8. A career anchored in successful Team Building: Coalesced staff and management to build teams and achieve strategic business unit objectives:

a. Working across departmental boundaries;

Employee Relations: I've managed the investigation of numerous employee relations issues (sexual harassment, racial discrimination, theft, AIDS/HIV, etc.) between staff and management in different departments, at all levels, with or without regard to Title VII or other employment related laws. Notably, working across boundaries with ER issues is frequently associated with the greatest amount of internal politics and, in an attempt to exert total control over their satellites of power, senior executives often attempt to prevent, delay, manipulate, coerce, or force their perceived scope of ultimate control. Proudly but humbly, I've consistently been able to wield ultimate success because, appropriately, I have greater knowledge of employment laws, case history and practical experiences in HR that empower me with more insight, and I perform with reason, not emotion. Again, it is with good reason that I've never lost a decision to the EEO, and that I've won 100% of all unemployment claims resulting from involuntary terminations I've directly initiated; and I've won 90% of all other unemployment claims!

Training and Development: Through the existence or absence of training, line departments will typically hold a high or low assessment of HR. This is particularly true of how HR handles the training and orientation of all staff in regard to: recruitment processing, HRIS administration, salary and benefits administration, and payroll. The old cliché remains true: Never mess with someone's money! Consequently, HR must ensure the timely and accurate training of internal and line department staff responsible for the accurate data entry of employee information that impacts pay at any time during the active life of the employee [hire, active, terminated, retiree]. For management, staff training in safety and ER issues also holds high priority.

Position Classification and Compensation: I've successfully engineered departmental reorganizations which required measuring and giving value to positions between similar and dissimilar departments while carefully avoiding pay inequities. Unfortunately, I've frequently corrected the mistakes of HR consultants (Hay, A.Anderson, etc.) because they typically fail to measure and anticipate the impact of their recommendations across boundaries within the

HR Communications: I've communicated human resource and administrative policies across all boundaries within the organization via on-site presentations, memorandum, newsletters, internet/intranet, and to external audiences as well (candidates, vendors, clients, media relations, etc.). Plus, I've conducted, assessed, and strategically implemented the results of employee engagement surveys.

Team Building: As addressed previously, to achieve employer goals and objectives, working across boundaries also requires generating consensus and team building, and to support team building objectives I've implemented industry standards approved by senior management, and the results of employee engagement surveys. I've worked with hundreds of managers and staff to successfully achieve consensus (through leading, managing and participating) in all HR areas for over 27 years!

 

b. Recruitment-based team building;

It had long been the policy of the Denver Post to only run recruitment advertisements for individual employers, which enables the Post to make more money. As Vice President of Human Resources for Denver Community Federal Credit Union (DCFCU) I was immediately responsible for employee recruitment. Unfortunately, when most people think about financial service employment the first thing that comes to mind is the "b" word or "bank." In this regard, even before being hired by DCFCU, I observed that local banks had consistently placed weekly recruitment display advertisements, but credit unions never place the money ads that grab the most attention. Even the local chapter of the credit union lobbying association did not promote credit unions as a "source for financial services employment."

Therefore, I proposed a recruitment strategy to the President/CEO of DCFCU who put the success or failure of my campaign solely on my back. I conceived two recruitment campaigns, one for DCFCU (at left) as "The Consumer's Choice," and another where I contacted peer credit unions with a strategy to promote and "brand" our financial institutions as "The Source for Financial Services Employment!" I designed display advertisement for both campaigns.	I coalesced area credit unions on the advantages of supporting each other, and also acquired the assistance of a professional contact at the largest single advertiser for the Denver Post - Nationwide Advertising, Inc. Working together, we were able to persuade the Post, for the first time in its history, to run several weeks of composite ads featuring multiple credit unions! Presented below is the initial draft I designed, followed by one of the actual ads placed in the Denver Post. As expected, local banks took notice and, for the first time they had to play catch-up to a credit union recruitment initiative. Local banks responded with competing ads. I believe in and practice competing. Some lead, others follow.
(BELOW) "Branding" campaign demo submitted to area credit unions
Click the above advertisement to enlarge.	One of the actual "branding" campaign recruitment advertisements

c. Organizational development team building;

Without regard to existing position hierarchy, the ultimate purpose of organizational development is to move from one paradigm - typically perceived as inefficient or dysfunctional - to a paradigm that provides for the achievement of better performance outcomes. Having literally designed thousands of departmental and corporate-wide reorganizations, I know exactly how to get you there. Consider the following:

1. Anchor the essential functions performed by all staff to standards established to support internal and external clients in their achievement of strategic business unit objectives. Is the right work being performed by the right position(s) and is it being performed correctly? Can you validate the reallocation of materials, supplies, equipment and staff in the absence of proven performance outcomes?

