Competencies
Competencies
Cultural change initiatives
Communication plans and
strategies
Selection processes
Performance management
Work system orientations
One-on-one hourly
engagement
Leadership development
and coaching
Team Development
Union/Management
engagement
Operator skills capability
build
Workshop delivery
Compensation strategies
About S. Eric Christensen, Ed.D.
Key Message
A results-oriented organizational effectiveness practitioner, with over 35 years of hands on experience in designing and implementing sustainable work system/cultural change initiatives. Intellectually knowledgeable enough to know what might work. Experienced enough to know what will work. Have coached and mentored leadership, from Front Line Supervisors to Superintendents to VPs. Have a real knack for quickly establishing, strong trust-based relationships.
Career Accomplishments
- Lead internal consultant for the transformation of a 2200 employee non-union mill in Wisconsin. Assisted the mill VP of Operations in designing the new work organization, creating selection processes, orientating new employees to the system and conducting interactive leadership development sessions to align leadership with the new structure.
- Charged with improving leadership skills in Tissue/Towel/Napkin manufacturing group made up of 10 mills located throughout the United States. Designed and facilitated bi-monthly leadership development workshops for the VP of Operations and the Operations Managers from each facility. Partnered with the Harvard Business School. Used Beowulf and Robert Frost as vehicles to move
- Part of a three-person team that designed and implemented an Ownership Based Work system for a 600MM capital project to upgrade two paper machines and build 7 state of the art tissue converting assets. Challenge was to step change ahead of all other consumer products competitors.
- Internal Work System consultant for a 388MM capital improvement project in the Utility department to eliminate a disadvantaged cost position. Pushed hard on developing a defensible selection process and improving Performance Management effectiveness in advance of implementation.
- Designed and chaired a mandated facility Diversity Council in large 1600 employee (non-union) Southern Paper mill. Outcomes included compliance with the legal requirements of a class action law suit, significant reductions in complaints to both corporate headquarters and the mill VP of Operations.
- Installed an Operator Technician system in a southern paper mill’s Converting Department. Focused on improving uptime and reliability of operating equipment. Paretoed the maintenance calls in order to identify which calls could be “fixed” by operators with minimal additional training. Outcome was a 50% reduction in maintenance calls in the first month of implementation and further improvements throughout the course of the initiative. Secondary impact was Maintenance workforce was freed up to focus on higher value work
Competencies
- Cultural Change Initiatives
- Communication Plans &Strategies
- Selection Processes
- Hourly Engagement Strategies
- Leadership Development and Coaching
- Team Development
- Union/Management Engagement
- Performance Management
- Compensation Strategies
- Work System Orientations
- Operator Skills Capability Build
- Orientation Design & Facilitation
Professional Background
Owner, Change That Works, LLC
Consultant: Provide practical support, based on real world experiences, regarding what works and what does not work to organizations wanting to create ownership based work systems.
Dec. 2010 – Aug. 2016
Georgia-Pacific Corporation, LLC
Work System Consultant Provided Organizational Development/Work System direction for large capital project.
Brewton Mill, Brewton, Alabama
Technician Capability Leader Responsible for230 hourly employees and 10 salaried employees in the Tissue Converting Department.
Crossett Mill, Crossett, Arkansas
Process Leader, Organizational Change Provided Organizational Development/Work System support for $600MM capital project in Consumer Products Group.
Home Based, Hallsville, Texas
Nov. 2007 – Dec. 2010
Koch Industries, Inc.
MBM® (Market Based Management Consultant): Member of the Cultural Change team charged with supporting the transformation of Georgia-Pacific to a Market Based Management culture through delivery of educational workshops, leadership coaching and cultural change consulting.
Atlanta, Georgia
May 1995 – Oct. 2007
Georgia-Pacific Corporation: corporate, regional and field positions, e.g.:
Senior Organizational Effectiveness Manager: Provided Organizational Effectiveness guidance, often on a pay for services platform, throughout the mills in the Consumer Products Group.
Training and Development Manager: Provide Leadership coaching and Change Management support to multiple union and non-union Pulp and Paper Mills.
June 1983 – May 1995
Champion International Corporation and International Paper: positions in corporate, regional and field locations
Education
University of Massachusetts Graduate School of Education, Amherst, Massachusetts Doctor of Education, 1982
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts Master of Education, 1974
Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Personal and Professional Development
- Currently competing in Training Level Dressage and Beginner Horse Trials
- Time spent with the MBM® team was equivalent to earning a Master’s Degree in Free Market Economics
- Certified SCUBA diver for over 30 years, with 700 + dives, in locations all over the world
- Guest instructor, Organizational Effectiveness, Georgia-Southern University School of Business (~2003)
- Co-authored PIMA article on Technical Skills training, 1997
- Spent 1963 – 1964 living in Switzerland. Was bi-lingual in French, but rusty after 50 plus years