2008 MVHRA Presidents Message

There is an ancient Chinese curse which translates into “May you live in interesting times.”    In some ways, living in interesting times can be viewed as both a curse and a blessing.  Working in the field of human resources, all of us can see the irony in this quote.   On the one hand, living in interesting times makes our jobs rewarding and challenging.  To some degree it also provides job security for all of us.  On the other hand, processing all of the changes with which we are faced makes it difficult for us to respond to and satisfy the needs of our various constituencies—our employees, management and the community. I believe we are entering into a period of great change with respect to human resource needs.  The globalization of our economy has had a tremendous impact on employers in the United States.  We are involved in transitioning the workforce from one type of work, (industrial), to other types such as service and technology.  This involves downsizing, rightsizing and retraining of our workforce.  Changes in the political landscape are also likely to have a significant impact on human resources, both at the state and federal level.  Voter initiatives in Ohio have addressed minimum wage and smoking in the workplace.  This November, we will likely see changes in rules regarding sick leave.  At the federal level we may see changes in the areas of pregnancy leave, gender orientation discrimination and, union organizing rules.  The most significant changes, though, will arise from technological developments.  So much of what we do today involves voicemails, emails, and documents that are saved on computers.   The legal community is abuzz with what this means from a litigation prospective and what was once called a “paper trail” is now referred to as an “e-trail.”  Employers who do not address technological developments and their impact upon discovery, do so at their own peril. 

The Miami Valley Human Resource Association is devoted to helping practitioners deal with significant changes in all of these areas.  If you look at the focus of our luncheon speakers, our professional development workshops and our committees, you can see that we are trying to add value in the area of workforce development, addressing key legislative issues at both the state and federal level and educating our membership on how technology can both help and hurt us and the companies we serve.  We welcome comments, ideas, and assistance from our membership and we promise to do our best in assisting everyone to survive and grow in “interesting times.”

Jeff Mullins
President, MVHRA