In this issue:
- How to retain the top performers on your staff
- New Career Center Launched
- Sacramento EP Holiday Party - Join the fun!
- Loss Prevention Seminars - Technician & field staff training announced
- #GivingTuesday - Support Our California Students
- What Did You Do This Year? Share and Win!
- 50th Anniversary Annual Conference - Registration OPEN
- Short Courses Announced
- Farrell Celebrates 20-years
- Welcome our New Members
- Upcoming Events - the e.Calendar
How to Retain the Top Performers On Your Staff
Read on for the top 10 tips on how to retain your talented employees - and how CalGeo can help.
Article from Paycor (Click here to read full article on Paycor's website)
With historically low unemployment rates, it’s becoming more difficult to find good talent, so it’s important that human resources teams and department managers do everything that they can to manage their employees in a way that helps to retain their best people.
The cost of hiring new employees can be astronomical. In fact, Employee Benefit News reports that it costs employers 33% of a worker’s annual salary to hire a replacement when that worker leaves. Of course, the employment retention rate varies by industry, but every business is (or should be) incredibly intent on keeping their rock stars. If your company is finding this situation challenging, here are ten tips we propose for how to retain employees:
- Make day 60 as important as day one (Onboarding). Ensuring that your employees have a positive, engaging onboarding experience is as important as making sure your recruiting and application processes go well. The onboarding process is your first impression to engage with a new employee. You want to put your best foot forward and get them quickly and fully productive.
- Optimize your benefits. These days perks are the icing on the cake when you’re wooing applicants. A competitive benefits package is typically second only to salary when it comes to employee satisfaction. Check out what other companies offer in the CalGeo Salary Survey!
- Give your employees flexibility with their schedules. Do your employees really have to be in the office from 9-to-5 five days a week? By incorporating flexible work schedules and telecommuting, you just might find that your employees are more productive and satisfied and experience less conflict between work time and their personal obligations. Remember, it’s super-important to spell out the policy and get it right so there’s no ambiguity.
- Recognize your employees’ hard work. Everybody likes to be appreciated and thanked for their hard work. Recognizing your employees for a job well done is an important part of helping to ensure continued employee engagement. Apply for an Outstanding Project Award and let them be recognized at our Annual Conference.
- Make professional development a top priority. Your top talent is already great at what they do, but they want to continue enhancing their skills to become even better. Check out CalGeo's Calendar for upcoming meetings and short courses.
- Show them how much they actually make. A total compensation statement details an employee’s total package, including all cash income, as well as the value of the benefits they receive. Check out our comprehensive Salary Survey to see how your company's compensation measures up to the average in your area.
- Upgrade your equipment. Take a look at your laptop. Does it weigh more than a bowling ball? A big complaint at many companies is outdated hardware and software.
- Communicate! Lack of communication is at the root of many employee frustrations. Make sure your business is creating channels for honest, specific feedback from and to your employees and taking advantage of ways to provide praise and constructive criticism in real time.
- Promote from within. It can be disheartening to your best employees if you continually recruit new management from outside the company.
- Encourage collaboration. Nobody wants to work in a vacuum. Harvard Business Review found that teams do well when executives invest in supporting social relationships, demonstrate collaborative behavior themselves, and create what they call a “gift culture". Send your employees to CalGeo's Annual Conference or our fun dinners and events to interact with their peers, learn and have fun!
Read on below for information on CalGeo's new job board so you can fill those much needed positions and retain the best.
New CalGeo Career Center Launched
Our old Job Board was sooooo 2019 - check out our new Career Center launched just in time for the new year! Fully integrated with our website, you can use your same CalGeo login and password to access the new Career center and receive special member pricing on all your job posts.
Employer Posting Structure:
30 Day Posting: $39 Member Price. $100 Non-Member Price
60 Day Posting: $59 Member Price. $175 Non-Member Price
90-Day Posting: $79 Member Price. $199 Non-Member Price
Featured Upgrade: Only $25 for Members ($45 for Non-members)
Featured jobs will be promoted at the top of the board, highlighted, and published to the Google Jobs Network. These jobs are sorted with the most recently posted jobs appearing at the top. Non-featured jobs will appear in chronological order from oldest to newest below the featured jobs.
Attention Job Seekers! We haven't forgotten about you - check out the new Career Center to post your resume and apply for open positions. Employers can search through resumes and reach out to you directly.
Take me to the new Career Center >>
Sacramento EP Holiday Party - Join the fun!

