April 2021 President's Message

Greetings AVHRA Members!

Hope is in the air; spring is almost here! I write this President’s Message from my make-shift office in my bedroom in Ellensburg. It feels cliché to write this, but who could have predicted this? Is there a word that describes what has been required of us, as HR practitioners, during COVID? Courage. I have a sign in my office:

"Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says
I'll try again tomorrow."
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Isn't that the truth? I wonder if you've ever felt you couldn't do enough? Or wished you could do more? Or have a day when nothing goes right and your best attempts to serve your employees still result in them feeling mad, frustrated or just plain sad. Certainly some days I roar. But many more days, I go to bed knowing I will try again tomorrow.

As you navigate the future, I encourage you to take some time to explore the SHRM website. I searched for courage and found a ton of information! There are books, articles, interviews…lots of different sources to get you thinking about how you can personally exhibit and promote courage in your workplace. Brené Brown, who I was lucky enough to hear speak at the 2019 SHRM national conference in Las Vegas, encourages us, as leaders, to “choose courage over comfort all day long.” Courage is needed in big and small ways as we lead our employees back to the workplace and back to a different kind of normal. Apple Valley HR Association (AVHRA) is here to help!

If you have suggestions about how we can better serve you, please don’t hesitate to contact me (staci@cwu.edu) , or one of our other board members, directly.

Staci Sleigh-Layman, SHRM-SCP, SPHR
President, AVHRA