PCTY Talks: HR, People and Culture

Creating Employee Personas with Mary Kaplan

Do you know what your employees want? You should if you want them to stick around. Research shows that creating employee personas can help you understand what makes your people happy in their jobs. Listen in as Mary Kaplan and host Shari Simpson discuss the how and why behind creating employee personas.

Guest: Mary Kaplan, Product Marketing Manager, LumApps

Mary helps companies discover more effective ways to communicate and collaborate and improve HR processes and company culture through their employee experience platform. Mary works with HR and Chief Communications Officers, along with other executives and business stakeholders, to help reduce silos of information within their businesses through personalized communications. She focuses on delivering assets and collateral in collaboration with LumApps' leadership team to demonstrate the value of LumApps. She also helps mentor and train new team members in the Austin office.

Mentioned in the episode:

• LumApps: https://www.lumapps.com/

 

Employee Engagement and Why Leaders Need to Be Involved with Jessica Dunyon

Employee engagement isn't just a HR thing. Sure, HR is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to engage employees, but business leaders need to be involved too. After all, employee engagement is linked to business performance. Listen in as Jessica Dunyon and host Shari Simpson talk about engagement initiatives at the leader level. 

Guest: Jessica Dunyon, MBA, PMP, Director of Go To Market Strategy, Infor

For more than a decade, Jessica has sold, marketed, and supported cloud technology solutions for various industries in both the private & public sectors. As an operations leader in process manufacturing for nearly 10 years, she is passionate about the convergence of people, and technology, and doing great work.

Mentioned in the episode:

• Infor: https://www.infor.com/

 

Revamping Total Rewards with Kim Seals

Are you happy with your company's Total Rewards Program? If not, you're not alone. A recent study found that less than half of employees are satisfied with their current benefits package. So, what can be done to make Total Rewards more appealing? Listen in as Kim Seals and host Shari Simpson discuss tips on how to create a rewarding experience for both your employees and your bottom line!

Guest: Kim Seals, Senior Partner, West Monroe Partners

Kim Seals is a Senior Partner in West Monroe’s Human Capital Management practice. Kim has spent more than 25 years of her career in global human resource consulting, corporate and leadership roles. Her expertise includes leading M&A transactions, HR service delivery transformation, talent, compensation, benefits, and recruiting program design, as well as technology development, selection, and implementation globally.

Prior to joining West Monroe, Kim was a Managing Partner at Sapient Insights Group, a research and advisory consulting firm. Kim previously spent 15 years at Mercer in several positions, including Atlanta Market Leader, Global Talent Technology Solutions Leader, and HR Effectiveness Global Practice Leader.

Mentioned in the episode:

• West Monroe Partners: https://www.westmonroe.com/our-team/kim-seals

 

 

Employee First Customized Benefit Offerings with Mary Faulkner

If you're like most business leaders, you're always on the lookout for new and innovative employee benefits that will keep your team happy and engaged. But what if there was a way to customize those benefits specifically to your employees' needs? Listen in as Mary Faulkner and host Shari Simpson discuss personalized benefit offerings at the employee level.

Guest: Mary Faulkner. Principal, IA | Author of Surviving Leadership Blog

Mary is a talent strategist and business leader with 15+ years of experience helping organizations achieve their goals. After working on the operations side of start-ups and small companies, Mary landed in HR by way of learning and development, with extensive experience in leadership, organizational development, strategic planning, coaching, key talent planning, talent acquisition, performance management, business partnering, HRIS, process and policy creation, total rewards, and instructional design.

Mary is a builder and a problem solver. She has worked in various industries, including public utilities, healthcare, energy, and media. In addition to her work within companies, Mary authors a leadership development blog to continue the dialogue around leadership challenges — both being a leader AND being led. Mary is a regular contributor to HRExaminer.com and has also written for SHRM, Recruiting Daily, and other publications.

Mentioned in the episode:

• IA

Using Technology to Drive Benefits Utilization with Ellen McCann

There's no doubt that technology has changed the way we live and work. And as technology has evolved, so too have the ways we use it to improve our lives and work. One area where technology has had a significant impact is in the benefits space.  Listen in as Ellen McCann and host Shari Simpson discuss how to best leverage your technology to increase benefit utilization.

