WISHRM23 Review

2023 SMILE Team

Day One: October 11, 2023

Today was the start of my third WISHRM conference and second year on the SMILE Team!

After grabbing my badge and conference goodies from registration, I headed to the exhibit hall to talk to several vendors and fill my WISHRM bag full of swag!

The next stop is the HR Games. Congratulations to Lauren Johnson, the 2023 winner of the Callie Zipple Scholarship! Shoutout to all the students who competed in a jeopardy-style game for huge cash prizes.

I ended the evening with a La Crosse Area SHRM dinner and truly wish I had taken a photo with the group of amazing HR professionals! Next year!!

Day Two: October 12, 2023

Today's opening keynote was Paul Krismer, who presented the topic of "Resiliency in the Midst of Uncertainty: Deploying Proven, Powerful Tools to Achieve Success." My key takeaways:

• Act with intention (i.e., company culture and self-care).

• Choose yourself to fight burnout.

  • Notice signs.

  • Express your thoughts and feelings.

  • Have a work friend.

  • Develop resources.

For my first concurrent session, I attended "The Best Anywhere: Strategies for Retaining Top Talent in a Remote and Hybrid Workforce," presented by Michael Rampolla. Michael is energetic and engaging, which left me eager to want to have a one-on-one conversation. My key takeaways:

• Work with intention - not what are we doing, but why are we doing.

• Ask your employees...

  • What do you like best about working remote?

  • What challenges do you have with working remote?

  • How can we support you?

My next session was "Holding Steady: Navigating Emotionally Charged Conversations," presented by Sarah Noll Wilson. My key takeaways:

• We might not be able to make the situation better, but we can make it not worse.

• Curiosity is the greatest gift because it means someone is worthy to be known.

• Difficult conversations do not just involve feelings, they are at their very core about feelings.

Day Three: October 13, 2023

The day began with Erik Dominguez, who presented the topic of "The Three T's of Confidence: Building Lasting Self-Trust to Achieve Your Dreams." My key takeaways:

• Whirlwind vs. Zone of Genius - the work behind the work vs. work that does not feel like work.

• Confidence and comfort cannot co-exist (reminds me of Seek Discomfort aka Yes Theory).

• A comfort zone once stretched, cannot go back to its original size.

The final keynote of the conference was "From Surviving to Thriving: Helping Team Members Navigate Change," presented by Sarah Noll Wilson. My key takeaways:

• People do not fear change, they fear loss.

• You don't have to experience the loss to understand it, but you do have to acknowledge it.

• Response to "this is how we've always done it," but if we had to do it differently, how would we do it?

• We are not the same people we were before the pandemic.

Tips, Tricks, and Things You Might Have Missed

There is a lot of walking, standing, sitting, and people-ing!

• Comfortable shoes make the walking easier. I wore my new Dr. Scholls shoes.

• Prepare for different temperature rooms - layers!

• Do not forget to bring snacks and a reusable water bottle.

• Need a break from the action? You can join virtually if needed! I have been having some health issues that made me miss some of the in-person action, but I was able to get great content virtually.

The WISHRM community makes it easier to navigate the conference!

• Follow the WISHRM SMILE Team on Twitter for the most up-to-date information.

• Download the WISHRM app to find all your conference information and receive push notifications.

WISHRM24: HR -> Leading Winning Cultures

October 9-11, 2024