HR Maverick
Heather Skillman, ACC
Heather Skillman is the founder and principal owner of The Skillman Enterprise which includes an HR consulting division called SkillmanHR4U. Heather is a senior-level Human Resources professional with 20 years of experience, providing strategic and tactical direction for the Human Resources function. Heather excels in three key areas; Communication, Research, and Engagement. Heather offers a proven track record of helping leaders be successful in their roles by advising on employee issues, employee development, succession planning, and hiring and retaining talent as well as training on managing legal compliance. Heather began her Human Resources career working as a recruiter for two agencies. She moved into a generalist role working for a design manufacturing and engineering company specializing in medical devices. She focused on recruiting top talent, training leaders and employees on FDA, ISO and WA state law compliance. She moved into a high Tech start up as a Senior Recruiter, Healthcare as a Sr Generalist and then into Aerospace as a SR HR Business partner. She excelled at training new managers, employee engagement, career planning, succession planning, hiring and interviewing techniques, salary placement, promotion processes, complex investigations, and in helping managers avoid union grievances. In addition to her Human Resources leadership role in various industries, Heather has a unique combination of strategic Operations and Human Resources experience and works particularly well with engineers and in manufacturing environments. She spent 20 years working in Human Resources in both union and non-union environments with experience in a variety of industries. Heather has expertise in all functional areas of Human Resources. She has an outstanding track record for developing solid and trusting relationships with leaders helping them be successful and effective in aligning their employees team performance with company objectives. The Skillman Enterprise and SkillmanHR4U Consulting serves the day to day HR support in the WA sate area for small business owners as well as virtual strategic engagement and coaching for mid size companies across the United states. Heathers goal is to help make workplaces engaging so employees leave work feeling less stressed and energized to focus on the good things in their personal life.
What words of advice and encouragement would you give to someone just starting out in HR?
Learn about the people you support- for example- when I worked in manufacturing I met with all the managers I supported to learn about their teams, and also got to walk around the factory learning more on the product. (In this case it was the wing of a 777 plane- pretty cool huh?) The employees saw me walking on the floor often which made me more approachable vs being behind a desk all day. The managers really liked me wanting to know more about them and their team and what they did AND I got to learn some cool things about the product which made me more engaged and happier at my job. So- ask questions- learn what you can- be involved in the managers staff meetings if you can- so you hear more on what they do- and the employees get to see you other than when there may be an issue.
HR Encyclopedia articles written by Heather Skillman, ACC:
Anxiety in the Workplace
Workplace anxiety is a real thing and can affect a person’s mental focus, satisfaction, motivation, and ability to carry out their work duties. Understanding what it is, recognizing when it shows up, and knowing how to offer support can help equip you to manage workplace anxiety.
HR Maverick
Heather Skillman, ACC
Heather Skillman is the founder and principal owner of The Skillman Enterprise which includes an HR consulting division called SkillmanHR4U. Heather is a senior-level Human Resources professional with 20 years of experience, providing strategic and tactical direction for the Human Resources function. Heather excels in three key areas; Communication, Research, and Engagement. Heather offers a proven track record of helping leaders be successful in their roles by advising on employee issues, employee development, succession planning, and hiring and retaining talent as well as training on managing legal compliance. Heather began her Human Resources career working as a recruiter for two agencies. She moved into a generalist role working for a design manufacturing and engineering company specializing in medical devices. She focused on recruiting top talent, training leaders and employees on FDA, ISO and WA state law compliance. She moved into a high Tech start up as a Senior Recruiter, Healthcare as a Sr Generalist and then into Aerospace as a SR HR Business partner. She excelled at training new managers, employee engagement, career planning, succession planning, hiring and interviewing techniques, salary placement, promotion processes, complex investigations, and in helping managers avoid union grievances. In addition to her Human Resources leadership role in various industries, Heather has a unique combination of strategic Operations and Human Resources experience and works particularly well with engineers and in manufacturing environments. She spent 20 years working in Human Resources in both union and non-union environments with experience in a variety of industries. Heather has expertise in all functional areas of Human Resources. She has an outstanding track record for developing solid and trusting relationships with leaders helping them be successful and effective in aligning their employees team performance with company objectives. The Skillman Enterprise and SkillmanHR4U Consulting serves the day to day HR support in the WA sate area for small business owners as well as virtual strategic engagement and coaching for mid size companies across the United states. Heathers goal is to help make workplaces engaging so employees leave work feeling less stressed and energized to focus on the good things in their personal life.
What words of advice and encouragement would you give to someone just starting out in HR?
Learn about the people you support- for example- when I worked in manufacturing I met with all the managers I supported to learn about their teams, and also got to walk around the factory learning more on the product. (In this case it was the wing of a 777 plane- pretty cool huh?) The employees saw me walking on the floor often which made me more approachable vs being behind a desk all day. The managers really liked me wanting to know more about them and their team and what they did AND I got to learn some cool things about the product which made me more engaged and happier at my job. So- ask questions- learn what you can- be involved in the managers staff meetings if you can- so you hear more on what they do- and the employees get to see you other than when there may be an issue.
HR Encyclopedia articles written by Heather Skillman, ACC:
