Michigan State University School of Human Resources and Labor Relations’ Post

Knowing how to effectively communicate in the workplace can make or break our individual, team, and organizational success. The good news is that anyone can learn the essential skills to successfully communicate at work. Our "8 Communication Strategies for Workplace Success" program is designed to empower you with practical communication strategies you can start using immediately. By learning these strategies, you will improve the quality of your professional life by building stronger work relationships, enhancing collaboration, resolving conflicts, and reducing stress. This program is open to individuals at all levels who want to transform their own or their team members' communication skills and professional interactions for the better. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eU_mjZfT This is a live program that will meet virtually via Zoom. July 24 & 26, 2024 8:30am - 12:30pm ET

Dr. Tara Behrend will join #APA2024 on Saturday, August 10, 2024, for the expert panel session Cracking the Code: Demystifying AI With Psychological Science. APA 2024 will bring together leaders from psychology and beyond to explore how the discipline is going all in to solve some of society's biggest challenges. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/giVKhGS

Dr. Lima-Aranzaes has successfully defended her dissertation on organizing efforts among Amazon workers in the US South and will be joining the faculty at the School of Labor and Employment Relations at Penn State. Her research primarily focuses on collective action, collective voice, leadership, social networks, solidarity, intersectionality, and workers' well-being throughout the different stages of the unionization process and collective bargaining. Recently, her work has examined unionization efforts among Amazon workers in the US South, exploring how these dynamics contribute to establishing a collective voice. Dr. Lima-Aranzaes employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies to offer a comprehensive analysis of these complex dynamics.

HRLR faculty and staff Dreux Baker, Michelle Kaminski, and Maggie Chen Hernandez recently conducted a three-day certificate program on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Manufacturing Environment for UAW-Ford Joint Trusts. Participants were 50 members of joint DEI committees at various Ford facilities around the country.

School of HRLR Professor Emeritus Profile: Dr. Michael J. Polzin Dr. Michael Polzin began working with the School of Labor and Industrial Relations in 1994 to coordinate the Program on Innovative Employment Relations Systems (PIERS), created to foster constructive joint union-management initiatives. With colleagues, he helped develop a model of practice that incorporated elements of continuous quality improvement, principled negotiations, and group facilitation skills, which was applied to multiple public and private sector organizations as well as departments within MSU. Polzin also taught in the Labor Education Program, the master’s program (Training and Development), and other credit and non-credit courses using a highly interactive and participatory approach. He was an early adopter of teaching online (before ZOOM) and co-developed and still co-facilitates a multi-day professional development curriculum for workforce development practitioners. In 2008, he served as a visiting professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea, as a Fulbright Scholar. Polzin’s career path was deeply influenced by his participation in a 15-month-long revisioning process while a student at Aquinas College (BA in Psychology, 1970). This experience impressed upon him the importance of self-determination, which ultimately shaped his career in Adult Education. His work with special needs adults, as a community organizer, as an adult high school teacher, and as a graduate assistant and master’s student at Temple University, all underscored the importance of work and employment in fostering self-efficacy and control over one’s life. While completing his doctorate in Adult Education at Temple University (1991), Dr. Polzin worked with the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, District 1199C, a Philadelphia-based consulting firm that created worker-owned and controlled businesses, Michigan’s Governor’s Office for Job Training, and a Flint-based workforce development program. These experiences further enriched his focus on work and workplace issues, which he applied throughout his career at SLIR/SHRLR. Since retiring from MSU in 2012, Polzin has remained active as a researcher/evaluator of workforce development initiatives. He enjoys traveling with his wife, spending time with family and friends, and enjoying all things outdoors. #lifelongnetwork #HRLRProfessorEmeritus

Congratulations and have a great summer, Kayla! #lifelongnetwork #teamHRLR

Peter Berg joins the conversation to talk about the UAW’s recent victory in unionizing a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee and its implications moving forward. Berg is a professor of employment relations and director of the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at MSU. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/eKUDjbKY