Staffing Management Association of Southern New England

President's Message

At the Staffing Management Association of Southern New England (SMASONEW.org), we are excited about the opportunities that we have to collaborate with other highly ethical staffing & diversity professionals to enable peak performance in our careers. We see our group as an up & coming organization of individuals who are interested in leading edge education, innovation and networking for the purpose of sharing "best practices." By doing so we are equipped to better develop and support high impact business solutions with our business partners. 

This Chapter was chartered in April of 2005 and since then we have made a great deal of progress.  As of 12/31/09, our membership comprised approximately 30 staffing and diversity professionals across many different industries at varying levels within their organization. 

Over our five years, we’ve hosted many professional development programs in central Connecticut.  

Examples of past speaker topics include: 

• Boost your Bottom Line: Presented by Melissa Marshall, Executive Director of the Connecticut Business Leadership Network (CTBLN) and the Author of Getting It:  Persuading Organizations and Individuals to be Comfortable with People with Disabilities.
• In Search of Leaders:  Presented by David A. O’Brien, Founder and President, WorkChoice Solutions and Author of The Navigator’s Handbook; 101 Leadership Lessons for Work and Life. This program was done in partnership with our sister organization,  HRACC.
• What, Why & How:  What Assessments Can and Cannot Do For You,
• The Multigenerational Workforce:  Working Together and Building Next Generation Talent,
• Planning Communicating and Staffing During an Acquisition:  A Panel discussion by Senior Staffing Professionals that spanned Banking, Financial Services and Healthcare.

The 2010 speaker schedule will have an even greater positive impact on our professional development.

Our objectives this year will be to:

• focus on increased membership, because we believe that the larger and more diverse the membership, the greater the pool of experience to share
• improved marketing and communications to include a more robust website and better advertising of events
• continued excellent programming with a variety of different speakers and topics related to staffing and diversity

If you are a staffing and diversity professional who views learning, not as a task, but as an adventure; then be proactive by joining us for "Dining and Development." In my many years of SHRM involvement, I have come to realize that there are endless opportunities to learn from individuals just like you. I hope you will see the value in being part of this professional organization.   If you’d like to be added to our mailing list, please forward your name and email address to info@emasonew.org.

We look forward to meeting you soon.

Debra J. Erickson
President SMA Southern New England

Officers