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April 14-15, 2010 -- Hyatt Century Plaza -- Los Angeles, CA

2010 Conference Agenda

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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

03:00 PM - 08:00 PM

Registration
Beat the crowds by picking up your conference materials and name badge early! 

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

07:00 AM - 08:15 AM

Registration/Breakfast sponsored by ACUITY

08:15 AM - 08:30 AM

Opening Remarks

08:30 AM - 09:15 AM

Opening Keynote | SAS: The #1 Best Company to Work For in America

SAS is an exceptional business that develops analytical software systems used in virtually every industry across the globe. SAS has been financially successful for its 34 years of existence and has developed a stellar reputation for the quality of its operations. In this keynote address, SAS leaders will shed light on what underlies the continuous cycles of invention, creativity and performance that makes this world-renowned organization this year's #1 Best Company to Work For in America.


09:30 AM - 03:00 PM

WORKSHOPS
1. Great Place to Work® 101: Key Elements of Building a Trust-Based Workplace

Would you like to learn more about the elements of great workplaces and hear directly from leaders of recognized Best Companies? Do you want to understand what's uniquely different at great workplaces? This fast-paced, interactive seminar is a perfect introduction to the Great Place to Work® Institute's perspective on what it means to be a great workplace. You will learn to apply the models and methodology the Institute uses to assess workplaces around the world to your own organization, examine the motivation and business rationale for investing in creating a great workplace, and hear directly from Best Companies leaders who already know it's worth the investment.

 

Learning Objectives:

  • Hear directly from best company leaders about how they approach the practical and cultural topics you're most interested in
  • Understand what differentiates great places to work®, especially the key role of trust
  • Learn how to use tools based on years of research to help you guide culture efforts in your own organization

Focus Level: Presentation/Interactive - 30%/70%

  • Holly Petroff , Consultant, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.
  • Jan Cipoletti , Client Relationship Lead and Consultant, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.
  • Dan Valiquette , Executive Vice President, Badger Mining Corporation
  • Linda Miller , Senior Executive, Public Relations, Ultimate Software
  • David Zammiello, SPHR , Vice President, Strategic Staffing, USAA

2. Best Practices of the Best Companies: Ideas for your Business from Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For®

This workshop will introduce you to Best Practices at Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For® and teach you not only about the incredible practices and programs they offer to keep employee satisfaction at an all-time high (and turnover at an all-time low!), but how and why these practices work. Our consultants and Best Companies speakers will lead exercises and group discussions that will help you uncover which practices can help you create a great place to work at your organization.

 

Learning Objectives:

  • Learn Best People Practices directly from leaders of distinguished Best Companies to Work For
  • Understand how and why those practices work
  • Review the frameworks for understanding practices at the Best Companies to Work For
  • Deepen your understanding of your company's unique culture
  • Improve your existing practices to make them more relevant and rewarding for your employees

    • Focus Level: Presentation/Interactive - 25%/75%

    • Erin Liberman Moran , Vice-President of Consulting for the U.S., Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.
    • Laurel Smylie , Associate Consultant, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.
    • Linda Newman , Director of Employee Development, Alston & Bird
    • Vicki Noel , Vice President of Human Resources and Organization Development/Chief Learning Officer, Southern Ohio Medical Center
    • Ron Gover , Vice President of Human Resources, T-Mobile

    3. Enabling Managers to Create a Great Place to Work®

    In your role in  your organization, you may shoulder some of the responsibility for creating a Great Place to Work®.  For better or for worse, you can't do it alone.  A great workplace involves trusting relationships, meaningful work, and a warm and welcoming work environment - much of which must be established, maintained, or reinforced by managers and supervisors.  Join us for an interactive simulation meant to illustrate the role a manager must take in building trust, and the victories and challenges encountered along the way.  You will leave with a clear perspective on how to coach and train managers in this critical role. 

