Advancing Workplace Excellence is a small Providence firm in a field that’s been gaining recognition in recent years called human-capital consulting.
Human capital and human resources are sometimes used interchangeably, but there’s a nuanced difference: HR consulting commonly refers to helping a company develop employment policies. Human capital more broadly refers to consulting that emphasizes the human element in workplace matters, such as managing change, learning and development, organizational design, diversity and inclusion, employment engagement and company culture.
AWE provides “professional-development services” designed to create workplace “learning experiences” that develop leadership skills.
The firm’s clients and partners have included some of Rhode Island’s big corporate names.
Individuals too can engage with AWE either through their employers, subscription services or through the events and professional-development programs the firm organizes.
“We want people to feel valued and respected” on the job, said Lisa Bergeron, AWE’s founder and chief visionary officer.
She started the firm in 2003, focusing on advancing women’s initiatives in the workplace for the mutual benefit of employers and employees.
Bergeron said she was inspired to do so after witnessing the barriers her mother encountered while working for a major financial-services firm in the 1970s. Eventually, AWE expanded its mission to include initiatives that develop both men and women professionally.
Today, Bergeron provides guidance and “thought leadership” in determining the needs of its client businesses and developing solutions, from a human-capital standpoint, that will help companies and employees reach their goals for performance and growth.
She is joined by Tejal Tarro, AWE’s managing partner and chief services officer. Tarro, who co-owns the firm with Bergeron, designs and leads its programs for corporations and individuals.
Rounding out the firm’s executive team is Kevin Matta, director of client engagement and inclusion.
One of AWE’s main programs is the “Women’s Leadership Series.” It involves a curriculum designed to strengthen business acumen and critical leadership skills for women, while providing them with strategies and action plans that can be applied immediately.
Another main program is the “New Lens of Leadership.” It explores why and how business-leadership competencies should change to be more “relationship-focused, introspective and inclusive,” the firm’s website states.
Bergeron explained that the traditional ways of management have been hierarchical, but employers are embracing more communication, an exchange of ideas, discussion and teamwork among employees.
The goal, she said, is to create not only a better outcome for a company, but to make the people who work there more fulfilled and able to reach their potential.
“People want to work differently than they did 20 years ago,” Bergeron added.
OWNERS: Lisa Bergeron, Tejal Tarro
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Human-capital consulting
LOCATION: 60 Valley St., Providence
EMPLOYEES: Three full time, plus part-timers
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2003
ANNUAL SALES: WND
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Blake@PBN.com.