management
PMPA Welcomes Melanie Webber to This Year’s Update Conference
Last week, David and Bill attended the PMPA Update Conference in Atlanta. Among this year’s many informative speakers was Melanie Webber of Fisher Phillips, an Atlanta based law firm representing employers exclusively in the areas of labor, employment, civil rights, employee benefits, and immigration law. As one the largest firms in the US, Fisher Phillps LLP has 33 offices nationwide with more than 400 attorneys.
Melanie Webber is a partner in the firm’s Cleveland office and serves as chair for the firm’s Women’s Initiative and Leadership Council. She represents and advises clients in all aspects of employment law, including harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and leave-related complaints.
Over her career, she has represented employers on traditional labor issues—such as union organizing campaigns, unfair labor practice charges and labor arbitrations
Melanie’s talk was entitled “Hiring Employees You Won’t Want to Fire,” a discussion which centered on the hiring process. Before joining Fisher Phillips, Melanie worked in Human Resource management with two Ohio manufacturing companies.
Melanie focused the conversation on how managers can develop positive, proactive employee relations programs and seek out the strong candidates who will remain as assets to the business for years to come. Throughout the discussion, Melanie provided valuable insight regarding potential human resource issues throughout the life cycle of employment.
Bricks 4 Biz: Team Building with LEGOs at the PMPA Update Conference
Last week at the Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) Update Conference in Atlanta, David and Bill had an opportunity to attend seminars, panels, and workshops relating to the machining industry; they also participated in a fun and memorable team building collaboration with other attendees, hosted by Bricks 4 Biz.
Bricks 4 Biz® is an innovative company which utilizes LEGO® to provide fun, interactive and productive team building experiences to businesses of all sizes. The company’s team oriented activities utilize LEGO® Bricks to encourage participants to overcome obstacles and challenges. Participation in the program is proven to improve communication, boost morale and develop trust and respect among a group – a powerful asset for any business to harness!
In this case, the exercise involved small teams, divided into Senior Management, Middle Management, and Workers. The focus was learning to communicate in a precise manner in order to collaborate and build a prototype without relying on drawings or other non-verbal communication.
The ABF team had a great time laughing and sharing their struggles with other PMPA members. The end result was…interesting!
Overall, the entire conference was engaging and informative. To see more of the event, check out our second post.
