing Shareholder at Aecus Law P.C., a certified women and minority owned law firm in Northern California that conducts third-party, neutral workplace investigations for emerging and mature companies throughout the United States as well as provides employment law advice and counseling under Federal and state law to emerging and mature companies. Christina is active in organizations that empower and support women and minority-owned businesses, such as National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP), Western Regional Minority Supplier Development Council (WRMSDC) and Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). She currently serves on the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Sacramento Valley Chapter Board as the President-Elect and Chair of Corporate Partnerships and the Labor & Employment Committee for NAPABA. Christina is an active member of the ABA Labor & Employment Law Section and the Workplace Investigations Section as well as the Association of Workplace Investigators (AWI). Christina holds an AWI-CH certificate demonstrating her commitment to excellence and impartiality in workplace investigations. She is admitted to practice in California (State Bar Number 230823) and before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the following U.S. District Courts: Eastern District (including Bankruptcy), Northern District, and Southern District.

Many organizations struggle to onboard and orient new leaders in an engaging and impactful way. In this session, participants will explore what new leaders need out of onboarding, what the organization needs out of new leaders and how to connect the two. Session will highlight a successful New Leader Program implemented locally and give participants space and time to discuss and reflect how they might improve the new leader onboarding in their organization.

Jill is an energetic, highly detail-oriented professional with over 20 years of experience in organizational and people development. She has extensive insight into education and leadership- including curriculum design, development, and delivery, stakeholder relations and leading teams. As a Partner at ThinkDev, she shares her passion for development by connecting with people to provide a world class experience for our clients. She is equally passionate about providing time and space for our ThinkDev team of Consultants and Employees to grow personally and professionally. Prior to partnering to start ThinkDev, Jill held leadership roles in multiple organizations including University of California, Davis, Adventist Health and University of California, San Francisco. In these roles she was fortunate enough to work with smart and talented people who helped her understand what works and what doesn't in the people and organizational development space. Jill spends most of her spare minutes shuttling her three sons back and forth to activities, telling them to stop wrestling, completing yet another Costco Delivery order and Googling new jokes about teeth for her dentist husband. Born and raised in the Sacramento area, she received her BA in Communications and MA in Educational Leadership from Sacramento State. She could not be more thrilled to be able to fulfill her dream of spending her days helping to develop others.

Whether working in-person, remotely, or hybrid, the foundational first step in creating a culture of accountability requires getting clarity and buy-in on expectations. It's important for people to know what being fully engaged in virtual meetings looks like and sounds like, when cameras are turned on or off, and what professionalism looks like when in front of a computer screen with a client. Accountability will not occur until people understand what meets and does not meet performance and behavior expectations. When people are trained to respectfully speak up whenever the ball is dropped, when breakdowns occur, and when behaviors cross the line, they voice concerns in a way that issues get identified so ownership is established and problems are resolved. Once people develop the skill to safely navigate these difficult conversations, a culture of accountability is created. Learn to implement a process for establishing clarity around expectations and for getting buy-in within teams and throughout your organization. Equip people with the skill to hold accountability conversations by implementing a Safe Conversations Communication Framework.

Lorie Reichel-Howe is founder and senior trainer at Conversations in the Workplace. She equips managers, teams, and business professionals to have "Safe Conversations" transformative dialogue that uncovers hidden workplace issues. Whether addressing challenging team dynamics, mismanaged expectations, cultural insensitivity, or good old-fashioned bad behavior, "Safe Conversations" foster greater innovation, inclusion, and collaboration within organizations. With over 20 years of experience in communications and relationship management, training and development, Lorie is passionate about supporting organizations in creating a culture where people love where they work and love the people they work with. Lorie is a professional mediator, leadership development trainer and coach. She has supported organizations such as Pinterest, SHRM, PIHRA, HR.com, Women in Technology International, Los Angeles Women's Leadership Conference, Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, Santa Clara Superior Court, San Jose State University, Santa Clara County Office of Education and many more. Learn more about Lorie's impact at www.ConversationsInTheWorkplace.com

Leading with Inclusion to Engage, Attract, Retain & Motivate Your Employees to Peak Performance

Wouldn't it be easy if we just worked with robots? Just turn them on, and they worked, and reprogram them as necessary. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It's becoming harder to attract top talent and motivate them to achieve your goals. It is especially critical to account for the challenges of remote employees and the diverse mix of people, with different personalities, ages, and work ethics. Learn skills to inspire employees, and increase performance, all while improving morale. This session teaches a 180 degree approach and a simple acronym, "MVP" to remember how to make sustainable change. The approach being taught inspires, motivates, engages, and helps to attract better employees.

David studies the root causes or keystones for success and achievement in the areas of Leadership, Communication and Personal Performance. He studied over 3,000 top performers to find what the best performing employees do, what the best leaders do, and what the best communicators do. And more importantly, he discovered the roadblocks that hold people back. For over 25 years, David has worked with hundreds of clients of all sizes in many industries such as technology, banking, communications, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution. He specializes in leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, sales and personal development and brings his insights to you to create breakthrough solutions. David presents over 140 times/year, has spoken to over 200,000 people in the US and internationally. He delivers engaging, inspiring and energetic presentations.

