top of page

Our Expertise

Mike Ghislain, NXTLEVEL Consulting, Organizational Development Consulting

"Mike is a very straightforward and down-to-earth development coach who offers a very unique and valuable perspective which he has honed throughout his very diverse background."

– Jim, General Manager

Education & Certifications
 
  • BS Management, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, Wis.

  • Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR)

  • SHRM Sr. Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)

  • Certified 360 Feedback Coach, Personnel Decisions International (PDI)

  • Former Board of Examiner for the Wisconsin Forward Award Program (State’s Malcolm Baldridge Program)

  • Advisory Board Member, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, College of Economics, Business and Computing

  • Former Advisory Board Member, Racine County Workforce Development Center

Mike Ghislain -
Talent Recruitment/Leadership Coach/Business Consultant
 

NXTLevel Consulting leader Mike Ghislain is an innovative, results-driven executive with 25+ years of experience and strengths in Talent Recruitment, Executive Coaching, Organizational Development, Human Resources, Operations, Finance and Information Technology in southeastern Wisconsin.

 

He is a change agent and visionary who finds and places top talent, and then works with executives and teams to implement key business strategies that elevate organizational performance and increase the bottom line.

 

Industry experience includes small, medium and large companies in manufacturing, technology, business services, energy, construction and outsourcing.

 

Mike has demonstrated consistent success in elevating and sustaining increased business results as a valued, strategic business partner across environments.

“I’ve had numerous hard to fill roles only to find Mike saying, “I have someone,” or “have you thought about this type of candidate.” He is an excellent thought partner and producer of results. He understands the impact top talent can make to any organization.” 

 

– Rachel Lloyd, M.S.  Sr. Director of Organizational Effectiveness & Talent Mgmt

Learn more at my LinkedIn profile.

Key Accomplishments
 
  • Key leader in driving change management and workforce re-engineering for a $100M manufacturing operation. Served a dual role as VP of Operations and VP Human Resources to drive leadership focus and change in support of this companywide, transformational change. Managed an operations team of 350-500 employees. Reduced FTE count by 150 while improving quality, delivery, and profitability.

  • Achieved Top 25 Best Companies to Work for in America award four years in a row. Earned recognition as Top Milwaukee Workplace, and Top Family Friendly Workplace. Was a key driver in earning the Governor’s Award of Excellence (State’s Malcolm Baldridge Award) for the company. Established strategic objectives and openly committed to continuous improvement. Dropped employee turnover from 21% to 7%. Improved employee satisfaction from 73% to 93%. Increased profitability 15-fold.

  • Key leader in the design and delivery of corporate strategic planning. Introduced and facilitated strategic planning and deployment.  Focused on resource alignment from the production floor to the board room while building trust and increasing accountability through clearly established goals, metrics and communication.

  • Transitioned HR’s focus to value-added, strategic activities like: top talent acquisition and development, employee and management coaching, and performance management. Implemented several fully automated and paperless HR organizations. Orchestrated the shift from 70% transactional activities to 60% value added services.

  • Played a lead role in driving significant growth. Sales in this 67-year-old company were flat. Hired and partnered with a sales VP to build a high performing sales model, compensation plan and strong sales team. Over a six-year period, increased sales more than 300% while driving profitability from 2.6% to 37% of sales.

  • Transformed union-management relations from adversarial to collaborative without weakening management’s rights. Restored mutual trust. Provided communications and dispute resolution training to management and union representatives. Logged a "0" grievance year in an environment that historically averaged 150+ grievances yearly.

  • Designed and implemented competency-based, fully automated performance management systems that aligned objectives and results organization-wide. Integrated talent development, succession management and performance into a dynamic, ongoing process that was the foundation for a pay-for-performance driven culture.

  • Reined in runaway health care costs that had been rising at double-digit rate. Totally restructured the health plan. Changed brokers, providers and implemented an independent case management firm that represented both the employee and company's best interests. Maintained an average cost increase of only 5% each year.

bottom of page