MEETING MINUTES – April 14th, 2004

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Association held on at Renaissance Hotel in Asheville.  Should you have any questions, comments or corrections, please contact Bridget Downey, PHR, our Chapter Secretary.

Chapter Business:
The meeting was opened by President Renee Anderson, SPHR, who welcomed all visitors to our meeting.

Renee raffled off our door prize, a basket of books from this week’s vendor, Right Management.  Next month’s door prize will be a buffet for two from the Grove Park Inn.

Plans were made for upcoming projects at the recent Executive Committee meeting.  We will be asking for volunteers to help design our chapter brochure.  We will also need help in developing a new member orientation program.  In the near future our web site will be updated and the Pop-Ups will finally be eliminated.

Frank Pomeroy introduced Don Aiken of Right Management, this month’s featured vendor.  Frank noted that an article in Workforce Management magazine placed Right Management in the top 8 consulting businesses.  Don noted that Right is now the world’s largest provider of HR consulting, with locations on 6 continents and 30 countries.  They specialize in Career Transition and Leadership Development.  For more information contact Lana Crum.  Don also brought samples of their newsletter and other informational materials for our members.  Richard Hurley added his personal endorsement of Right Management, noting that they had been invaluable during Square D’s layoffs.

George May presented the Wage and Hour Update.  Due to a bureaucratic snafu, the FLSA amendments could take up to 90 days more before being finalized. 

Lorraine Poe announced the Goodwill and Vocational Rehab Job/Career Awareness Fair to be held on April 21, 2004.  This is an opportunity for their clients to learn about area jobs and what it takes to become qualified for them.  For more information, contact Cindy Brooks or Ellen Westerbrook.

In her role as our new Certification Representative, Lorraine gave a presentation on the PHR/SPHR recertification process.  The requirements are to have 60 hours of HR-related learning credits every three years.  Documentation is not generally required; however, 5% of applicants are audited.  It’s a good idea to keep a folder for any eligible information.  The recertification fee is $100.  Lorraine will send out a copy of her presentation to members via e-mail.

Lisa Claxton reminded members that the May newsletter is in production.  Anyone with items to contribute is encouraged to submit them.

Program Highlights:

Lorraine introduced our guest speakers, Scott Sinclair and Bill Sykes of the Employment Security Commission.  Both were in private industry for a considerable time before taking on the NC Job Connector project with the ESC.  They are developing a job match program that will be a major enhancement for the NC ESC web site.  

The goal of NC Connector is to find better applicants for jobs and better jobs for applicants.  The web site is being streamlined and simplified.  In addition to automating many functions that are now performed manually, both employers and job seekers will be able to do more for themselves.  The system will use the O-Net job classifications to ensure that job posters and job seekers will be using the same terms, and will more easily be able to find a match.

The Job Connector will become the source of all information available through the ESC.  Its objective is to create a self-service environment that will encourage employers to list all opportunities including those that previously have not been advertised.  As with other services of the ESC, the Job Connector is paid for through unemployment insurance, and there is no additional fee charged.  It is expected to be fully operational by mid to late summer.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned.