I started Open Door in 2009, but the concepts predate me. Early in my career, I worked for renowned quality guru and best-selling author Philip Crosby. Philip Crosby Associates (PCA) – was the largest consulting company in quality improvement that was and ever will be. That’s where I learned to think differently from conventional HR. I had to - I didn't learn HR from an HR person; I learned about organizational solutions from a quality guru. I was the HR Manager in this company that had 40% of Fortune 500 companies as well as a humongous number of mid-sized ones as clients.
Phil Crosby taught Quality Improvement through employee engagement and culture change – before engagement and culture change were popular topics in the HR space. He was a pioneer. His ways worked for innumerable companies around the world. They also worked for me, as I saw the same strategies improving morale and employee engagement. As PCA grew, I found myself consulting with PCA clients on staffing, incentive pay, performance management, and benefits plan design, creating unique solutions that fit with clients' culture while reinforcing quality improvement efforts as taught at PCA. Ultimately, I got certified in PCA's methods of Quality Improvement which was a huge honor.
PCA was a publicly-traded company which ultimately got bought out in a hostile takeover that ousted Phil. I took that as my opportunity to mov to Colorado in 1990 serving as the HR Director at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and later as the Director of HR, Education, and Research at Poudre Valley Health System. I've been working with clients throughout the region since 2000, at that time serving as the COO for an absentee CEO/owner of an outsourced HR Consulting and Services company called The Employer Source. The owner called me the "Working Partner." I called myself an entrepreneur with someone else's money!
Add all that up, and I've got a pretty unique background that includes running a company, Organizational Development, HR, Quality, Education and Operations. I don't approach people issues from the perspective of conventional wisdom in HR. It’s hard to when you’ve had full P&L responsibility for a company and had to manage client relationships, PR, risk management, and other aspects of running a business besides HR. It’s also hard to when you’ve worked for a Quality Guru and you drank the cool aid.
Through Open Door, I consult with organizations on team issues related to Boards, CEOs, Management Teams, Quality and Organizational Performance Improvement, Strategic Planning, and everything “people.” Though I understand compliance and the need for it, my consulting is largely based on culture. I find that when you come at issues from the standpoint of culture, you can have a better outcome than trying to get there by focusing on compliance. Clients have been a mix of businesses and Not-For-Profit organizations ranging in size from startups to thousands. I love my clients! I've been really blessed!
I've had opportunities to work with some of the best organizations over the years, and that has allowed me to create programs that have won state and national awards, and that have been featured in local and national press including, Inc., Entrepreneur, Training, and CBS This Morning. I've spoken at state and national conferences and testified before state and federal Congressional committees. My work with one client in particular was featured in the November 2012 edition of HR Magazine in their cover article “Business Transformations Take Flight." If I was ever going to be in HR Magazine, that would be the one issue I would have wanted to be in. I love transformations and I get to see them the same way Phil Crosby did - through culture change and engagement.