Join the Sacramento Emerging Professional group for a CalGeo-hosted party on Thursday December 19th at the Fox and Goose pub in Sacramento! Dinner, drinks and trivia will be had by all. Bring your co-worker, spouse or significant other and join the fun.
RSVP to [email protected] by December 17th.
More details on our Calendar page HERE >>
Loss Prevention Seminars 2020: Technician & Field Staff Training - only held once a year!
Need PDH/CEU credits or extra training? Take advantage of the savings and register field staff, technicians and inspectors for our annual Loss Prevention Seminars held in both Northern and Southern California.
What is it?
Our Loss Prevention Seminars are geared towards field technicians of all experience levels, inspectors, staff engineers and staff geologists. These seminars will educate your staff and help them to do a better job in the field and therefore reduce the risk of mistakes and losses. That in turn, reduces liability and risk on every project.
Attendees will earn valuable Professional Development Hours (PDH) or CEU credits without losing time at the office. The Saturday morning course includes a full breakfast and 4-hours of practical training and skill development for technical and field personnel. Only held once-a-year and not to be missed!

When? Where?
DATES AND LOCATIONS HAVE CHANGED!!
NorCal: January 25th @ Hilton Garden Inn, Fairfield (2200 The Courtyard)
SoCal: February 8th @ Residence Inn, Burbank (321 S Ikea Way)
Registration and payment MUST BE MADE IN ADVANCE! If selecting pay by invoice, please ensure payment is post-dated at least 10-days in advance of the seminar date to ensure your spot.
Online registration will close 2-days before the seminar date, or when SOLD OUT!
Registration:
Save $20/pp by registering before December 31st. Early-bird price of only $130/pp!
As of Jan. 1st, 2020: $150 Members, $225 Non-members.
Click on the location links above for more details and registration forms.
Still not part of our exclusive Members Club? Join now with our trial membership and receive a FREE REGISTRATION to a Loss Prevention Seminar. Contact Kelly Cabal for more information.
#GivingTuesday - Support CalGeo Student Chapters
Want to support your local CalGeo Student Chapter?
Here are some things you can do to help build interest in our profession by engaging and supporting local student groups:
- Visit our Student Outreach page for info on donating to our student fund (supports scholarship, GeoWall teams and student attendance at our conference and events)
- Contact or donate to the student chapters directly using the links below:
Cal Poly Pomona: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter
Cal Poly SLO: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter
CSUS: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter
CSUF: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter
UCLA: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter
UCSD: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter
CSU Chico: Sponsorship Request
CalGeo has already pledged $500 to each of the student chapter's GeoWall teams, what will you pledge?
Donate directly to the CalGeo student fund to aid in scholarships and student attendance at our conference HERE >>
What Did You Do This Year? Share and Win!

We are now accepting applications for our Outstanding Project Awards for 2019. These awards will be presented at our Annual Conference and 50th Anniversary Celebration on April 24th, 2020 at the Project Award Luncheon at the Resort at Squaw Creek, Lake Tahoe. The deadline for submission is January 30th - get yours in before the end of the year!
Winners will be able to present their outstanding projects to conference attendees and accept their medal and award. Winning projects will also be featured in our e.Geo newsletter with a short article and photo.
This is a great marketing opportunity to show your clients that you have been recognized by a committee of your peers for the outstanding work you performed. Any projects conducted in the past 5-years are eligible.
Projects will be scored on:
- Innovation
- Difficulty of Investigation
- Design Team Interaction
- Social Impact
- Quality of Report
Download the application form and requirements here>>
Submit your application and fee online here>>
Documents and report can be e-mailed or uploaded to Dropbox by the deadline of January 30, 2020. Please contact Kelly Cabal for more information.
50th Anniversary Annual Conference - Registration OPEN