     

    Learning Objectives:

  • Experience and reflect upon common challenges managers face in leading teams
  • Better understand the critical role of trust between managers and employees, and tactical skills for building it
  • Enhance your skills in coaching managers throughout the organization
  • Gain perspective on the support that leadership and HR provide to managers seeking to build a great place to work®

    •  

    Focus Level: Presentation/Interactive - 20%/80%

    • Jennifer Robin , Senior Consultant, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.
    • Lindsay Nelson , Consultant, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.
    • Irene Fuller , Consultant and Vice President Products, Services and Marketing, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.

    10:30 - 11:00 AM Refreshment Break - Workplace Culture Session sponsored by Mattel
    12:30 - 1:30 PM Networking Lunch sponsored by CarMax

    03:00 PM - 05:00 PM

    Afternoon Break sponsored by Bright Horizons

    03:15 PM - 04:15 PM

    How a Culture of Trust Creates Engaged Employees
    Employees who are committed to their work and the vision of their leaders provide a singular strategic advantage to the organization. Employees who cooperate with each other across departments and divisions help the organization achieve increased customer satisfaction, as they are able to reach higher levels of service and product innovation. This is what we all want, yet how does it happen? In this presentation, Amy Lyman, Co-Founder of the Great Place to Work® Institute and Director of Corporate Research, will call on her 25 years of research and consulting practice to discuss the ways in which high-trust relationships between employees and leaders create engaged, committed employees who work together to achieve extraordinary results. Evidence will be provided from the 100 Best Companies to Work For and the Small & Medium Best Companies to support Lyman's contention that a trusted employee is an engaged employee, and that leaders who are able to create a culture of trust in their organizations will see greater success over the lifetime of their tenure as a leader.
    • Amy Lyman , Co-founder and Director, Corporate Research, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.

    Lists, Surveys, and Services: How to Work with the Great Place to Work® Institute

    Learn how Great Place to Work® Institute assesses and benchmarks companies against the very best using our employee survey and culture assessment tools.  Whether your organization is being evaluated for a Best Companies List or looking to achieve full scale cultural transformation, Great Place to Work® Institute's assessments and advisory services provide you with the data and support needed to focus your efforts and enact positive and lasting change. This informational session will introduce you to what is measured by our assessment tools, why it is crucial to create a great workplace and how to take action on your survey results.  See how a high level of trust between employees and management contributes to business success, and learn how to communicate the business benefits of investing in building a great workplace to your company's leadership and stakeholders.

    • Lisa Ratner , Client Relationship Lead, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.
    • Cathy Leibow , Client Relationship Lead, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.
    • Meghan Hall , Client Relationship Lead, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.

    05:00 PM - 05:45 PM

    Keynote Address from Ernst & Young | Achieving Potential--Culture as the Competitive Advantage in a New Global Economy

    Steve Howe, Americas Area Managing Partner, reflects on developing a team-oriented culture that helps all of its people achieve their full potential. Ernst & Young, Fortune's #44 Best Company to Work For® this year, has been cited by USA Today as a "Leadership Factory" for the number of C-Suite executives that come from within its ranks. In a rapidly changing global business environment, EY focuses on constantly developing the skills of its professionals to meet the needs of its diverse client base. Despite the turmoil and challenges of the economic crisis, EY embarked on a global journey to accelerate and broaden the learning and development of its 144,000 people around the world. This framework is called EYU, the firm's unique global approach to developing people through learning, experiences and coaching tailored to the individuals' career aspirations and the firm's strategy.

    • Steve Howe , Americas Area Managing Partner, Ernst & Young

    06:00 PM - 08:00 PM

    Opening Night Networking Reception sponsored by Ernst & Young

    Thursday, April 15, 2010

    07:00 AM - 08:30 AM

    Breakfast sponsored by JM Family Enterprises, Inc.

    07:30 AM - 08:15 AM

    Jump-Start Your Day With Speed Networking
    • Laurel Smylie , Associate Consultant, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.

