Human Resources are essential in conveying organizational messages and assisting clients in understanding the driving forces behind a business. However, the HR sector has adopted more modern methods of reaching out to and connecting with a wider range of consumers because of the development of technology and the rise of social media platforms. The effective implementation of HR strategies is influenced by several variables, including brand awareness, consumer engagement, compelling content, etc.

Nicole Martin, CEO, and Founder of HRBoost® expressed her passion for helping clients understand the role that human resources can play in developing a powerful company. Today, Nicole is a successful entrepreneur and an HR enterprise innovator who has devoted herself to assisting small to mid-length groups to recognize their capacity via their employees.

Reinforcing Bonds from the Beginning

Nicole grew up in Montana and was lucky to have her mom as a great mentor early in life. At 18, she left Montana and moved to Libertyville, Illinois. Right after high school, she got a job as a receptionist at a pre-Y2K firm. Nicole was promoted to Human Resources and was put in the department that noticed her strengths at a young age. She believes it is imperative to get hands-on experience doing what you seek to learn.

Nicole worked on a training program for a college human resources class, and ever since, she has been building HR departments from the ground up. The programs she develops, from the hiring procedure to annual reviews, are helpful to the company, increase productivity, and help staff members in understanding the significance of their efforts.

Today, Nicole has the privilege of leading a high-performance group of HR executives who work with business customers to support them along their journey. Under Nicole’s mentorship, clients have been attracted by word-of-mouth, and HRboost has grown significantly. Its attraction and success are a result of each client’s commitment.

Impacting Human Resources

Nicole launched HRBoost® in 2010 with the lofty goal of bringing individuals happiness and meaning through their work. The company provides HR services to small and midsize organizations on an as-needed, project-by-project, or retainer basis. It helps clients become top employers while also accommodating their pace and budget. By creating HR departments from scratch and integrating them with company strategy, it uses the shared services model.

While the company sees great value in the middle market, it also has some larger companies that augment their internal HR teams with strategic project initiatives from the team. The business believes in building a high-performance culture that drives innovation and profitability and requires leaders at all levels. The HR infrastructure at HRBoost® upholds the Culture Invitation and once it is strategically aligned and reinforced, a company can create workforce alignment, empowering leaders to innovate amidst even the most challenging climate in business.

Expert Services and Solutions

HRBoost® believes HR expertise is essential to any business as they grow its enterprise. Through its shared services model, firms can receive strategic HR while incorporating a culture plan that supports their overall business strategy and/or operational strategies. The business offers clients qualified talent and simultaneous access to strategic and tactical resources. The PEO Alternative is its middle market shared services strategy.

HRBoost® serves businesses spanning multiple sectors including Professional Services, Non-Profit Organizations, High Tech, Manufacturing, Staffing firms, Hospitality, and Healthcare. Its clients are typically high-growth businesses with 50-250 employees. The company provides full-service embedded HR support, project-to-project support, culture design, and management training, employee programs and assessments, virtual support, and phone support. It has seen phenomenal growth, and word of mouth has been the source of many of its customers.

A more than Human Approach

Nicole wants to set an example for others to follow and benefit everyone. She is accountable for empowering the booster team and making continual investments in training, equipment, and resources to maximize the group. In 2020, HRBoost® entered the Best & Brightest Companies to work for competition in Chicago after years of working on the advisory board and being a member of a successful business in previous positions. According to Nicole, a company’s leadership must exist at every level.

Revenue and Projections for the Future

Year after year, HRBoost® has shown growing trends, but during the pandemic, the business struggled much like many others. Eventually, despite the market’s level of uncertainty, it was able to return to its pre-Covid-19 revenue levels. The business revealed some new innovative ways to reach clients and help businesses that seek to retain talent.

Nicole’s views on Leadership

What are the challenges of being a business leader in today’s competitive business environment? How do you manage to counter them?

I think the initial challenges of being a CEO are many. One needs human capital and financial capital to scale and grow. Many will not grow because they are not investing in talent and often it is the CEO’s job to bear debt. I made a calculated risk to invest in my talent and invest in my bench strength.

In the early years, I was reacting to my business and, as a mother and wife, it can be a challenge to orchestrate work-life integration. You must trust the people you hire, and you must trust the process. When it is time to take a calculated risk, you invest and do what you can to increase the odds. Work and life should be integrated, not compartmentalized.

According to you, what are the qualities required to be an exceptional business leader?

I think it is important to be vulnerable and authentic. No one can be good at everything, but everyone can be good at something. Knowing yourself is important because if you don’t know you need others to be successful, then it will be hard to build a business. People will always matter, and a good leader knows that.

As a successful business leader, what would be your piece of advice for aspiring business leaders?

Invest in women. The fact that less than 2% of the money is invested in the United States in women-owned businesses is disturbing. The bottom line, women remain an opportunity and can develop teams that foster collaboration. If you do not have a positive work culture, talent will not tolerate it for long. Creating a cultural conversation takes rigor where the two-way exchange is fostered and upheld. If you do not have a common language for how leadership lives across the organization, morale can suffer.

Quote

“People will always matter, and a good leader knows that.”

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