Your strategic HR Partner

   Liz Schulz has my highest recommendation as an executive level Human Resources professional.  She is smart, accomplished, driven and authentic.  I observed her value while working with her at Baxter Healthcare for over 10 years.  We were peers on an executive leadership team overseeing a large biologics manufacturing facility. We managed a budget of over $100M and an employee base of over 1000. In those years Liz helped lead a growth from ~300 employees to over more than 1000, a growth from a single product facility to multi-product, and the FDA licensing of several new production suites.  Ms. Schulz’s responsibilities were to manage the HR department, to be the interface between employees and the business, set direction of culture, and to assure a work environment in line with Baxter’s values. In this role Liz was a rock-solid HR professional: knowledgeable, able to navigate the tough gray areas in employee relations, and to lead policy setting toward employee satisfaction.  The culture at the facility was regarded as best in class across the Baxter facilities due in large part to Liz’s employee centered programs and activities. It was common for other HR department heads from other facilities to seek Liz out for guidance.  Liz was highly regarded on the leadership team as a partner, a motivator, and an idea generator.  I am available if necessary to discuss in more depth any questions regarding Liz.  And I repeat, she has my highest recommendation. 

Liz Schulz and I worked together for over 15 years in Human Resources at Baxter/Baxalta.  It goes without saying that Liz has a strong aptitude for Human Resources. To me, her strengths surpass that of General HR.  It’s her constant strive to develop people, encourage and motivate professional advancement, and lead by example that are exceptional, a true change agent.  These are the qualities that afforded me and our team to implement leadership initiatives that would change lives, professions, and career paths. Throughout our collaborations, her organizational strategies, resource allocation, and innovative qualities have been vital.  Over the years, we have implemented a variety of premier leadership development programs for those becoming supervisors for the first time, to top talent, to seasoned Directors and VPs....  Liz was instrumental in the design and implementation of these programs, as well as a key advocate.  She was a member of the advisory committee, a lead mentor, and one of my most valued conduits. Liz has always been receptive to discussing development options.  She truly wanted the best for employees and was intrigued by new initiatives.  She was always ensuring feasibility and value to the organization... She knew the importance to success was a leadership team that supported and aligned with the significance of not only developing top talent, implementing consistent motivation of key/solid talent, yet also be proactive in corrective development for talent that was at risk. Liz seamlessly navigated the extremely complex organizational dynamics, while maintaining a supportive working environment which was indispensable.  She earned my admiration, as well as that of her peers, subordinates, and senior leaders. There are very few people who I’ve worked with that were better prepared, knowledgeable, or organized as Liz.  I’m lucky enough to have worked with such a high caliber person.   

 I’d like to offer my professional recommendation for Karyn Vorhees, a former colleague. Karyn is someone whose work I have known well, and whose work habits I have observed at close range, in the most challenging of circumstances. I first met Karyn at my previous employer, a Human Resources and Management Project consulting firm. At the time we needed a recruiter to work with our most demanding client; a high-growth company that had recently merged with a competitor. We had cycled through several promising recruiting and HR professionals in that role and none of them could handle the complexity and pace of this company. Then we hired Karyn. In a short time, she had accomplished more than the three previous people in her role combined. She had built the seeds of a trusting relationship with key senior leaders, made sense of the client’s ever-changing org chart and job titles, established a consistent hiring process with the client’s most active hiring managers, and established an interview cadence that bore fruit faster than we could ever have hoped. To say Karyn exceeded expectations early in her tenure at my former employer is an understatement.  

Because this client was in a niche sector of the semiconductor industry, we assumed that recruiting would take all of her time and focus. But it soon became clear she was capable of much more.  Over the 3 years she worked with this client, she handled management coaching, benefits administration, employee relations, compliance, and more. Karyn is a consummate professional. Her effectiveness comes from her approach to work; she acts with urgency, follow-through, and accountability. She’s able to work fast without sacrificing her exceptional attention to detail.  She is exceptionally efficient with her time. She brings experience to the table but has a sixth sense for knowing when to challenge her own assumptions and expectations. She asks questions…once. She’ll pick up new concepts quickly and apply them on the run. Karyn’s continued relationships with leaders and hiring managers she’s worked with in the past speak for themselves. She’s friendly, open, engaging, and knows how to build rapport with CEO’s as easily as line operators. Karyn has my unallowed respect, admiration, and my full-throated recommendation for any company in need of H.R. assistance.