Consulting Services

One of the primary causes of poor business performance across all industries is the failure to effectively engage the workforce. Whether managing a key project, interacting with customers, executing growth strategies or navigating the changes that occur during the business lifecycle - your people can either be an asset or a liability. Are your employees a fit for your culture? Do they struggle to engage? What if you could have a level of productivity and dedication from your workforce that would boost your organization’s effectiveness and positively impact the bottom line?

Many businesses tend to ignore the people side of their organization, which in fact has a significant impact on financial performance and organizational wellbeing. Engagement is not about people being happy at work. It’s about their tendency to bring their interests, skills, talents and full contribution to the table. Are you an expert at what you do, but could benefit from help with the people-related areas of your business? Could making small adjustments in this area translate into large payoffs?

How We Can Help – The Power of Your People

We offer a range of value-driven customized human capital solutions that help startups and small to medium-sized businesses achieve higher productivity, better performance and increased profits. Our strategic services create a strong foundation that supports and boosts the effectiveness of your workforce, improves your business operations, and assists you through any type of transition no matter how small or large. We bring talent strategies that help define your company, take you to the top of your industry and stay there by the virtue of your workforce.

Let us help you capitalize on the power of your people through a sustainable culture that can enhance success, achieve your business mission and give you the competitive edge.

Consulting Offerings – How We Work

Our services encompass the culture, structure and processes a company must have in place to attract, develop and retain, and obtain high level performance out of its workforce. Whether you’re looking for guidance in handling talent selection and management, building a human resources platform, creating or upgrading your leadership development program, building teams, developing exit strategies and succession plans or dealing with a transition phase – you can call on us.

What You Can Expect

Our goal is to help you define and execute solutions that are effective, profitable and enhance your company’s organizational and operational capabilities. We deliver practical recommendations and measurable results that have an immediate impact.

We focus on Five Key Areas of Assessment

1. What are the organizational activities – the tasks or actions that create or implement employment policies, practices, procedures and programs?
2. What are the behaviors – that demonstrate a commitment to and implementation of company expectations and achievement of goals?
3. What are the risks – the current or future events that have the potential to cause a loss or negatively affect the organizational culture?
4. What are the internal controls – processes, tests and assessments to ensure compliance and meet business needs?
5. What are the metrics – used to measure and assess the achievement of organizational and individual goals and objectives?

We provide the following consulting services based on company size as measured by the number of employees:

• Startup and Micro Companies (up to 50 employees)
  • Create a solid foundation
  • Align your workforce with your strategic plan
  • Optimize ABC’s (Attracting and selecting talent, Building performance, Creating advocates)
  • Delivered as Phase One HR audit with ongoing on call support services
• Small Companies (50-250 employees)
  • Assess foundation
  • Evaluate ABC’s (Attracting and selecting talent, Building performance, Creating advocates)
  • Setup or optimize human resources function
  • Complete talent review, evaluate retention and develop succession plan
  • Create a great place to work
  • Delivered as Phase One HR audit, then Phase Two implementation of key recommendations, with ongoing on call support services and/or assessment of function and hiring of a strategic HR leader
• Medium Companies (250 – 500 employees)
  • Evaluate current conditions and guide through transition periods that include growth, ready to sell or acquire, new business leader or HR leadership gap
  • Delivered as Phase One HR audit, then Phase Two implementation of key recommendations, with ongoing on call support services and/or assessment of function and hiring of a strategic HR leader.

Success Stories – Consulting Services

This Company Used Supply Chain Disruptions to Build a Stronger Company

When companies correctly identify then understand how to use their Vision Statement/Declaration, it becomes a solid ‘how-to’ guide for everything — from who are our ideal clients to who are our ideal employees. For many, getting clarity on the vision leads to significant changes, which result in unforeseen benefits and profitability. To know a change is needed and then do what's necessary to find out what to change and then how to cause the change means the company has intelligent, aware, and strong leadership.

