MSU School of Human Resources & Labor Relations

Labor Day commemorates the creation of the labor movement and the social and economic advancement of workers.

The Labor Day holiday was first observed on September 5th, 1882. It celebrates the sacrifice and hard-won achievements of the men and women of the labor movement.

On behalf of the School of Human Resources & Labor Relations, we wish everyone a safe and happy Labor Day.

MHRLR Summer 2024 Internships!
Cedric Evans Jr. with Chevron
Alexandra Mison with Honeywell

Close Up Radio Spotlights Educator and Author William Cooke

Unabated and unforgiving global competition continues to take its toll on companies and their employees—forcing organizations to rethink their workplace strategies to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Professor and author William Cooke wants to help companies and their unions build partnerships that optimize long term success for both their organizations and employees. With over 40 years of experience as an educator, consulting with more than 35 different organizations, Professor Cooke recently co-published Negotiating High Performance-Focused Partnerships: The Five Stages of Effective Labor Management Negotiations.

Listen to the interview:

Close Up Radio Spotlights Educator and Author William N. Cooke Williamston, MI - Unabated and unforgiving global competition continues to take its toll on companies and their employees—forcing organizations to rethink their workplace strategies to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Professor and author William Cooke wants to help companies and the...

MHRLR Summer 2024 Internships!
Jasmine Misovski with International Paper
Hannah Demers with GE Aerospace

We are lighting a Diversity Torch for MSU School of Human Resources & Labor Relations PhD student Dasom Jang, whose research focuses on employee well-being and gendered culture in the work place.

The full story: http://spr.ly/6186lN3Be

This coming Monday, August 26th is Women's Equality Day! Read our stories of how our Social Scientists are honoring this day everyday.

http://spr.ly/6180lIDow

MSU Department of Anthropology MSU School of Human Resources & Labor Relations MSU Center for Integrative Studies

Michigan State University's Future of Work Initiative Summer Research Incubator 2024

School of HRLR Associate Professor Michelle Kaminski will join the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. EST to discuss bullying and abusive supervision, the impact on mental health, and what can be done to help. https://bit.ly/4dw3ROR

JOIN US THIS WEEK! Our Mental Health in the Workplace webinar will feature guest speaker Dr. Michelle Kaminski of Michigan State University, who will discuss bullying and abusive supervision, the impact on mental health, and what can be done to help. https://bit.ly/4dw3ROR

Welcome to our Fall 2024 Master of HRLR students! We are so happy to have you as part of Team HRLR.

MHRLR Summer 2024 Internships!
Emma Sidor w/ Dell Technologies
Riley Corcoran w/ Rocket Companies

MHRLR Internships Summer 2024!
Allie Petherbridge with Intel Corporation and Aylin Sevimli with PepsiCo.

MHRLR Summer Internships
Kayla Leatch with Eaton Corporation and Isabel Rang with Dawn Foods!

STEWARDS AND ACTIVISTS TRAINING
Are you a new steward or someone who wants to be a steward someday? Or do you just want to learn more about how unions work? This three-session training is for you. You'll learn about the grassroots level of union representation and about the labor movement overall. The program begins September 4, 2024. Learn more: https://hrlr.msu.edu/labored/certificate-programs.html

MSU School of Human Resources & Labor Relations Learn more about one of the premier schools in the nation for HR and Labor Relations: hrlr.msu.edu

MHRLR Internships Summer 2024!
Cathryn McGowan with PepsiCo and Madi Anderson with Honeywell

SHRLR Professor and SIOP Past President Tara Behrend will be speaking in two main stage events: a Science Summit Symposium titled The Science of Human-Technology Interaction, and a Main Stage Headline Event titled Cracking the Code: Demystifying AI with Psychological Science.

While AI poses challenges, from ethical concerns like equity, manipulation, and harm, to the need for responsible development and application, this "super-disruptive technology" also offers hope for meeting unprecedented need and increasing impact and efficacy.

Learn more at APA 2024: https://convention.apa.org/agenda/main-stage

Negotiating High Performance-Focused Partnerships: The Five Stages of Effective Labor Management Negotiations by William N. Cooke, John D. Butler, and Thomas D. Posey. https://titles.cognella.com/negotiating-high-performance-focused-partnerships-9798823356909

This textbook guides readers through five key stages of contract negotiations, aiming to align human resources and negotiation strategies with broader business objectives to optimize workplace performance and institutional competitiveness.

