Northland Consulting: Services Provided by Angelo Peluso

Mission
Northland Consulting is a proven provider of strategic management and communications services. Its primary emphasis is on engagements that involve enhancing organizational performance and maximizing human resources impact. Northland Consulting is ideally suited to deliver its services to organizations that operate in the outdoors, leisure-time and recreational industries as well as many other classes of enterprise. Northland Consulting partners with its clients to evaluate and implement programs, policies, communications and best practices in support of their strategic initiatives, business objectives and market competitiveness. Our consulting services are tailored to meet the unique needs of each client.

We believe in promoting a business environment that strives to achieve optimal performance through a process of continual improvement and one that fosters employee development and involvement.

About Northland
Northland Consulting offers an array of management consulting and strategic services that are reflective of the many changes and challenges that confront businesses in today's economy. Lead by Angelo Peluso, a seasoned executive with diverse business experience, Northland Consulting is ideally positioned to assist organizations that are facing the demands and implications of managing through transition and assisting those organizations in re-positioning for growth. We offer proven management skills and an established track record of leading change, building organizations and reversing the trends of poor performing operations. Whether you are a traditional organization focused on new economy change, or a start-up venture in need of essential support services, we can be of assistance. We understand the challenges that confront you - we have faced many of them ourselves. More importantly, we understand the opportunities and are intimate with the issues facing the various outdoor industries.

Angelo Peluso is the principal managing director. An experienced corporate executive, CEO and entrepreneur, Angelo has built and led successful enterprises, from a conventional manufacturing environment to a business involved in the continually evolving Internet economy. Ranging from marketing and sales, to operations and human resources, to the development of an emerging company, this experience can become your strategic partner.

Within the context of corporate engagements, Angelo has been both a developer and a client of corporate programs. As the Director of Human Resources for a major financial services organization, he and his team designed compensation structures, formulated and implemented human resources policies, managed employment services, directed executive searches and led sector employee relations and EEO initiatives. He brings to each client extensive experience in training, management development and organization analysis. Building upon this human resources expertise, he has also embarked upon a number of successful entrepreneurial initiatives, including building and managing a complex manufacturing enterprise.

Angelo's experience in strategic partnerships, operations and human resources management, employee and management development and technology gives great depth and range to Northland Consulting. His participation in a two- year Executive Leadership curriculum developed by Wharton complements his substantial business acumen and formal education. The collective effect of this knowledge enables Northland Consulting to position some of the more contemporary issues facing businesses operating in today's global marketplace, especially those functioning within the recreational industry.

OUR SERVICES

Communications
Effective communication of your products and services is a critical element in the overall success of the enterprise. Conveying precisely how your product offerings meet the needs of your customers and constituents drives the business plan and ultimately organizational performance. Promotional product writing, advertising text, communications plans and business plans are all embraced within our services portfolio.

We can also assist in defining and developing a comprehensive communications strategy that targets all forms of media, and we will support the implementation of all essential communications programs. Additionally, we are positioned to develop product profiles for use in print media, sales promotion and advertising mediums.

Strategic Planning
Having a well-defined and well-communicated vision, mission statement and set of business objectives are fundamental and core to an organization's success. These elements ideally converge in the form of a strategic plan. This plan serves as an essential road map to organizational success - one that all employees can follow- and serves as a vehicle for managing and monitoring progress and performance. It is extremely important that every employee segment not only understand but embrace as their own the principles by which the organization operates, and also feel empowered to act in support of that strategy.

Northland Consulting has developed a process of strategic plan development - one that can involve the participation of the entire organization. Implementation of our plan design approach can lead not only to the creation of a well-defined management tool but to a powerful team building experience as well.

Management Development
Development of human resources is perhaps the single most critical decision that a company can make. Investment in the development of the mid-level management team can lead to great success, fostering growth from within the organization. Continued viability in the marketplace requires that companies identify the critical skills necessary for success today and for a company's future growth. Northland Consulting can help you target the critical career experiences, practical and educational skills and strategic human resources that will ensure your company's future success. Our principal has coordinated the development of and participated in a number of management development programs. That experience enables us to blend together the best components, tailoring a comprehensive methodology that encourages a collaborative approach to personal and professional development and succession planning.

A key component of mid-level management development is mentoring. One of the responsibilities of success is to pass on the benefits of experience and wisdom to those who may follow. A well-defined mentoring program is one way of achieving that. Not only does such a program increase employee satisfaction; it also helps to ensure organizational continuity. An employee-mentoring program is a way to provide a meaningful forum for employees seeking career guidance.