Company – Spectrum Uniforms

"We innovate uniformity, comfort and style with ease for people who serve the world!” Spectrum Uniforms is a family-owned business started in 1987 by Mr. Rupendra Radia. In 2019, Mr. Radia turned the company reigns over to his daughter Chandani Radia. The company and its 25 employees operate out of Houston, Texas, and serve clients globally. Primarily, Spectrum designs and manufactures high-quality customized apparel for the healthcare industry and others both locally and globally.

In 2020, the company achieved a 4.5 times increase in annual revenue. It would be easy to dismiss this impressive improvement to COVID, but there is much, much more to this story. The fact is, COVID would have swiftly hurt the company had it not been prepared to handle the tremendous increase in sales.

As is the case with most projects, Kathi Crawford and People Possibilities had been referred MORE>

A Leaders’ Desire To Empower Meets With Success

Going from entrepreneur to CEO is a must for privately held, small to mid-sized companies who want substantial growth. It takes systems, structure and the right people doing the right things. It also takes the dedication and flexibility of a true leader who is effective and confident at building and allowing their team to soar.

Company – Kelly S Mathews LLC

Kelly S Mathews LLC ("KSMLLC") was founded in 2003 by Kelly Mathews. Prior to founding the firm, Kelly Mathews began her career in 1994 with a Big Four Accounting Firm. Kelly's work with the Firm centered primarily on the motor fuels tax outsourcing practice. During this time, Kelly was exposed to the federal excise tax quarterly return and related deposits and motor fuels tax returns in all 50 states.

After four years, Kelly was recruited to another Big Four Accounting Firm to start their motor fuels tax practice from the ground up. Kelly remained at this Firm for over four years working exclusively in the motor fuels tax practice area.

KSMLLC started with one employee, Ms. Mathews, and grew steadily over the next 10 years to a multi million dollar company with 14 employees. MORE>

Create Human Resources Infrastructure for Growing Retail Chain

Taking a family retail business and ramping it up for expansion means having a team of qualified and committed people. Personnel needs for retail businesses pose a specific and ongoing challenge for management. Getting the right people in the right position and productive quickly is the key to sustained growth and profitability.

Company – BASKiNS

In 1972, the Baskin family opened their first store in Trinity, Texas. For working families in Texas, BASKiNS has become the place they count on for exceptional value and a friendly hometown environment. The Company’s service philosophy continues to be — “neighbors serving neighbors.”

From the first store in Trinity, the Company has grown to 19 stores all across East Texas with over 250 employees and revenues in excess of $30 million. In 2004 the Baskin family sold the Company to an investment firm who kept things exactly as they were. In 2009, new ownership took over with exciting plans for the future. Addressing the human resources needs of the Company was CEO, Jack Gunion’s first task.

Challenge – HR Compliance and Employee Management

With 250 employees and no formal HR procedures, the Company had several critical issues to address. Additionally, employees had not been formally managed so there was frequent miscommunication and inconsistencies, which led to... MORE>

Find the Right People for the Right Job for Family Owned Business

Staff turnover in catering, as any industry, is high and has been for many years. Given the competitive pressures from other types of work opportunities, the difficulty in the catering industry isn't just one of finding people for the job - it is finding the right people and placing them in the right job. This was an area that Kim George, President of Catering by George, wanted to improve in her business.

Company – Catering By George

Catering by George is a catering company located in Houston, Texas that creates both classic and innovative menus for their clients and has done so for more than 20 years. While the business employs a small number of employees, the company often handles large catering events. It is imperative that the team works as one cohesive unit.

Challenge – Employee Recruitment and Retention

As Catering by George continued to grow and Kim wanted to focus her efforts in more strategic areas of the business, employee issues would often arise, mitigating progress. It was extremely challenging to find the perfect fit. If they had the qualifications, their personality often didn’t mesh well with the rest of the team. Or, if they were a good fit personality-wise, they were not always able to perform their duties. Kim was quickly becoming an HR manager, rather than the strategic business partner she desired to be.

