Birth of The Tomah HR Group

 

After a recent meeting of the Tomah HR Group that included a rousing roundtable discussion, Alex, the student intern that was shadowing me for the day made this comment, “I had no idea that HR groups like this existed. It’s kinda neat.”    What Alex witnessed, a group of about 30 HR professionals throwing out questions, sharing strategies, comparing notes, tackling tough topics, was the result of the vision of several people and much hard work. 

 

By 2006, Marina Abbott, the Manpower Area Manager –Tomah & Stevens Point had been a member of the SHRM group in La Crosse for some time. During her travels for work, Marina encountered many people who inquired about the existence of a local HR group.  She began the quest of forming a SHRM group that could provide networking opportunities for her HR contacts as well as other HR staff in the Tomah area.  In late 2006 Marina teamed up with Deb Schafer, HR Director for F & M Bank in Tomah and the two began contacting local people.  Marina recalls, “We just started telling everyone we saw or spoke to about our group.”  In December of 2006 a handful of people held the first official meeting of the Tomah Area HR Organization in the F & M basement meeting room.

 

Every month people from Black River Falls, Sparta, La Farge, Viroqua, Elroy and Necedah join those from the Tomah and Warrens area to network and learn together. Members are encouraged to join the national SHRM organization and to spread the word about our local group to anyone interested. The addition of a Planning Committee in 2008, headed up by Bonnie Reekie from Usemco, has resulted in a schedule of speakers and topics being sent out three to six months in advance. Members are always welcome to suggest speakers or topics for the round table discussions.

 

One of the unheralded benefits of the group is the e-mail networking that takes place behind the scenes. When a group member has an HR question, it is sent group-wide, resulting in a wide range of skilled HR personnel providing feedback.

 

That original handful of people has grown to a group of 44 who are on the verge of becoming a full-fledged SHRM group. As Alex put it, “It’s kinda neat!”

 

Cindy J. Puent, SPHR
Burnstad Bros., Inc.
608-372-5355, x228