Chapter of the Year
2025 Chapter of the Year -- Submissions are now being accepted
We are now accepting submissions for the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Year. Entries are accepted through August 4th. The winning Chapter will be announced at the State Conference in September.
Submit your Entry
We are now accepting submissions for the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Year. Entries are accepted through August 4th. The winning Chapter will be announced at the State Conference in September.
Submit your Entry
PREVIOUS WINNERS
York SHRM had a growth spurt over the past year. They utilized the SHRM members At-Large eblast to reach out to non-chapter members and invited them to special events to include an HR Recognition event another networking/membership drive Carnival in June 2024. The event was a success with about 80 attendees and 43 of those registered were non-York SHRM members! York also takes giving back to their membership seriously. They hold an HR Recognition event that recognizes nominees on their successes as a Department of One or a Team recognition.
York SHRM had held a certification course for those seeking their HRCI or SHRM certifications each year. For the past two years, they didn’t have enough attendees to hold themselves and pay an instructor, so they partnered with Lancaster SHRM and sent their members to study with the Lancaster group. York SHRM began offering an Ethics program each year in December for it’s members in order to help their HRCI certified members the ability to meet the Ethics requirement for recertification each year.
York SHRM also had multiple Board and regular members attend every one of the PA SHRM State Council conferences over the past year. They also boast over five SHRM A-Team members in their membership.
York SHRM previously won this award in 2013 and has submitted a nomination numerous other times. Their tenacity has paid off again in 2024.
Lancaster SHRM (2023)
Lancaster SHRM takes its relationship with the PA State Council seriously by attending every State Council meeting over the past year and has also had at least one member at each of the three conferences that PA State Council provides. They have also had members who attended the SHRM Annual Conference and Leadership Conference. This chapter also boasts all 7 CLA positions on their board. They have 8 members who are part of the SHRM A-Team. They utilize social media for their membership recruitment by optimizing content “shares” such as event photos, member spotlights and sponsor spotlights. They partner with local leaders and organizations through MOU agreements for cross-promotional marketing. This chapter also offers a continuous and limitless referral program to their members earning a free breakfast meeting program.
Lancaster SHRM also utilizes a fun and interactive campaign “Spin with Tim: The Journey to Mega Chapter” (cycling spin program) to grow from a 450-member chapter to 501 to become a Mega Chapter. This chapter also offers six (bi-monthly) virtual new member orientations to welcome new members. After orientation, new members receive a voucher to attend one event for free. They offer 9 in-person professional development programs each year that provide at least 1 recertification credit for each program. They also offer two full-day conferences for their members in the spring and fall. Their Government Affairs Committee developed two fee resource programs, B.Y.O. Lunch & Learn and HR:101 which are offered 4 times per year.
Lancaster SHRM also opened up its certification classes to other nearby chapters.
Lancaster SHRM has been nominated six times and now, have won for their 4 th time! We saw a pattern since 2017 where they have won every two years. Just goes to show that persistence pays off!
Pittsburgh Human Resources Association (2022)
Pittsburgh Human Resources Association provided 93% of its programming in 2021 with recertification credits. They have provided over 75 Educational Opportunities to its members, and presently have six chapter members who are active SHRM A-Team members. In 2021, they launched a new member engagement platform called Lattus. This program is an online mentoring platform that fosters member engagement, accelerates personal and professional development of their members, and generates purpose-driven conversations and mentoring relationships among their membership.
This chapter regularly surveys their members to help identify what their members want/need. This past year they chose their retention strategies. During this “uncovering” they saw two consistent themes, 1) requests for an updated website and 2) more HR and business acumen resources for members. They are continuing to invest in a complete website overhaul. They are working together to create a mobile-friendly, user-friendly, modern website that provides easy access to all of their information, resources, and events.
This chapter also provides a SHRM Certification Prep Class each year that provides a scholarship folks may apply.
