2019 Influential Businesswoman Awards

10 Acquisition International - 2019 Influential Businesswomen Awards HR Answerbox provides HR training and consultancy to small businesses that do not have the in-house capabilities to deal with today’s human resources challenges. We invited Founder, Managing Director and Lead Consultant Amanda Haddaway to share how she is working to use her expertise in the HR and corporate markets to achieve success for her clients. HR Answerbox Most Influential Woman in HR Training - USA ounded by Amanda in 2016, HR Answerbox draws on her extensive industry experience to provide clients with HR consulting and corporate training services. Working with small business owners and managers, the firm seeks to create compliant human resources functions, solve day-to-day employee relations problems, provide interactive training solutions and give them peace of mind with their employee and management challenges. Having been a full-time HR Director and freelance HR Consultant prior to founding HR Answerbox, Amanda already has the industry experience to drive the firm to success. She takes great pride in having been in the industry for more than 20 years, as she highlights in her opening comments. “For more than two decades I have worked in the HR market, supporting a variety of clients. I have worked in several different areas of HR including recruiting, employee communications, learning and development, and HR management, and I draw on this experience in my role leading HR Answerbox.” Today, Amanda sees her role as supporting her clients and providing them with the support they need to run their business effectively, as she explains. “Fundamentally, when companies treat their employees well, they are more engaged and productive. Unfortunately, a lot of managers are promoted into management roles because they were good at their specific role, but they do not necessarily have the knowledge, skills and abilities to be good managers. “This is where HR Answerbox comes in. On the training side, I help organizations with teaching their managers these KSAs. On the consulting side, my goal is to be the "go-to" for all HR-related questions and concerns. Some of our clients do not have anyone doing HR internally, so they rely on me for all of their HR support.” F Seeking to not only support her clients, but also drive more women to the top of the HR market, Amanda undertakes a number of projects to share her industry knowledge and expertise, which she is proud to showcase. “As part of my commitment to driving the best talent to the top of the HR market, in the past I have participated in the Woman to Woman Mentoring Program as a mentor. I was paired with a younger HR professional who was looking to grow her career and find a different opportunity in the field. We worked together for about nine months. During that time, she was able to find a new position with an employer who valued HR more than her previous employer. She is now doing very well in her new position and I'm so proud of her success. “Currently, I serve as the state council director for Maryland SHRM. We oversee the 10 professional chapters across the state of Maryland. SHRM is the largest professional association for HR professionals across the world. I also just completed a term as the director of our local Workforce Development Board. In that role, I served as an advisor to our local workforce services office. They support job seekers through job search services, including resume reviews, job searching techniques, workshops, mock interviews and a host of other programs. “All of these projects help me to share my 20 years of HR expertise with my industry peers, and I am proud to be able to help them to work towards success and drive them to do the best for their clients.” Moving forward, Amanda is keen to build on HR Answerbox’s current success and grow the business further, as she excitedly concludes. “Over the coming years my goal is to grow HR Answerbox and support even more clients. Currently, one of our projects is working with a local software development company as a subject-matter expert on an enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool that they are bringing to market in the next few months. It is a really well thought out and comprehensive solution for small to mid-size employers and I am excited for the launch and the opportunities to gain recognition that this will offer my firm. “With regards to my career, my main aim is to further enhance my HR knowledge to ensure I remain well ahead of emerging market developments. As part of this focus I am currently pursuing an Employee Engagement Specialist Certification to better serve my clients, and I look forward to offering them the benefits of my enhanced skills when working on future projects.” Company: HR Answerbox Name: Amanda Haddaway Address: Woodsboro, MD 21798, USA Telephone Number: +1 (240) 394-9439 Web Address: hranswerbox.com