Our People:
  Andrea L. Averill | Glenn L. Dalton | Jennifer S. Daniels | Karen O. Drake | Kimberly M. Keating

Andrea L. Averill

Expertise

Ms. Averill brings a breadth of knowledge and expertise in working with clients to diagnose, evaluate and implement effective total reward strategies and compensation programs that drive both individual and business performance. Ms. Averill has extensive experience in the development and implementation of compensation philosophies, strategies, and programs for the broad-based employee population, as well as executive, technical and sales force population. Her work includes managing industry compensation surveys and comprehensive market pay studies. She has served numerous companies in industries including: educational testing, professional associations, not for profit, pharmaceutical, consumer products, insurance, telecommunications and financial services.

Professional Background

Before joining RKD, Ms. Averill has held progressive positions within the compensation consulting practices at Towers Perrin in Philadelphia, PA and Sibson & Company in Princeton, NJ. She has also held corporate human resources positions at FMC and Swiss Bank Corporation.

Milestones

An international $1B plastics division of an oil company moving to a stand-alone organization sought a new executive pay program to support their business. Ms. Averill lead the development of a compensation philosophy, salary banded structure, bonus and stock option plan that aligned pay with the long and short term goals of the organization.

A $40B insurance company with over 60,000 employees that was loosing market share sought a market based approach to pay and improve individual and business performance for their corporate positions. Ms. Averill lead the development of a comprehensive market study, market based job evaluation approach and salary structure and performance cash program that aligned pay to the market and created a stronger link between pay and performance.

A $280B mortgage company that had rapidly grown through acquisition sought to consolidate over 100 different management and sales incentive plans across various business units to align these plans with the strategic goals of the organization. Ms. Averill lead the development of an incentive philosophy and guidelines, review and analysis of the plans, development of new sales incentive plans and communications.

Education

Ms. Averill has a master’s degree in industrial relations, specializing in compensation management and plan design, from Loyola University of Chicago. She studied economics at Purdue University and Loyola University in Chicago, where she received her bachelor’s degree.

Glenn L. Dalton

Expertise

Nationally recognized for his in optimizing organizations’ investments in human capital and linking those investments to business strategy, Mr. Dalton helps clients solve their people issues with positive impact on the bottom line. His open and direct approach has been effectively applied from the executive suite to the union shop floor. He has unique experience in helping companies and unions collaborate on critical issues.

Milestones

A $20B global mining company facing increasing labor costs sought help in diagnosing and redesigning its failed gainsharing plan. Working with seven unions representing more than 2,000 employees across three business units in two locations, Mr. Dalton used a collaborative design process to develop a highly successful group incentive plan that, within 18 months, helped increase productivity by 17%, improve safety by 40% and reduce cost per unit by 16%.

A privately held plastics manufacturer sought help transitioning employees from a traditional work environment with individual piece-rate incentives to team based work processes. Mr. Dalton developed an integrated transition process that improved short term productivity by 35% over previously launched teams. New staffing levels, team work processes, base pay structures, group incentives, and change management processes were key ingredients in the initiative.

A $2B consumer products spin-off in a slow growth industry embraced economic value as a key measure of organizational success and turned to Mr. Dalton to help focus top management on EV. He led a critical initiative that created new performance management and pay vehicles and utilized an innovative change process that focused senior management on the company’s key EV drivers and enabled it to triple share price in less than two years.

Professional Background

Prior to forming the RKD Group, Mr. Dalton was a partner with Axiom Consulting Partners, and a principal with Sibson & Company. Before that, Mr. Dalton was Director, Human Resources for Ralston Purina Company’s Pet Food Group, Ralston’s Corporate Director of Labor Relations and Employment Law and during a 20-year Ralston career held senior legal and human resources positions.

Education

Mr. Dalton earned his law degree from the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, and a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Hendrix College.

Professional Affiliations and Achievements

Mr. Dalton is affiliated with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and World at Work. He is a frequent speaker at national and specialized conferences and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Industry Week and Business Finance. He has been published in Management Review, Industrial Management, Compensation and Benefits Review, Journal for Quality and Participation, and the Journal of Organizational Excellence.

Jennifer S. Daniels

Expertise

Ms. Daniels provides analytical support to clients focusing on market pricing and research. She also provides support on projects regarding performance management system and salary structure development.

Professional Background

Prior to joining RKD Group, Ms. Daniels was an undergraduate student at American University, working as Executive Apartment Assistant for the Office of Housing and Dining. She also has prior experience as a project and event manager for a catering company in Newport, RI.