Solution – People Possibilities

Effective recruitment and retention within the fast-paced catering industry is one of the key management challenges that determine whether business objectives are achieved or not. Using their unique and proprietary Employee Lifecycle Model along with many years of coaching and helping entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs feel more comfortable and confident in the employer-employee process, People Possibilities developed... MORE>

Create an Employment Brand to Increase Retention for a Fortune 500 Firm

When a company has issues with recruitment and turnover, the results are not only costly, but contribute to performance gaps in sales and customer service. To attract and retain talent, a company must be clear about its values, identify what type of talent is a good fit, and determine what improvements can be made to recruit and keep that talent.

Company – Fortune 500 Managed Services Company

This Fortune 500 Managed Services Company provides a wide range of food and beverage services, supplying more than one billion cups of coffee annually to business and industry clients at approximately 100,000 locations in North America. The Company offers Fortune 500 companies and other large and small employers a single source for office coffee service, water filtration, brand-name beverages, and food and break-room essentials.

Challenge – Employee Recruitment and Retention

In a competitive marketplace, employee loyalty is not a guarantee, but is an important element in creating a stable and sustainable workforce. In the business-critical sales and customer service functions, with low unemployment in the marketplace and high turnover, there were not enough candidates in the pipeline to keep up with vacancies and recruiting costs were skyrocketing.

Financial targets included:

• Recruiting cost reduction of 10%
• Decrease in days to fill by five days (25%).
• Increase in the number of pipeline candidates to 5-15 per region.
• Reduction of sales consultant turnover to less than 30%.
• Reduction of sales and service representative turnover to less than 40%.
• Increase in the job acceptance rate to 95% or better.

Solution – People Possibilities

An employment brand was needed to specifically focus on careers and to differentiate the company from its competitors. The brand needed to be packaged in different forms so it would become a part of the culture. In order to ensure employee retention, there needed to be significant improvements in identifying career paths for employees and communicating to them how to accomplish their goals to move along this career path. The branding process and communication materials helped managers to promote the company to the best candidates and to existing employees.

The branding campaign encompassed these values:

• An entrepreneurial culture in a stable company that is the world leader in managed services.
• Highly focused customer service and sales environment.
• Diversity of products, customers, employees and career opportunities.
• The opportunity for personal and professional growth in a business experiencing phenomenal success and recognized as a market leader.
• Performance based pay and the opportunity for ownership in the company.

These values were the reason people came to work for the company and why they stayed. Deliverables included development of website content for external communication and the creation of marketing and training tools for front line managers and the leadership team, including:

• Content for the external website to include a division specific careers section.
• A recruitment tool kit containing all of the materials a manager needs to execute the staffing process from initial contact through the first 90 days of employment, increasing their capability to attract and retain the best candidates.
• Specific tactics using the recruitment tool kit to address each financial target.

Result – National Recognition

• National recognition for the development of the Recruitment Tool Kit for front line managers; won a first place award in the “HR Best Practice” category from SHRM Arkansas State Council for building an outstanding career brand.
• Adoption of the Recruitment Tool Kit beyond the division to all divisions within the company.
• Increased number of hits to the external website.

Set up Management Succession Plan and Create a Talent Bench Program

Challenge

The company needed to identify gaps in succession plan and strategize replacement. General Management replacement took too long as a talent bench program was not in place. More than 50% of regional/location management had been in their position less than two years.

Solution – People Possibilities

• Used the Management Development Review as a tool to accomplish succession planning, performance management and career development goals of the team.
• Developed and delivered leadership training for high potentials.
• Completed a 360-degree evaluation for leaders, provided feedback, and coached leaders to improve skills and relationships.
• Used a management pre-hire assessment test to improve selection.
• Used bench positions to fill openings.
• Rewarded high performance financially and through promotions.

Result – Talent Bench Upgrade and Key Positions Filled

• Upgraded 30% of the region leadership team within the first year.
• Filled top key positions with internally developed candidates over three years.

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