Seminars take place in July, August

COLUMBIA BASIN - An area human resources association took home an award from its parent organization.

The Adams Grant Human Resource Association received the 2007 Superior Merit Award from the Society for Human Resource Management, or SHRM.

The award recognizes the association for its efforts to promote and advance the human resource profession in Grant and Adams counties.

"Our chapter started really kicking off in 2006, when we brought on a new board and removed the 'vendoresque' quality of the program, into a more strategic role for business professionals and, more particularly, human resources professionals," association President Sarah Hermann explained. "To get them knowledge and updated legislation, all the information necessary for them to perform their duties and keep their skills certifiable."

The chapter wanted to provide content usable for human resource professionals and small and large business supervisors.

"Many business people can benefit from the programs we've designed," Hermann said.

As a result, the chapter received its first Superior Merit Award in 2006, and recently took home this year's.

"I think we have all of the requirements already this year for the 2008 Superior Merit Award," Hermann added. "We have a very good board with some fairly motivated people who are dedicated to the cause. We have a very dynamic group of people working very hard to make sure we're able to deliver content worthy of SHRM's name."

Hermann said the chapter hopes to further develop its programs to reach out to the rest of the community, including conferences on leadership, employee retention, employee motivation and generational gap theory.

"Obviously, managing your human capital and aligning your human capital with your organizational goals is of paramount importance to any business," Hermann said. "Whether you're a human resources administrator, a supervisor on a fry line or even a small business owner, you can benefit from the programs we're going to be developing."

The Superior Merit awards help the chapter, which doesn't charge any additional dues to members other than those required by the national society, increase funding and gives a "fairly significant" distinction, Hermann noted.

The chapter presents society Pacific Northwest Regional Manager Dianna Gould on the top 10 human resources challenges July 10 at Big Bend Community College's ATEC Building from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Hermann would like to see a turnout for the program from small business owners to large-scale manufacturers, as it addresses the common challenges a company can face when terminating workers. The program includes recertification credits for continuing education of certified human resources professionals, she added.

Cost to attend the seminar is $15 for non-SHRM members, and $10 for members.

On August 14 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., national presenter Sharon K. Cross provides an in-depth look at the latest compensation and benefits trends.

"Again, beneficial for all employers, small and large, especially in the environment we're looking at with regard to the rising health care costs," Hermann said.

Cost is $40 for SHRM members and $50 for non-members.

The chapter is working with the Central Washington J.O.B.S. Project on a wage survey amongst area manufacturers, looking at trends in the area.

"We've seen wages jump a little bit over the last couple of years as we have more jobs than we have workers," Hermann said. "In order to attract those good employees, some of the organizations have increased their wages."

The chapter hopes to provide a correlation to look at national trends and tie back into the local economy, she added.

For more information, access the association Web site at www.adamsgranthra.com, call Kendra Pfundheller at 509-765-4408 or e-mail kendra.pfundheller@bbsihq.com.