Barrie began her consulting and training work out of her deep respect and passion for all things human capital related. After 15 years as an employment attorney, Barrie sought to use her broad experience to bring a more business oriented approach to talent management strategies. Having seen that enhanced communications and strong employment relationships are critical to improved performance and effective risk management, Barrie’s work focuses on helping companies meet their business needs while balancing the needs of the their workforce and all the other stakeholders.
Barrie is a recognized expert in human resources with a combination of experience that gives her a great appreciation for the need to provide practical assistance to her clients. After graduating law school in 1988, Barrie worked as an attorney for the California Supreme Court. She then spent several years as an employment law associate with a well known national employment and labor law firm. In February 1995, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., a financial services company, hired Barrie to create and lead the in-house employment law department. Over the next seven years, as Vice President & Senior Corporate Counsel, she helped the company grow from 5300 to over 24,000 employees. Barrie had the privilege and pleasure of working directly with Executive and Senior management, the human resources department and all the business enterprises.
When Barrie left Schwab, she sought to hone her training and consulting skills in a non-legal capacity. To help do that, she worked as a consultant with Mercer HR Consulting on complex human resources issues and became an adjunct professor with the University of San Francisco, School of Business and Management, where she taught Introduction to Global Management and guest lectured in the MBA Business Communications Program. She also worked with premier e-learning companies to develop sophisticated management and employee development coursework for international clients.
The combination of her professional experiences makes Barrie uniquely qualified to provide HR training and consulting solutions. She learned first hand that a commitment to providing continual learning opportunities, along with a sophisticated approach to the human resources function and communication strategies, are the most effective management tools available. They create an environment in which all employees are motivated to achieve excellence.
Barrie Gross graduated from the University of Vermont, and earned a J.D. (cum laude) from the University of San Francisco, School of Law, where she was a member of the McAuliffe Honor Society. While practicing law, Barrie spent 10 years as a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel and served as Chair of the Communications Subcommittee for its Employment and Labor Law Committee. She also publishes scores of articles on human resources and employment related topics, is affiliated as human resources and employment subject matter expert on www.allbusiness.com and does public speaking engagements on leadership skills and management development.
