From the Great Resignation to the Great Reconfiguration

Spring 2022 Symposium: Connecting Research and Practice
Friday, June 3, 2022
9 AM - 3:30 PM Pacific Time
Virtual via WebEx - Full recordings now available below
Sponsored by the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences and the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center.
Course Description
The pandemic has coupled with other workplace and economic challenges to create what is frequently referred to as “The Great Resignation” or “The Big Quit.” This trend has been illustrated particularly in the United States, as employees voluntarily resign from jobs en masse, beginning in early 2021. This full day symposium will first identify the key drivers of the challenges experienced by many employers to attract and retain qualified employees to fill job openings. Most of the day will be spent focusing on successful strategies organizations can do to recruit and retain employees, and address the significant well-being challenges felt by many American workers.
Download flier.
Proposed Agenda
David Hurtado, Sc.D.
Assistant Professor, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences
Assistant Professor, OHSU-PSU School of Public Health
The Great Resignation: Challenges, opportunities, and implications for employees and organizations

Description
Covid-19 pandemic and the following Great Resignation upended organizations everywhere, including in Oregon. In this talk, I will discuss factors leading employees to leave their jobs in large numbers, the resulting pressures and major challenges facing organizations and employees left behind, and the opportunities arising from this experience to reshape the future of work.
Biography
Berrin Erdogan is Professor of Management at Portland State University's School of Business. Her research focuses on employer-employee relationship as it relates to employee well-being, effectiveness, engagement, and retention in the workplace. She conducted studies and partnered with organizations in industries including food services, education, technology, public sector, retail, hospitality, insurance and banking. She is a fellow of Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and Association for Psychological Sciences (APS).
Reconfiguring Human Resource Strategies for Success in a Changing World
Julia Getchell, Ph.D.
Director of Human Resources
Washington State University, Vancouver

Description
In this talk, Dr. Getchell will share strategies for recruiting, retaining, and supporting a diverse workforce in the evolving world of work.
Biography
Dr. Julia Getchell’s extensive experience in all areas of Human Resources including human resources administration, employee relations, labor relations, classification/compensation, recruitment/selection, training/develop, benefits/wellness, EEO and harassment investigations, workforce planning, risk management, and human resources program administration. Dr. Getchell is an expert in public sector labor and employee relations in the higher education and local government contexts.
A Labor-Management Organization’s Approach to Total Worker Health®
Emily Smith, Health Promotion Manager
Laborers' Health and Safety Fund of North America

Description
The LHSFNA is uniquely positioned to address both employer and workforce health and well-being needs. In this talk, the benefit of unions will be discussed, particularly in the context of issues uncovered over the past two years, including COVID-19 and social determinants of health. Labor-management topics will be discussed and total worker health opportunities and solutions will be shared.
Biography
Emily Smith is the Health Promotion Manager at the Laborers’ Health & Safety Fund of North America (LHSFNA), located in Washington, DC. The LHSFNA is a joint labor-management non-profit trust fund associated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) which represents 500,000 members, primarily construction workers, in the United States and Canada. Emily addresses the health promotion and disease prevention needs of LIUNA members and signatory contractors. She takes a holistic well-being approach and draws upon public health theory and evidence-based strategies for behavior change programs that further the Fund’s initiatives. This includes addressing topics pertaining to tobacco cessation, weight management, nutrition and stress management, among other health and lifestyle issues that affect Laborers and their families.
Applying a Total Worker Health® Framework to Retention Strategies
Maureen Weber, Labor Relations Manager, Peace Health
Facilitator: Nichole Guilfoy, Research Project Manager, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences & Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, OHSU
(No handout)

Description
In this dialogue, we will explore the opportunities and challenges for applying the Total Worker Health® framework to resolve complex labor and employee relations issues. This discussion will will also address questions generated during the morning session.
Biography
Maureen Weber is a seasoned labor and employee relations professional with proven success in resolving complex performance and behavioral issues, reducing the occurrence of grievances through early collaboration, alignment of key stakeholders, and relationship building. Her experience in both public and private sectors includes mediation, arbitration, and negotiation of initial, successor and interim labor agreements as well as impact bargaining. Ms. Weber is known for quick, fair, and well-researched resolutions to complex labor and employee concerns using her strong background in policy development and implementation.
Job Flexibility and Other Traits of Healthy Workplaces
Cristina Banks, Ph.D., Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces at the University of California, Berkeley

