When Jenny Scott chose her major at University of Texas at Austin, she envisioned her future at the head of a classroom – and she chose to study Victorian Literature and French. She always liked to train others so teaching was a natural path forward for her. Of course, today – as a top Human Resources expert and corporate trainer – she agrees that being a “lit major” probably wasn’t the best breeding ground for an HR career, but as the saying goes; life has a funny way of showing us that the best-laid plans often go awry! But in the end, you end up exactly where you were meant to be.
She joined People and Performance Strategies (PPStrat) this year to add her expertise on the human resources strategy side where Jenny brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. You see, rather than ending up in the classroom, she spent decades (in several states) in the restaurant industry; first as a server and then as a trainer – the teacher in her always guiding her along.
Under the tutelage and mentorship of several HR experts over the last 20 years, she has developed her keen operational competence and, along with a natural gift with people, she has become an authority on “everything HR.”
A true believer in training and coaching, Jenny says a successful hire is directly linked to a company’s ongoing and long-term commitment to the employee. The onboarding process is a crucial factor, and Jenny cannot stress enough how important it is to start integrating and familiarizing the person with the company’s culture, products, people and traditions immediately following the hire.
She says it’s like introducing a boyfriend to your family: the more knowledge he has about your family’s quirks and traditions and the more welcome he is made to feel early on, the deeper his sense of long-term belonging will be.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if we had certain assessment tools available to us in the introduction of potential new family members? In the HR world, these tools serve as helpful assistants in making sure that supervisors are maximizing a new hire’s potential while coaching where there might be lack of strength.
PPStrat is an authorized partner of the PXT Select™ program which features a Coaching Report; one of Jenny’s favorite parts, that highlights an employee’s strengths (as well as areas of improvement) while giving details about how the supervisor can help make the onboarding process successful.
Jenny might be an HR expert, but when you spend more than five minutes with her, you also learn that her areas of interest stretch well beyond people and training. Her shoe collection could give the most experienced shopper a run for her money, and she might actually beat the savviest of players in a competitive videogame of Fallout/Skyrim. She takes pride in being a “complete and utter nerd” (her words) and to cement this image in your mind’s eye, all you have to do is ask her to show you her very own miniature dollhouse furniture creations. She’ll gladly show them off – any time.
Welcome to PPStrat Jenny! You can read her full bio here, and can reach her at [email protected]. She’d love to hear from you.