Spring Training Forum Schedule Highlights and Speaker Bios
For the full schedule, click here
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Session Highlights
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Concurrent Session 1: 9:30-10:30 am
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Session A:“ Smart Savvy Skills to Improve Problem Solving & Critical Thinking” - Beth Rudy
Mental flexibility is a hallmark of critical thinking. To be mentally flexible means to be able to adapt, to appreciate various points of view, to be open to new possibilities, to change your ways when necessary, and to be willing to continually learn and grow. People who develop their thinking power are more effective communicators, problem solvers, and negotiators. By conveying a more adaptive approach to their interactions, they build stronger relationships throughout the organization. They are the HR Power Hitters who influence organizational behaviors and win/win outcomes.
During this workshop, Beth will help HR Professionals become more aware of their unconscious biases and rigid attitudes and show them smart and savvy skills to improve critical thinking and problem solving so that they will be more effective communicators.
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Session B: Open Session
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Session C: “Tracking the Financial Fitness Industry – A Retirement Consultant’s Perspective” - Michael Miller
Understanding the convergence of industries as it relates to Employee Benefits will help HR practitioners to better understand demographic concerns, consolidate resources, reduce expense and expand employee offerings. Learn more about how Student Loan Debt, HSA investing and Retirement Plan Contributions are beginning to converge and the various tools that are available to assist HR practitioners and their employees.
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Concurrent Session 2: 10:45-11:45 am
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Session D: “The Power of the 3 C’s – Communication, Coaching, and Counseling” - Susan Reider
How can you inspire others to reach challenging goals? How do you motivate and retain your best employees? How do you help your employees achieve professional growth? How do you have that difficult conversation? How do you best refer an employee to counseling? What resources are available to help you address issues?
In today’s business environment with heavy workloads and too little time, it’s important to focus on these questions and to be ready with the skills and knowledge to increase the power of communication, coaching, and counseling. This session will provide an overview of strategies, techniques, case studies, and stories that will leave you with tools that you can use to yield success and positive results.
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Session E: “Addressing the Challenges of Leading the “Team of Teams” in your workplace” - Stephen J. Zaccarro
Multiteam Systems (MTSs) are essentially teams of teams that work together to accomplish goals. Anytime you have worked with other people outside of your department or immediate workgroup, you have probably been part of an MTS (e.g. large projects that require multiple units to share information). On an MTS, you may find yourself surprised by the choices made or priorities set by the people who you work with, and questioning why they are doing things the way they are. Working on an MTS can be difficult because different groups may not always collaborate effectively, and they may have their own group cultures, and preferred ways of working. You can help the MTSs that you are a part of by recognizing the challenges they face and reaching across to other parts of the MTS to connect different units together
Session F: “Live a Life of Purpose” Alicia Greer
In this session titled "Live a Life of Purpose,” Alicia delivers a heartfelt and inspirational story
about realizing the impact of the multiple functions in Human Resources and the effect that these functions have on others in an organization. She inspires by illustrating that the common tasks and responsibilities of HR Specialists are vital components, critical to the success of the businesses they support.
She does this through sharing a personal story of how her journey eventually led her to Afghanistan only months after the 9/11 attacks on the the US. She connects her responsibilities and experiences as a leader in Afghanistan to her knowledge of the responsibilities of those working in the Human Resources field. Her story demonstrates the importance of connecting purpose to daily tasks, and inspires an increase in commitment and performance.
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Lunch Session
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“IPMA-HR and The Power of Relationship Building for Your Career” -Christine Major
This session will provide and overview of the IPMA-HR and focus on the benefits of developing relationships as part of leadership skills. The importance of communication, building trust, listening, being flexible and staying positive and how these skills can enhance your organization and your career!
Sponsored by Guidehouse
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Concurrent Session 3: 1:00-2:00 pm
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Session G: “Creating Your Human Capital Brand” - Tim Newman
This session will help HR practitioners to identify the skills and opportunities to create a self-brand and be recognized as a leader in your technical area.
A positive brand helps you can help you:
• gain the support of the business to influence and engage on the most important issues and initiatives;
• build connections across silos, geographies, providers and customers to form one HR organization;
• attract and obtain resources (human and financial) to accomplish your tasks;
• deliver upon those moments that matter with the right solutions in the right context at the right time.
The combination of these skills brings credibility to you and creates a community, capacity and capability to create value to your organization; and provides a path of upward mobility in your personal career.
