Consultants

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J. Forrest has 15 years of Performance Improvement Consulting in a variety of settings and industries and a passion for improving performance and the employee experience.

His educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Olaf College with majors in Political Science and Speech-Communication and a Masters of Education in Human Resource Development from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Since the early 90’s, J. has been employed by the two-time World Champion Minnesota Twins, St. Olaf College, inSOURCE HR Consulting and Xcel Energy Inc. He has had a variety of roles and responsibilities, most notably:

  • as a Consultant and Sr. Consultant at inSOURCE, he provided Human Resource Consulting services that ranged from Recruitment Process and Design implementation, Design and Development of Performance Management tools and Employee Recognition Systems. His clients included Big Six Accounting, Financial Services and IT Consulting.
  • as an internal consultant at Xcel Energy, he co-led the development of the current Employee Performance Management Tool, designed and implemented an internal customer relationship strategy and program that was recognized by Gantz Wiley Research and the International Quality and Productivity Center as a best practice for strategy and results.

Since forming in 2006, his project highlights include:

  • Conducting an HR-division level audit that resulted in a 5-point HR Executive Scorecard / Dashboard and HR re-organization. Conducted follow-up one year later and results have improved in all 5 categories.
  • For multiple clients, developed, delivered and evaluated a High Performing Team Series that included team formation, conflict awareness, strategic plan development and process to re-evaluate. Follow up results indicate a healthier, more productive team environment.
  • Designed, implemented and evaluated a competency-based assessment and training evaluation process for a 3,500 user PeopleSoft Financials implementation. Project included 18,000 tests/assessments and 7,500 training evaluations for 20 technical training courses. In addition, aided in the design of a competency based interview guide, test-preparation course, process maps and toolkits for affected employees and managers.

With a unique combination of Organization Development and Performance Management and Measurement, J. has created Employee Strategies, Inc. to help clients combine thoughtful people practices with bottom-line results.

J. is also active in the community. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at Project for Pride in Living and has spent more than 5 years on the board of directors at St Luke’s Lutheran Church and Lake Harriet Condominium Association. J. is also a contributor to Leadership and Community.

J. and his family live in Minneapolis.
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Ashley Bjork, Organization Development Consultant, Employee Strategies, Inc.

Ashley Bjork has served as a consultant and project coordinator for a variety of industries including Healthcare, Marketing / Communications, Non-Profit, Independent Private Business, City Management, Utility and Higher Education.

Key areas of project experience include Project Management, Orientation and Workplace Culture Design, Training and Development Design, Performance Management / Measurement, 360 Degree Feedback and personal study of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Emotional Intelligence (EQi) and Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI). Additional areas of interest include Team Building, Coaching and Employee Engagement.

Project highlights include:

• Project Management of a Marketing / Communications Brand Transition for a national health insurance company's 20+ health plan markets, 4,000 employees and more than 3 million individual recipients of healthcare services.

• Custom design of an 11-month Culture Calendar for private manufacturing company to drive employee social and mental well-being, refine communication and enhance job satisfaction / job performance.

• Construction of customized training materials and facilitation of training workshops for a cross-organizational customer satisfaction metric advancement effort within a non-profit.

In 2008, Ashley interned with the global human resources consulting firm, Personnel Decisions International (PDI), now PDI Ninth House, which further drove her passion and curiosity for organization development. Ashley is a co-author of a published journal article on educational and personal workplace facilitators. She was also a co-researcher on organizational workplace facilitators and has presented investigative research at various public forums.

Ashley graduated Cum Laude from St. Olaf College with bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Family Studies. She is certified in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and holds professional memberships with the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Twin Cities Human Resource Association (TCHRA).
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Russ Jowers, Consultant and Project Manager, Employee Strategies, Inc.

A native of Louisiana, Russ has been with Employee Strategies, Inc., as a project manager since February 2011.  Since moving to Minn., Russ has worked part time at the Minnesota Business Partnership; is a Director and Treasurer for the Upper Landing Riverfront Condo Association in St. Paul; and is also a Director and newsletter editor for the Minnesota Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America.

Russ retired as a Commander from the U.S. Navy where he flew airplanes and helicopters; managed people and equipment and traveled throughout the world for 24+ years.  He also has experience as a IT Project Manager for CIGNA Healthcare, Manager of the Student Accounts Office for New England College and as a Realtor in Va. and NH.  Russ and his wife, Amy, moved to Minnesota in 2007 and now live in their "forever condo" in downtown Minneapolis near the Guthrie Theater.

Russ earned his bachelor's degree from Northeast Louisiana University (now LSU-Monroe) and his master's degree in Business Management from Central Michigan University.  Some of Russ' interests are travel, Twins baseball, football and college basketball.