Kathy Dugan Retirement

Kathy Dugan Retirement

It is with great pride that I write to inform you that one of our founders, Kathy Dugan, will be retiring at the end of this year. Kathy and I started J&D in 1983 and I have been blessed to have had her as a partner all these years. The time comes for us all to move on to life’s other opportunities and Kathy is looking forward to pursing those in her retirement. All of us at J&D are better for working with her and benefiting from her experience and dedication to our clients over the years. Her experience in HR from her days at Intel helped us put a focus on this aspect of our services to our clients at a time when firms like ours did not. We are proud that we helped in some small way pioneer that approach.

Please join us in congratulating Kathy on her next chapter, Sincerely,  Michael Johnson

Tis the Season for Holiday Wellness

Tis the Season for Holiday Wellness

The holidays are often the busiest time of the year for a lot of people which can make it hard to stay mentally and physically healthy.  With a little intentionality and understanding, you can fully enjoy the holidays while keeping your health in mind.

6 Tips to Make Your Holidays Brighter:

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is often the first thing to go during a busy holiday season.  Poor sleep, especially over a period of a few weeks, leads to poor functioning: it impacts your immune system, ability to concentrate and your mood – all things that make you even more stressed out.  It’s a vicious circle.

Prioritize “Me Time”

Taking some much needed “me time” isn’t selfish; taking care of yourself is one of the best mental wellness gifts you can receive.  Do some yoga, take a walk, relax in the bathtub, or simply take some time to catch up on some reading.  Your mental health will thank you for it.

Practice Self-Control When It Comes to Food

Cookies, muffins, cakes and countless other temptations are prevalent during the season! The holidays are a time when a lot of people pull out their stretchy pants from the back of their closets so they can eat sweets and delicious foods to their hearts’ content. It’s okay to enjoy holiday treats but it’s important to be mindful of your choices and then balance your treats with healthy foods.

Plan Ahead to Avoid Last Minute Stress

Staying on top of your errands and to-do list by thinking ahead.  Getting your holiday shopping done early helps you avoid the stress of last-minute shopping when you might not be able to find the things on your list.

Get Some Exercise

Exercise is an excellent way to destress.  But don’t worry if you miss some time at the gym – the holidays are always busy and making your regular 7 a.m. spin class after a holiday party probably isn’t going to happen, and that’s okay.  Focus on simply moving your body.  Take the stairs or park your car further away from your destination to get some more steps in!

Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

Pinterest floods your feed with extravagant party decorations.  Not to mention seeing beautifully decorated homes in TV commercials or social media posts of lavish gifts can make you feel overwhelmed. You might even start to think your holiday celebrations aren’t up to par.  Just remember: your holiday traditions are your own and they don’t have to be like anyone else’s.

While the holidays can feel exhausting, it’s also a time to be enjoyed and savored.  Make time for the activities you enjoy this season, such as Christmas baking, holiday movies, ice skating, and favorite family traditions.  But most importantly, be present.  That’s the best tip of them all.

5 Lessons to Learn about Learning and Development

5 Lessons to Learn about Learning and Development

Learning and development is a necessary part of life, and it is required for mobility and succession planning at work. Yet, many HR departments fail to implement a complete L&D strategy or they do not even know where to begin.

The good news is that most leaders have great intentions. Of the respondents to the 2021 State of HR survey, 35% said they wanted to improve culture by transforming training and development efforts. At the Corporate Learning EMEA online event, which is free to join, viewers can gain insight into how to develop an adaptive and skilled workforce.

Find out about the five lessons to learn about learning and development:

An Honest Education

Erika Ullmann, Director, Learning & Development at Virgin Media – Ireland, recognizes the power of transparency in today’s workforce. She plans to take that message to the audience when she kicks off the Corporate Learning EMEA event in a fireside chat. Still, the highlight of the session will likely be a conversation about applying virtual reality to leadership training.

Getting Personal

Digital Adoption Expert at Whatfix, Pretyush Shama, plans to speak about how to personalize education and measure performance, which is frankly vital to prioritizing L&D and getting leadership buy in. In this session, Shama will explain how software can help employers offer customized learning and an ability to measure the effectiveness of the training.

Get Organized

One of the biggest challenges facing learning and development leaders is offering a streamlined curriculum that is easy to access and features all the necessary content to catapult learners into the future. In a session with Toby Harris, Chief Marketing Officer at filtered, the audience will learn about how to assess solutions and prioritize skillsets and knowledge areas.

Understand the Ecosystem

Discover how to build a learning ecosystem, which is essentially everything related to a company’s training and development efforts. This lesson, courtesy of Francesco Mantovani, Director, Global Learning Technologies and Innovation at Procter & Gamble, promises to share insight on the ecosystem by sharing the lessons he learned from making mistakes along the way.

Use Data

A mistake that many HR leaders make is to plan learning and development coursework and then, perhaps, look at data. Instead, Jonathan Kettleborough, Senior Lecturer, Information Systems Strategy at Manchester Metropolitan University, plans to divulge the ways to use data to determine what employees should study and demonstrate value to leaders.

Although these leaders are based in Europe, the lessons they have to share are relevant to all HR and learning and development leaders. Their experiences can help leaders determine learning content, delivery, and culture.

