People & Culture Consultation
Investing in creating a strong cultural foundation creates organizations that can thrive in any environment.
Don't wait until things break.
"Kim is defining the next wave of corporate culture"
Nick Daze, CEO/Co-Founder @ Heirloom
"Kim is one of a few HR professionals defining the next wave of corporate culture and best practices. Her ideas have been foundational to our building a great culture that's focused on bringing people together to do their best work and to learn and grow along the way."
Philosophy
I believe that the best companies are the ones that have a strong sense of who they are -- and who they aren’t. They use their values to inform all decision-making, from who they hire to how they build product to what money they say no to. They believe that cultural education is as important as teaching the tech stack or administering payroll, and that building an intentional transparency around how and why the company does things is key to a cohesive culture.
One of the biggest mistakes young companies make is under-resourcing PeopleOps until it’s too late. It’s critical to set a strong foundation early and build from a place of intention rather than reaction. Truly successful PeopleOps needs space to breathe, to understand, to strategize, to re-evaluate, to innovate. The emotional toll of trying to fix a broken culture or dig your way out of piles of process debt is exhausting -- not to mention the effects of trying to rewire the company’s brain and actions that are now de facto intrinsic to your culture. You don't have to do it all at once, but you do have to be thoughtful and strategic as you build.
Patterns are hard to break. Establish good ones, and an environment that accepts failure and change, early on, so that your culture can evolve as the company grows. Invest in the things that matter.
"Kim was as meaningful to the company's path as any founder or early engineer."
"I worked with Kim closely through her 8 years at Disqus. It's difficult for me to recall moments in the company's history without her in it, as Kim was as meaningful to the company's path as any founder or early engineer. Kim was always an excellent complement to my own strengths and skills. As a first-time founder and CEO, my job was varied and was also constantly changing. Kim complemented this by always growing as an operator and a people manager -- supporting me in areas where I was weaker and seeking growth in areas that were new to her. She excels at finding areas where she can make contributions that will be felt, no matter how murky or distant the goals may be. I feel both fortunate and proud of the time we had working together, and it's clear to me that she's someone who would be a dependable partner to anyone at any level in an organization. For similar reasons, Kim also has the make of a strong leader that others regularly look to for guidance."
Available Services
💓 Values
Core Values are at the beating heart of all successful people-first companies, but even the loveliest-sounding, best-intentioned values are meaningless if you don't know what to do with them.
I will help you build a strategic approach to your values; for example:
identifying behaviors that do (and don't) align with your values
weaving your values into performance management and rewards/recognition
introducing "culture add" interview questions that reduce bias
building strategic internal communication strategy to tie actions to values
crafting a public narrative around your values and your business
leveraging your values to make business and product decisions
reimagining your values as your company and culture evolve
📈 Strategy
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to building a strategic People function, but investing in yours is a competitive advantage.
I'll help you codify and action on your strategy; for example:
determining how and when you need to build out a People Team
defining your ideal candidate profile and sourcing strategy
prioritizing the current fires and wishlists
gathering feedback from employees
communicating realistic expectations to the organization
telling the story of your culture to your employees
💪 Leadership
Your leadership team can be your secret weapon...but it can be used against you if your team isn't consistent, collaborative, and cohesive. I'll help ensure your Leadership team stays aligned and on track so that they can inspire the performance of their teams.
I'm happy to coach 1:1 or in a group on:
navigating organizational change, from creation to communication
maintaining a strong culture during times of transition
aligning on leadership principles and accountability measures
inspiring values-driven behaviors on your team
🌟 Bonus: Looking for People Leader coaching? Check out my Career Coaching services 🤩
💰 I can work on retainer or on a project-basis, depending on your company's needs.
Let's figure out how I can help!
"Kim defined Disqus' culture, and that culture was one of the best."
Jeremy Laskar, Senior Frontend Engineer
"In my time at Disqus, if you asked me who the heart and soul of the company were, my first answer would be Kim. Kim defined Disqus' culture, and that culture was one of the best, most enriching and productive experiences I've had in my career. Kim helped build a company whose employees valued each other, valued the hard work they put into the product they were making, and valued their users and the relationship created with those users around the world."
"Kim simply shifted what I look for in a company culture."
Burak Yigit Kaya, Open Source Engineer
"I have worked with Kim for the entire 5 years I worked at Disqus and I can easily say she created the awesome Disqus culture from the ground up and made it sustainable. Here are a few specific ways how she achieved this and helped Disqus leave its mark on me and simply shifted what I look in a company culture:
Kim was very proactive, seeking out all the ways in all possible places to improve communications, efficiency and happiness at Disqus
Kim was able to distill and tailor all those different ideas and implementations into something specific and applicable to Disqus
Kim realized the need to scale herself and the culture very early on and invested into this. She expanded the People Operations team slowly but steadily while also codifying the every day operations she was doing in a way that new hires in the PO department were able to sustain the culture while allowing her to look into the future for more strategic planning.
Kim was as transparent as she can with company decisions, status and policies. Our PO department run happiness surveys periodically and she made the raw and interpreted results available as soon as possible, without sugar coating any not-so-great parts.
Kim always made sure that action was taken when an issue was raised. I could literally track the progress of certain changes once they were surfaced either in regular pulse surveys or in 1-1 discussions.
At the end, she helped and drived such a strong and valid culture at Disqus that when the company had tough times, everyone actually came together instead of going into their own corners in desperation. Even when there was a large number of people going in or out, the core values of the company and the culture maintained itself while also evolving to benefit from the new people's experiences.
Now if you work at a large company, you may be saying "duh, this is the way you do things" but mind you the largest Disqus was during those times were 60 people with at most 4 people in the PO department, including Kim. I'd say that's not something everyone can do and I have learned so much from her regarding how to work better and make a company feel connected.
I'd always remember those times fondly and would be looking out for any opportunities to work with her again."
"Kim understands people operations better than anyone I've met."
"Kim understands people operations better then anyone I've met. She was insightful in helping us hire the perfect person and understands the tactical side of operations (HR / Benefits / Accounting) and people / culture which is equally as important. I'd highly recommend her to any companies in rapid scale mode."
"Kim is shaping the new paradigm of HR/People Operations."
Rosa Lee, Executive Assistant
"Thanks to Kim and the community she built, I was able to scale the org I was working at the time from 10 to 150+. Kim is shaping the new paradigm of HR/People Operations. Not only is she data-driven and strategic, but she is a true leader who mentors and cultivates future leaders. Organizations should fight to have Kim because she's that amazing."