Please join us for lunch at 11:30 - the meeting will begin at 12:00

Program Description

Get ‘em, Grow ‘em, Keep ‘em: The State of Tennessee’s journey to recruit and retain top talent

Since 2019, the Tennessee Department of Human Resources has had a vision for Tennessee’s largest employer to be the best place to work in the Southeast. Since 2020, the way we look at work has changed forever. In this session, we’ll discuss our challenges to bring that vision into fruition, including our recruitment, diversity, and engagement efforts.

Learning Objectives:

• Understanding great organizational culture from the eyes of your employees
• Developing tools to recruit, engage, develop, and retain employees
• Empowering people leaders to connect with those they lead and supporting positive employee experiences

Speaker Bio

YLONDA R. BANISTER, BS, PHR

Ylonda Banister, Executive Director, Recruiting Division, Tennessee State Government, Department of Human Resources (DOHR), and Hiring Our Heroes Facilitator for the State.  She has more than 10 years of experience in recruiting and has emerged as a top performer in State Government. She provides enterprise wide talent acquisition assistance to agencies with a focus on collaboration, customer service and process improvement. 

Prior to starting in State Government, Ylonda served in the United States Army as a Recruiting & Retention Program Manager and at Fort Campbell, Kentucky as a Reserves Component Career Counselor.   She served in various positions recruiting entry level soldiers to executive level staff for the Army Reserves. As a dedicated member of the Active Guard Reserve and Army Reserve she retired from military service in 2017 after 27 years. She is a graduate of the 2017, Hiring Our Heroes class. In recognition of her work and service she was recognized by Eight Flames of Hope Foundation as an Unsung Military Shero.   

Ylonda is an alumna of Trident University with a B.S.  in Business Administration. She is a member of DoHR’s D&E Council, Middle Tennessee Society for Human Resource Management (MTSHRM), and recently join the TGL Toastmasters Club.

Herman Smith, MSP, SPHR

Herman Smith serves as the Director of Engagement for the Tennessee Department of Human
Resources. In this role, he oversees the strategic direction to drive measurable improvement regarding
engagement and retention throughout the State of Tennessee. Working closely with State agencies to push organizational initiatives, he provides consulting, training, and guidance on providing the optimal employee experience. In previous roles, Herman managed several employee relations programs and functions, including reduction in force, the mediation program, the employee suggestion program, and service awards. He also served as the administrator for the Tennessee Employees Charitable Campaign, which totaled approximately $1,000,000 in donations to worthy charitable organizations in Tennessee that support health, medical research, human services, and social and environmental issues. 

In addition, Herman created the “Employee Relations Roundtables”, a platform where HR professionals enterprise-wide engage in important conversations that increase knowledge, expertise, and best practices related to employee relations and engagement. Herman has significant work experience in performance management, employee engagement, marketing, consulting, project management, and strategic design.

A native of Memphis, TN, Herman earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Tennessee State University and holds a master’s degree in Public Service Management from Cumberland University. Honored as NashvilleBusiness.Net’s “100 Most Leading Persons in Diversity, Training & HR in 2018”, he is also a Certificated Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), a Rule 31 trained mediator, and a certificated facilitator. Herman is a graduate of Next Level Leadership Academy, Accelerated Leadership Institute, and Tennessee Government Management Institute, and is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. and Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity Inc. 

Recerticification Credits

SHRM 1.0; HRCI 1.0 (pending)

Our mission is to develop and serve the HR professional and advance the profession through education, thought leadership, certification support, community and advocacy to enhance the practice of human resource management and the effectiveness of local professionals in the organizations and communities they serve.

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