    08:30 AM - 09:15 AM

    Keynote Address from Stew Leonard's | "HAPPY TEAM MEMBERS = HAPPY CUSTOMERS!" The Connection Between Legendary Customer Service and a World-Class Workplace

    Stew Leonard's sells food and wine in their retail stores in the metro New York area. For over 40 years, they have continued to be recognized as one of the most unique retailers in the world. Business schools and best-selling authors have studied their legendary customer service, and they have been included in Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work for® list for 9 consecutive years. Paul Newman launched his salad dressing at Stew's, and Martha Stewart was a regular when she was catering. The store has a VIP customer list that ranges from past U.S. Presidents to sports stars and celebrities. CEO Stew Leonard, Jr. will talk about the S.T.E.W. philosophy that keeps their 2,500 team members happy and millions of customers coming back.


    09:30 AM - 10:30 AM

    Breakout Sessions with Best Company Speakers
    Rothstein Kass | Gaining Senior Leader Support for Great Workplace Initiatives

    At Rothstein Kass, 2009's #23 Best Medium Company to Work For, leaders understand that becoming a great workplace is not an "HR Initiative"; it takes support and involvement from all levels of the organization--especially from the top. In this session, learn why senior leaders at this professional services firm champion great workplace initiatives, and how Human Resources leaders have helped keep these initiatives at the forefront of the corporate agenda.


    Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and Baptist Health South Florida | Don't Reinvent the Wheel: Building on What You Already Have
    When it comes to creating world-class policies and practices, it is important to understand and build upon what is already effective within the organization. Two long-standing Best Companies to Work For--Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and Baptist Health South Florida--recently executed organization-wide initiatives that involved employees and leaders alike in revising, enhancing, and refreshing existing people practices in order to make them more meaningful to the employee population and the organization's unique culture. In this session, you will learn these organizations' distinct approaches to this undertaking, and the positive impact to the employee experience they have seen as a result.
    • Debbie Brown , Vice-President of Human Resources – The Americas, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
    • Lillian LeBlanc , Assistant Vice President, HR Strategy and Culture, Baptist Health South Florida
    • Corey Heller , Corporate Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Baptist Health South Florida

    CH2M HILL | Sustaining a Great Workplace During Transitions of Leadership
    As a Best Company to Work For®, CH2M HILL's culture is based on its company values, developed more than 60 years ago by its four founders. Today, even after a top leadership succession and an economic recession, the ever-adapting culture of this engineering consulting firm continues to thrive, supported by foundational values outlined in the firm's Little Yellow Book. This is due to a successful combination of traditional company practices and modern business strategies-from full employee ownership to a project-based workforce approach. Learn more about how CH2M HILL maintains industry leadership and its great work environment by balancing the old with the new, and proactively addressing the changes in culture as new generations of leadership and employees arrive.
    • Bob Gonzales , Senior Vice President, HR Enterprise Services, CH2M HILL

    10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

    Refreshment Break - Workplace Culture Session

    11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Breakout Sessions with Best Company Speakers
    SAS | How Trust-Building Practices Can Impact the Bottom Line
    It's no secret among Best Companies that efforts toward creating a great workplace have a positive impact on the bottom line. SAS, the #1 Best Company to Work For in America and the world's leader in business analytics software and services, has built a corporate culture based on trust between employees and the company, and leaders operate with transparency at all levels of the organization. Attend this session and learn how SAS, named 13 times to Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For® list, has seen its trust-building practices result in a 2% voluntary turnover rate, 33 years of consecutive revenue growth, a customer renewal rate of over 95%, and a proud and productive workforce.