By Francesca Di Meglio

Originally posted on HR Exchange Network

10 Unforgettable Quotes on Employee Engagement and Experience

10 Unforgettable Quotes on Employee Engagement and Experience

Employee engagement and experience is at the core of what most Human Resources professionals do on a daily basis. From hiring to succession planning, HR is first and foremost focused on recruiting and retaining top talent. Keeping those talented people engaged in their work is key to achieving positive business outcomes.

Recently, speakers at the 2022 HR Exchange Network Employee Engagement and Experience online event shared their best advice, telling lessons, and hard-won battle stories. Discover the most unforgettable quote on employee engagement and experience from each session:

Putting Belonging in DEI

“What belonging means for us is how you make people feel included, valued. How proud do they feel being part of our brand? How connected are we regardless of where we are and how safe we feel working in this organization.” Gayatheri Silvakumer, Chief HR and Talent Officer, APAC, McCann Worldgroup

What’s Next in Employee Experience?

“We’re building in the mobile application – push notifications that say, ‘Have you thought about this role?’ We look at potential lateral moves for skillsets. It sends reminders, bits of news. We’re sharing our commitment to ESG with people.”-Graeme Poules, People Director, Employee Experience and Operations, Bupa

Cloud Solutions for Efficiency in Employee Engagement

“Newer cloud solutions are much easier to integrate, so you can choose a strategy where you’ll be implementing the best solution for the best purpose. It’s much easier in the cloud than on premises, for sure.”-Frederik Skyggebjerg, Head of Solution Consulting for APAC at Unit4

Employee Engagement Is Change Management

“What transformation really does is put a lot of strain on engagement. It is a fact. This is not unfamiliar to all of us. But an HR leader like me, who is experiencing this, there are employees who are feeling overwhelmed, confused, sometimes disconnected, angry. I would also like to highlight the fact that with COVID, all that the world has faced over the past couple of years, the threshold for the employee to take stress has really gone down. There are a lot of studies available that fatigue sets in much faster. Coupled with transformation, it hits employees. Could the Great Resignation be happening because there is continuous change?” –Trupti Mohan, Vice President HR Asia-Pacific, Fresenius Medical Care

Add the Joy

“I really, really believe the future of work should be purpose-led and fun. I don’t think it should be a chore, where people wake up on a Monday morning dreading it. It should be something they’re really excited about as well.”-Sharenya S. Kumar, former General Manager Employee Experience, Crown Resorts

Equip HR Teams for Success with a Digital-First Approach

“Digital-first means we can be more inclusive and intentional on how we work. It lets us stay focused on great outcomes…Everyone may be remote, working in different places and time zones, yet communication and collaboration are the lifeblood of any successful company.”-Meiyea Neo, HR Director, Zendesk

Know the Difference Between GBS and Shared Services

“[Global Business Services] is more integrated. It’s an advanced version of the shared service model. It’s evolved from new demands that have come up as the world has gotten more global and organizations have gotten more global. It’s truly a more global model. Shared services can be more regional, country-based, or multinational based.”-Eithne Freeney, Employee Experience Sales Manager ANZ, ServiceNow

Importance of Recognition

“When I feel validated at work, I can take my hand and tap my shoulder and say, ‘I added value today,’ because I belong to an organization that is creating the most amazing change in the workforce. Having that belonging and having that understanding of where you are in the workforce is really the heart-centered way of how an organization operates. That is what people are saying and asking for in our organizations.” –Shereen Williams, Director People and Culture Technology & Innovation at Standard Chartered

Slow and Steady Wins

“I can’t stress this enough, and I’m sure I have many allies in the HR community, who may be on this call and may have influenced stakeholders, that any focus on culture and engagement takes time. You really need to focus and chip away if you’re going to see a consistent change.” –David Monti, Senior Manager Culture and Engagement, Transport for NSW

Look Within for Strength

“As we all know, the competition for talent is fiercer than ever, post COVID-19. So, the talent you’re looking for is likely already in your organization. It’s just a case of finding it by aligning the skills of your integral workforce to the work required rather than aligning the individual to the problem.” –Chris Broadway, Technology Sales Manager, PeopleScout

By Francesca Di Meglio

Originally posted on HR Exchange Network

National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) Top Women Advisor Captain – Virginia Krieger Sutton

National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) Top Women Advisor Captain – Virginia Krieger Sutton

It is our pleasure to announce that Virginia Krieger Sutton, Vice President, Retirement Plan Practice at Johnson & Dugan, has been selected as one of 50 National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) Top Women Advisor Captainshttps://www.napa-net.org/top-women-advisors-captains-2022

Established in 2015, the list is created and conducted by the National Association of Plan Advisors and is based on nominations provided by NAPA Broker-Dealer/RIA Firm Partners.  Nominees are women retirement plan advisors with their own book of business. After a rigorous application process and broker-check review, a panel of senior advisor industry experts selects the top women advisors.

Within the group of top women advisors, those who were principals, owners or team captains of their organizations were designated as “Captains.” There were 515 nominations, 258 applications, and from that 50 Captains, 50 All-Stars, and 35 Rising Stars were recognized.

Virginia is a proven leader among retirement plan professionals, and we are fortunate to have her manage the retirement plans for our Pension clients and guide our retirement plan practice at J&D.

The list is created and conducted by the National Association of Plan Advisors, an affiliate organization of the American Retirement Association, a non-profit association.  No fee is charged to participate. The rating is not indicative of the nominee’s future performance.