Three Take-Home Messages From the 2022 Annual Conference

Thank you to all who attended the CUPA-HR Annual Conference and Expo in person and virtually last week! It was wonderful to welcome new (300+ first-timers!) and familiar faces and to learn about successful projects and initiatives from higher ed peers at institutions across the country. 

For those who weren’t able to attend, here’s some food for thought from our three outstanding keynote speakers:

• Stand-Out Leadership — Opening keynote Sara Ross applied her passion for brain science to a key element of stand-out leadership: accountability. Ross explained that employees would rather have leaders who hold themselves accountable for their actions than perfect leaders. One way HR professionals can be stand-out leaders and hold themselves accountable is by using Ross’s SLOW strategy when responding to critical situations on campus. The SLOW strategy helps us respond in a way that is reflective of the positive impact we want to make in our roles as HR leaders.
  • S – Stop. Intercept your emotional reaction. Our brains are designed to process emotions first and logic second. By pausing and checking in with your emotions before responding to a situation, you prevent adding more fuel to the fire.
  •  L – Language. Check your body language. No really, look in the mirror! Pay attention to how you are presenting yourself. People are honed in on your body language, so you must make sure your body language is aligned with your message.
  • O – Oxygenate. Consciously slow your breathing to push back on your fight-or-flight instincts. Research shows that slowing down for as little as two minutes and deepening your breath can decrease the amount of cortisol in your system by up to 20 percent, which is essential when responding to an already stressful situation.
  • W – Wonder. Step outside your perspective and challenge yourself by thinking from someone else’s perspective. This simple practice helps reset our sensitivity and tap into empathy.
• How to Citizen — Sunday’s keynote speaker, Baratunde Thurston, spoke about how racial injustices during the summer of 2020 motivated him to launch his podcast, “How To Citizen With Baratunde.” He challenged the audience to think about the word “citizen” as a verb rather than a noun. “Citizen” as a noun can carry divisive and exclusive undertones, but as a verb, it gives us something to do to improve our society. According to Thurston, there are four principles that serve as the foundation of how to “citizen.” The four principles are showing up and participating; investing in relationships with yourself and others; understanding power and what we give our power to; and to do all of these things to benefit our collective selves, not just our individual selves. What specific ways can you begin to “citizen” at your institution?
• Reinvent HR — The take-home message from David Ulrich’s energizing talk about reinventing HR is that HR is not about HR, but about creating value for stakeholders inside and outside the organization (students, family, employers, community, alumni) so that our institutions and communities can succeed. Here are five ways HR can lead in this area: 1) Empower the next generation by making sure people feel better about themselves following their interaction with a leader, 2) Shape the future by establishing a compelling vision/mission, 3) Engage today’s talent by living the Es (empathy, emotion, energy, experience), 4) Make things happen by delivering on promises and creating a positive work environment, and 5) Invest in yourself so you can invest in others.

Don’t Forget! Conference attendees can watch the sessions they missed or re-watch their favorites on demand. Recordings of our keynotes and livestreamed concurrent sessions are available for viewing in the desktop conference platform and the app.

Be sure to save the dates for our Spring Conference, April 23-25 in Boston, and our 2023 Annual Conference, taking place October 1-3 in New Orleans! Registration details coming soon.