Tim Newman will share his personal story of creating his brand becoming a recognized leader in Federal HR Technology, being named in 2017 Computer World Premier 100 and the 2017 Federal 100 for HR IT Professionals; allowing for personal success in the federal and consulting industries
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Session H: “Connecting Culture, Wellbeing and Employee Engagement for Organizational Success “ -Kathleen Schultz
We are increasingly recognizing that business success is a function of the people you employ and how engaged they are with your organization. High performing organizations are realizing the profound benefits of building and sustaining a positive culture with their workforces and the connection points between culture, employee behavior, organizational risk and outcomes. Join us as we discuss how physical, social/emotional, financial, career, and community connect and impact an employee’s ability to be engaged, productive and well at work.
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Session I: Sandra Crowe
In the HR world difficult interactions can often lead to conflict if not orchestrated properly. This session will demonstrate how to use language, emotion, and body language to convey the message you need to put forth in a way that honors your “client” and allows for their ideas and thoughts to be aired. Real life demonstrations will illustrate what to do and not do, so people walk away with practical tools for application.
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Concurrent Session 4: 2:15-3:15pm
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Session J: “There is power in bringing your authentic self to work” Ileana Turner
The suit that I wear contains threads made up of all the beliefs that I hold true. We all wear different suits, none exactly the same as the other since we all hold very unique upbringings, education, cultures, and beliefs. We all have different perspectives-lenses that we see issues through. These beliefs are referred to as our biases and we all have them – conscious and unconscious.
How can you begin to change these thoughts/threads to help provide an inclusionary environment? How can you influence a workplace where we are encouraged to be ourselves? How do we work to influence how others are viewed for hiring, promotions and special assignments? How can we stand in our power suit appreciating and not judging?
Session K: “Break the rules and be your own brand of leadership: Discover Talent and Drive Change” - Brandy J. Wimberly, MS, CPC
The work environment continues to become more complex as companies try to balance creating an environment that encourages more human interaction while using technology to streamline costs. Beyond the normal challenges of budget constraint or offering flexibilities that meet the needs of multiple generations, HR Professionals are called to help Managers pull ideas from their teams to close feedback loops to influence the direction of the organization. The economy is changing at a fast pace and companies are required to evolve their business models to align with new customer demands and employee expectations.
This shift calls for companies to create a resilient work environment that prioritizes both financial and mental wellness to support innovation. Innovation can only occur when senior leaders build diverse teams that can offer valuable input through collaborative spaces. Flexibility is key because it will expand talent pools that can be shared across an organization. It also requires management to work in unison to focus on upskilling and retraining current staff. The only way to survive during this time is to invest in upskilling current employees. Through the exposure of acquiring new skills self-directed teams are created that feel empowered to contribute to the bigger picture. As the workforce ecosystem evolves, so should the way managers motivate, reward and draw employees into the vision of an organization.
This new dynamic brings the question…What does authenticity in leadership look like in a work environment where having all the answers is no longer realistic?
In this session, Brandy Wimberly will show HR Professionals and Managers how to cultivate a team environment that allows groups to use non-conventional practices to express their ideas in an inspiring way. Join this session to understand how to find your unique brand of leadership through experimentation and being open to developing an empowered staff.
Session L: Why don’t they just listen to me? Applying human-centered techniques to effect change and overcome predictable irrationality” - Steve Reynolds
In this session, participants will learn how to:
1. Recognize common personas associated with change and transformation
2. Anticipate how and why people respond the way they do to change
3. Identify, design, and apply nudge theory and other techniques to change behaviors
EndNote: “The Eleven Essentials of Leadership: Train Your Brain to Think Like an Elite Leader”- Dennis Brouwer
In a world where the playing field has been leveled - where every organization has access to the same capital, technology, people and resources, leadership is the last great point of leverage.
The problem with humans, however, is that as we struggle to keep pace with unprecedented levels of change, we’re doing battle with our own brains. Modern neuroscience tells us that the human mind is incredibly adept at reinterpreting the immediate past, present and future in ways that help us justify our inaction and silently undermine our capacity for change.
