Mary Schaefer

Mary has always been interested in how the human element plays out in what, and how, things get done in the workplace. Mary?s belief is that organizations are composed of unique human beings requiring individual attention in order to make the most of what they can contribute to an organization, and at the same time meet their own specific needs for meaningful work. She formed her company, Artemis Path, to help managers and employees see how they can get more from themselves and each other by working WITH what makes us human beings ? an unexpected resourcefulness and energy that can only come from a respectful and collaborative work environment.

Having started as a computer systems analyst, over time she noticed that she was more interested in how people reacted to changing job expectations and a changing work environment, how people reacted to learning new skills, and how to overcome the obstacles to that.

As she started pursuing a career in Human Resources and a Master?s in HR, Mary was chosen for several work assignments that allowed her to try out her vision for how people can be more positively engaged in the workplace. She took an active role in leading hundreds of survivors of corporate downsizing to see how they could make positive choices moving forward, rather than be overwhelmed by constant job insecurity.

While leading a manufacturing project team made up of several shop-floor employees, Mary worked with every person on her team on their skill-development needs. In just a few years, several were promoted and were able to significantly expand their career possibilities. Mary was recognized for this and more with a division-level award for being a ?champion of human potential?.

Mary eventually put her vision on the line once again, when she became an HR manager, receiving 2 promotions in her last 3 years in the corporate world. Not only did Mary fulfill basic HR tasks in serving her 550 constituents, she also initiated positive change in areas like ethics, and respectful behavior. In the area of performance management Mary developed an approach that helped give supervisors the confidence to deal with performance issues quickly, and actually make the discussions encouraging and positive.

After completing advanced coaching skills training, she struck out on her own to help organizations and their members to make use of training and interventions which help the organization make the best of their own ?human? resources.