    Robins & Morton | Maintaining Company Culture Across Multiple Locations
    Maintaining company culture poses unique challenges for companies regardless of size or industry. Every employee's interpretation of their company's culture can vary, and the challenge intensifies when companies are not centrally located.  Robins & Morton, the #17 Best Medium Company to Work For, is one of the nation's top general contractors. Here, leaders know how to effectively convey company culture to employees located in multiple cities, states and countries, a challenge that requires a delicate balance of consistent communication and sensitivity to the diverse personalities and experiences of each office and individual employees. Attend this session and learn how practices in the areas of effective and creative communication, recruiting and evaluation, and celebrations can bridge geographical gaps and ensure your company's "talk" aligns with the "walk" of every employee.

    King's Daughters Medical Center | Leveraging and Aligning Culture to Guide Organizational Decisions

    At King's Daughter Medical Center, the KDMC Success Model is a leadership tool that drives the organization's mission: "To Care. To Serve. To Heal." - and its vision: "World-Class Care In Our Communities." This tool provides leaders with a proven methodology to create a winning culture by establishing clear standards, engaging team members, instilling personal responsibility and recognizing desired behaviors. The success model provides a balanced approach to frame decisions and guides focused efforts and resources.  Attend this session to learn how leaders at Fortune's #50 Best Company to Work For® have used this model to improve team performance, successfully introduce change, identify improvement opportunities and effectively reward and recognize the efforts of their teams.

    • Larry Higgins , Senior Vice President Organizational Effectiveness/Chief Leadership Officer, King's Daughters Medical Center

    12:15 PM - 01:00 PM

    Keynote Address from Camden Property Trust | Thriving Amidst Economic Chaos

    Camden Property Trust is one of the largest publicly traded multifamily companies in the United States with a workforce totaling nearly 1800 employees in over 200 locations across the country.  For companies facing difficult times, a strong culture means the difference between surviving and thriving.  As the leaders of Fortune's #10 Best Company to Work For® this year, Ric Campo and Keith Oden will share how Camden employees grew stronger during the recent economic downturn by relying on Camden's core values, supporting each other, and most important of all, having fun.

    • Keith Oden , President, Camden Property Trust
    • Ric Campo , Chief Executive Officer, Camden Property Trust

    01:00 PM - 02:00 PM

    Networking Lunch sponsored by Baird

    02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Breakout Sessions with Best Company Speakers
    Chesapeake Energy Corporation | Maintaining Integrity During Difficult Workforce Adjustments
    The nation's recent economic downturn has forced many employers to cut expenses at every corner, including the dreaded downsizing of employees. During these difficult workforce adjustments, it is critical to maintain respect for the affected employees, while upholding good relations with the remaining workforce and the community throughout the process. Learn how Chesapeake Energy Corporation, #34 on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For® list, was able to maintain integrity and keep their workforce informed, engaged, and forward-thinking during this difficult process via extensive planning, top leadership support and involvement, open communication, and successful change management strategies.
    • Martha Burger , Senior Vice President - Human & Corporate Resources, Chesapeake Energy Corporation

    Bright Horizons Family Solutions | Looking Ahead: Evolving the Employer-Employee Relationship
    As a Best Company to Work For®, for 11 years, Bright Horizons Family Solutions has stayed true to their values and culture as they have grown. Today, their 18,000 employees provide early care and education services through more than 650 child care centers, a network of back-up child and elder care services and college counseling in 43 states, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and Puerto Rico. They pride themselves in being considered the world's biggest small company. During difficult economic times it sometimes is necessary to make withdrawals against your company's culture account. This session will describe how Bright Horizons has made creative deposits into their culture account even during difficult economic times. It also will trace the historical investments and growth of the culture account at Bright Horizons and their outlook for what the employer-employee relationship will look like in the post-economic recovery environment.

