People: Faculty

Elizabeth Pou

Prior to establishing her consulting practice, Elizabeth Pou had over 16 years experience in human resources management following several years of practicing general business law.

Ms. Pou's experience encompasses a broad range of human resources activities and functions, from technical areas, such as benefits, compensation and employment law, to her current focus on the strategic role of human resources in developing organization capabilities. She is adept at working with diverse groups of people, building and facilitating teams, and coaching executives and managers.

Her areas of expertise include:

• enabling executives to effectively align themselves and employees with business strategy using state of the art, research-based human resources methodologies and tools;
• strengthening organization commitment and focus through development and application of vision and values and employing a variety of team-building processes with teams at all organization levels;
• establishing the human resources function in new or growing organizations and revitalizing and restructuring the function in changing organizations; and
• planning and executing downsizings and restructurings to carry out new or changed business strategies.

Experience

At Matthew Bender1, she guided the human resources staff in its evolution from an essentially clerical function to a customer-focused team of professionals linked to the business of the organization. She was a key member of the senior management team which significantly restructured Matthew Bender, requiring a complete shift in business strategy, a redesign of all departments and functions, and a staff reduction of nearly 50 percent. She led all employee-related aspects of the reorganization. Representative consulting assignments include:

• facilitating structural redesign of a company including preparation and execution of downsizings;
• developing a planning model and agenda for a new company's first strategic planning meeting;
• determining key characteristics for a newly created CEO position with key insiders and board members, and designing a recruiting plan;
• as project manager, planning and establishing a green field office site, including developing and executing a strategic staffing plan;
• developing and conducting employee work-life surveys;
• designing and delivering workshops utilizing MBTI© to increase effectiveness of workplace teams;
• training interventions including GE-type "workout" sessions and harassment prevention;
• developing and conducting behavior interviewing workshops using competency-based profiles;
• creating a competency-based success profile and selection guide for an international professional service organization's critical positions; and
• working with a CEO and senior team to develop and implement organization vision and values

She is a consultant with HR Solutions, a group established by the GE Energy Learning Center to provide GE-designed management processes and programs to GE and its customers. She is certified in MBTI©, Leadership Architect© and Benchmarks©. Prior to her human resources career, Ms. Pou practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her BA and JD from the University of North Carolina. She is a member of the Georgia Bar Association and is active in the Human Resources Planning Society.

Contact Information

Human Resources Consulting LLC
25 Broad Street
Asheville, NC 28801
(828) 350-0444
Fax (828) 350-1767
elp@humresconsult.com
Website: www.humresconsult.com