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NCPERS Expands Pension Fund Roundtables to Create Space for HR Professionals
By: Hank Kim, Executive Director and Counsel, NCPERS
As our final in-person meeting of the year wrapped up last month, it was hard not to reflect on the importance of bringing industry members together for networking and learning. One of the things I love most about the public pension community is the willingness to share ideas and support one another. I continue to be impressed by our members' enthusiasm for helping their peers and working together to advance the industry as a whole.
When our in-person events were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew we needed to find a solution to continue to facilitate this networking and peer-to-peer learning. One way we filled this void was creating the CEO and CIO Roundtables—where pension leaders could regularly connect via Zoom in a vendor-free setting to ask questions and crowdsource solutions to their most pressing challenges.
Even after we returned to business as usual with our educational events, we recognized the value these virtual roundtables brought to our members. They can help bridge the gap between in-person events and provide answers to urgent questions throughout the year. They provide a safe space to share ideas and get feedback. Since their start in 2020, our roundtables have continued to grow and expand, and we realized more pension staff—not just CEOs and CIOs—could benefit from these peer groups.
In 2022, we created the Communications Roundtable as a virtual space for pension staff tasked with managing their fund's communications. Shortly after, roundtable members had the opportunity to connect in-person for the inaugural Pension Communications Summit. We're looking forward to bringing communications professionals together again in January for the 2024 summit.
Now, NCPERS is pleased to announce our latest addition: the HR Roundtable. What's interesting about the HR Roundtable is that unlike the other Roundtables, the HR Roundtable pre-dates COVID-19. A dedicated group of public pension HR professionals volunteered their time to organize events for their peers. However, as the group grew and the burdens of managing it become overwhelming, they decided to partner with NCPERS.
The HR Roundtable will meet virtually each quarter – in February, May, August, and November. The first meeting will take place via Zoom on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 at 2:00pm ET. Whether you are a dedicated HR professional or it's just one of your many responsibilities, we encourage you to sign up here to learn more and participate.
To further support industry HR professionals, NCPERS will host an in-person educational conference – the HR Summit – in September 2024 to address the unique workforce challenges the public pension industry faces. The agenda will be set by peers (members of NCPERS HR Roundtable) and will feature peer-to-peer learning, networking opportunities, and hands-on training from industry experts.
It hasn't been an easy few years for HR professionals—from ongoing recruitment and retention issues to navigating remote work to integrating intergenerational teams. We hope this new roundtable and in-person event will help your team find solutions to current or future issues and create a network of peers to learn from and share ideas to help our industry grow.
If you have any questions about our roundtables, please don't hesitate to reach out directly at hank@ncpers.org.
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