NEPA SHRM (2021)
During 2020, NEPA SHRM had six out of the seven CLA positions represented on their Board. Their Chapter attended all of the PA SHRM State Council meetings throughout the 2020 nominating year. NEPA SHRM also boasts two members who are a part of the SHRM "A-Team", which engages in meaningful relationships with their legislators throughout the state and nation. Their Membership Committee works year-round using various methods to recruit new members to their Chapter. They utilize the SHRM e-blasts available to each chapter to outreach to the members at large in their region and also utilize LinkedIn, postal mail and phone calls to reach potential members.
NEPA SHRM also partners with and joins their Chamber of Commerce, asking them to advertise membership through their newsletters, flyers, etc. In 202, NEPA SHRM grew their membership by 57%, from 205 to 322 members! 100% of their programming in 2020 provided SHRM recertification credits to attending members, as well as 30% contributing to HRCI for whose who are PHR certified. NEPA SHRM also regularly communicated and highlighted PA SHRM events throughout the year, encouring their members to participate in conferences and other activities hosted by PA SHRM, and some in conjunction with SHRM.
Pittsburgh Human Resources Association (2020)
Pittsburgh Human Resources Association (PHRA) does a phenomenal job of providing programming at least twice a month for their experienced HR professionals and their young HR professionals. PHRA provided an HR Department of One Course for its members. This past year they boasted 33 new certified members (88% SHRM and 78% HRCI) and offered a virtual SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP preparation class. They provide a monthly “Meet the BOD” meeting for new members. Their membership increased by 9% in 2019. They provide Member Opinion Surveys that help guide them in their membership retention initiatives. They have 19 members who are part of the SHRM A-Team. This Chapter ensures that its members know their board members during their webinars and communicate that their board is always interested in hearing from its members. Congratulations PHRA on a successful year!
Lancaster SHRM (2019)
SEPA SHRM (2018)
Southeastern Pennsylvania Society for Human Resource Management (SEPA SHRM) serves the needs of human resource professionals who live or work in the Greater Delaware Valley, including Northeast Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery Counties. SEPA SHRM has about 450 members, representing more than 200 organizations. SEPA is an active chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), an international organization with more than 200,000 members. You can find them online at www.sepashrm.org.
Lancaster SHRM (2017)
So often programming is geared towards strategies to assist HR professionals in getting a seat at the “Executive Table." This chapter decided to reverse their approach and build support for their members by bringing decision-makers and stakeholders to the “HR Table” instead. To engage both HR Professionals and company stakeholders and decision-makers, the Workforce Development Committee offered a breakfast program during July 2017 entitled “Cultural Changes in the Workplace,” providing their chapter members with a platform and skills to impact, contribute to and drive the overall strategy and direction of their organizations. A panel of CEOs presented experiences on the why’s and how’s of building culture and why culture matters to every generation. CEOs and higher level executives attended the program with their chapter members. Through collaboration, they increased the perceived value of their chapter members within the businesses where they work.
Lancaster SHRM holds three to four social mixers a year at various fun, unique venues throughout Lancaster County so their members have an opportunity to socialize and network with one another outside their more formal programming format. Each year they select a member to receive their “HR Person of the Year” award. They also recognize other nominees at the ceremony and also notify the award recipient’s company of the award to extend the recognition to their place of work.
Lastly, from February through April, Lancaster SHRM facilitates a structured study group for members to prepare for the HRCI and SHRNM certification examinations. This educational opportunity is free to members. There are 10 sessions (one each week). The sessions are facilitated by long-standing, tenured LSHRM members. Their pass rate for attendees who take the certification exams has generally been higher than the National average each year they have offered the program. If an attendee passes the exam, he/she will be reimbursed up to $100 toward the cost of the study guide AND 75% of the exam fee, if their company did not cover the costs.
Lancaster SHRM holds three to four social mixers a year at various fun, unique venues throughout Lancaster County so their members have an opportunity to socialize and network with one another outside their more formal programming format. Each year they select a member to receive their “HR Person of the Year” award. They also recognize other nominees at the ceremony and also notify the award recipient’s company of the award to extend the recognition to their place of work.
