March 2010 marks the 25th Anniversary of the founding of Cambria Consulting. Cambria was first incorporated as Charles River Consulting, with offices in Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Starting with a group of five Partners, two support staff, one client, and a host of challenges and opportunities, we are pleased to have reached this milestone in our evolution. As we continue to grow as a firm and serve our clients in new and imaginative ways, we look forward to the next chapter in our history and hope that you will join us in that adventure!

One of our clients recently asked Cambria’s Managing Director, Ellen Kumata, to deliver a presentation on what we saw as the top trends for the field of Human Resources. Of the dozens of trends on as many different lists, there were ten that seemed to come up again and again in various forms and in different wordings. The response of our client was such that we thought you might like to hear Ellen’s unique insights on the field in her own words.


You can now download the presentation, which is filled with resources and supplemental references on each trend.

As the US economy is slowly emerging from the recession, companies are starting to hire new professionals and managers. In fact, leading companies are taking advantage of the opportunity to hire top talent ahead of the competition. We are seeing this not only in renewed interest in better recruiting and selection practices, but also in employee onboarding and orientation.

For many years, our Interactive Services group has created customized online onboarding systems that introduce new employees – from entry-level personnel to top executives – to the people, culture and values of the company, using video and other rich media. Much more than a basic introduction to the company, or a “PR spin” on why it is a great place to work, Cambria’s online orientations are portals that all employees can return to for important information on compensation, benefits, professional and management development, company policies, and best practices, as well as cultural and community values and goals, that keep everyone connected and engaged.

For more information, visit our page on New Employee Orientation, or contact Ray Elman if you would like to see a live demonstration.

Harvard Business Publishing, the premier source for management practices, programs and content, and Cambria Consulting have formed an alliance to partner in providing our corporate clients with the combined value of our offerings. Harvard Business Publishing, the publisher of the Harvard Business Review, collaborates with its corporate clients to understand their learning objectives and works with them to develop and implement a customized portfolio of content and services uniquely suited to their leadership development and talent management strategies. This makes Cambria an ideal partner for serving our respective clients in new and exciting ways.

As we launch our collaboration, we will keep our readers informed about joint developments of interest to our community of clients and friends.

One of the early fruits of our partnership with Harvard Business Publishing is a series of videos of Cambria Managing Director Ellen Kumata, offered in their flagship product, Harvard ManageMentor. Harvard ManageMentor is designed to be a practical, engaging resource for fostering management skills and helping new and experienced managers address a full spectrum of issues, with mentoring provided by renowned authors, practitioners, and innovative thinkers.

In the first of three videos, Importance of a Learning Culture, Ellen describes a time when she coached a CEO on how to lead an organizational shift towards a culture that valued continuous learning and openness. In the second video, Coachee Engagement, she describes some of the issues that arise when the recipient of executive coaching is not fully supportive of or committed to the engagement. In the third video, Tips on Managing Meetings, Ellen Kumata describes some lessons learned from Executive Coaching she has applied to her managing partner role at Cambria.

The following videos are part of this program.

• Importance of a Learning Culture
  Ellen Kumata describes a CEO executive coaching engagement, and how this CEO used this opportunity to effectively communicate company values on the importance of continuous learning.
• Tips on Managing Meetings
  Ellen Kumata describes some lessons learned from Executive Coaching she has applied to her managing partner role at Cambria.
• Coachee Engagement
  Ellen Kumata describes the issues that arise when the recipient of executive coaching isn’t fully supportive of the coaching engagement.

We are pleased to announce that the International Coach Federation has approved the Leadership Agility 360 Certification Workshop for 15 Continuing Coaching Education (CCE) Units. The ICF is the largest worldwide resource for professional coaches and is renowned for its globally recognized credentialing program.

The Leadership Agility 360, co-developed by Cambria and ChangeWise, is the only online feedback tool that assesses a manager’s level of leadership agility. Since its launch last year, over 20 corporate clients, half in the Fortune 500, are using the instrument for their development initiatives. To learn more about how your organization can benefit from the Leadership Agility 360 in its talent development initiatives, contact George Klemp, leader of Cambria’s Assessment practice.

ChangeWise Public Certification Workshop
Hyatt Regency, Cambridge, MA
April 12-13, 2010

Presenters: Bill Joiner and Debbie Whitestoe, ChangeWise

SOLD OUT

The Leadership Agility 360™ certification workshop is designed for experienced coaches and corporate professionals who are committed to moving their senior management clients to the next level of leadership performance. Co-developed by Cambria and ChangeWise, the Leadership Agility 360 is being used by a broad network of 50 coaches based in cities around the US and in Bangkok, Hamburg, London, Montreal, Ottawa, Stockholm and Sydney. The 2-day workshop is led by Leadership Agility co-author Bill Joiner and ChangeWise Principal Debbie Whitestone.