Story Archive > Press About ISHR > Finding an Onramp - Gwinnett Business Journal

— Gwinnett Business Journal

After a year-and-a-half break, human resources executive Kelly Sack was ready to get back to work. But after leaving the workforce to care for her young children, Sack wasn't prepared to return full time.

"The demands of having a full-time permanent position was too difficult for me to balance with the kind of parent I wanted to be," Sack says. But how could she find the HR positioned she desired, and still have the flexibility to set her own hours?

HR OptIn helps HR professionals get back in the swing of things on a more flexible basis. The database contains around 300 HR job-seekers nationwide and matches them with HR projects in various companies in need of management.

"There is a group of women all across the board who have off-ramped easily from the workforce but have not been able to easily on-ramp back in," says CEO Monique Dearth.

The company grew as a subsidiary of Dearth's executive assessment and training business, Incite Strategies. "There's this whole group, mostly women, who have great background and experience ready to opt back in, but are having trouble getting in on their own or don't want to be full time and want flexibility."

The consultants range from mid-level professionals to those who served in senior-level positions. "A lot of them worked for eight to 10 years and left the workforce, and want to return in two to five years because maybe the kids are older and they're ready to go back," Dearth says. "This group of people is so incredibly skilled, but there aren't a lot of on-ramps readily available to go back in." And the service isn't just for women - men are part of the database, too.

HR OptIn has been gaining momentum as companies have realized the untapped talent available. "More and more companies realize that they're losing a talent pool mostly of women in their 30s," Dearth says. "I see more clients readily embracing this."

An advantage for employers is that consultants are hired on a short-term basis - and require little training. "The consultants come in and hit the ground running because they have done this before," Dearth says. "The client companies don't have to worry about hiring, training and benefiting a full-time employee."

Since becoming part of HR OptIn in January, Sack has completed two consulting projects. "It's allowed me to still stay connected to the career I love and also be here with my children on a daily, consistent basis," she says. "HR OptIn has allowed me to do that. I have the best of both worlds now. It enables me to set boundaries I couldn't set with a full-time position."

Seeing client satisfaction is Dearth's driving force.

"What I love is providing a service to everyone," Dearth says. "You can hear the pride and excitement in the consultants' voices when they finish a project."

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