Getting to know Jim Cruickshank

People are what make organizations tick – and helping people and organizations perform effectively is what makes Jim Cruickshank tick. Find out more about how Jim, MNP’s Human Capital Consulting Leader, became the leader he is today – and what he sees for tomorrow.

What drew you to the Human Capital side of consulting?

I really just grew into it. After working on strategy assignments early in my consulting days, I got hooked on the actions companies needed to take to implement strategy. It all came down to people and doing the things necessary to make people successful. Whether that was the structure they worked in or the communications and training needs required to do new things. I got that satisfaction of seeing confidence grow in those impacted by strategy and other changes. From there I just stuck with it.

What makes your day?

What makes my day is seeing the people that I’m working with have success and knowing that I might have had a small part in that.

As a 20-plus-year veteran in the industry, you’ve seen a number of trends come and go in management. Which ones fell by the wayside, which ones had staying power, and what trends should business owners should be paying most attention to now?

Consultants tend to label things. If you are around long enough, you see the concepts stay and the labels change. Early in my career it was about ‘Reengineering.’ Other popular labels over time that you hear less about today are things like Six Sigma and Lean. Today, many of these concepts live under ‘transformation’ or ‘org redesign’ or ‘performance improvement.’ The things with staying power are the foundational approaches and methods that are proven to make organizations efficient and people successful. 

However, the relative importance of approaches and methods has changed, along with the times. Today, one of the most important things for owners to pay attention to is culture. Especially post-pandemic. Employees have a very different value set today then they did in early 2020. Flexibility, health, safety, and connectedness are much more valued by people, and workplaces need to reflect that in how they work and organize. All of the good that can come from well-thought-out changes to a business coming from strategy can be undone without paying attention to people and culture.

Did the global pandemic change how you see the future, for yourself and when advising your clients?

Absolutely. We learned really quickly so much in our world is fragile and can be changed in an instant. For me, I am a different person today then I was at the start of the pandemic, and it impacts how I see my own future and that of my clients. Technology has changed the way that I connect with people. In many ways, I have stronger connections now with clients and colleagues that are distant then I was able to before we adopted Teams and Zoom. Even with all the communications platforms, I have felt a loss of connection to people and miss the spontaneity of an office environment. I’m still trying to find the balance that works best for me, and I know my clients are in the same place. For example, from a client delivery point of view, I believe I can bring more collective skill and expertise my clients need now and into the future because I don’t have to fly them in at client expense.

The pandemic has raised the importance of human capital consulting as clients realize the need to re-orient work and workplaces to employees who, like me, are more different now, in terms of what we value and how we can work. Things will continue to change rapidly, and my clients will need to take careful approaches to deciding on what changes brought on by the pandemic are valuable and can stay part of the business.

Similarly, they will need to decide what elements are not useful to the business or don’t fit with the go-forward needs of the business. Productivity measures and performance management are likely to be hugely important to support decisions on the best way for clients to organize and operate their business. 

Contact Jim

Want to find out more? Contact Jim Cruickshank, Senior Manager, Human Capital Consulting, at 289.293.2372 or [email protected].