HR OptIn launches to link
high-caliber professionals
with HR assignments
Women bringing top credentials back to the
workforce.
Online community a virtual hub for new role as independent consultants.
(ATLANTA)
– Opting out wasn’t easy. Now, even with stellar credentials, opting back in
has become increasingly more difficult for women who made the decision to
leave their high-powered careers to focus on their families. According to the
Harvard Business Review, “Only 38% of women graduating from Harvard
Business School are working full time today and 93% of women who opted out
wish to return to their careers.”
To help Human Resources
(HR) professionals transition back into the workforce, the Atlanta—based HR
firm of Incite Strategies has launched an interactive online headquarters
called HR OptIn. This new enterprise matches professionals wishing to rejoin
the workforce with organizations seeking part-time or temporary HR project
managers. HR OptIn, and it’s parent company, Incite Strategies, Inc.,
already has relationships with some of the nations premier HR departments at
Fortune 1000 companies.
“Companies requiring
support for an immediate human resources project will be able to take
advantage of a pool of experienced women who will dive right in, make an
impact, and add value without adding overhead and unnecessary costs,” said
Monique Dearth, president of Incite Strategies and HR OptIn.
HR OptIn launched with two
clients -- GE and Philips Medical Systems. Both clients are seeking ways to
reduce overhead, quickly add highly qualified team members to short-term,
high-profile projects, and bring fresh ideas to the table.
GE HR Manager Raghu
Krishnamoorthy sees the benefit of having a pool of qualified talent available
on short notice. “HR OptIn jumped in right away to provide two managers who
facilitated a complete session at the last minute for us. Most of our
employees did not even know they were dealing with external consultants.
Everything was seamless.”
The Brain Drain
In 2004, the Center for
Work-Life Policy sponsored a survey to investigate the role of women opting in
and out of the workforce. The survey revealed that 37% of highly qualified
women leave the work force voluntarily. Among women with children, that
statistic rises to 43%. But child rearing is not the only reason for
leaving. Seventeen percent of women opted out because their jobs were not
satisfying or meaningful. Other reasons included rigid policies and glass
ceilings.
An impressive 58% of all
college graduates are now women and almost half of all professional and
graduate degrees are earned by women, according to the Harvard Business
Review. If 37% of these female graduates have left the workforce, then
the business community has lost valuable human resources.
HR OptIn’s goals are to
reverse the brain drain and raise those statistics by helping women prepare
themselves to re-enter the workforce and to educate companies on how they can
benefit from these opt-ins and accommodate their requirements.
The Balancing Act
Lisa Hart was on the fast
track at GE working in a variety of high-profile HR roles before she opted out
to start a family. A graduate of
Siena College in New York
and GE’s prestigious two-year HR Leadership Program, Ms. Hart put an admirable
education and career on hold. Now, four children later, she wants to return
to the career she once enjoyed while continuing to be engaged in family and
volunteer activities. Women like Lisa Hart are finding HR OptIn to be the
perfect solution to balancing their careers with their busy personal
lifestyles. “Through HR OptIn, I’m able to have it all,” said Ms. Hart. “I
am now contributing to the business world and to my family’s income in a way
that meets the demands of my lifestyle.”
“Two forces in the HR
industry led us to the creation of HR OptIn,” says Ms. Dearth. First, is the
changing nature of human resources itself into a more dynamic and increasingly
specialized, project-oriented set of challenges. Second, is the changing
outlook of many HR professionals, including many women, who have sought a
transition form full-time status to smart, flex-time positions balancing
career and family.
Opting in is also about
giving back, and Ms. Dearth is committed to enriching the lives of women and
children globally. Through the ‘Opting In/Giving Back’ program, HR OptIn
provides a donation, in honor of each consultant who completes an assignment,
to the charity of the consultant’s choice that supports women and children.
One
of the on-ramps to opting in is through HR OptIn’s website,
www.HROptIn.com. This
state-of-the-art site features a virtual community of career experts, an
interactive reading room, and blogging options.
Ms. Dearth is one of four
recipients of Enterprising Women magazine’s 2007 Enterprising Women of
the Year Award. Profiled by the Atlanta Business Chronicle in 2004 as
one of “40 of
Atlanta’s Most
Promising Young Stars under the Age 40,” Ms. Dearth has certainly lived up to
the publication’s prediction. In addition to leading one of the fastest
growing companies in Georgia, she also is a dynamic speaker on leadership
development. Ms. Dearth holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of
Michigan, a Masters of Labor and Industrial Relations with honors from
Michigan State University, and a Juris Doctorate cum laude from
Albany
Law School. She is
married with two children.
A global HR consulting
firm based in Atlanta, GA, Incite Strategies focuses on building people
capabilities through executive assessment and coaching, leadership training,
and organizational strategy providing services to some of the most recognized
names in the Fortune 100, including GE, The Home Depot, Earthlink, and Porsche
Cars. Incite Strategies is certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) by
the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).
