Eric has successfully managed and consulted with business executives to lead significant growth and business transformation for over 25 years. The first 18 years were an intense mix of challenge, extreme reward, and constant learning as he led change from the inside. Over his career he has held a variety of management and executive positions for corporations such as The May Company, Intel, AT&T Capital, Cargill, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Hallmark Cards, Inc. where he partnered with senior leaders of businesses and functions to define business strategies, identify and build key capabilities, and to optimize the configuration and development of the physical and human assets to deliver value to the markets and customers they serve.
Samples of Eric’s recent work include:
· Co-leading the enterprise-wide redefinition of the business models for a large consumer goods company. This effort resulted in formerly integrated entities being established as distinct businesses and positioned each to more effectively compete within and to service the unique needs of its respective market. Eric led the subsequent design and transition efforts to realign and link the core work and assets within and across the businesses. In the first year of operation the new retail product to market cycle was cut in half, and revenues rose 3% year over year, arresting a previous trend of steady revenue erosion.
· Consulting to the CEO and COO of a large corporation to establish a new operating governance structure that provided clearer focus and enabled more responsive decision making and action by the new executive team, as well as for the businesses within the portfolio. A separate business development entity was also established to provide greater focus and accountability for innovation and growth opportunities outside the core businesses.
· Partnering with a new senior human resources executive to define a vision, a new positioning, and plan for the function consistent with new business direction of transitioning from an integrated corporate model to a shared operations model. Executives had defined a different expectation of human resources to participate as business partner versus a service organization. Eric led the redesign of the core processes and identified outsource opportunities that reduced the function's overall cost by 15%.
· Leading the CEO and the board of a non-profit organization through a process to refine its core purpose, clarify its value proposition to meet a noticeable shift in the needs of the public sector, deliver higher-value services more efficiently, and to more effectively compete for funding. Increased funding and referrals were realized from clearer alignment with benefactor objectives and key agency operations.
Eric’s experience and passion covers a range of organization development issues and interventions, but regardless of the business challenge, he believes that effective and sustainable change is made in the context of the total system. Equally important, he believes in transferring know-how and tools to others to increase the probability of evolving and enduring success. He measures a successful intervention by the degree to which there is increased capability within the organization to address ongoing challenges and to adapt to the demands of an ever-changing, competitive environment.
Prior to joining Navalent, Eric was the executive responsible for establishing and leading the Organization and Talent Management organization at Hallmark Cards, Inc. His team was responsible for working with business and functional leaders on large and small-scale organization design initiatives, executive coaching, human capital planning, talent management and development, and recruiting. Additionally, Eric served on the board of The Children’s Place, a non-profit organization providing treatment services for abused and neglected children in the greater Kansas City area. He also currently serves as a board member for Pinnacle Plus Financial.
Eric is the co-author of “Rising to Power: The Journey of Exceptional Executives” resulting from a ten-year study of leaders and focused on supporting transitioning executives to successfully assume roles of increasing scope and responsibility. Eric earned a business management undergraduate degree and holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Behavior from Brigham Young University.
