career paths
“I SPEND THE BULK OF MY TIME IN THE AREAS I HAVE EXTREME PASSION FOR
– DESIGNING AND FACILITATING THE KIND OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
EXPERIENCES THAT HELP OUR CLIENTS UNLOCK LEADERS’ POTENTIAL.”
seen its client roster grow to 30 clients in just 18 months. HR
Professional recently sat down with Zigelstein-Yip to discuss her
HR career path as an HR consultant.
HRP: Why did you leave the corporate
world to head an HR consultancy?
Jodi Zigelstein-Yip: I’ve been lucky to work with great corporations
in the past as a generalist HR practitioner, but I find that
HR consulting provides me with an opportunity to analyze clients’
HR needs and work with their executive and HR teams to
help them overcome what can often seem like impossible obstacles
to success. I thrive in the consulting world, as I am able to help
organizations develop high-impact, innovative and proactive HR
solutions that engage, motivate and develop talent – all with an eye
to helping clients grow their business. Because this approach can
include virtually any area of HR, I haven’t chosen to specialize, in
the true sense of the word. Instead, I spend the bulk of my time
in the areas I have extreme passion for – designing and facilitating
the kind of leadership development experiences that help our clients
unlock leaders’ potential.
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HRP: What are your main areas of responsibility?
JZY: Because I head up the consulting side of our business, my main
areas of responsibility range from leading my team at WHRC and
meeting with potential clients to writing proposals, to doing the
work and managing projects. That’s in addition to facilitating HR
development experiences with our clients, presenting at association
conferences, spearheading our ongoing marketing initiatives and running
our Develop at WHRC series – a program designed to help HR
practitioners hone and expand their capabilities in the HR space.
HRP: What does a typical day at work look like for you?
JZY: No two days are the same around here – we accept a huge variety
of work.
HRP: What do you love about your job?
JZY: I’m able to work in an environment that I love, where I get
to use my creative energies to help clients shape the future of their
businesses in a proactive way. Our firm-wide culture is very entrepreneurial,
meaning that Laura encourages us to bring ideas to the
table, all while empowering us to problem-solve and take the necessary
steps to deliver the very best HR consulting services to our
clients. It may sound like a cliché, but everyone should be so lucky
to work in an environment where you can laugh and have fun with
your peers, all while delivering an exceptional client experience.
I also love the fact that I’m able to see immediate results when
working with our clients. Helping executives and their HR teams
overcome challenges and realize their potential is incredibly
rewarding.
HRP: What skills do you possess that make
you a great fit for your position?
JZY: I always joke that I’m not your typical HR professional. I’m
really a business person with HR training, one who focuses on
helping businesses achieve bottom-line success through the creation
of innovative and sustainable HR solutions. That means I
need to develop strategic partnerships with our clients, sometimes
challenge their assumptions and persuade them to take what I believe
is a more effective path. That may not always be a comfortable
process, but my experience has shown that it’s often a necessary
first step to help fuel an organization’s growth and development.
HRP: What are your ultimate career goals?
JZY: I’m living it each and every day. My ultimate career goals are
really focused on building the Williams HR Consulting brand and
creating a high-performance team of consultants who can continue
to provide exceptional services and solutions to our clients. I
don’t aspire to any specific title on my business card. As long as I’m
able to use my creativity, experience and expertise to help our clients
succeed, I’m happy.
I plan to be doing this until I’m 80 – okay, maybe 65! n
48 ❚ JANUARY 2015 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
