Karen is an Amick Brown Co-Founder and Managing Partner. She has long history in IT, serving both in technical and leadership roles.  She spent 26 years supporting various technologies at AT&T.  Karen’s last 10 years there was spent as a Senior Technical Director where she lead a team tasked with building the enterprise SAP BI solution at AT&T—a solution which served the company’s human resources, procurement, legal, network, finance, and real estate organizations and had a diverse end-user population of more than 400,000.

In 2010, after an outsource of the AT&T SAP application to a large consulting company, Karen shifted her focus and with her business partner Anitha Brown, started Amick Brown LLC, an IT consulting and staffing company. The company, while still a small business, is enjoying steady growth and has been listed on the San Francisco Business Times Top 100 Woman Owned Businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area list since 2013.

Karen’s role at Amick Brown focuses on the internal business functions of the company and the teams supporting Human Resources, Accounting, Marketing, Legal and Finance. She is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and has earned her SHRM certified HR Professional certification (SHRM-CP) which enables her to stay abreast of HR developments and ensures Amick Brown adheres to all Labor laws and regulations.  Karen ensures that business functions are running smoothly and efficiently so Amick Brown’s primary focus can remain on how to best serve both Amick Brown’s client’s and employee’s needs.

Karen lives in Livermore, California with her husband of 37 years.  She has three grown children and one “almost 3” year old grandson whom she adores.  She loves spending time with friends and family and spends as much time as possible at Lake Oroville, California where the family maintains a small houseboat.

Follow Amick Brown at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/amick-brown-llc

Connect to Karen through  Karen’s LinkedIn Profile.  Say hello, she would love to hear from you!

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When you think employee engagement, you probably think of employees who are involved, committed to the organization and satisfied. But what many people don’t understand is what employers can do to create employee engagement and maintain it companywide. Below are four key drivers that can be utilized to create, increase and maintain employee engagement which can positively influence both individual and business level performance.

Meaningful Work

In order for employees to be engaged, the work performed must be meaningful. This can be accomplished by creating a connection between work and organizational strategy. This shows employees how important their jobs are to the success of the organization. Employees want to feel that the work performed is valued and can open up doors for more opportunities.  Opportunities for career development are extremely important to keep employees involved and headed in the right direction. Managers play an important role here because they are in direct contact with employees on a daily basis and are able to accurately evaluate employee potential. They should take time to ensure employees enjoy their work and help to keep employees on the right path to success.

Leadership

It is essential for employees to have trust and confidence in their leadership. Leadership should demonstrate honesty and integrity while encouraging employees to be successful. This can be done by creating a good reputation within the organization, demonstrating passion to succeed and building a relationship with employees based on trust. Without that, it is likely that employee engagement will not exist. When employees feel the support of leadership and are provided the tools necessary to be successful, the potential for employee engagement is vast.

Recognition

It is human nature to enjoy being recognized and rewarded, especially in one’s career. One way to increase employee engagement is by having management and employees work together on setting goals and by management providing the necessary tools to meet the goals. Then management must recognize and reward those individuals who reach their goals. Regardless of how large or small the goal is, it is beneficial for management to give positive and constructive feedback and offer praise and rewards of work well done because it motivates employees to stay engaged and keep succeeding.

Communication

All great relationships are built on communication, and the employee employer relationship is no different. One way to increase employee engagement is to communicate in a timely and orderly manner. This means discussing issues when they arise, communicating respectfully and listening to one another. Employers and employees should provide constant feedback, clarify expectations and promote open communication. This communication will result in employees feeling respected and valued which will increase employee engagement.

Having strong employee engagement companywide is crucial and can prove to be extremely beneficial for both the employer and the employee.  It is a good idea to keep these drivers in mind when planning your employee engagement strategy.

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