Overheard at SHRM: Top 10 ideas from the annual conference
June 22, 2018 12:50 PM
Overheard at SHRM: Top 10 things from the annual conference
With the tight labor market, it’s important for employers to be on top of their benefits, recruitment and branding game. Experts from across the globe congregated in Chicago for the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2018 annual conference to discuss the current state of employee human resources and where the industry will be going.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
1. Health and wellness benefits on the rise
More than one-third of organizations increased their overall benefits in the last year, SHRM’s annual study found. When employers added offerings, they were most likely to increase health-related benefits (51%) and wellness benefits (44%). Read more here.
2. Setting its course
New CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. explained how SHRM will be more vocal in the coming years on policy and practice and will identify new ways to address workplace immigration policy, hiring of the formerly incarcerated and workplace harassment. Read more here .
3. Addressing workplace bias
Keynote speaker and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg discussed the challenges HR faces in workplace bias — both conscious and unconscious, a particularly important issue for women of color and working mothers. HR professionals must systematically find these biases, check them and change them. Read more here.
Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
4. Health, wellness and substance abuse
From the opioid epidemic to alcoholism, executives can play an important role in creating a culture and leading a conversation around abuse prevention as the cost of abuse continues to skyrocket from healthcare costs and lost productivity. Read more here.
Anne Ryan/Anne Ryan
5. Taking a seat at the table
United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz described the company’s recent move to bring HR alongside other C-suite level positions, as human capital becomes even more important in growing and expanding business opportunities. Read more here.
TANNEN MAURY/BLOOMBERG NEWS
6. Fur family benefits
Attraction and retention were buzzwords throughout McCormick Place — the largest convention center in North America and home of #SHRM18. Some unconventional methods to engage in talent — particularly younger workers — is through their four-legged friends. Pet-friendly workplaces are seeing higher engagement and lower turnover rates through benefits like pet insurance or bring-a-pet-to-work day. Read more here.
7. The power of branding
Companies that create and communicate a positive company image see more top talent coming their way, says Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Matt Kaiser. Branding your company’s culture and finding a purpose outside just profits will be key in attracting and keeping the right talent. Read more here.
Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images
8. Regulations and compliance
An evolving regulatory landscape can prove difficult to employers. From pay equity to minimum wage and overtimes rules, benefit and HR pros crowded conference rooms to discuss strategies on avoiding expensive litigation and to remain compliance with DOL rules and regulations.
9. Financial wellness is the rage
With only 6% of employees believing employers are doing something proactive to a worker’s financial wellbeing, financial wellness is going to become table stakes for many employers says Money Management International’s Amy Lins.
10. Bulletproofing your company from harassment risk
How to design harassment training plans and train workers was also top of mind. Patti Perez, vice president of workplace strategies at Emtrain, advised starting with the goal in mind and working backward, using data to develop a plan. The program also should be designed by experts, and training methods can include live and online training, or a combination of the two.