Palmer Kazanjian's Anatomy of an Employment Lawsuit will define and provide an overview of an employment lawsuit from start to finish. The presentation will discuss employers obligations in responding to lawsuits, as well as practices on how to effectively and efficiently defend against employment-related lawsuits. The presentation will also delve into best practices to prevent and mitigate the risk of employment-related lawsuits. At the end of the session, Human Resource professionals will have an opportunity to ask questions.

Mr. Kazanjian has practiced employment law for more than 30 years and has represented employers in litigation of discrimination and wrongful termination matters. His litigation experience includes dozens of jury trials in the representation of defendants. Mr. Kazanjian's general employment law practice involves the daily rendering of practical advice assisting clients of all sizes with employment issues. Mr. Kazanjian also represents clients in all aspects of labor relations, including proceedings before the NLRB. He graduated from McGeorge School of Law.

Learn more about how you can create dynamic teams with engaged employees through proven strategies. This session will provide an overview of tools that can be leveraged to be more innovative, strategic, and effective strategies in today's workplace.

Justin Studebaker

Justin Studebaker is a consultant based in Roseville, California. He's a Certified Working Genius Coach/Trainer specializing in leveraging Working Genius to get more done in less time, clarify which types of work give energy, joy, & fulfillment to avoid draining & difficult, and team dynamics, employee engagement, & hiring. He's also the Engagement Director at The Alliance, a network of agencies, non-profits, churches, and professionals working together to protect kids and strengthen families and advocate for foster youth. He has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Sonoma State University and is currently finishing his Master's Degree in Human and Organizational Behavior.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS - 2:45 PM

What Does It Mean to be a Fiduciary of your Health Plan?

Employers responsibilities have changed as they have become fiduciaries of their employee health plans. Learn what that means to you both legally and practically as a fiduciary of your health plan. How this change impacts your employee benefit plans and what do you need to do to be compliant? Learn what other legislation or pending legislation impacts your health plan decisions.

Renee Bosley

Renee Bosley is Vice President of employee benefits with EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants in Sacramento, California. Renee specializes in employee benefits consulting, including compliance, cost containment, negotiations, wellness programs, communications and human resource support. Renee helps her customers develop sustainable solutions that align with corporate philosophies and financial objectives. As a health care reform specialist, she is uniquely qualified to keep her customers apprised on the ever changing health care industry. In addition to the many years Renee has spent serving the health care industry; she’s also successfully run her own business and understands the specific challenges and benefits associated with choosing a business partner that will bring value to the organization. Renee Bosley is a Certified Healthcare Reform Specialist by the Healthcare Reform Center and Policy Institute.

The Champion Advantage - Get Your W.I.N.

How can two different people experience the exact same problem and have totally different outcomes? The world is feeling the adverse effects of stress, and anxiety, especially after the recent pandemic and economy. We read about the stressful headlines every day: job loss, uncertainty, death tolls. It's not very motivating. In life, we encounter problems as often as we breathe. But they don't get to us until we feel a major challenge, and that's when the mounting problems become a source of concern, hurt, or sorrow. More than ever, we need to refocus and maximize what is important in our life at that very moment. The leaders that maximize their controllable and reset their lives will get a head start to winning like a Champion.

Hernani Alves

Hernani Alves makes the most complex skill in business and life, awesomely simple. Hernani started as a part-time employee and eventually grew to become the President for a $3 Billion publicly traded Company that was regularly voted as Best Workplace. Hernani has been featured in: Stanford University, University of California, Oklahoma State University, SHRM, iHeart Radio, HR.com, Extreme Leadership, and more.

KEYNOTE - 4:00 PM

Tips for Employee Recruitment and Retention in an Impossible Market

Today's job market is quite the challenge! Some employers are implementing layoffs, while others can't seem to hire anyone who fits in. And, no one knows how to retain the employees they want to keep. What's an HR professional to do? Easy. Join Jennifer Shaw, a perennial SAHRA favorite and workplace law expert, for a discussion of these topics and more. Jennifer will cover, among other things: -Strategies for carrying out layoffs without creating liability -Recruitment tools that actually work -Understanding what it will take to retain your best and brightest Jennifer's humor and practical insights will keep you entertained while you learn about the trends in these key areas.

Jennifer Shaw, Esq.

Jennifer Shaw is the founder of Shaw Law Group, a 100% woman-owned boutique employment law firm. A 2019 recipient of the Sacramento Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” award, Jennifer is a well-respected expert in her field. For almost 30 years, employers throughout the state have relied on Jennifer to provide practical advice and counsel on a broad range of workplace issues, including wage-hour compliance, workplace investigations, reasonable accommodation/leave of absence issues, and employee hiring and separation practices Named by Northern California Super Lawyers magazine as one of the top attorneys in California every year since 2009 and the recipient of numerous other awards, Jennifer is a sought-after speaker on workplace topics and a frequent guest on various television and radio programs.