Suggestions
Brendan J. Nicholls, SHRM-SCP, HCMQA
President of HRA of Greater Oak Brook SHRM | Finance Director Illinois SHRM | Principal HCM Consultant at Paycor
Brendan J. Nicholls, SHRM-SCP, HCMQA, is a dedicated professional with a strong focus on staying updated with emerging workforce trends to guide CEOs and Human Resource Executives proactively. With a commitment to being a strategic partner rather than just a vendor, Brendan's expertise lies in providing thoughtful insights and navigating through complex situations in the HR realm. Holding the prestigious SHRM-SCP certification and playing a leadership role in the SHRM community, Brendan aims to advocate for the importance of HR support and provide valuable resources for HR Technology enhancements.
With a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Appalachian State University, Brendan's educational background complements his extensive professional experience. Having held prominent positions in various organizations, including Director of Finance at Illinois SHRM State Council, Principal HCM Sales Consultant at Paycor, President at HRA of Greater Oak Brook SHRM, Director Of Communications at Illinois SHRM State Council, Vice President Employee Benefits at HUB International, Brendan has a proven track record of success in HR and sales consultancy roles.
Brendan J. Nicholls has also showcased his skills as a Strategic Account Manager at BMC Software, Senior Enterprise Consultant at Paychex, Area Sales Manager at PrimePay, Senior Account Executive at PrimePay, and Sales Consultant at Prestige Office Products, Inc. His diverse professional background equips him with the knowledge and proficiency to offer valuable insights and assistance in areas such as HR Technology redesign, HRIS exploration, and engagement with National or Local SHRM initiatives.
Highlights
𝐅𝐓𝐂 𝐁𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐑 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰
Ahead of the September 4th, 2024, effective date, Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled against the FTC’s ban on noncompete agreements on August 21, 2024.
In the case of Ryan LLC v. FTC of the Northern District of Texas, Judge Brown ruled for Ryan (a leading global tax services and software provider) and against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), invalidating the FTC's ban on non-compete agreements.
You can access the case here: https://lnkd.in/ejRyStcN 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬:
- The FTC didn’t have the authority to issue the rule because Congress only permitted it to issue "procedural rules" to address unfair methods of competition, not "substantive rules."
- The rule itself was “arbitrary and capricious” for the following reasons:
- Too broad without a reasonable explanation.
- It would impose a one-size-fits-all approach with no end date.
- No state in the country has enacted a non-compete ban as broad as the FTC’s rule.
- Challenged why the rule didn’t target specific, harmful non-competes instead of taking a blanket approach.
- The FTC overlooked the positive benefits of non-competes
- The FTC didn't sufficiently consider potential alternatives rather than a nationwide ban on just about every non-compete. While the ruling is huge setback for the FTC, the agency may appeal the decision and be heard by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which could change the result. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐑 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐰?
- Relax! We are now back where we started, where state-specific restrictions apply, and you can continue to have non-compete restrictions as a strategy for protecting key relationships and confidential information.
- Use this time to ensure your existing non-competes are tailored to meet the state laws in which you operate and that you are restricting their use to critical employees. Keep in mind the FTC can continue to address non-competes through more targeted case-by-case enforcement actions.
- Consider gathering an inventory of all existing restrictive covenant agreements, including those that bind former workers. There is a tiny chance that an appeals court could bring the non-compete ban back, and as a result you should revise any employment agreements or consulting contract templates to remove references to non-compete clauses. Also, examine your equity-related non-competes so the FTC cannot conclude that they arise from the employment relationship. If you have any questions, tips for your peers, or comments, please share below!
#HumanResources #Compliance #Noncompetes #EmploymentLaw #HR #SHRM #FTC
You're invited to join us next week for two great events through the HRA of Greater Oak Brook SHRM to help you develop professionally while helping you build out your HR network!
"𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝘁: 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟭𝟬𝟭" presented by Tiffany Olson! Approved for 1.5 SHRM/HRCI credits.
When? Tuesday August 13th from 8:00 am - 9:30 am at Maggiano's Little Italy in Oak Brook.
How to register for either in-person or virtual: https://lnkd.in/eZ9_3VX8
Description: When 1,000 human resource executives were asked to identify skills of the ideal manager, the “ability to listen effectively” ranked at the top of the list. Effective listening is an essential skill that everyone should cultivate. This workshop will help participants identify the difference between hearing and active listening. Learn the stages of the listening process and identify areas where that process breaks down. Gain insights into your own strengths and weaknesses and be equipped with practical tools and exercises to be a better listener and level up your communication skills.
𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗥𝗔 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗮𝗸 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝗣𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗢𝗮𝗸 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟱:𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗺-𝟳:𝟯𝟬 𝗽𝗺!
When? Thursday August 15th from 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm at Pinstripes Oak Brook.
How to register: https://lnkd.in/etXkvub7
Description: This is an opportunity to have fun and expand your professional HR network through our "Post-SHRM" Summer Social! Space will be limited to 50 attendees so be sure to RSVP ahead of time. We will have appetizers and 2 drink tickets for you, and we'll have some fun surprises throughout the evening. Pinstripes is located at 7 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Don't worry if you get there late or have to leave early. This event is for you and however much time you'd like to invest in getting to know your local HRA peers. Thanks for our sponsor, Scott M. Stratton from Western Governors University for sponsoring this event!
Check out our other events here and please let HRA know how we can support your HR journey!
https://lnkd.in/ejRjbiT
Hope to see you there. Have a great day!
People also viewed
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
People also viewed
Related People