The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the most current challenges facing human resources in the financial services industry. One of the highlights of the meeting was the opportunity to address specific issues of concern in an open roundtable environment.

The program began on Wednesday, May 21, with a luncheon and welcoming by Ben Rosen, Hanes Professor of Management and the Faculty Director of the AFSA Management Development Program. Professor Rosen has been appointed the new management area chair effective July 1. He noted that this year marks the 20th year of the AFSA Management Development Program and the association's affiliation with the Kenan-Flagler Business School. Professor Rosen also informed the group of two new industry-specific case studies that have been developed and will be used for the first time in this July's AFSA program. For more information go to www.afsaef.org.

Following lunch, the AFSA HR Forum continued with a program on "Valuing the Products of Human Resources" that was highly rated by attendees. Instructed by Dan Cable, Associate Professor of Management, Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the interactive program focused on "valuing human resources as a customer-driven function" within an organization. Attendees learned about the concept of treating the human resources function as an outsource solution for employees, and discussed human resources activities as products that are offered to solve business problems. They also learned how to use a quantitative survey approach to analyzing time and resources spent on products by human resources professionals within the organization.

View a copy of the slide presentation.

The HR Forum continued on Thursday morning, May 22, with an update on the Education Foundation's MoneySkill® curriculum led by Susie Irvine, president & CEO of AFSA Education Foundation. Several of the HR executives requested information on getting their area high school's involved when the beta testing has been completed. The MoneySkill® curriculum can also be used to train new employees on personal financial management.

The HR Committee meeting continued with Roundtable discussions on topics that included: current AFSA initiatives, update on preliminary plans for the AFSA Annual Meeting in October, discussion on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its impact on branch operations, discussion on what companies are doing to deal with benefit cost increases and program changes, the value of annual employee surveys, and policies involving pre-employment testing and background checks. Also, a preview of AFSA's new Web site and the plans for a "Careers in the Finance Industry" section was discussed. A task force to develop this site was appointed by Committee Chairman, Steve Blake.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.