Recognizing that career development is a two-way street, requiring equal participation of both the employees and the company, Northland Consulting has developed a practical approach to mentoring. Having coordinated and participated in many different forms of mentoring programs, our process takes the best of all approaches, eliminating detrimental and redundant bureaucracy. Our management will work with you to identify mentors who are willing to and capable of sharing their insights for mobility with mid-level managers, and assist you in putting in place the required program. By providing those employees with access to mentors, companies enable managers of all levels to tap into a shared resource that incorporates development and critical learning experiences.

Organizational Blueprinting
For an organization to maximize its potential, its structure must support its strategy and mission as well as facilitate the attainment of critical performance and operating objectives. The question that an organization must ask is, "How do we best structure ourselves to affect optimal, best-in-class performance, given the economic, competitive and performance challenges that confront us?" Once a strategy has been defined and communicated, the organization can then be viewed from the perspective of process and function architecture. Organizations that find themselves in a constant state of flux due to rapidly changing market conditions must also be nimble enough to change quickly as well.

Northland Consulting recognizes this need and can assist you in the process of designing and blueprinting your organization's structure to meet the demands of your operating environment.

Human Resources Services
Effective human resources programs must complement and support an organization's business strategy and goals. In essence, the HR function needs to be as strategic in its thinking and in its program design as is the business it directly supports. An exceptional human resources function is a value-added, equal business partner.

A company's ability to attract and retain the best and brightest talent in the marketplace is essential to remaining competitive. It is most effective when the human resources policies and programs reflect that company's commitments to employees. Compensation, benefits, employee development, technology investment, access to interesting and challenging projects are the factors that make employees want to stay with "employers of choice."

Northland Consulting can analyze your recruitment and retention programs, benchmark those offerings against industry leaders and provide insight and recommendations to ensure your company keeps pace with or surpasses your competitors.

We also have significant experience in the process of restructuring the workforce, especially in areas of downsizing or rightsizing. The uncertainty of today's economic environment confronts more and more companies with the decision of having to streamline their workforce to reduce expenses. The impact of such a decision is far-reaching, not just to the employees whose jobs may be eliminated, but to the employees who remain. Often, job consolidation and increased workloads create ongoing employee relations problems that have detrimental effects upon an organization's ability to perform to its potential - effects that can be long lasting.

Northland Consulting draws upon years of practical experience in the design of rightsizing programs and supporting compensation packages to assist you through that most difficult process. We also offer advice and counsel in the development of transition management strategies that enable your business to continue focusing on its critical performance objectives while treating all affected employees with respect and dignity.

Performance Improvement
The one true constant in any business model is the need to continually improve upon successes and upon what has already been achieved, and to correct any operational deficiencies that may exist. Complacency can be a lethal malady within an organization, and it can be highly contagious - what you accomplished yesterday may not be enough to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Effective leadership needs to embed a philosophy of constant process improvement that is accepted and practiced by all employee segments within an organization. "There is nothing we do that cannot be improved upon." In essence, we should try to fix what isn't yet broken.

Client or shareholder expectations may change, market metrics may change, the competition changes, employees change and ultimately the organization itself must evolve if it is to grow and thrive. While there are a number of different processes for systemic continual improvement, Northland Consulting has the experience to assist you in choosing the right approach for your company in order to maximize performance consistent with your strategy.

Often contained within the disciplines of performance improvement are issues relevant to the alternative delivery of products and services. To that end, examination of your core competencies is critical to determining your business model. At Northland Consulting, we understand that the decision involving alternative sourcing extends beyond the singular focus of price - it must embrace the elements of service and quality as well.

Determining when and how to enter into collaborative engagements is one of the most critical decisions a business can make. Decisions regarding when/how to deploy a "Build vs. Buy" strategy, its impact to your business and negotiation of sound agreements are areas in which Northland Consulting can provide support.

Thorough and comprehensive evaluation of potential partnerships helps businesses avoid potentially damaging decisions. With access to research and information regarding industry trends and decision points for business, Northland Consulting can assist you in developing a framework for determining the value of strategic partnerships to your organization.

Transition Management
Regardless of the nature of change that a business is confronted with, transition must be lead and managed. While the theory of "order out of chaos" might explain the creation of the universe, it is not the preferred approach to the creation of a stable and viable organization. Businesses in every industry and at every stage of maturity and evolution face the challenge of change each day. Whether the result of market place demand, competitive pressures, quality of products and services or consumer needs, changes in business approach become a management mandate.

At Northland Consulting, our experience in leading change and our practical approaches to managing transitions can be your guide in navigation through those uncharted waters. We can assist in adapting your company to the rapid and often dramatic changes that can either propel you forward or swamp your organization. Developing a comprehensive and practical approach to transition management is a specialized service that Northland Consulting offers its clients.

If you would like more information about these services please contact me at APinfo@angelopeluso.com.