march newsletter

FROM THE DESK OF LES

les

Introducing...

Benefits

The Benefits Department at Stanford University has many programs for which it is responsible. The department administers Stanford’s health, welfare and retirement programs, which together have an annual budget of $192 million. These require a great deal of regulatory reporting and oversight, as well as having to meet numerous compliance requirements. In addition, there are several other important benefit programs that fall under the Department’s preview. For more information visit http://benefitsu.stanford.edu

The WorkLife Office – http://worklife.stanford.edu/
Helps our employees and students achieve a comfortable balance in their work, personal, and family life. The WorkLife Office does this by offering direct services and developing collaborative partnerships within Stanford and the surrounding community. The services they offer include:

  • Child Care Resource and Referral
  • On-Site Child Care Resources and Information
  • Emergency and Backup Childcare Program
  • Child Care Subsidy Grant (CCSG)
  • Adoption Reimbursement Program
  • Parent Education and Consultation
  • Elder Care and Care giving Support
  • Strategies and Resources for Navigating Work and Life
 

The Stanford Faculty & Staff Help Center (FSHC) – http://stanford.edu/dept/helpcenter/

  • Provides professional, confidential, brief counseling to the faculty and staff of Stanford University, Stanford Hospital, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Menlo Medical Clinic and SLAC. Spouses, domestic partners and children under 23 are also eligible for these services.
  • Offers an extensive range of services: individual, couple, and family counseling; workshops; peer support groups; consultation and training to departments needing assistance with interpersonal issues or job stress.

The Postdoctoral Scholars Benefits Program – http://postdocs.stanford.edu/

This program is administered collaboratively with the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. A separate benefits program is necessary because Postdoctoral Scholars cannot be covered under Stanford’s employee health and welfare plans. A Postdoctoral Scholar is not an employee but a trainee in residence at Stanford University pursuing advanced studies beyond the doctoral level in preparation for an independent career. Postdoctoral Scholars are appointed for a limited period of time and may participate on Stanford research projects and/or may be supported by external awards or fellowships. In all cases, their appointment at Stanford is for the purpose of advanced studies and training under the mentorship of a Stanford faculty member.

 

Preparing for the Next Pandemic – What each of us can do.

birdfluWhen you work for EH&S, you spend a lot of time preparing for things you hope never happen –earthquakes, chemical spills, pandemics. In mid-January, Keith Perry from EH&S spoke to the School of Education about the University’s preparations for the “next” pandemic or outbreak of influenza.

As we all know, there are major worldwide concerns about Influenza A for a number of reasons – high morbidity, high mortality and extremely efficient human-to-human transmission. In addition, there are special concerns for universities because of the possible high mortality among young adults and a very high density of young people living and working together.

What might happen if there was a pandemic at Stanford? It’s possible there would be one or more “pandemic waves” in 8-12 week increments. There would most likely be no vaccine for the first 3-6 months. Many staff would likely be absent. There would be shortages of goods, services and drugs; disruptions in transportation; and of course, illnesses and deaths.

What can we do personally to help?

1.

Understand the routes of transmission – a droplet (sneeze or cough), airborne (sneeze or cough), direct contact, and contaminated objects.

2.

When you’re sick – stay away from work and stay away from others as much as possible. Keep sick children home from school.

3.

If you’re well – stay as far away as possible from people who are sick.

4.

Practice “hand hygiene” and “respiratory etiquette.” As your mother always told you, wash your hands after you cough, sneeze, use the bathroom, touch your eyes, nose or mouth, after you touch dirty tissues or surfaces, before you prepare food or eat.

So, you may say, when am I not washing my hands? Well, that would be when you’re sneezing in your sleeve. For an explanation and to see the video that was part of the presentation, click here.

Please check the EH&S website for more information about the University’s response plan.

Sharys Wheeler
HRM, School of Education


L*E*S*T Help With Difficult Customers

On January 16 and 25, the Benefits and Operations groups got together to discuss “Meeting the Challenge of the Difficult Customer.” To give the group an acronym to remember the steps, I came up with a word that the Benefits team should know – LES(t) – in honor of their fearless leader.

When you’re approached by a challenging customer it might help to:

L – Listen

E – Empathize

S – Solve

T – Thank

Listen – Try to communicate to the customer that you are listening by repeating what you heard and being aware of non-verbal cues. Usually the customer is unhappy with the situation, not with you personally.

Empathize – Let the customer know you are sorry that this situation has happened. Try to not place the blame anywhere. Customers appreciate it when we get back to them in a timely manner.

Solve – Solicit the customer’s ideas on a solution and suggest any alternatives.

Thank – Thank them for bringing this problem to your attention and for being your customer. Take some time to follow up with them the next week to see how things are going.

Sara Sperling
HRM, Employee & Organizational Services

BENEFITS BEAT

wellSave the Date!