The book details the processes and dynamics of negotiations, emphasizing strategy development, meticulous planning and preparation, opening discussions, the core bargaining phase, and the crucial final stages of achieving agreements. Readers learn about building authentic union-management partnerships, interest-based bargaining for mutually beneficial outcomes, and pragmatic handling of economic packages. These topics are presented within the broader framework of promoting effective, high performance–focused workplace operations.

Negotiating High Performance-Focused Partnerships serves as a vital tool for those directly or indirectly involved in organizational collective bargaining and negotiations.

"This book is required reading for private sector labor relations professionals – it's a blueprint for conducting negotiations. I have never seen a book written about labor-management negotiations that blends organizational development theories with the practical real-life examples all woven together. It’s the collaboration of academic and business knowledge that makes this book really unique and the amount of practical information that can be immediately useful is outstanding." - Marty Mulloy, President, Mulloy Consulting LLC and Retired V.P., Labor Affairs, Ford Motor Company

"Cooke, Butler, and Posey have written an important book, unlike any other, on the nuances and dynamics of collective bargaining. Their extensive real-life experiences in negotiating contracts, consulting, and training of thousands of management and union negotiators are evident in each chapter as they carefully guide us through their 5 stages of effective labor-management negotiations. An excellent read, I highly recommend this book as essential reading to anyone engaging in union-management negotiations." - Jim Pruitt, President, Labor & Employment Relations Association, 2024-2025

Congratulations Uriel!

Congratulations to our MSU School of Human Resources & Labor Relations graduate student Uriel Saldivar on recently being awarded our Graduate Student Teaching Award.

The full story: http://spr.ly/61835C6ix

Summer 2024 HRLR Internship Stories: Vy Nguyen

This summer, I am working as an HR intern at Hurley Medical Center, a hospital located in Flint, Michigan. My internship is on-site, allowing me to immerse myself in the dynamic environment of the hospital's HR department. I have been involved in a variety of projects that cover different aspects of human resources, providing me with a comprehensive understanding of the field. Some of the key projects I have worked on include conducting employment verifications, being involved in the onboarding process for new hires, and assisting with recruitment efforts, particularly by contacting colleges to recruit recent radiology graduates for positions such as MRI, CT Tech, and Diagnostic Radiology.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my internship has been engaging in the onboarding process from an HR perspective. It is gratifying to see incoming employees excited to start their new roles and to know that I have played a part in making their transition smooth and welcoming. Additionally, I have been involved in credential audits, pulling licensures, and processing data into Oracle, which has helped me develop practical skills essential for a career in HR. Making return-to-work reminder calls for employees on FMLA has been an eye-opening experience, highlighting the importance of compliance with employment laws and the supportive role HR plays in an organization. I have also gained insights into labor relations and unions, and sitting in on exit interviews, which has provided me with valuable insights into employee feedback and the reasons behind staff turnover. Last week, a recruiter guided me through the steps on how to post a job on Indeed. My upcoming task in the next week or so will be job postings.

This internship means a lot to me as it not only enhances my knowledge and skills but also provides a real-world context to the theoretical concepts, I have learned in my HRLR courses. Being part of Hurley Medical Center's HR team has allowed me to understand the critical role HR plays in maintaining the efficiency and well-being of a large organization. The supportive environment and diverse projects have significantly contributed to my professional growth, and I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from such a wonderful team. This experience has solidified my interest in pursuing a career in human resources, and I look forward to applying what I have learned in my future endeavors.

Value of an MSU degree reflected in Money magazine rating In its 2024 rating of Best Colleges, Money magazine gave Michigan State University 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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://hrlr.msu.edu/prodev/programs/8-communication-strategies-for-workplace-success/index.html

This is a live program that will meet virtually via Zoom.
July 24 & 26, 2024
8:30am - 12:30pm ET

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July Events Round-up If you and your family are looking for activities in the upcoming month, you’ve come to the right place. July holds many virtual and in-person opportunities in the Greater Lansing area for you to c…

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.

Congratulations, Carla!

On this day in 1929, Beaumont Tower, one of our most loved campus icons, was dedicated.

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.

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We wish you all a great summer!💚
https://hrlr.msu.edu/degrees/mhrlr/index.html