North Texas SHRM upcoming events

Conflict Doesn't Blow Up. It Slowly Drains the Room (October 15, 2026)

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Conflict Doesn't Blow Up.

It Slowly Drains the Room

Legal Update and Educational Luncheon

Thursday, October 15, 2026: 10:45 am - 1:00 pm CT

** NEW LOCATION **

Hilton Garden Inn

3119 Colorado Blvd

Denton, TX 76210

10:45AM - Check-In

11:00AM - 11:30AM Legal Presentation

11:30AM - Lunch is Served

12:00PM - 1:00PM Speaker Presentation

Presented by: Jeff Lay

Conflict rarely explodes — it slowly drains the room, the team, and the culture around it. In this session, HR professionals will discover why most workplace conflict begins not with poor communication but with no communication at all. You'll gain practical frameworks for navigating conflict yourself, and tools to coach your managers through the situations they're avoiding. Practical, data-backed, and immediately applicable.

3 Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the root causes of unresolved workplace conflict including unexpressed expectations and uncommunicated needs

2. Apply a practical framework for navigating sensitive conflict situations with clarity, empathy, and legal defensibility

3. Develop coaching strategies to equip managers with the skills to address conflict before it escalates to HR

Jeff Lay is the founder of The People Curve, a boutique HR advisory and conflict resolution consulting firm based in Tyler, Texas. With more than 20 years of progressive leadership experience — including nearly two decades at Pine Cove Christian Camps, one of the largest camp and conference organizations in the United States — Jeff has built his career at the intersection of people, leadership, and organizational health.

Jeff holds the SHRM-SCP certification — the Society for Human Resource Management's senior-level credential — and is a Certified Conflict Resolution Specialist through Peaceful Leaders Academy.

Jeff is a graduate of Texas A&M University and completed graduate coursework in counseling and organizational development at Denver Seminary. He is a Christ-follower, husband, and father, and is actively involved in the East Texas business and faith community.

Learn more at thepeoplecurve.com.

Legal Update

Best Practices for Employee Files

Legal Presentation by Shannon Norris

Best Practices for Employee Files - Practical guidelines for drafting effective documentation for reviews, investigations, accommodations, and other employment decision-making.

What needs to be documented
What makes a good document
What makes a bad document

Shannon Norris has practiced employment and employee benefits law since 1993. He is a member of the Norris Law Firm, PLLC, 735 Plaza Boulevard, Suite 200, Coppell, Texas 75019. Mr. Norris has been related as a Super Lawyer by FindLaw and is AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated. He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner and a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

This program will be submitted for 1.5 SHRM PDC. North Texas SHRM is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP. For more information, visit the SHRM certification website at www.shrmcertification.org.

This program will be submitted for 1.5 General recertification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™, or SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).

North Texas SHRM is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDC) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.

HR Certification Institute’s® (www.HRCI.org) official seal confirms that North Texas SHRM meets the criteria for pre-approved recertification credit(s) for any of HRCI’s eight credentials, including SPHR® and PHR®.

North Texas SHRM Policies and Procedures

North Star Awards Gala (November 13, 2026)

Sat, 14 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT

North Star Awards Gala

️ Friday, November 13, 2026

⏰ 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Denton Woman's Club Bldg

610 Oakland St

Denton, TX 76201

TRUE NORTH

Honoring Those Who Lead the Way

Join us for the Annual North Star Awards Gala, an evening celebrating the people who serve as a True North for our HR community through their leadership, service, and commitment to others.

Against an elegant Evergreen & Champagne backdrop, we’ll enjoy a seated dinner, raise a glass to another year together, and recognize the HR professionals, volunteers, and future leaders who make North Texas SHRM stronger.

Evening Highlights

⭐ Presentation of Awards:

HR Professional of the Year Award

North Star Pyramid Award, recognizing our Volunteer of the Year

⭐ Recognition of our student and certification scholarship recipients

⭐ Installation of the 2027 NTXSHRM Officers

Raise a glass with our signature Evergreen Sparkle. Wine, beer, and a selection of non-alcoholic beverages will also be available.

Bring your spouse, friend, colleague, or guest. Everyone is welcome! Dress up and make it a special night, then enjoy an evening among friends and colleagues who share a passion for people and the HR profession.

Come celebrate those who have helped guide the way and the leaders who will carry us forward.

Find your True North. Celebrate leadership. Raise a glass to 2027.

Give Back While You Celebrate

BRING A CANNED FOOD ITEM to benefit the Denton Freedom House Food Pantry, a Christian nonprofit serving individuals and families in need in our community. Your donation will help stock the pantry and provide groceries to those who need them.

Let’s HEAL!: How Survival Patterns Shape Leadership — And How to Lead Beyond Them (December 10, 2026)

Thu, 10 Dec 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Let’s HEAL!: How Survival Patterns

Shape Leadership — And

How to Lead Beyond Them

Presented By: Beth Jones

Legal Update and Educational Luncheon

Thursday, December 10, 2026: 10:45 am - 1:00 pm CT

** LOCATION TBD **

10:45 am to 11:00 am: Check-In

11:00 am to 11:30 Legal Half Hour

11:30 am to 12:00 pm Lunch Service and Networking

12:00 pm to 1:00 pm Speaker Presentation

Presented by: Beth Jones

Every leader has developed patterns for how they operate under pressure. Control under uncertainty. Emotional distance when the stakes are high. Overperformance to prove value. Most leadership development calls those skills. But here’s what thirty years of investigating people under pressure taught Beth Jones: many of those patterns didn’t start in a boardroom. They are survival patterns shaping leadership in ways most leaders can’t see. Through visceral storytelling and practical frameworks, this session gives HR professionals and leaders a behavioral lens on why high performers are running on empty and calling it excellence, and introduces the HEAL Framework™ — a structured methodology for moving from reactive, survival-driven patterns to more grounded, sustainable leadership. Attendees leave with tools to recognize survival patterns in themselves and their leadership teams, as well as a structured framework for addressing them.

Learning Objectives:

Identify how survival-driven behavioral patterns — control, overperformance, emotional distance — develop in response to personal experiences and shape leadership decision-making, communication, and trust without the leader’s awareness
Apply the HEAL Framework™ as a structured methodology for recognizing and moving beyond reactive, survival-driven leadership patterns toward more grounded, sustainable authority
Distinguish between compartmentalization (which intensifies survival patterns) and integration (which builds clarity), and implement practices that build leadership credibility and team trust

Beth Jones is a leadership performance strategist, speaker, two-time bestselling author, and creator of the HEAL Framework™. A former CPA and Certified Fraud Examiner, she spent more than 30 years as a senior forensic accountant at firms such as FTI Consulting and EY, investigating complex fraud and white-collar crime worldwide. Through hundreds of witness interviews, high-stakes investigations, and decades of leading teams through intense pressure, Beth developed a sharp ability to identify how people respond when the stakes are highest, and how their survival patterns shape decision-making, communication, relationships, and trust. She is the host of the Let’s HEAL! with Beth Jones podcast and the author of Becoming an Empowered Survivor.

Legal Update

Legal Presentation by John Hagan

John is an HR lawyer who represents employers and HR professionals. He has been practicing for 25 years. He is both a counselor to HR professionals and trial lawyer who defends them. He is past president of DallasHR, Mid Cities HR and Collin County. He is presently serving as Vice President of Programs at NTSHRM. His wife is a big-time federal prosecutor, and both of their sons are Eagle Scouts.

North Texas SHRM is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDC) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.

North Texas SHRM Policies and Procedures