2. Challenge existing staff or teams of employees who, in the absence of clearly defined strategic business unit objectives, establish short-term or long-term RESEARCH units to conduct OD.

3. Discontinue all legacy practices of using non-subject matter experts to manage employer/corporate functions in which they have no or little expertise actually designing "jobs" and "job standards." Think about it: Are you giving way too much value to "internal "politics" that consistently represent failure, negligence and incompetence?

4. Don't reorganize, don't spend any money, don't reallocate resources unless performance outcomes (i.e., ROI = return on investment) validate the time and expense required. Remember, it's not guess work.

d. Bargaining unit team building;

Specific example: At Denver Public Schools: Over the course of five years, three attempts by the district (senior HR management) and external HR consultants to negotiate a new position classification system with the bargaining group for clerical employees had all failed. Negotiations were routinely deadlocked on this issue.

What did I deliver: I conceived and designed an original point-factor job evaluation systems for the specific evaluation of office/clerical positions, and presented the system to both senior HR management and to the leadership of the bargaining group for clerical employees. Both parties accepted the plan. Then, as a "team building" effort, and to validate (for the bargaining group) the objectivity of the system, I trained the bargaining group leadership on the actual administration of the plan. For the first time, the bargaining group held primary responsibility for defining position relationships and compensatory values for all office/clerical positions.

Specific example: At the City of Dallas: Senior management outside the HR department expressed concerns about perceived inequities in the evaluation of mid-level management and supervisory positions.

What did I deliver: I researched, designed and managed two original point-factor job evaluation systems - one was PC based, and the other a traditional manually factored matrix. In compliance with budget considerations, this project took approximately 1.5 to 2 years to implement. Plus, I directly managed staff in converting existing mid-level management jobs into the new paradigm. Additionally, I coordinated the efforts of staff and outside HR consultants in the complete overhaul of a new job evaluation system anchored to market pricing. Notably, in the wake of the consultants, I was the "key" player to both identify and correct critical errors made by the consultants. Given the typically transient nature of municipal government, I performed as the "key" person responsible for the numerous "top to bottom" changes in departmental operations, which were often vague, as established by newly elected officials or newly appointed senior administrators. Fast-paced or constantly changing environments require due diligence to avoid creating new or exasperating existing inequities, and I successfully lead management in this regard.

e. Employee handbook and policy development team building;

For more than three decades, in conjunction with thousands of employees, managers, and senior executives, and in compliance with employment laws, I've written, designed, and updated employment applications, employee handbooks, and over of 3,000 policies polices, procedures and administrative directives for public/private sector, profit/non-profit, union/non-union, multi-site/multi-state, and international environments. Employment applications and employee handbooks are available upon request. Presented below are examples of several employee handbooks I've written. Click image to review or download.
DRAFT ONLY
REVISION OF ALL PERSONNEL RULES FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS
	I was immediately responsible for leading and managing the addition, deletion, revision, and review of all personnel rules for the City of Dallas. Although this was not a unionized environment, the character and scope of employee relations mirrored such as captured in the content of the Personnel Rules book: seven core Articles (Organization, Compensation, Leave Policies, Benefits, Rules of Conduct, Discipline/Grievance, and Injured Employees),forty-five (45) sections; and nearly seven-hundred (700) sub-sections As project lead, I independently designed a "Personnel Rule Change Worksheet (PRCW)" which: (1) presented the current rule; (2) requested observations/comments about the current rule; and (3) requested any revision, deletion, or creation of a new rule.
I used the PRCW to canvass all department directors and senior executives [approximately 75] on each personnel rule. Subsequently, I compiled and, if appropriate, consolidated responses, or I unilaterally proposed original rules. Next, I scheduled and coordinated a robust review process which included polling staff review of selected rules, securing and validating legal review of all rules, and preparing a final document for review and approval by the City Council. During this entire process, I routinely meet with individual employees or groups of employees and management to discuss this process, including scope, cost impact, implementation, future revision and, where necessary, reconciliation with Civil Service Rules. The initial "grunt" work was completed in three months, with the first draft completed in six months, and City Council approval achieved approximately twelve months after conception of project.
Please keep in mind, I've already successfully accomplished (complete policy revision) what you might be preparing to do! Plus, I've conducted over three-(3) dozen employee surveys (management and non-management), drafted and secured consensus review, and implemented personnel policies and procedures on every conceivable HR issue including ADA, EEO, AA, employment, dress code, overtime, new employee processing, Bloodborne Pathogen, safety (OSHA), risk management, reinsurance, sick leave, EAP, employee grievance, etc.! To validate my management of this team building event, presented above-right is a page from the original personnel rules revision worksheet I used as my source document.