Guest: Ellen McCann, Assistant Vice President, Unum Solutions

Ellen is an acclaimed national speaker on leave management issues, including the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). She is also a certified trainer for the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and continuing education (CE) credit. As Assistant Vice President Unum Solutions, she combines more than 30 years of employment law experience with practical knowledge of the complexities of leave and accommodation management to help develop and create solutions that enable employers to address the challenges of leave and accommodations.  Currently, Ellen is helping to create, define and support Total Leave, Unum’s modern, digital leave management solution, and Unum’s Vaccine Verifier, a digital solution that helps track vaccination status, manage exemption requests and oversee testing. Ellen joined Unum’s Solutions organization in August of 2021 after briefly working for the employment law firm of Littler Mendelson. Before working for Littler, Ellen was Assistant Vice President, Legal Counsel of Unum’s Employment Law Group, where she provided legal support to Unum’s Absence Management Center and advised Human Resources on all employment-related legal issues for more than 23 years. She worked for a law firm in Boston for seven years before joining Unum. Ellen graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Notre Dame Law School. 

Mentioned in the episode:

• Unum

The Future of Training is Virtual Reality with Gita Barry

The future of training is here, and it's in virtual reality.

VR allows trainees to immerse themselves in realistic environments where they can practice skills and gain experience without putting themselves or others at risk. VR is already being used by the military, police, and medical professionals to provide safe, realistic training scenarios. Listen to Gita Barry and host Shari Simpson talk about the benefits of using VR.

Guest: Gita Barry, EVP and General Manager of Immersive Healthcare, Penumbra

Gita is the executive vice president and general manager of immersive healthcare at Penumbra, Inc. With more than 25 years in the medical device industry, Gita leads a diverse team of developers and specialists to bring virtual reality-based immersive technology to a broad range of healthcare settings with an extensive library of activities and experiences to address various health conditions. Before joining Penumbra, Gita worked at Stryker Corporation in product management, strategy, business development and information technology. Gita received a BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Miami (FL) and an Executive MBA from Santa Clara University.

Mentioned in the episode:

• Penumbra https://www.penumbrainc.com/
• Real Immersive VR System: https://www.realsystem.com/

 

Evolution of HR Tech with Phil Albinus

The evolution of HR technology has been nothing short of amazing. We've gone from data being stored on paper to it being stored in the cloud. We've gone from using spreadsheets to using data analytics. And we've gone from hiring managers making decisions based on their gut to making decisions based on data and analytics. But what does the future hold for HR technology trends? Listen in as Phil Albinus and host Shari Simpson discuss the future of human resources technology.

Guest: Phil Albinus, HR Tech Editor for HRE

Phil has been covering personal and business technology for 25 years and has served as editor and executive editor for several financial services, trading technology and employee benefits titles. He is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz and lives in the Hudson Valley with his audiologist wife and three adult children. He can be reached at palbinus@lrp.com and on social media below.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-albinus/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/philalbinus

Mentioned in the episode:

• Human Resource Executive: https://hrexecutive.com/

California and SHRM Partner to Promote DEIA Workplace Inclusion

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the SHRM Foundation, and the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) announced a partnership today to adapt the SHRM Foundation's Employing Abilities at Work Certificate program and resource guide to serve California workplaces and Californians with disabilities.

Join Joe Xavier and host Shari Simpson as they discuss the recruitment, hiring, and retention of individuals with disabilities and how the partnership will connect employers with previously untapped talent pools.

Guest: Joe Xavier, Director, California Department of Rehabilitation

Joe Xavier, Director of the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR), has over 38 years of experience in business and public administration, as well as many years participating in advocacy and community organizations. As an immigrant, a blind consumer, and a beneficiary of DOR’s services, Joe has the experience and understands the challenges and opportunities available to individuals with disabilities and the services required to maximize an individual’s full potential. Joe believes in the talent and potential of individuals with disabilities; investing in the future through creativity, ingenuity, and innovation; ensuring decisions and actions are informed by interested individuals and groups; pursuing excellence through continuous improvement; and preserving the public’s trust through compassionate and responsible provision of services.

Mentioned in the episode:

• SHRM, SHRM Foundation and the California Department of Rehabilitation Announce Partnership to Promote Disability Inclusion