We are celebrating 50 years of CalGeo at the Resort at Squaw Creek in beautiful Lake Tahoe April 22-24, 2020
“Join the Rush” for our Gold-en Anniversary! Celebrating as we revisit CalGeo’s history and redesign the future.
Win gold with our Olympic CalGeo team - don't miss out on the most fun you will have at a conference this year.
Updates for 2020 - Why our conference will be better than ever:
To continually improve our conference and your experience, we have made a few changes for 2020. Please note the following:
- Affiliates will be in the same room as the conference attendees and sessions to provide a more inclusive environment. We are not your average trade-show! Our hand selected key-note speakers are useful for all members. We also recognize that many affiliates are now involved in design and engineering themselves and want to offer more programming for them as well.
- The silent auction and student scholarships will be awarded on Thursday evening at the 50th Anniversary Celebration banquet. This will be a full dinner in the affiliate and general session area with short speeches from some selected past-presidents to honor CalGeo's historic 50-years.
- A field trip to the nearby Tahoe Dam and local geology will be offered Friday afternoon and will require separate registration. Guests/spouses are welcome to attend!
- No golf tournament this year. Unfortunately due to the possibility of snow cover, we are not holding our Annual Golf Tournament. Please join us Wednesday evening and sharpen your putting skills with our fun glow golf event!
- We are planning something fantastic for our closing party - don't miss it! You can extend your stay at the Resort at Squaw Creek and keep the group rate of only $179/night. Maybe even fit in the last ski of the season.
Sponsorships still available! Please download our Sponsorship Information (PDF) and complete the on-line sponsorship form to support 50-years of CalGeo!
Short Courses Announced (Click here for detailed program)
Technical Courses

Wednesday April 22nd 8am-12pm
Settlement Analysis using Settle, Presented by Thamer Yacoub, Rocscience
Wednesday April 22nd 1-4:30pm
Analysis of Supported Slopes using Slide2 and RSPile, Presented by Thamer Yacoub, Rocscience
REGISTER FOR TECHNICAL SHORT COURSES >>
Business Courses:

Wednesday April 22nd 1-4:30pm
The Expansion of California Prevailing Wage Law and Other New Developments Impacting the Construction Industry, Presented by Van Allyn Goodwin, Littler Law
REGISTER FOR PREVAILING WAGE COURSE >>
Farrell Design-Build Celebrates 20-years in the biz
Check out this great video they made to summarize their accomplishments over the past 20-years!

Welcome CalGeo's Newest Members
We are pleased to welcome a new member to the CalGeo family this month:
URETEK USA, Inc. Since 1989, URETEK has put thousands of customers in control of their concrete lifting problems, saving them millions of dollars in costly repairs, downtime, and disruption. We operate with attention to service and detail, and with the earned expertise required to tackle large-scale projects. As pioneers in the industry, we developed many of practices in common use today. URETEK Deep Injection® (UDI) is widely referenced by practitioners throughout our industry, and together with our documented processes, UDI serves as the basis of every job we do. Utilizing UDI, we have rehabilitated over 50,000 miles of pavement – enough to circle the globe more than twice.
The e.Calendar & Upcoming Events - The Geo-Calendar
Quick Browse: SoCal events in ORANGE, NorCal events in GREEN
CalGeo Events:
December 19th, 2019: Save the date for the Sacramento EP Holiday Party, Fox and Goose Pub, Sacramento
January 21, 2019: Bay Area EP Meeting with Dr. Robert Kayen (UC Berkeley), San Jose
EVENT DETAILS RELEASED: REGISTER NOW!
January 25, 2020: NorCal Loss Prevention Seminar (Saturday 8am-12pm), Fairfield
February 8, 2020: SoCal Loss Prevention Seminar (Saturday 8am-12pm), Burbank
April 22-24, 2020: CalGeo's Annual Conference & 50th Anniversary! You don't want to miss this one. Cross your fingers for some good snow and skiing at Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe
Other California Geo-professional Events:
December 5, 2019: ASCE-GI Orange County Bowling Social, Irvine
December 7, 2019: FREE USGS Training Course on SOSlope, Menlo Park
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