Lastly, from February through April, Lancaster SHRM facilitates a structured study group for members to prepare for the HRCI and SHRNM certification examinations. This educational opportunity is free to members. There are 10 sessions (one each week). The sessions are facilitated by long-standing, tenured LSHRM members. Their pass rate for attendees who take the certification exams has generally been higher than the National average each year they have offered the program. If an attendee passes the exam, he/she will be reimbursed up to $100 toward the cost of the study guide AND 75% of the exam fee, if their company did not cover the costs.
Chester County Human Resources Association (2016)
Each year, when fiscally possible, the Chester County Human Resources Association (CCHRA) offers two scholarships to its members, one $1,000 scholarship for undergraduate studies and another $1,000 scholarship for graduate studies. CCHRA offers a discounted membership (1/3rd off) to both non-renewals and new members. This allows HR professionals who may be new to the area or who have just recently discovered CCHRA in the last half of their chapter year (January/February), to become members mid-year at a reduced cost. Chester County uses a two-step process where they call previous members who had not signed up for the new program year to remind them of the benefits of doing so and mail them the upcoming meeting schedule with the topics and presenters listed. CCHRA then reaches out to new members after they had attended a few meetings to get their feedback. Board members may invite an interested prospect to a monthly meeting free of charge in order to get them familiar with how a meeting is run and encourage them to join.
In addition, they held a Networking event in early November specifically to recruit new members (membership year is Sept – Aug) and encouraged current members to bring other HR colleagues who are not members of their chapter. At the Networking event, they raffle off a Convenience membership (includes meals as well as membership) to one lucky attendee. This is an incentive for some folks who are interested in a membership to attend.
In addition, they held a Networking event in early November specifically to recruit new members (membership year is Sept – Aug) and encouraged current members to bring other HR colleagues who are not members of their chapter. At the Networking event, they raffle off a Convenience membership (includes meals as well as membership) to one lucky attendee. This is an incentive for some folks who are interested in a membership to attend.
York SHRM (2013)
Considering that the York Chapter is a small chapter with only 150 members, it is a very active and robust chapter. All of the SHRM CLA positions are represented on its Board. As part of their SHAPE plan, this chapter started a new member recruitment strategy where members are rewarded for referring their colleagues to the chapter. The more new members that a current member recruits, the more rewards that are earned. If a current member recruits 5 or more new members to the chapter he/she is entered to win a free one-year membership to the chapter. The Board also will contact those members who have not renewed their dues to find out why they didn’t renew. They continue collecting data to help improve upon what the chapter does in an effort to retain its members.
The York Chapter offers monthly programs with hot topics from Social Media in the Workplace to Healthcare concerns. The York Chapter also sends weekly emails to its members to keep everyone up-to-date on the Chapter happenings, PA SHRM and SHRM National news.
The York Chapter offers monthly programs with hot topics from Social Media in the Workplace to Healthcare concerns. The York Chapter also sends weekly emails to its members to keep everyone up-to-date on the Chapter happenings, PA SHRM and SHRM National news.
SEPA SHRM - Winner of the 1ST ANNUAL PA SHRM CHAPTER OF THE YEAR AWARD (2012)
In addition to scoring the most points in the quantitative portion of the nomination process, SEPA also demonstrates a very active chapter with a strong board. Some of the highlights of the qualitative portion included:
- Very strong recruitment and retention strategies – currently at star level
- At-large members are contacted directly by a board member or personal letter
- At-large members are provided with a coupon for a free Chapter meeting
- Orientation welcome is given to newly-designated Chapter members
- CMP sends email reminders monthly to each Chapter member when their annual Chapter designation is about to expire
- They also use their LinkedIn Group to encourage members to designate SEPA as their local chapter
- They offer monthly meetings/programs with recertification credits being offered and 45% of those credits were strategic
- State Council messaging:
- They regularly post their meetings on State Council’s calendar
- The homepage of their website provides a link to the State Council’s website
- Emails are sent to chapter members advertising the L&L Conference