Should I Bring My Head of HR to Every Meeting?

This question was asked by the leader of one of our clients,  Cushman & Wakefield |Thalhimer , a commercial real estate company employing over 300+ people in eight locations with headquartered in Richmond, VA.   As Board Chair and CEO, Paul Silver approached Titan as he wrestled with the decision of whether or not to create a more formal Human Resources department within their organization. The CFO was primarily handling day-to-day HR issues and things seemed to be working fairly well. Nonetheless, Silver wondered why Jack Welch, the former Chairman and CEO of GE, always had an HR person at his side during meetings. He decided to engage Titan Group to conduct a strategic HR assessment to evaluate the current and future value that HR could bring to the organization.

Titan focused on measuring the return on people investment by strategically adding  more resources into Thalhimer’s HR function. Titan Group collected data from stakeholders and benchmarked best practices for the organization. We also developed strategies, including creating a detailed HR staffing plan. The key value of bringing in someone to lead and develop a strategic HR presence for Thalhimer is an increased ability to attract and obtain top talent, develop current managers and continue to be a great place to work.  Silver views his investment in HR as one that will increase the firm’s ROI by ensuring that Thalhimer is working on the right strategic people initiatives.  Further, Silver commented that “The assessment also identified opportunities in recruiting, organizational development, and HR strategies to elevate our workforce to a world class level. “In terms of next steps, and after further review and evaluation, Thalhimer agreed that the entire firm would benefit from an investment in their HR organization.  Once again Silver worked with Titan Group to perform an extensive search to select and hire a Director of Human Resources who would have the experience, vision, and leadership to elevate our workforce to the next level.  He was delighted with our HR search results and commented that  “We were fortunate that Titan sourced a very strong HR leader who will take us to the next level.”

Ann Albrecht is their new Director of HR leading the HR charge.  Albrecht shared that she views Titan Group as a “focused and thorough professional firm with excellent sourcing and assessment skills” and that she is excited about taking HR at Thalhimer to the next level.