    FedEx Corporation | Developing Social Media to Enhance Communications
    If an organization truly strives to be a great place to work®, it must master the full range of influential channels--emerging and traditional; internal and external--that its audiences use and trust for information. In this session, Diane Terrell, Vice President of Worldwide Corporate Communications at FedEx, will share how and why social media has become an integral part of the FedEx global communications strategy. Audience members will come away understanding the important role of social media in the workplace, and will learn how FedEx, a company who has been recognized by 16 of the Institute's Best Companies lists around the globe, is harnessing this evolving medium to enhance corporate culture, improve communications, and manage the company's reputation internally and externally.
    • Diane Terrell , Vice President, Strategic Communications, FedEx Corporation

    03:00 PM - 03:30 PM

    Refreshment Break - Workplace Culture Session

    03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Breakout Sessions from Best Company Speakers
    DreamWorks Animation | Motivating and Inspiring A Culture of Creativity and Innovation
    DreamWorks Animation's passion is to make the most entertaining and visually stunning animated films, television programs, live entertainment and online worlds that delight and excite families the world over. Their employee base is comprised of the most talented, highly-creative group of artists, animators, storytellers, filmmakers and technologists in the world, from over 30 countries. This session will focus on the best practices at Fortune's #6 Best Company to Work For® in nurturing creativity, collaboration and innovation in an employee-centric culture. This interactive and fun session will give attendees practical, real-world suggestions to truly becoming a great workplace. Attendees will walk away from this presentation with a true sense of what has been successful at DreamWorks Animation, as well as what might be implemented successfully in their own workplaces.

    PCL Construction Enterprises, Inc. | Building a Culture of Wellness
    As the country at large focuses on healthcare reform, all companies--good and great--are coping with rising health care costs and managing chronic diseases in the workplace. This session, led by PCL Construction, Fortune's #31 Best Company to Work For®, calls out the link between happy, healthy employees and profitable growth, and shares ways in which your organization can incorporate employee wellness into its culture. Through real examples and new ideas for improving employee wellness, attendees will learn how PCL has remained focused on people while avoiding benefit reductions during economically challenging times. 

    Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc. | Moving From “Ah-ha” to Action: How to Turn Lessons Learned into Changes Made
    After spending two days learning from Best Company leaders and your conference colleagues, your mind will be racing with ideas and inspiration for making changes at your own organization. Great Place to Work® Institute Consultant Marcus Erb will lead a one-hour, interactive session where you can explore how to leverage these ideas toward real change when you return to the workplace. Attendees will review practical tips on making a plan for implementing ideas from the conference and overcoming common challenges in the process, while connecting with conference colleagues about their experiences. You will also explore your impact as a change leader within your organization, regardless of your job role. Finally, you will leave this session understanding of what real next steps you can take now to move further down the path toward creating or sustaining a Great Place to Work®.
    • Marcus Erb , Consultant, Senior Research Associate, Great Place to Work® Institute, Inc.

    04:45 PM - 05:30 PM

    Keynote Address from TDIndustries | Difficult, Dirty Jobs: How TD Inspires Pride and Servant Leadership Among its Front Line Workforce

    TDIndustries has appeared on the FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work For® list for 13 consecutive years.  The 63-year-old company is one of the nation's largest mechanical construction and facility service companies. TD loves to design, build, operate, and maintain complex mechanical systems for a wide array of commercial, institutional, and industrial facilities. When Jack Lowe, Sr. founded the organization with one desk in the back of his aunt's automotive supply store, he believed that by creating a partnership with employees and customers for life, the company would succeed. Today, 100% of the company is owned by over 1,000 of the organization's employees, or "TDPartners".  The front line workforce is made up of highly skilled trades people who serve as plumbers, pipefitters, welders, sheet-metal workers, service technicians, and facility maintenance engineers. This workforce functions in all types of weather under very difficult conditions that most would consider "Dirty Jobs". TD excels at creating Servant Leaders who live the company's Mission and Basic Values while taking pride in their difficult, dirty jobs.  Learn the 5 top tools and processes used by TD to support its unique CULTure. 


    05:30 PM - 05:45 PM

    Closing Remarks

    06:00 PM - 08:00 PM

    Closing Reception sponsored by NetApp