Our Vision

The HR Executive Forum (HREF) was established in 1996 and targets senior executives with responsibilities for human resources and organizational effectiveness. The overall membership target is senior leaders from an eclectic group of industries in the Puget Sound area. Forums are geared to support personal and professional growth, provide peer coaching, network, problem solve, share information, experiences and strategic knowledge with one another.

Seasoned  human resources executives are increasingly being asked to take on a more strategic role to meet the challenges of competition in their organizations. Those HR executives that truly “have a seat at the table” are also frequently expected to effectively coach their CEOs and other senior leaders, a role that Suzanne often played during her 22 years as a senior executive prior to starting HRNow.

The HR Executive Forum is a significant tool for the executive committed to taking this challenge on by providing opportunities to receive professional business coaching as well as to partner with and learn from peers committed to advancing a new value-added role for human resources.

The HR Executive Forum  exists to help its’ members grow personally and professionally and to advance high-performance people strategies through the creation of a learning environment with ongoing coaching opportunities, exposes members to the best models of organizational excellence and provides for resource sharing. Because turnover is minimal and executives learn to know one another over time, information and resource-sharing is frequent and open at roundtable meetings as well as in between meetings.

Meeting themes are strategic in nature and typically revolve around powerful questions:

• Genuine

• Inspires fresh and reflective thinking thinking

• Surfaces underlying assumptions

• Thought-provoking

• Generates energy and forward movement

• Channels attention and focuses energy

• Evokes more questions

Discussions range from exploring personal leadership journeys, building leadership strength – personally and for organizations, defining and advancing our roles as strategic HR executives, engagement, organizational savvy and posture/credibility needed for a seat at the table in the C-suite, coaching within organizations,  emotional intelligence and leadership  assessments and more. When topics  are more technical in nature – such as performance management, talent management and retention, the perspective is on strategic issues, not tactics, and how members can become more effective as leaders of human capital management strategies within their organizations.

What Members Say…

Services

Members can attend up to ten (10)  annual Forums with other members. To ensure the highest quality, each meeting is facilitated and coordinated by a Suzanne Elshult, Executive Coach and Founder of HRNow. Suzanne is also responsible for designing and coordinating meetings, and making sure that agendas, meeting notes and membership rosters are maintained.

Suzanne Elshult is available to provide limited individual coaching support outside meetings as part of the membership. She connects regularly with members (face-to-face or phone) to  explore professional challenges/opportunities experienced and identify topics/themes to design robust roundtable discussions.

Roundtable Logistics

Meetings are hosted by a member organization. Typical attendance is around 15 which is conducive to a more intimate environment and open sharing. Each meeting has a theme or is focused on a couple of strategic or professional growth issues identified as being of high priority to members. The meeting format and design is highly interactive and focused on  engagement, active listening, powerful questioning, creative thinking, peer coaching and rich informal learning/sharing in an intimate environment. Formal presentations are allowed only on an exception basis as a discussion catalyst and kept very brief.. Often, a member experience, initiative or challenge is used as a stepping stone for a meaningful exchange amongst members. Candid feedback to members sharing work in progress or professional challenges is encouraged. Occasionally, a subject matter expert is brought in to shed light on a strategic issue, always in a “facilitator” role, not as a “presenter.” The Forum is a “sales-free” zone.

Executive Coaching/Peer Sharing

Forum members get a 15% discount on coaching services from Suzanne Elshult. Typical executive coaching issues include:

• Becoming more aware of own leadership/communications style and impact on others

• Understanding, valuing and adapting to “others’ styles and communications needs

• Stepping into a new role, perhaps shifting from a “tactical manager” to “executive leader”

• ” Executive presence” – getting a “seat at the table” 

• Moving from an “individual contributor” to a “leader of people”

• Grappling with career issues and options

• Addressing burnout, balance and work/life issues

• Managing change and transformation effectively – organizational and personal

• Being an inspiring and engaging leader of teams and organizations

• Effectively addressing work conflict/team building with staff and peers

The HREF community  leverages technology such as a listserv, a LinkedIn closed group, and Facebook, Twitter participation for members to increase the level of intimacy and professional/personal sharing in between meetings. Resource sharing of a technical nature typically takes place on our Yahoo listserv and can include a large spectrum of questions such as:

• I am having trouble being heard and getting a “seat at the table” with my executive team and need to explore what is getting in my way.

• I am about to launch a major project and would like to contact another member organization that has pertinent experience. Who do you recommend I contact? What about non-member organizations?

• I would like to survey member organizations’ experience on a particular topic/issue. Could you send out a Survey Monkey survey?

• A project I am “championing” is off track. I need a “sounding board” and some ideas.

• I need some external consulting assistance. Can you refer me to one or several qualified external consultants/service providers?

Fees

Members pay an annual fee to help off-set costs of coaching,  facilitation, and coordination.

Information Request

If you would like to know more, or to place your name on a candidate list:

E-mail Us