Adding to its more than 570 chapters nationwide, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently established the SHRM Northern California Chapter, which serves HR professionals in the San Francisco, Oakland/Walnut Creek, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Sonoma and North Bay areas.
This newest chapter augments the society's 17 other chapters in California, along with the California State Council of SHRM (CalSHRM). With the rich diversity, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship thriving in the Bay Area, this location is ideal for HR professionals—and those transitioning into the field—to come together in order to understand complex employment law and HR issues in the Bay Area.
"The Bay Area is a very dynamic environment," comments Jon Decoteau, SHRM's Divisional Director West and State of California Field Service Leader. "HR has the potential to unleash that creativity for people and businesses, as well as make sure that they're current in terms of the latest labor law and organization design and development. It's a very complex legal environment. To give you an example, there are 21 different minimum-wage levels in the State of California—14 of those are in the Bay Area."
To ensure that each "t" is crossed and "i" dotted in this dynamic yet complex environment, the new SHRM Northern California chapter brings HR professionals together to discuss key issues, network and develop additional skills to advance the profession. For instance, once a month HR practitioners can attend one of the chapter's "three-city tour" events held in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland. At each of these stops, volunteers and members will discuss such topics as "The 5 Habits of Disruptive HR Leaders," which was the theme of the February event.
The chapter will host its next "three-city tour" on March 21 with a breakfast meeting in San Francisco, followed by a lunch meeting the same day in San Jose, and the following morning a breakfast meeting in Oakland. Check the chapter's website for more details.
The new chapter is also looking for volunteers. If you’re interested in volunteering—which requires committing to spending between five and 10 hours a month—email Decoteau at Jon.Decoteau@shrm.org and describe the areas of HR you're most interested in and the amount of time you can offer, as well as any previous volunteer experience.
