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Our firm has an interesting history behind it.
We used to be called WGNinHR...it stood for Who's Got Next in HR? It's a phrase heard across playgrounds in any given neighborhood across the country, where someone is called to step up to take the ball - and their turn at winning.
Our business was conceptualized on the stage in front of a live audience during a key note address where Joanne shared stark truths about serving as a strategic business partner. At the end of Joanne's presentation, she turned to the audience and challenged them to prioritize their own growth and development...to avoid being the 'cobblers children' in business. It was one of the first times a business executive, who happened to lead HR, posited the view that HR professionals could - and should - position themselves to move through the C-Suite. She challenged them to set their sights on the CEO seat for the good of businesses everywhere.
Today, Joanne Rencher & Associates is a provider of services in two core areas: HR Solutions and Executive Search. Our client niche is made up of small and medium sized businesses largely in four industries, among others: Financial Services; Data Science and Technology; Healthcare; and Nonprofit.
We are problem-solvers who push people, and companies, to new levels through a variety of tools, strategies and outside-the-box thinking. JR&A simply doesn't believe in ceilings. We operate as business "chameleons" who leverage decades of global experience across industries.
We care deeply for the people with whom we work and for the work in which we're involved. Our number one goal is to exceed expectations. Always.
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Joanne Rencher
Principal Consultant
About the Principal
Joanne is a visionary, 'leaders leader' and results-driven Business and Talent Executive. Having led complex change initiatives across a variety of industries, she has worked at the C-level for major conglomerates, iconic global and domestic nonprofits as well as social entrepreneurs. Recruited to build a global HR unit from the ground floor, nearly seven years later, Joanne was leading a matrixed team on four continents and in six countries for the first public-private partnership to work on advocacy and vaccine research/development for an AIDS vaccine.
Joanne worked for the American Red Cross and led efforts to establish a shared services model, simplifying lines of reporting consolidating operations and improving performance. During her tenure, the volunteer population more than quadrupled. There, she helped to conceptualize an innovative revenue-generation initiative which produced a diverse portfolio of ideas to increase revenue at a critical juncture for the Region.
Joanne has served as a nonprofit consultant for the sector, advising senior leaders, Board members and staff at leading-edge organizations in the education, economic development and social services industries.
Named a 2016 HR Hero for Outstanding Mentorship, Joanne was the Girl Scouts' first ever Chief Business and Talent Officer leading both Talent Management and the Girl Scouts' Cultural and Property Assets. Joanne's visionary and leading-edge approach to business and talent led to the launch of the Girl Scout's first workforce analytics function.
A proven innovator and entrepreneurial thinker, she develops strategies and tactics which strengthen organizational performance and incentivize desired behaviors. Joanne is a sought after thought leader, speaker and author. Her book is entitled, Tough As Nails: Finding Your Voice as a Woman in the Workplace. Other published works includes her articles on HR People + Strategy (SHRM Executive Network), “People Analytics: The “Flywheel Effect” for the field of HR (2016), and How Companies Kill Innovation (2016).
In 2018, Joanne was selected as a Teaching Practitioner, at Baruch College's Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, to deliver leadership curricula for the Great Leaders Program. This groundbreaking Program was designed to respond to the needs of next generation Nonprofit CEOs. Joanne also served as a multi-year Instructor for the New York CHRO Institute, an executive level program designed for high potential HR executives taught by Fortune 1000 CHROs and Columbia Faculty.
At the start of the COVID pandemic, Joanne boldly embarked on a new venture to host a weekly Podcast, entitled #RealTalk About the Workplace. Through this Podcast, she and her guests tackled issues designed to get the thorns out of the workplace, deal honestly with mental health issues and clear a path toward greatness.