As we consider changes in everything from personal habits to strategic initiatives, our brains, which have evolved over tens of thousands of years to be risk-averse, filter the information around us to convince us that we’re fine, our judgments are solid, and we can stay the course, just as we’ve always done. But there is hope. In this captivating keynote, bestselling author, U.S. Navy veteran, and multi-decade business executive Dennis Brouwer shows us a surprising path forward by building on the fact that most learning takes place NOT under the watchful eye of a tutor or mentor, but in the daily crucible of events, where we try new things, fail quickly and move on. Leadership is no different.
End Note Session: 3:30-4:30pm
“The Seven Essentials of Leadership: Train Your Brain to Think Like an Elite Leader”- Dennis Brouwer
In a world where the playing field has been leveled - where every organization has access to the same capital, technology, people and resources, leadership is the last great point of leverage.
The problem with humans, however, is that as we struggle to keep pace with unprecedented levels of change, we’re doing battle with our own brains. Modern neuroscience tells us that the human mind is incredibly adept at reinterpreting the immediate past, present and future in ways that help us justify our inaction and silently undermine our capacity for change.
As we consider changes in everything from personal habits to strategic initiatives, our brains, which have evolved over tens of thousands of years to be risk-averse, filter the information around us to convince us that we’re fine, our judgments are solid, and we can stay the course, just as we’ve always done. But there is hope. In this captivating keynote, bestselling author, U.S. Navy veteran, and multi-decade business executive Dennis Brouwer shows us a surprising path forward by building on the fact that most learning takes place NOT under the watchful eye of a tutor or mentor, but in the daily crucible of events, where we try new things, fail quickly and move on. Leadership is no different.
Don't miss the networking happy hour at Gordon Biersch
in Rockville Town Center from 4:45-6:30.
Brought to you by Gallagher
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Speaker Bios
Beth Rudy
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Beth helps individuals, teams, and organizations accelerate growth, transform their lives, and implement Smart, Savvy Change. A frequent speaker at IPMA-HR and SHRM, she was recently honored as one of ten women to receive the MS. UNSTOPPABLE AWARD by The Unstoppable Women's Award Collective in the MD, DC and VA Region. She has defied conventional wisdom and achieved phenomenal success across multiple industries in both the public and private sector. She will use her presence to inspire us to make Smart, Savvy Change.
Beth is committed to supporting HR in both the public and private sector. She serves on the IPMA-HR ER Board as a Member at Large, and on the MD State SHRM Board as co-chair of vendors and exhibitors. She works extensively with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the U.S. Army Research Lab.
Michael Miller
Michael Miller is the Managing Director in the Hunt Valley, MD office for PFE Advisors, Inc. d/b/a The PFE Group. For over 18 years, Michael has been working hard to help improve retirement outcomes for his clients and their employees. Michael and PFE’s Education Team deliver topic-oriented education to thousands of employees each year, throughout the country, related to employer-specific benefit and compensation programs.
Susan Reider
Susan currently manages the Labor and Employee Relations Branch, Smithsonian Institution, having joined this “seriously amazing” organization in March 2018. Since September 2015, she served as the Branch Chief, Employee and Labor Relations for the Architect of the Capitol (AOC). Prior to working in our nation’s capital, Susan was a supervisor in the Employee and Labor Relations Branch at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Susan worked at NIH for over 15 years and during several of those years she led the coordinated efforts of the Workplace Violence Prevention Program (known as “Civil”). She began her career in HR with the Department of the Navy, held leadership roles at IBM in human resources, taught leadership development classes, and has served as a shared neutral in the federal workplace. Susan has experience in all areas of human resources, is a member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals, and has worked as a counseling intern in an inpatient psychiatric hospital. She has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Maryland and a Masters in Counseling from Johns Hopkins University. Susan is a certified IPMA-HR professional since 2001.
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Stephen J. Zaccarro
Dr. Stephen J. Zaccaro is a professor of psychology at George Mason University. He is also an experienced leadership development consultant. He has written over 150 journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports on leadership, group dynamics, team performance, and work attitudes. Steve has directed (or co-directed) funded research projects in the areas of multiteam systems, cyber security incident response teams, team performance, team mental models, leader-team interfaces, leadership training and development, leader adaptability, and executive coaching.
Alicia Greer
Alicia graduated from West Point and was commissioned into the Army. She deployed to
Afghanistan and Iraq earning multiple military awards, including 2 Bronze Stars.
After obtaining an MBA from UGA, Alicia was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs where she
served on committees and panels furthering leadership and professional development.
Alicia is currently the Operations, Finance and HR Director at The Innovation Network. She is a
leadership and team-building coach and a keynote speaker.