f. Health benefits and wellness program team building;

From grade school to college and beyond, I've always held a commitment to my personal health and fitness. At the City of Dallas, even though the City did not have dedicated shower facilities for employees, nevertheless, I was one of only a few employees who would go running during their lunch break and frequently in 100+ degree weather. As the "wellness concept" was being floated throughout corporate America and within the City of Dallas I was initially very skeptical, because the the health care delivery system in the U.S. is not designed to keep people healthy and fit, or well. Plus, many senior decision makers are not concerned about the cost of health care, because the cost of health care does not have the same impact on highly compensated management and especially senior executive management. Even worse, given that the clear majority of employees and management are morbidly overweight, especially at the City of Dallas and throughout Texas, there was very little interest for anyone to actually create a strategically designed health care delivery system that would actually reduce costs and improve employee health. I was asked by the HR Director and several senior managers to become a member of the Wellness Program because of my: (1) personal commitment to health and fitness; (2) knowledge of health, fitness, and health benefits administration; and (3) due to my employment within the City's HR Department and my knowledge of and access to the City's health benefits program. Initially, the Wellness Committee lacked direction or clearly defined objectives; and some senior managers wanted to create a "fitness club" solely for senior managers. I wrote the memorandum (below) to express a pragmatic, linear approach to constructively question and guide the City's wellness initiative.
(Above) Trip Reynolds is located second from left. (At right) Trip Reynolds is located in the center, front row.	Question: What kind of "team spirit" do I bring to my employer? Response: I successfully and repeatedly lead teams of City employees in various athletic competitions [5k runs, track meets, fitness festivals, etc.] against other public and private sectors employers in metro Dallas. In one particular event, I ultimately persuaded the City Manager, Charles Anderson, who was not a runner, to run anchor in response to a one-mile relay challenge from another local municipality. I personally guaranteed the City Manager that he would have at least a quarter-mile lead and, yes, my team delivered! The City Manager literally walked across the finish line, very relaxed and proud of his team of City employees!  In the photo above, the City Manager is noticeably dressed in a suite and tie, and that's me in the middle - surrounded by employees from Fire, Finance, Water, Police, etc. By the way, we also demonstrated the City's public commitment to health and fitness and pride about our place of employment.
Click above image to read the original wellness "rap" written by Trip Reynolds Trip Reynolds created and published, "The Wellness Chronicle" to promote program.

g. Fund raising and community involvement team building; and

• Proposed and developed fundraising campaigns to advance revenue streams for local and nationally recognized mentoring organizations, healthcare providers, civic and cultural organizations, religious organizations, 501 (c)(3) non-profits, etc.

• Lead and sponsored community-access television, non-profit athletic organizations, and cultural and fitness events.

• Lead employee-based fundraising campaigns for local charitable organizations, and as an active member of community-base speakers bureaus.

• Extremely robust participation in community events.

h. Employee leadership team building.

Well-documented public commitment to health and fitness. Successfully and repeatedly lead teams of City employees in various athletic competitions [5k runs, track meets, fitness festivals, etc.] against other public and private sectors employers in metro Dallas, Denver, Omaha, and Chicago; click here.