Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Massachusetts Municipal Human Resources association’s Labor Relations webinar series continued yesterday with back-to-back workshops on topics in labor and employment.
Rockie Blunt, president of Blunt Consulting Group, opened the webinar with a workshop about making the transition to supervisor. Blunt discussed the stages of the transition process, and the four stages of competence that people move through when transitioning from an individual contributor to a supervisory role. He also discussed the types of skills and competencies that supervisors need to be successful.
Blunt presented a framework that can be used by supervisors to decide who does what in a department, and an overview of effective delegation skills. He also discussed how to navigate supervising former coworkers.
The second workshop of the series, covering mental health and critical incident stress management for public safety, was led by Chrystal LaPine, program manager for the Region 5 Health and Medical Coordinating Coalition.
LaPine reviewed some of the specific challenges that first responders face that can affect their mental well-being and why the topic is important for municipal employers.
Critical incidents, she said, are situations faced by first responders that are abnormal even for experienced personnel. These incidents can trigger post-traumatic stress. LaPine reviewed the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and discussed the stigma that is often attached to discussing these symptoms in the public safety arena.
The workshop concluded with a discussion about resources available to support first responders experiencing post-traumatic stress and other mental health concerns. LaPine emphasized the importance of using professionals who are experienced in working with first responders.
More than 100 human resources professionals and members of the labor community registered for the two-part MMHR Labor Relations series. The registration fee includes access to the webinar recordings and any followup materials. The recordings are available only to those who paid for the meetings.