The Third Annual Wellness Fair will be here Wednesday, May 9. This year the Benefits Department is partnering with Stanford’s Recreational Fitness and Wellness staff to provide an expanded array of activities, demonstrations, health screenings and information. To accommodate all the vendors and activities, the Wellness Fair will be held in the new Arrillaga Center for Sports & Recreation. Look for more information coming soon.


Robbie DeBastiani
Manager, Benefits Communications

STAFF CAREER FAIR

A 5-Star Review

oseAll of us realize the economy has improved. Once again, this means Stanford faces a smaller qualified applicant pool to fill our job vacancies. In response to this, we asked, “Why not have an on-site job fair?” Next came overwhelming support from the HR community, your management teams and other Stanford employees and volunteers (family and friends) who were instrumental in helping set up the Career Fair and distributing materials.

Thursday, January 25 at 4:00 p.m. There we were, poised for action. Kind of like planning a party and wondering if anyone would come. Well, come they did. Five hundred within the first hour, and by the time the Fair ended at 7 p.m. we counted over 500 more. Within three days of our Career Fair, over 100 participants were interested enough by what you said to submit their resume through our jobs website. In less than one week, interviewing began, offers were extended, and numerous other participants were in the pipeline for interviews. Visit the OSE website for more statistical information.

Our participants enjoyed a very different Career Fair including:

1.

The opportunity to have their resume critiqued (at no cost) by career counselors in the Compass Program as well as T&OD staff

2.

A visit to the match maker booth designed to educate job seekers on positions and organizations that best matched their personal and professional goals

3.

Another booth dedicated to provide general information about Stanford’s unique benefit package, in addition to our traditional health and welfare benefits

These uncommon Career Fair features were aptly summed up by a participant’s comment, “If this is how well you treat individuals who are not employed by Stanford, I can only imagine how well you treat your own employees.”

On behalf of Team OSE, we’d like to thank all of you and your managers for partnering with us for a very successful Career Fair. The event’s success was a result of a truly collaborative effort among a great number of HR staff who volunteered their time, including numerous HRMs, HRAs, and staff from Employee Relations, Training and OD, Benefits and OSE. Special thanks go to the lead coordinators of the Fair – Tom Castillo and Darlyne Esparza, both from OSE.

Agnes Veith
Program Manager, Talent Management, OSE

 

HR BIO

laura

Laura David,
Human Resources Manager, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education 

Born in, “don’t forget the ‘h’ at the end,” Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Laura David was part of a large family that included two brothers and three sisters. An artist at heart, she went on to win several awards at art competitions during her high school years. Although she considered art school, she didn’t feel that she was quite at the level she needed to be to make a living as a professional artist; however she still found ways during her career to infuse that artistic talent into her work.

After high school, Laura visited her aunt and uncle who were stationed with the Navy in Vaihingen, Germany. She ended up staying with them for two years, first working at the Officers Club and then at the ski shop on the base. This later job helped her to develop a love affair with skiing. While living on the base, she also began her freshman year in college with the University of Maryland’s overseas campus.

After moving back to the states, Laura continued her education at Gannon University, majoring in marketing. The school was located in Erie, Pennsylvania – lovingly referred to as the “mistake on the lake.” The great thing about Erie was that there was no shortage of snow, which allowed her to further develop her skiing skills. One can only take so much cold and snow however, which prompted her decision to move to Dallas, Texas two years after college where she would still enjoy skiing, but this time on water instead of snow.

Laura has a great goal, which is to do something different or go somewhere new on each birthday. Trips have included attending the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain for the running of the bulls, taking a multi-sport adventure vacation in Costa Rica, attending trapeze school with her niece, and most recently a long weekend relaxing in Las Vegas. For her fortieth birthday, she decided that she might as well “dive into her forties,” and did so, literally, by skydiving from a plane at 13,000 feet.

Over the course of her career, Laura has held several interesting jobs. Her first job after college was for McDonalds Restaurants, where she was Public Relations & Marketing Manager for several locations and even got to meet the one and only Mr. Ronald McDonald during a Special Olympics event. Another job was with an advertising agency where, as I mentioned earlier, she was able to draw on her artistic talents and help locate an artist who could redesign the distinguished air sick bags for Braniff Airlines. In her most recent position prior to joining Stanford, Laura worked as the HR Manager for the San Francisco Opera and she jokingly states, “There was more drama in the office than there was on stage.” During her time at the opera, Laura met several famous performers many of which could even be heard singing in the elevators. One of them (I’m not allowed to name names) helped her to develop her workers’ compensation skills when he fell on the stage and hurt his leg. As a result of the many black-tie openings she attended, she now owns more long dresses “than can be worn in a lifetime.”

Laura joined Stanford in October of 2005, much to the delight of her current department, and currently holds the position of Human Resources Manager with the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. It’s fitting that after we concluded our interview it was off to, where else but, the snowy ski slopes of northern California!

Sean Bywaters
HRA, Office of the vice Provost for Undergrad Ed