
Influencing Those Above
Why can’t we get our C-Suite to understand the workforce has changed?
A Hybrid Event
Sponsored by:


IN-PERSON LOCATION: Greenbrier Country Club, 1301 Volvo Pkwy, Chesapeake VA 23320
In-Person Registration: 11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Virtual Registration: 11:45 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.
In-Person Lunch: 11:30 a.m. – Noon
Chapter Meeting: 11:50 a.m.
Presentation: Noon – 1 p.m. (*NOTE: Due to HRCI guidelines lunch will not be available after Noon for in-person attendees.)
Members: $35
Not Yet Members: $45
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HRCI and SHRM recertification credits approved.
Virtual Attendee Registration
In-Person Attendee Registration
Human Resource departments are scouting the horizon observing how the workforce is changing. How HR professionals are viewed in organizations for strategic thought and planning in not only observing trends and responses to modern workplaces (post and forever views on people and the way they work) could never be more critical.
We scan for opportunities, strengths, skill level, skill needs, compliance complexities, and local/regional/national trends. As our organization’s business partner, we synthesize this information adding nuances from our conversations with front-line workers, direct supervisors, middle managers and above. Finding a voice with senior management who may be “stuck” in the past for how to “manage” people is not always easy. So, if we have all this information to share, how can we be heard and be seen as the bearers of solutions?
This presentation will explore the areas of current research regarding how people make decisions. We will share new research that shows decisions are not made from the linear components of our brain. Our emotions play a lot into our decisions, especially for the C-Suite.
We’ve studied communication for decades, yet we might not feel as skilled in speaking with those seated in organizational power positions. What techniques work best when we are challenged with a leader that does not see change happening or want change to happen. How can we gain their confidence and sponsorship?
Learning Objectives:
- To identify how decisions impacting employees are made, solidified, and communicated
- To review and consider communication techniques that result in greater buy-in by senior management
- To discuss communications and process strategies that engage senior management in change toward a more people-centric organization.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Susan Long-Molnar
Owner, Managing Communications Consulting
Susan Long-Molnar is a lifelong professional communicator who uses over 35 years of experience assisting business owners and their employees to communicate effectively so they exceed their business goals and retain, hire, and engage their employees. After graduating from Eastern Kentucky University with a BA in Theatre Arts/Communications and a minor in English, she began a teaching career, moving in 1976 to Virginia Beach to teach at Princess Anne High School. Ten years later, her first business, an advertising and PR firm, grew to a point she needed to leave teaching. After five years of entrepreneurship, she began an 11-year corporate jaunt in communications management, first at Sentara for fourteen different business units, then as the Mid-Atlantic Internal Communications Manager at Cox Communications, and lastly, with USAA, as the Mid-Atlantic region Director of Corporate Communications. In 2002, that entrepreneur spirit resurfaced. Today, she celebrates Managing Communications’ 20th Anniversary, a firm which has focused primarily on strategic planning, consulting, and communications and leadership training and development.

Kathy L. Robinson, SPHR, GPHR, CPTD, SHRM-SCP
Senior Consultant, Talent Development and Leadership
Kathy Robinson has always been interested in how people learn, understand, adjust and develop. She began her career in a non-profit setting assisting young adults transitioning from school to employment. She moved to the for-profit world when she decided to focus on organizational and talent development. Her experience spans small mom-and-pop businesses to large corporations (Cox Communications, Dollar Tree Stores, and Comcast) and from leading regional development efforts to directing training teams in reshoring national centers. She has managed corporate teams/efforts across four time zones using technology to support the calibration of workforces across multi-functional centers.