I can help you build high engagement workplaces that reflect integrity and an awareness of the value of people and their experience of work.
WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU
- Provide expertise and coach in the strategic use of HR interventions
- Help you start conversations that change the way people work
- Help you build an HR system from the ground up
- Tap into the internal strengths of your organization
- Help your organization engage in the practice of designing new ways to work one day at a time
- Help you grow HR pros
MORE ABOUT ME
I have been observing the way people work for more years than I care to mention. I noticed early on that managing and leading require a set of competencies that do not magically appear because you are smart and while we can grow all professionally, the main thing is to discover your own gifts and potential.
In 1990, I began my own consulting practice because I believed clients deserve more than being handed a tome of recommendations. From the beginning, I believed engagement with people at all levels of the organization is a better way to bring about change.
As an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Management at Bloomsburg University, I brought these values and principles into the classroom and challenged students to be accountable for their own learning processes. I devoted more time than some of my teaching colleagues liked to experiential learning and group methodologies. I found ways to flip the classroom whether I was teaching Strategic Compensation, Human Resource Management, Labor Relations or (and especially) Organization Behavior. I believed my role as a practitioner in the field of management was to help students better see their role as a professional in the world of work. Now, all these years later, I find great satisfaction in seeing more innovative approaches to learning encouraged in classroom environments.
Prior to beginning my own business, I worked at Clemans, Nelson and Associates, a Midwest labor relations consulting firm, where I represented clients at the State Labor Relations Board and worked as a consultant while learning the in’s and out’s of management consulting from some amazing people. What I remember best from that time was the mentoring I received from many experienced labor negotiators who came from the ranks of unions to represent management. They were mavericks and pioneers, but more importantly, the best ones carried their values for strong worker-employer relationships within them and taught me to do the same.
Going back even further, I worked as a residential treatment counselor for emotionally disturbed children at The Villa Maria outside of Baltimore where I learned pretty much everything I needed to know about how groups work as every dysfunction was amplified and one had to think on one’s feet 24/7 or be outdone by the group. This was my first job after college (after a short stint as a research assistant at Johns Hopkins University in the department of Psychology) and eventually after this job I went on to get a Masters in Management, Labor and Human Resources at The Ohio State University.
The client is the system…I work in service to the whole organization. – Peter Hawkins
Today my philosophy of work with organizations is best exemplified by the work of Peter Hawkins who taught me that the client is the system. I do not work for a person or one body of the organization, I work in service to the whole. I also learned from Peter how to ask my clients questions that stretch them beyond their comfort zone. One of my favorites is asking them to consider what they uniquely do that the world of tomorrow needs. Another one for teams is the question, “Who is the team to serve?” And one we can all ask of ourselves, “Who or what are we in service to?”
Another importance influence on my work were the writings of Peter Block who wrote about community, stewardship and the importance of curiosity, and in particular, crafting questions to help people navigate complex issues and own their agency to make choices.
The question is the methodology. – Peter Block
My aspiration is to help leaders and HR professionals work together to create vibrant, healthy workplaces. I have a particular interest in the ethics that guide everyday actions, the manner in which employees enter and exit the workplace and the value of building diverse inclusive cultures. I am first and last, an observer of people and the way they work.