Is your business at a crossroads? Although you know that people are your biggest business asset, do you suspect you could do more to encourage their best? Are you ready to make the necessary changes to attract the right people, and keep them?
My name is Lisa Craven and I’m a business coach who specialises in helping organisations attract and retain the best talent, to ensure they thrive.
Your most important business asset
As a native New Yorker with 20 years’ experience in Human Resources, I’m passionate about enabling businesses to empower their most important asset – their people.
Combining extensive experience in strategic human resources management, customised management training programs, executive coaching and wellness, I help empower your team from within, rebuilding your company culture from the inside out, so that team members are engaged and motivated.
I’m passionate about people – and it shows. Whether working one-to-one or in a group setting, I have a talent for recognising the strengths of the individual, and helping them find their own particular motivation to the meanings we bring to work.
Who I help
The people I work with are legendary jugglers – owners and leaders at work, domestic executives at home. They’re smart, savvy, and confident. They’re ambitious and know they need to be the best leader possible to inspire their team to bring their goals to life.
The people I work with are striving to find the elusive work-life balance. They want to be a good example for their peers and team, unafraid to show their value for a family and life outside of work.
They know that emotional intelligence and resilience are part-and-parcel of being an effective business leader and that leadership is an inside job.
They know they need to prioritise developing company culture to create an enviable place to work, but it’s easy to overlook in the day-to-day hustle.
If you’re a business owner or manager who needs a trusted advisor and confidant to help develop your biggest business assets – your people – then I’d love to talk. We all need support to take that next big step which will propel your business towards even greater success.
My approach
My approach to cultivating talent is informed by working with a broad cross-section of people from around the world, with organisations ranging from Fortune 500 and global tech corporations, to small businesses and start-ups, to not-for-profits for young adults with intellectual disabilities.
My approach is built on the following:
Your culture acts as a magnet: if you want to retain the right people, first focus on creating the optimum environment for your people to thrive.
- Attracting the right talent is expensive: do it properly the first time and you’ll reduce your expenditure.
- Learning and development is ongoing: your internal training programs, group and one-to-one executive coaching keeps your talent personally invigorated and ensures that key business objectives are realised.
- Leadership is an inside job: the most effective leaders are emotionally intelligent, resilient, insightful and inspiring.
My process for attracting and retaining the right talent is:
Understanding the current personality of your organisation, examining the key beliefs, attitudes and culture of the business.
- Understanding the particular communication styles of current leadership as well as leadership support and conflict resolution.
- Once I’ve diagnosed your culture, I create an action plan for management.
- I work closely with all stakeholders to implement the agreed upon plan. This may include a combination of one-to-one executive coaching, group coaching workshops, or a detailed plan for overhauling company culture. Each organisation is different, requiring a bespoke approach.
- I review and evaluate the outcome and deliver this to management.
Experience and Qualifications
Over the last 20 years, I’ve enjoyed a breadth of human resources experience across a number of different industries and sectors, working with a wide cross-section of individuals in disparate situations.
I migrated to Sydney Australia from my native New York in late 2013, establishing my consulting business and quickly attracting a variety of global businesses, in industries including technology, financial services, franchising, marketing and branding, advertising, digital, retail and small business startups.
I know the transformative powers of training and coaching – as a certified Life and Executive Coach and qualified yoga teacher, I’ve invested in my own training and coaching so that I can encourage and equip others to do the same.
In my two-year reign as Vice President, Global Human Resources, at Xaxis in New York working across 27 markets, I was recognised as a global top performer for increasing employee engagement and reducing employee turnover by 33 per cent in less than a year and was recognised by the CEO for my role in the company achieving the Crain’s 2013 Best Place to Work in NYC award.
As Adjunct Professor at Drew University, I facilitated workshops on entering the workforce, focusing on networking, business etiquette, interviewing and career development. It was a continuation of my passion for employment access. Prior to Drew University, I started my career at a non-profit, networking with business professionals to secure job placements for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
As Director of Human Resources at Sterling Publishing, wholly owned by Barnes & Noble, I partnered with management to focus on reducing staff turnover and improving performance. It was here that I became passionate about how employee wellness, high morale, clarity in career paths and employee recognition and management support has a direct influence on business outcomes.
At The National Institute for People with Disabilities, prior to Sterling Publishing, I built the recruitment and onboarding program to attract, hire and retain the best school administration, educators and clinicians for their Early Intervention Centre.
I gained invaluable experience early in my career at Dennis Publishing, handling all hiring, immigration, payroll, benefits and ongoing support and training for this brand new organisation, which has gone on to become a successful global company.
During my second year out of University, I was personally responsible for staffing the entire catering facility at the US Open with over 50 individuals with developmental disabilities. Seventeen years later, I’m still responsible for this satisfying role, which has translated to more than 850 people with disabilities gaining invaluable work experience at one of the world’s most well-known sporting events.
As health and happiness has a direct influence on our performance at work, I’m also proud to have published a book, Juice It! Blend It! to make it easy for people to eat more vegetables.
Coupled with my book and yoga teacher training, I continue to study nutrition and health so that I can continue to support my clients’ overall wellbeing. To this end, I had the entire Xaxis office in New York meditating! I strongly believe that fostering a positive working environment is an inside job.