PBN BUSINESS WOMEN AWARDS 2020 ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE: Stephanie Chamberlin | PINCH LLC
STEPHANIE CHAMBERLIN’S STRENGTHS lie in recruiting and keeping talent, along with building cultures for companies via her Providence-based talent acquisition and human-resources consulting group, PINCH LLC.
Chamberlin, as chief talent officer, enjoys finding creative solutions and is not one to blindly follow rules or boxed-in mindsets. Looser structures can garner more opportunity for companies and their teams, she said. Chamberlin has also seen more-flexible attitudes breed success.
Chamberlin’s resourceful thinking and corporate experience are part of her unique brand of skills, which often see her go beyond recruiting, that help bridge the gap between a company and its employees.
“I’m like a sports agent, helping employees be self-aware enough to know their strengths and know their path,” she said.
For companies that hire PINCH to conduct employee workplace reviews, that is the wording used to gather input. Employees are asked to complete sentences such as, “I like …” and “I wish … ,” Chamberlin said. That way, team members aren’t just resorting to a check-the-box-type framework – or failing to fully engage in a way that offers the company information it needs to keep them on board.
“Performance reviews can’t just be a rating system. They have to be set up for conversations, interactive conversations,” she said.
Chamberlin looks at human-resources recruiting as a sales role, making a match not between a buyer and product, but a company and a prospect. She helps smaller- to medium-sized companies that don’t have an HR department, or that do have one but are overwhelmed. She is especially of value to a company going through growing pains, she said, able to conduct an HR audit and formalize systems where needed, offering companies space to grow on a firm foundation.
However, offering flexibility must come with what Chamberlin calls interconnectivity. That means if an employee is given flexible work time or time off and that is abused, there also needs to be accountability.
Chamberlin’s mission is more than just working to boost employee morale. It’s creating better workplaces overall, for all sides. She gives companies information they need to be proactive, if they so choose.
“Part of what I’m doing with this cultural work is identifying where the risks are,” Chamberlin said, in terms of improving employee retention and its associated costs, comparing salary levels within the market, for example.
“You need to know what your employees are talking about. Having me there, you’ll know.”