Milestones

Ms. Daniels has worked on a number of significant projects involving market pricing and performance management system development:
    Assisted in the design process of a comprehensive career pathing system for    a $30 million dollar healthcare nonprofit;
    Managed the market pricing research and subsequent analysis of the    nonexempt staff population at a private university;
    Conducted and administered a national higher Education survey regarding    compensation practices of non-tenure track faculty.

Education

Ms. Daniels completed her bachelor’s degree in philosophy magna cum laude at American University in Washington, DC.

Kimberly M. Keating

Expertise

Ms. Keating has extensive experience in broad-based compensation and performance management and has consulted with numerous organizations in designing compensation programs to support their business strategy and build competitive advantage.

Professional Background

Before joining RKD Group, Ms. Keating was a Senior Consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting. During her five years at Mercer, her clients included financial services organizations, national associations, charitable organizations, and institutions of higher Education, as well as Fortune 500 companies. Previously, Ms. Keating led the rewards function for The Advisory Board Company, a strategic research think-tank and the Motley Fool, an internet company. After graduate school, Ms. Keating joined Sibson & Co. as a senior consulting analyst in Princeton, NJ. Prior to her human resource career, Ms. Keating was a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley Investment Bank and CFO for Teach for America.

Milestones

Ms. Keating is a member of the Board of Directors for the African American Nonprofit Network, Latin America Youth Center and Miriam’s Kitchen.

Ms. Keating is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, in the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education.

Publications include: "Long-term Incentives in Not-for-Profits" WorldatWork Journal third quarter 2002; "The Perils of Pay Inequity" WorldatWork Journal, fourth quarter 2002; "Linking Pay to Performance" CUPA HR Journal spring/summer 2004. Featured in Essence Magazine.

Education

Ms. Keating holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, and a B.B.A. in finance from Southern Methodist University.

Karen O. Drake

Expertise

Ms. Drake is a dynamic, Organizational Development leader, coach, and strategic thinker with demonstrated ability to quickly spot relevant patterns and issues-creating alternative ways to problem solve. Known as an innovative and original thinker she helps leaders explore new possibilities and operate outside of their comfort zone. A skillful communicator and exceptional facilitator, her style has been described as engaging with an uncanny ability to put people at ease, to gauge the emotional tone of a group, and to create momentum in others. Ms. Drake is frequently sought after to conduct gap analyses, assess the climate and organizational readiness for change, and develop strategies for helping a team/unit/group or organization achieve its goals.

Professional Background

Prior to joining RKD Group, Ms. Drake served as the Director of the Human Resources & Organizational Development department and Leadership Academy for Saint Louis University, responsible for management/leadership development, organizational capability building, and employee recognition/retention programs. Prior to SLU, Ms. Drake owned and managed her own organizational effectiveness firm for over 12 years, working on diversity strategy, team effectiveness, strategic planning, performance management, and change management. Her clients have included Fortune 500 companies as well as nonprofit organizations and universities throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. As a former psychotherapist, Karen’s knowledge of individual and group behavior, help her to assess individual and organizational needs quickly and motivate people to move.

Professional Affiliations

Ms. Drake serves on the board of the YWCA of Metro St. Louis, the Executive Advisory Board of NAAAHR (National Association of African Americans in Human Resources), and lends her expertise to various nonprofit organizations committed to capacity building.

Notable Achievements

  • Redesigned the Training & HR Planning function to assess organizational needs, design organizational development strategies, and provide processes to address effective training and talent development at all levels of the university.
  • Developed a performance management/skill-based pay process, and train-the-trainer, for a manufacturing group that improved the employee appraisal and evaluation process across six U.S. plants.
  • Developed and implemented a (9-month) Leadership Academy for high potential administrative faculty and staff that led to (participant) promotions and developmental assignments.
  • Directed a multiyear group project to assess the campus climate for diversity and inclusion.
  • Developed and facilitated a diversity awareness and planning program for a global agricultural business, across multiple functions in North America and Europe, which led to a shared (global) understanding of the organization’s diversity direction and objectives.
  • Developed and implemented an executive team formation process resulting in a shared understanding of the I.T. organization’s mission/vision/values/roles and responsibilities. The process led to a reorganization that improved alignment and the organization’s ability to achieve its goals.

Education

Ms. Drake earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Indiana State University, and her Masters degree in psychology from Washington University.