Iowa Talent Consortium was started by Nikole Tutton in 2012 when the market for talent and diversity recruiting headed south and large corporations in Cedar Rapids started paying less for the same jobs than in Des Moines or Iowa City, yet had a higher cost of living. People were viewed as a necessary evil and expendable - under-the-table "gentleman's agreements" were made between companies going through RIF's not to hire each others' laid-off workers, lest they be called back. Recruiters were paid less and less and asked to do the impossible - recruit high tech workers to Iowa from other, more desirable states for less money. Affirmative Action was pushed into the closet, along with Organizational Development and 360 degree reviews - most HR professionals have no idea what the definition of a plan truly is as the words have become so emotionally charged.

Nikole sought to change that. So she and a couple of like-minded free-lancers got together and came up with and idea to create a loose band of veteran HR Experts to be available for the tough project work that Corporate HR has neither the time or expertise to handle.

Growing up in Waterloo, Iowa, Nikole was extremely lucky to live within an integrated school system where both students and teachers were black, Jewish, white, refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia, etc. Her biggest influence on the exquisite value that Black American Experience brings to white privilege was Mr. Jimmie Porter, civil rights leader and founder of KBBG, UNI-CUE, and an admired community beacon who volunteered in her third grade classroom. He was a large, intimidating, tower of a man with a deep voice but was gentle as a lamb and quickly became the most popular figure in the school.  Because of his leadership and the 1972 civil rights demonstration on the Waterloo Community Schools, Nikole 's education was invaluably enriched by teachers of color in the 1970's. He, and seeing the way black students (and presumed illegitimate white students, for that matter, as she had a different last name than her mother) were treated, the differences between the haves and the have-nots, and outright judgement based on what a person looks like, made her appreciate the gift of our individual histories and experiences. Everyone has a story and those stories have tremendous value to the organization in terms of creativity and new ideas.

Nikole is an award-winning, multi-faceted catalyst for change, pulling from over twenty years’ experience in talent selection, compensation analysis, Diversity & Inclusion, employee engagement, performance management and leadership coaching. Among her many and diverse audiences, she has trained and mentored engineering executives at the VP-level and above in the semiconductor/RF industry, worked with temporary warehouse workers affected by a mass lay off in 6 months to take full advantage of NAFTA benefits, and trained managers and recruiters in telecommunications to recognize and counteract implicit biases in their talent and selection process. Her experience extends beyond the organization to M&A Due Diligence and highly-compensated executives’ integration & onboarding.

She draws on insights from behavioral economics, neuroscience, industrial psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and collective consciousness to design impactful trainings that deliver key messages and drive change. Her strength and passion for high performance workplaces where employees are empowered to express creativity, encouraged to reach their potential, and leaders are rewarded for promotions in their charge shine through. Her enthusiasm for organizational and leadership development is tempered by her ability to present delicate subjects with poise and genuine caring. Her novel approach is to listen to stakeholders’ experiences, help them recognize their own challenges and opportunities, then guide or “nudge” the individual/group to develop a plan of action to accelerate the process of change.

“I let them tell me what’s in it for them – how they will benefit from the change, instead of me telling them. It’s amazing how much more impactful that message is when the student is the messenger.”

Nikole has been trained by the OFCCP to instruct government contractors on the Affirmative Action process and compliance, as a Behavioral-based Interview Trainer by BT Novations, and as a PROFILOR 360-degree Review Trainer by PDI. She has appeared on the PBS program “Ethical Perspectives”, numerous news broadcasts, and has spoken to several physician and public health organizations to educate them on Affordable Care Act and Expanded Medicaid.  In her spare time, she shares her energy with horses, adults and kids on the ASD spectrum and French Bulldogs, training for service, as her dearly loved pets and fostering.

Contact Nikole directly at ntutton@iatalentconsortium.com