Your Meaning in Work, Your Mode of Engagement – What’s Yours and Why is it
Important?
Alise Cortez, PhD
Organizational Engagement and Development Catalyst
Alise Cortez and Associates
Work – it’s something many of us do almost every day. But what does the experience mean to us, personally? For some, work is instrumental to paying the bills or living the lifestyle they want. For others, it offers a way to express key values or live to their highest potential or even a calling. Perhaps a good number of people are currently working in a role that serves financial interests but are desperately trying to find work more suitable or meaningful to them. From a personal and organizational vantage point, the way people experience their work if of interest because it impacts their satisfaction, engagement, and productivity. Based on her doctoral and post-doctoral research on meaning in work and its relationship to personal identity, Alise will share the ways she’s found people experience work and what it means to who they are –that is, their “mode of engagement.” Audience participants will also have the opportunity to assess their own current mode of engagement and consider how organizations can apply the modes of engagement understanding to their cultural and organizational development initiatives.
Alise Cortez, PhD is an Organizational Engagement and Development Catalyst based in Dallas. She designs and delivers professional development, leadership, and engagement workshops and speaks on various related topics. Alise began this career in 1998 as a staffing professional at Analysts International, progressed to corporate recruiting consulting at VoiceStream/T-Mobile, and went on to HR System implementation and change management consulting projects at Hewitt Associates and PepsiCo. She also co-founded and served as VP of Sales & Marketing at Improved Experience, a consulting firm that offered online feedback solutions and research for the HR and Recruiting industry. Today, she is focused on igniting meaningful development that increases employee satisfaction, engagement, and performance within organizations. After completing a Bachelors in Liberal Studies and a Masters in Liberal Studies (focusing on International Relations with South America), Alise earned a PhD in Human Development from Fielding Graduate University. Fascinated with how people choose and experience their careers, she focused her dissertation on meaning in work and its relationship to personal identity. Today, she is further developing her “modes of engagement” concept by conducting qualitative research with professionals aged 18 to 80 across multiple industries and is now writing the results into a book.
Alise’s previous 2.5 year residence in Spain and Brazil, and diverse travel throughout Western Europe and South America, serve as cultural and diversity complements to her university instruction, and help inform her perspective and approach to working with people and organizations. She is conversationally comfortable in Spanish, Portuguese, and some Italian. She also serves as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Phoenix teaching various Psychology courses on campus such as Organizational Psychology, Theories of Personality, Learning and Cognition, Motivational Processes in Human Psychology, and Life Span Human Development. “Dr. C”, as her students call her, is fueled by the Maslow-Humanist doctrine to “continually realize your potential” and revels in guiding and inspiring clients and students do the same. She endeavors to enjoy a full life filled with travel outside the US with her husband and daughter, hosting numerous and large gatherings, and being an active leader in the community. Alise has served on the following Boards: YMCA at White Rock (past Chairman of the Board), Lakewood Service League (past President and Event Chair), Woodrow Wilson High School Community Foundation (current Needs Assessment Chair), Dallas Staffing Association (past VP of Professional Development and Diversity), and the Dallas Running Club (past Co-Race Director).
This program is pending approval for 1.00 recertification credit toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the Human Resource Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org.
Stay After For Our Legal Hour
Trends in Pregnancy, Maternity and Caregiver Litigation
Courtney B. Perez
Senior Litigation Associate
Carter Scholer Arnett Hamada & Mockler
This presentation will cover recent U.S. Supreme Court and 5th Circuit cases and the post-decision landscape focusing on the impact for employers.
Courtney Barksdale Perez is Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law. Courtney represents individuals, corporations, and government entities in all phases of commercial and employment-related litigation including administrative proceedings, state court and federal court. Courtney has represented plaintiffs and defendants in disputes involving fraud, negligence, breach of contract, breach of covenants not to compete, tortious interference with contracts, misappropriation of trade secrets, trademark infringement, breach of fiduciary duty and employment-related civil rights claims.
Courtney also advises clients concerning compliance with employment-related statutes such as Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Family Medical Leave Act, Federal Labor Standards Act, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Texas Whistleblower Act, the Texas Payday Act, the Texas Labor Code and employment agreements. She also conducts internal investigations, reviews and prepares policies and procedures, and provides training for employers. Courtney also has experience advising government contractors with their obligations under federal contract compliance laws, developing compliance programs, drafting Affirmative Action plans and representing government contractors in administrative proceedings. In addition, Courtney is a trained mediator and uses her dispute resolution training and experience to assist litigants in resolving employment, business, commercial, consumer, personal injury and civil rights disputes. This presentation has been approved for HRCI General credit.
All online reservations are due Monday at noon prior to the meeting. Online registration will be closed at that time. Attendees not registered online will be considered walk-in registrations and will be charged the guest rate of $35.
