Steve Saunders
Professional Focus: Organizational assessment, strategic planning, experiential learning, 360 assessments, managment development, performance management, leadership training, media relations, communications planning.
Certifications: SPHR
Professional Experience & Background: Steve is a human resources professional with over 30 years of experience in both the private and public sectors. He is certified as a Senior Professional – Human Resources, by the Society of Human Resource Management. Since forming Human Resources Associates (HRA) in 1998, he has provided human resource support to small and mid-sized companies. HRA has built a reputation of providing world-class management consulting to organizations ranging from city governments and police departments to companies as large as Lockheed-Martin. Steve’s international experience includes election monitoring in Macedonia, support to civil authorities in Kosovo and providing human resource systems support to officials of the emerging democratic government in Afghanistan.
Prior to forming HRA, Steve held senior manager positions in both high tech and public utility companies. He was responsible for all aspects of employee relations and he managed selection procedures to support the merger of two large public utility companies located in the Midwest. In addition, he managed the outplacement and career transition processes during the early days of the newly formed MidAmerican Energy Company. At Gateway Computers Inc., he was responsible for design of a comprehensive management development curriculum that was implemented in both the United States and the Asia Pacific region. He has extensive experience in development and implementation of comprehensive training and development activities, designing training events and exercises, and in facilitating group processes. As the founder of Human Resources Associates, he has built a robust consulting practice by providing a wide variety of human resource solutions for business.
Through his long association with the National Guard, Steve also has extensive experience in the public sector. An Army National Guard brigadier general, he has completed successful command assignments at the company, battalion and brigade level. Steve currently serves as the director of joint doctrine, training and force development for the National Guard Bureau. He is a certified examiner for the U.S. Army Performance Improvement Criteria, the Army’s version of the Malcolm Baldridge Award.
Steve holds a MS degree in administrative studies/human resources from the University of South Dakota, a MS degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, and a BS degree in broadcasting and business from Minnesota State University. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the Army War College. He has studied both career and management development at the University of Michigan.