Description: Flexibility and other factors linked to basic human needs help to stem quits, can attract more talent and lead to organizational competitive advantage. Key to bringing people back and retaining them is to provide a work environment that is better than the one they left when the pandemic hit and one that satisfies needs that people couldn't address through remote work. Dr. Banks will discuss important changes, including some that will not be difficult to implement, which can have a significant impact on people's decision to go or stay with an organization.
Cristina Banks is Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces at the University of California, Berkeley, where she leads an interdisciplinary team of scholars and practitioners in innovative research projects and in the distribution of state of the art information for creating healthy workplaces. Founded in 2012, the Center was designed to integrate known science across a diverse range of disciplines with the purpose of developing a holistic understanding of the structure and function of healthy workplaces. She is also a Senior Lecturer at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, where she has taught courses in management, organizational behavior and leadership to graduate and undergraduate students for 35 years. She is a nationally recognized expert in management practices and human resource management. Her publications cover the topics of leadership, performance management, organizational strategy, employment law compliance, and employee health & well-being. Dr. Banks earned her doctorate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology in 1979, and is an elected Fellow of the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology and of the American Psychological Association.
Case Studies and Take-Aways from Practice
Facilitators:
Dede Montgomery, MS, CIH & Nichole Guilfoy, BS
Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, OHSU, Oregon Healthy Workforce Center
Outreach and Education
Presenters:
All Industries
Liz Hill, MPH, CIH, CSP, Total Worker Health Advisor, SAIF, Salem OR
Liz Hill, CIH, CSP, MPH, is the Total Worker Health Adviser for SAIF Corporation. Liz has more
than 20 years of experience in professional health and safety with a short stint in international
health work. Prior to joining SAIF, Liz worked in a variety of industries from oil and gas to
higher education. Liz has B.S. in industrial hygiene from Utah State University and a master’s
in public health from Oregon State University. She holds the designation of Certified Industrial
Hygienist and Certified Safety Professional. Liz is currently serving on the American Industrial
Hygiene Association’s Safety Committee as an officer and on Total Worker Health Task Force
and Leading Health Metrics teams.
Employee Assistant Programs, All Industries
Anna Meiners, MA, Vice President, VP of Customer Success at Canopy, Portland OR
Anna holds a MA in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis on Organizational Behavior. Anna leads the Account Management team, focused on customer relations, flexible and innovative solutions for all areas of EAP and Wellness Program development. Anna has provided direct clinical services, served as an EAP consultant and is an experienced presenter on the topic of mental health integration into the workplace.
Construction
Joaquin Diaz, MM, CIH, CSP, CHST, OHST, Environmental Health & Safety Director, Skanska USA Building Inc.
Mr. Diaz has over 23 years of occupational safety and health management experience. He is currently the Environmental, Health, and Safety Director for Skanska USA Building – Portland Office. He has overseen the development and implementation of Health, Safety, and Environmental Management Systems for other contractors. Joaquin is responsible for the professional development, mentoring, and training of Safety Professionals in and out of his organization. Joaquin’s work experience includes 18 years in a leadership position for three top 150 ENR contractors. He served honorably in the United States Marine Corps. He has two bachelor’s degrees from different universities and a masters in management, and is currently enrolled in a doctorate of public health program. Joaquin is the Past President of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals, past chair of the Hoisting Machine Operators Advisory Board, past president of the Hawaii ASSE chapter, past president of the Hawaii AIHA chapter, and active member of the national AGC Safety and Health committees partnering with OSHA, NIOSH, US Army Corps of Engineers, and Navy Facilities on initiatives and standards affecting the country.
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM Q&A and Recap,
Registration and Continuing Education
The registration fee for this event is $20. Register online. This event will be offered through WebEx. Connection instructions will be sent to all attendees after registering.
Certificates of completion can be made upon request following completion of the event. Information about how to request will be provided.
SHRM Credits: We will be offering Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for this event. Oregon Healthy Workforce Center is recognized by SHRM to offer PDCs for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. This program is valid for 5.25 PDCs. For more information about this event's PDCs and to obtain your certificate with Activity ID post-event, please contact us at schucker@ohsu.edu. To learn more about SHRM recertification, visit www.shrmcertification.org. A program code will be provided at the end of the webcast. The program also meets recertification credit standards set by the HR Certification Institute and other HR certifying bodies, but candidates must manually enter their activity into their records.
