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The HR Leader Toolbox:  Risk Resilient Strategies for Business Continuity and Sustainability

Brief Session Description:

In today’s business climate there is a plethora of experiences and exposure to crisis events, both globally and domestically, that clearly suggest that crises are inevitable.  As HR Professionals, how do we prepare ourselves and our organizations to be risk resilient?  During this session he role of the role of the HR professional in risk management and business continuity will explore how not only to respond to unexpected crises, but also more proactively predict and prepare for them.  Most importantly, in addition to a focus on protecting organizational brand, financial health, and sustainability, the role of HR Professionals in keeping the ‘human’ embedded in the organization’s business continuity management respond will be highlighted.

Objectives:

In this session, students will:

1. Identify the current risks in today’s business environment, lack of preparation, and consequences
2. Understand the role of the HR Leader in planning and responding to organizational risk
3. Identify the benefits of a business continuity plan
4. Recognize the difference between disaster response and business continuity plans
5. Analyze the phases of business continuity management to create a holistic plan for an organization
6. Learn how to conduct a risk needs assessment and launch an effective business continuity program for an organization

Dr. Kimberly A. LaFevor, DBA, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, IPMA-SCP, NDCCDP

Backed by many years of practice in human resources, Dr. Kim LaFevor, DBA, SHRM-CP, SPHR, IPMA-SCP, NDCCDP currently serves as the Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs at Athens State University.  Prior to her present role, she was the Dean of the College of Business at the university, a role she has held for 6 years.  Previously, LaFevor spent 7 years as Department Chair for Management, Human Resources Management, and Management of Technology. While serving as Chair, LaFevor redesigned the HR program and secured National SHRM alignment recognition for the university’s Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management.  Also, she chartered the SHRM Student Chapter, a student chapter that has been awarded Outstanding and/or Superior Chapter SHRM Merit recognition each year by National SHRM since its inception. 

In addition to her work with Athens State University, LaFevor has also taught human resource management and business management curriculum collegiately at the associate, baccalaureate, masters and doctoral level spanning a period of 30 years at both public and private academic institutions.  She has designed business and HR programs, including an Executive MBA program that became the largest in that state and successfully designed and aligned with National SHRM graduate curriculum standards for HR education.  LaFevor also consults in the areas of leadership development, recruitment and selection, performance management, compensation administration, labor relations, HR legislative affairs, and academic business accreditation.

Prior to her full-time assignment in the academe, LaFevor enjoyed a 22-year career with General Motors where she spent the majority of her tenure with the General Motors Labor Relations Staff with Saturn Corporation holding increasingly responsible HR/LR related positions as a Training and Organizational Development Consultant, People Systems Crew Leader/Labor Relations Manager, People System Training and Organizational Development Business Team Leader, Leadership Development Advisor (Senior Business Advisor to Plant Managers), and Plant Personnel Director-General Motors/Saturn Service Parts Warehousing Operations, where she was responsible for all HRM functions of salary administration and hourly labor relations, main table UAW negotiations, and deployment of the Local UAW-Saturn collective bargaining agreement and GM National Agreement, inclusive of effective grievance resolution and a position she served until she began a second career in the academe.

LaFevor currently serves in several professional and civic roles to include President for the Tennessee Employee Relations Research Association (TERRA), State Director-College Relations for the Alabama Society for Human Resource Management (AL-SHRM), Board Member & Legislative Officer-Shoals Society for Human Resource Management (Shoals SHRM), Advisor to the Tennessee Labor Management Foundation, Advisory Council for Cyber Huntsville, Past President for the Alabama Association for Higher Education in Business (AAHEB), Labor Employment Relations Association (LERA)University Dean Council of Industrial Relations and Human Resource Programs (UCIRHRP), Accreditation Council for Business School Programs (ACBSP) National Legislative Committee, and National SHRM Advocacy Team-A Team Captain-4^th Congressional District.

LaFevor has made substantive contributions to the AL SHRM State Council as the Director for AL SHRM College Relations for the past 7 years.  She founded the AL SHRM State Student Leadership Conference in 2014 and added the HR Games Competition in 2015.  As a servant leader, LaFevor works diligently with HR leaders and other business professionals to provide HR professional development opportunities for students to attend events such as the Alabama Labor Employment Relations Research Association (AL LERA), Tennessee Employment Relations Research Association (TERRA), AL SHRM State HR Conference, AL SHRM Capital Hill Visit in Washington DC, AL SHRM HR State Legislative Conference and AL SHRM professional chapter fall conferences held by local chapters throughout the state.  In collaboration with National SHRM this year, she was integrally involved in the launch of the 1st Annual AL SHRM/Mississippi SHRM Student Workforce Readiness Seminar & SHRM HR Case Competition.

LaFevor is a widely recognized thought leader in HR and has authored HR articles in both peer reviewed journals and practitioner-based publications, including those published in the International Journal of Business Excellence, Strategic Management Quarterly, International Journal for Enterprise Information Systems, Technology Interface Journal, HR Professionals Magazine, and HR Alabama Magazine.  She has also served as a reviewer for human resource, labor relations, and employment law textbook publishers and professional publications for over two decades.

LaFevor has been nationally recognized as an HR Fellow, Pearson “One” Professor, HRM Hall of Fame, and National Woman of Achievement.  She has served as a SHRM National Foundation Scholarship Judge, Pearson Scholarship Judge, Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society Judge, as well as a Judge for ACBSP’s Teaching Excellence Awards in Business Education.  In 2019, she was also named Who’s Who in America Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.  She was selected in 2019 for 1 of 23 nationwide competitive Fellowships with the Association of Governing Boards of Universities (AGB) for the AGB Leadership and Governance in Higher Education Program---Pathway to the Presidency.  In 2021, she was nominated and appointed to the Executive Leadership Academy cosponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU, and the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI).   

A native of Detroit, Michigan, LaFevor has a Bachelor of Science Degree with dual majors in Psychology and Personnel Psychology, a Master’s of Science Degree in Human Resources Management, and a Doctorate of Business Administration with dual majors in Management and Education.  She holds certification as a GM Internal Development Consultant through the UAW-GM Human Resource Center and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) through Otto Kroeger & Associates.   Additionally, she holds professional HR certifications through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) through the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), an International Public Management Association Senior Certified Professional (IPMA-SCP) through the International Public Management Association Human Resources (IPMA-HR), and a certified National Diversity Professional through the National Diversity Council (NDCCDP).