Chapter Nine - Meet Employees and Clients Where They Are - Chris Flessert, CEBS, SPHR

"We Wish We Had Known: Everyday Tips from Consultants To Grow Your Business"

#Human Resources
#Employees

      After 30 years working in human resources for several small- and medium-sized family-owned businesses and large corporations, I wanted a change to finish my career.

      Having a broad human resource generalist background, bachelor’s degrees in management and accounting, and expertise in employee relations and benefits, seemed to be the right toolkit to be a consultant. Being an ear and expert to help small businesses solve their people problems and compliance headaches was what I enjoy doing most.

      Kollath & Associates CPA, a small, outsourced accounting firm in Madison, Wis., had numerous clients asking for human resource services. The accountants did not have the specialized human resource expertise to meet that need. Mike Kollath, president, decided it was time to add a human resource division to the CPA practice. Thus, SustainableHR was born.

      I was hired to start the human resource consulting practice for Kollath CPA in September 2016. Our consulting model is to be a hands-on, accessible human resource business partner. As an extension of a client’s company, our human resource consultant knows the client’s employees who contact us directly with their human resource questions. We provide counsel and expertise to our client’s manager ensuring the organization is compliant with applicable employment laws. We guide them in designing and offering benefit plans to balance costs with affordable benefits to support their employees’ needs and help to attract talent for the client.

      The key to a good consultant is asking the right questions, listening to your client, and reading between the lines. I have yet to find a manager that enjoys addressing employee problems!

1.     Ask the right questions. Clients know that they need human resource services but don’t know exactly what they need. I ask questions to probe and gain insight about the client company’s business and how they operate to determine their human resource service needs. For an existing business, we perform a human resource audit of their current practices, policies and records to see if the client is compliant with employment laws. If not, we work quickly to correct those noncompliant items that could cause the client penalties and fines. For a start-up, we have the opportunity design effective, compliant human resource processes and practices.

2.     Listen to your client.  A consultant must be adept to listen and ask probing questions to get to the real problem or issue. What is holding back this client company from growing and flourishing? Many times, it is a people issue such as the employee nobody wants to deal with, the chronically late/absent employee, or the employee who brings their personal problems/drama to work. I am the encourager to guide the manager to address these difficult employees.

3.     Read between the lines. What does the client’s tone of voice and body language tell you about the problem employee and frustration the owner/manager is experiencing? An example, Susan doesn’t come to work on time, but she has two kids and is a single parent, has an old car that breaks down…. (the saga goes on.) What can you do as an employer to support her efforts to get to work, especially in this current labor market shortage? That’s where brainstorming with the client possible options to provide a helping hand to Susan. It is getting the client to think “out of the box” to help them solve their problems with the goal of a win/win ending.

      Human resource consultants are the helping hand to guide clients towards workable solutions to maximize their staff and human resources processes to sustain and grow their business.

CHRIS FLESSERT

Chris Flessert, CEBS SPHR, offers HR services to small- and mid-sized companies with an emphasis on nonprofit companies.  Her human resource career started after finishing a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.  Her first job landed her at a manufacturing company in downtown Madison, Wis., as a personnel assistant. As her human resource career continued, she worked at three large insurance companies, three manufacturing companies, a large retail company and a local bank, gaining a broad base of experience as a human resource generalist. Along her career journey she found herself outplaced twice and retooled by earning a second bachelor’s degree in accounting. This opened new doors to opportunity.

To solidify her human resource competencies, she earned a lifetime certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). Having started a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) course in 1993, she resumed her studies with the remaining nine exams in 2011 and finishing in 2015. As a human resource “techie,” she enjoys the details, laws and challenges that benefit plans offer. Her other human resource area of expertise is employee relations or people problem-solving.

She gained a broad array of business experience through her life experiences so she can offer clients problem-solving skills and expertise to deal with any type of employee issue they may have. She is the encourager to help them address that “thorn-in-the-side” difficult employee problem they have been reluctant to address. Challenging employees can sidetrack a business in many ways.

