HR Companies & HR Consultants in Essex Junction, VT

Overview

Ethos Consulting Group LLC is a boutique management consultancy based in Essex Junction, Vermont, and has worked with businesses since 2003. It serves clients across the country, but its home base is in the Green Mountain State. The firm says it is specialized on purpose rather than a generalist practice.

It focuses on a few disciplines where its principal has deep hands-on experience: people management and HR, leadership and organizational development, workplace safety and risk, customer service, and individual coaching. Clients range from start-ups to young, growing companies and long-established businesses.

HR and People Services

For buyers looking for HR support, the firm treats human resources as work that needs both structure and empathy. It recommends that organizations bring in an outside adviser for regular reviews of two things: compliance with employment laws and rules, and the health of the workplace culture. Its board and leadership work also covers HR, including guidance for directors on their duties, liabilities and HR compliance questions. Core offerings include:

• HR consulting and periodic compliance and culture reviews
• Leadership development for senior teams and emerging leaders
• Orientation and training for boards and new directors
• Organizational development and change management
• Safety, risk management and loss control, including OSHA compliance
• Customer service consulting
• Executive coaching and customized professional development

Organizational development projects start with a review of the whole organization: where it stands today and what it will need next. The firm then uses behavioral science methods and project management practices to help companies adjust to changing markets, rules and technology. Its coaching combines current assessment tools with candid feedback to help executives and mid-level managers find their blind spots. The firm calls coaching one of its specialities.

Industries and Approach

Most client work is with utilities, manufacturers, service businesses and hospitality companies, and the safety practice also covers professional offices. Each engagement is tailored to the client. The firm offers a free first meeting to talk through needs, goals and budget and to check whether the fit works in both expertise and culture.

Fees can be billed hourly, daily, per project, on a monthly retainer, or as a flat fee, and the firm says it keeps detailed time logs. When needed, it brings in outside technical specialists in selected areas to add to its in-house skills.

Background and Credentials

The practice is led by Principal Consultant Scott Ptak. He started it while still holding a senior role at a large organization, after outside companies kept asking for his help with management problems. He has more than forty years of management experience, including C-suite roles, and often works with boards and executive teams.

He speaks nationally on leadership, safety, communication, HR management and organizational development. He currently teaches at Keene State College and the University of New Hampshire, and earlier held adjunct posts at schools in Georgia's public university system. He also served on an OSHA partnership committee on electrical transmission and distribution.

His credentials include the SPHR, Certified Utility Safety Professional, Associate in Risk Management and Certified Ergonomic Assessment Specialist designations, along with several OSHA instructor qualifications and TapRooT trainer certification. He holds a master's degree from Central Michigan University and a business degree from Covenant College, and has finished doctoral coursework in organizational leadership.

He belongs to SHRM, the Association for Talent Development, the Project Management Institute and several safety associations. This mix of HR certification and safety expertise may suit Vermont employers in regulated, safety-sensitive industries.