Christine Major
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Christine M. Major has over 30 years of experience in the Human Resource field at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Most recently, until July, 2018 when she retired from federal service, she was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Chief Human Capital Officer, HHS, where she oversaw all human capital activities for the agency of approximately 90,000 employees. She had also served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration (PDAS) at HHS and as the Director of Human Resources for the NIH.
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Tim Newman
Tim Newman is a Human Capital Specialists Leader for Deloitte Consulting with over 24 years (13 Federal and 11 private sector) of Human Capital Experience. He has serves as a Senior Execitive for the Department of Veterans Affairs providing strategic direction and execution for VA Human Resource Systems and Analytics; the Department of Navy implementing HR Staffing Systems and leading HR Operational Centers; and the National Institutes Health implementing and overseeing multiple HR Automation Solutions.
Kathleen Schultz
Kathleen brings more than 20 years of experience in designing wellbeing, fitness, occupational health, EAP, benefits, and work/life programs. As the Eastern Region Practice Leader, Kathleen works with Gallagher teams and clients to design holistic strategies to address the total employee value proposition – including all the dimensions of wellbeing, employee engagement and productivity. Prior to Gallagher, Kathleen spent nineteen year’s leading award winning occupational health and wellness programs at Campbell Soup Company.
Kathleen received her MS in Organizational Development, as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health, from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. She also holds a BS in Cardiovascular Health from Northeastern University in Boston and is a Certified Health Education Specialist. In 2018 Kathleen was named a Top 25 National Wellbeing Leader by the Corporate Health & Wellness Association and Corporate Wellness Magazine.
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Sandra Crowe
Sandra Crowe, MA, PCC, the author of Since Strangling Isn't an Option.... (Perigee,’99, ‘08), and “I Didn’t Sign Up for This!: 7 Strategies for Dealing With Difficulty in Difficult Times”(Two Harbors Press, 2012) is a professional speaker, trainer, coach, and facilitator. Her focus is to impart communications skills to create awareness of ineffective behaviors and to move people and teams forward in their mission. Topics include: “How to Win in Difficult Interactions”, “Mindfulness: Moving from Chaos to Calm”, “Presenting to Diverse Audiences: From Nerves to Navigation”, “Three Fixes for the Five Team Dysfunctions”, “Dealing With Different Personality Types”, “What to Say to a Difficult Customer”
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Ileana Turner
Ilenea have been working in Human Resources for over 20 years in both private and public sector. As a bi-racial woman, she has experienced the judgments, preconceived ideas and biases about who she is as well as what I can do.
A year ago, Ilenea moved into a position of Diversity & Inclusion at the Food and Drug Administration. Since that time, she has been on a trek of learning, networking, and attending trainings to have a better understanding of the complexities surrounding these topics. Additionally, Ilenea has received her D&I Certificate through the ECornell Program run through Cornell University. Through her position she has provided leadership in Hispanic, Veteran, Women and Diversity & Inclusion Committees. She has conducted trainings and facilitated discussions on a variety of topics including unconscious bias and the potential reasons for underemployment of certain groups within the federal government.
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Brandy J. Wimberly, MS, CPC
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Brandy Wimberly is a Certified Professional Coach with Empowergize U, who offers leadership, compassion and innovation to enhance personal growth and organization performance. Over the years, she blended her passion for organizational development and program management to acquire a unique set of skills that uses coaching and mentoring to develop forward thinking professionals. Her career expands across both federal and private sectors, which enhances her ability to engage leaders to develop and implement strategic goals.
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Steve Reynolds
Steve directly manages client services, business development, and thought innovation for Guidehouse (formerly PwC Public Sector) human capital and talent management programs supporting public health sector clients. He has over 30 years of federal government experience supporting talent management, workforce planning, instructional design, learning and development, succession planning, recruiting and hiring, HR analytics, HR strategy, change management, and performance management at the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Disease Control, FAA, DHS, the US Coast Guard, and the White House.
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Dennis Brouwer
Dennis Brouwer is a former Navy Flight Officer who started his career hunting for Soviet submarines in the Indian Ocean. He has served in a variety of leadership roles, including as co-founder of a venture-backed software company, SVP of a $3b market segment at a Fortune 200 company, and General Manager of a $300m business unit, where he led a business turnaround. He is certified leadership coach and the author of The Return on Leadership.
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