Articles

Message From the President

April Showers bring May Flowers - how does your garden grow? If it were only that simple! During uncertain times and ever changing days, hours, and even sometimes minutes, we often forget to shift our attention to caretaking of our garden of words and actions, and unintentionally neglect to properly follow the steps needed to get the best outcome of what we are striving to grow - Our relationships.

During this unprecedented time in the world of work, we should all take the time to remember we are all human and vulnerable to missteps and oversights. As HR Professionals, often times in both the workplace as well as our personal lives, we act less than respectful, not realizing we are doing so. Self-awareness is the first step toward recognizing our Emotional Intelligence level, and leadership success cannot be attained if we are not enhancing our level of emotional intelligence. What are we saying and doing in the workplace, and in our lives that is disrespectful? Unknowingly? Unwillingly? During this time where we all have such mounting pressures and challenges ahead of us, we all need to stop and take a good self-check assessment on how we are doing, and heighten our sense of self-awareness of how we treat others. This process is not only needed for team members, but most importantly Leaders must pave the way.

SHRM of Greater St. Louis is here for you. Whatever struggles you are going through, give yourself permission to be vulnerable. Utilize your opportunity to connect with your member network and let us know how we can best support YOU, our members, volunteers, and sponsors, during this most difficult time. Please utilize your access to information, resources, and connections available to you. We will continue to be mindful of these changing and challenging times, and considerations for adjusting and adapting our programs, activities, and benefits offered in your membership to always provide value. After all, our greatest asset is YOU, and it is our mission to serve YOU.

In honor of national volunteer week and upcoming HR Professionals day, we give our deepest heartfelt gratitude to all of YOU for all that YOU do for SHRM St. Louis, your organizations, and the community.

Warmest Regards,
Mary Lou Smith, PHR, SHRM-CP
2020 President