#Human Resources
#Employees

Meet Employees and Clients Where They Are

Chris Flessert

Human Resource Services Manager
SustainableHR and SustainableHR PEO, LLC

After 30 years working in human resources for several small- and medium-sized family-owned businesses and large corporations, I wanted a change to finish my career.

      Having a broad human resource generalist background, bachelor’s degrees in management and accounting, and expertise in employee relations and benefits, seemed to be the right toolkit to be a consultant. Being an ear and expert to help small businesses solve their people problems and compliance headaches was what I enjoy doing most.

      Kollath & Associates CPA, a small, outsourced accounting firm in Madison, Wis., had numerous clients asking for human resource services. The accountants did not have the specialized human resource expertise to meet that need. Mike Kollath, president, decided it was time to add a human resource division to the CPA practice. Thus, SustainableHR was born.

      I was hired to start the human resource consulting practice for Kollath CPA in September 2016. Our consulting model is to be a hands-on, accessible human resource business partner. As an extension of a client’s company, our human resource consultant knows the client’s employees who contact us directly with their human resource questions. We provide counsel and expertise to our client’s manager ensuring the organization is compliant with applicable employment laws. We guide them in designing and offering benefit plans to balance costs with affordable benefits to support their employees’ needs and help to attract talent for the client.

      The key to a good consultant is asking the right questions, listening to your client, and reading between the lines. I have yet to find a manager that enjoys addressing employee problems!

1.     Ask the right questions. Clients know that they need human resource services but don’t know exactly what they need. I ask questions to probe and gain insight about the client company’s business and how they operate to determine their human resource service needs. For an existing business, we perform a human resource audit of their current practices, policies and records to see if the client is compliant with employment laws. If not, we work quickly to correct those noncompliant items that could cause the client penalties and fines. For a start-up, we have the opportunity design effective, compliant human resource processes and practices.

2.     Listen to your client.  A consultant must be adept to listen and ask probing questions to get to the real problem or issue. What is holding back this client company from growing and flourishing? Many times, it is a people issue such as the employee nobody wants to deal with, the chronically late/absent employee, or the employee who brings their personal problems/drama to work. I am the encourager to guide the manager to address these difficult employees.

3.     Read between the lines. What does the client’s tone of voice and body language tell you about the problem employee and frustration the owner/manager is experiencing? An example, Susan doesn’t come to work on time, but she has two kids and is a single parent, has an old car that breaks down…. (the saga goes on.) What can you do as an employer to support her efforts to get to work, especially in this current labor market shortage? That’s where brainstorming with the client possible options to provide a helping hand to Susan. It is getting the client to think “out of the box” to help them solve their problems with the goal of a win/win ending.

      Human resource consultants are the helping hand to guide clients towards workable solutions to maximize their staff and human resources processes to sustain and grow their business.

CHRIS FLESSERT

Chris Flessert, CEBS SPHR, offers HR services to small- and mid-sized companies with an emphasis on nonprofit companies.  Her human resource career started after finishing a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.  Her first job landed her at a manufacturing company in downtown Madison, Wis., as a personnel assistant. As her human resource career continued, she worked at three large insurance companies, three manufacturing companies, a large retail company and a local bank, gaining a broad base of experience as a human resource generalist. Along her career journey she found herself outplaced twice and retooled by earning a second bachelor’s degree in accounting. This opened new doors to opportunity.

To solidify her human resource competencies, she earned a lifetime certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). Having started a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) course in 1993, she resumed her studies with the remaining nine exams in 2011 and finishing in 2015. As a human resource “techie,” she enjoys the details, laws and challenges that benefit plans offer. Her other human resource area of expertise is employee relations or people problem-solving.

She gained a broad array of business experience through her life experiences so she can offer clients problem-solving skills and expertise to deal with any type of employee issue they may have. She is the encourager to help them address that “thorn-in-the-side” difficult employee problem they have been reluctant to address. Challenging employees can sidetrack a business in many ways.