Strengthen strategic thinking, boost HR skills

Human resources professionals should think more strategically, says Kim Morris Lee.

They should ask questions like: how do I get the right talent in place at the right time? How do I get people to understand that the university is a good place to build a career?

Human resources professionals can improve these skills and more at the UIC HR Academy Nov. 7 at Student Center East. The daylong event is open to all human resource professionals at UIC and other Illinois public higher education institutions. Registration deadline is Oct. 23.

“The goal is to provide HR professionals in higher education an opportunity to look at the profession and their specific role from a more strategic perspective,” said Morris Lee, director of organizational effectiveness in UIC Human Resources.

Response from the first HR Academy, held last year, was overwhelmingly positive, Morris Lee said.

“Last year’s event was phenomenal,” Morris Lee said. “Every individual I talked with said they learned a lot.”

This year’s HR Academy offers learning tracks with sessions in two categories: human resources operations and human capital strategy. Topics include strategic planning, civil service hiring, diversity and organizational challenges.

“We’re hoping people will walk away with a better understanding of actions they can take as human resource professionals to move UIC, or any university, forward,” Morris Lee said.