Thank you for visiting my consulting page. After spending a few years with a big box consulting firm serving large federal clients – such as the FBI and the Defense Intelligence Agency – on leadership development and talent management projects, I decided to launch my own service, Nathan Magnuson Consulting. I typically serve small and mid-size organizations of all sectors in their management and leadership development initiatives, particularly if they do not have access to a full-time Organizational/Talent Development division in HR.
If this describes your situation, let’s talk about how I can save you pennies on the dollar (compared to hiring an additional full-time employee) and still provide these benefits to you. Most of my work takes place in the Central Florida area, but I am happy to travel for certain opportunities. Below are some of my main offerings, although I am happy to explore a custom solution for your organization.
To make a consulting inquiry, please contact me here.
StrengthsFinder Administration for Individuals & Teams
We typically grade for weaknesses in our performance review process, but how do we maximize our strengths? Can the individuals on your team even identify their core strengths? What kind of difference would it make to bring specific strengths-based leadership and language to your team? Gallup claims it will increase employee engagement as high as 600%! I will administer this Gallup assessment with your team and facilitate a 1-2 hour workshop with the option of individual strengths coaching. Individuals will receive a “Top 5” strengths report and your team will get a strengths profile, as well as recommendations for how to capitalize on your specific makeup – and what to watch out for.
Click here to find out more about my StrengthsFinder assessment administration service. To access articles I’ve written on StrengthsFinder, click here.
360 Degree Assessment Administration for Teams
Most organizations use the 360 degree assessment to improve employee development and/or team effectiveness. The 360 degree assessment is designed to provide multiple feedback inputs from an employee’s subordinates, peers, and supervisor(s) against a custom selection of organizational competencies. The purpose is developmental (vs. performance) and individual raters are anonymous. Each participant receives his/her own feedback report. Like a strengths assessment, teams benefit by understanding their unique team profile and individuals get to be involved in the team development process together. I will administer this multi-rater assessment with your team and facilitate a 1 hour training workshop with the option of individual coaching.
Strategic Planning
The main reasons strategic planning often fails are lack of leadership buy-in, lack of participation, an end product that is too complicated, and lack of follow-up during implementation. I address all of these issues in the one to two day strategic planning event and the plan itself. Whether you are a well established organization or a start-up – and regardless of whether your team is made up of natural planners or free-thinkers – this is a plan you can use. I can develop a strategic plan for your organization, department, or team level.
Employee Engagement Surveys
We tend to believe that a good salary is the leading motivator for our employees and then are surprised to see high paid employees leave for other lower-paid opportunities. The truth is there are many different areas of employee engagement, which means there are many opportunities for employers to either “make it” or “break it” with their employees. Some of these areas include interesting work, career progression opportunities, development opportunities, and good relationship with supervisors and co-workers, to name just a few. But if you don’t know how your employees rank these engagement items, you won’t know whether your organization is motivating your employees to stay or to seek greener pastures. I’ll administer an anonymous employee engagement survey for your organization, department or team and share the results with you, highlighting the main themes that are working well and ones that may need more attention. Don’t let what you don’t know hurt you.
Individual Development Planning – Program Development
In recent years we’ve seen an influx in individual/personal development planning (IDP or PDP) initiatives across all American sectors. This is a separate from the performance management process. Put the reigns of development into the hands of your employees with a formal IDP program, which I can custom create for you organization, in addition to training for both employees and supervisors.
To reference articles I’ve written on individual development planning, click here.
Employee Onboarding/Mentoring/Networking – Program Development
Does your organization have a formal program for employee onboarding, mentoring, or networking? Did you realize that many employees decide to leave an organization right after a poor onboarding experience? Many others leave because they don’t have access to a mentor to help guide them on their career journey. Still others leave because the organizational infrastructure makes it difficult to make the connections they need to succeed. Instead of paying ongoing recruiting costs to replace talent that leaves, consider investing in one of these programs. I can help develop one for you – particularly if you do not have access to HR capabilities to build the program yourself. If you do have such a program, I can also help to measure its effectiveness.
To access articles I’ve written on these topics, click here.
Custom
If you have a organizational or talent development need that is not addressed here, please contact me and we can discuss a custom solution for you. Projects might include a leadership development program development/administration, learning/curriculum development, organization diagnosis, human capital survey analysis, program management, change leadership, projects involving student leadership initiatives or something completely else. For less labor-intensive or deliverable-oriented project needs, a coaching solution may be the most appropriate.
For inquiries, please visit my Contact page.