We know that your vision for your company and what is happening at the workplace level can sometimes be misaligned.
It’s not easy to balance the demands of business with the wants of shareholders and stakeholders, as well as the needs of your team members.
With so many moving parts in an organization, it’s inevitable that a problem will crop up somewhere; but we see that problem as the perfect opportunity to help your company grow.
That’s where we come in.
We truly believe that your company is only as powerful as its people. The people are your foundation. The stronger
your foundation, the stronger your business will be, which is why you have to set your people up for success.
Success never comes from doing the same thing the same way, day in and day out. That kind of rigidity is the death knell for a business. You must have the ability to pivot and adapt in order to thrive.
Our unique set of experiences are exactly what businesses need to navigate changing business demands.
With our diverse set of human resources and workplace investigation experiences and business know-how, we recognized that we have the ability to develop human resources plans and strategies that far surpass anything that one person could conceive alone.
Each of us has years of expertise in different areas of HR. That means we bring your business varied perspectives, which is exactly what you need when you have a diverse employee population.
At ACTivate HR, we are driven to create exceptional workplaces and communities that activate the full potential of the people in them. We think ahead. We see the bigger playing field. We’ll guide you to create a culture that supports both your employees and your business.
We genuinely care about our clients and getting the best outcomes for everyone involved, whether that’s conducting a workplace investigation, giving you our expertise on an HR issue, or producing a comprehensive human resources plan. Our goal, in every situation, is to design human resources strategies to improve our clients’ companies by accelerating.
The potential and productivity of the individuals, managers and teams, in a culture that’s cooperative and supportive.
Our team is here to support your business every step of the way.
Shannon Friesen
Principal and Senior HR Consultant
“The ability to make a meaningful difference to employers and employees keeps me engaged and excited about what I do every day”
Phone: 403-689-6470
Shannon is a process-oriented get-things-done kind of woman. She brings her career experiences to the table for each client, giving her the ability to step away from a problem, think strategically about a solution, and provide practical solutions that can be implemented and sustained by her clients. Her inherent knack for connecting with leaders gives her clients a worry-free partnership.
Shannon’s career has taken her through multiple industries, including law firms, government, utilities and oil and gas. Shannon is intrigued with human nature and with understanding what motivates and inspires people. The Calgary economic downturn led to interesting Human Resource opportunities, including a strong appetite for senior level Human Resource professionals with an ability to think strategically while offering made-to-measure business solutions.
When Shannon isn’t helping find great Human Resource solutions for her clients, she enjoys hiking or curling up with a good book. She can also be found volunteering at the Calgary Food Bank.
Krista McIntosh
Principal and Senior HR Consultant
“Being able to make a meaningful difference in the lives of employees and the success of organizations is why I got into this business and what drives me to continue”
Phone: 403-689-4578
Krista is a highly adaptable professional who is likes to inspire others by envisioning the future and what could be. She is able to go with the flow and uses her ability to see connections and interrelationships to generate ideas and make things happen. Her interest in human behaviour led to her attaining a Master’s degree in Human Factors, specializing in human error. Her professional background has brought her success at major organizations such as ENMAX and Canadian Pacific Railway, where her leadership role allowed her to implement programs around compensation, performance management and succession planning. She has applied her knowledge of human behaviour successfully in Human Resources, helping making people and organizations successful.
Krista is a highly personable, effective Human Resources expert that enjoys workplace investigations and working through workplace situations to determine why behaviours are occurring. This allows her to quickly and effectively identify practical and effective solutions. Her empathetic and knowledgeable spirit makes it easy for her to create and maintain great relationships with her clients.
When Krista isn’t helping identify root causes of issues to create meaningful, practical and workable solutions, she can be found volunteering with animal rescues, creating fibre art or spending quality time with her husband, teen daughter and their three dogs.
Joely Sorensen
Principal and Senior HR Consultant
“Helping people and organizations to succeed is the reason I got into this line of work and continue to do it today”
Email: joely.sorensen@activatehr.ca
Phone: 403-689-7190
Joely is a goal-oriented, big-picture thinker who gets joy from helping people excel in what they love to do, adding value to their company. Her career has previously taken her to leadership and advisory roles at ENMAX and Canadian Pacific Railway.
Joely has always been interested in finding out what motivates people to be excellent at their jobs. She prides herself on her ability to step back from challenging situations to see the big picture and how things can be continuously improved. Staying out of irrelevant details and maintaining a focus on what needs to be done directly and positively improves her clients’ business. She most enjoys assessing a workplace and offering simple solutions with great payoff.
When Joely isn’t solving Human Resources and workplace issues for her clients, you can find her at rinks around Alberta cheering on her little figure skater and hockey player or taking time to herself reading, cycling and enjoying family time.
Dara Boa
Senior HR Consultant
Dara is a passionate people person who has successfully supported major government organizations in an advisory Human Resource capacity, including Alberta Health Services’ South Health Campus, City of Calgary Transit and Calgary Housing.
Dara’s experience in Labour Relations has made her a pro at workplace investigations, building relationships with difficult personalities and interpreting collective agreements. If you’re seeking a straight-talking expert to help you navigate your workplace investigation, Dara is the woman for you. She strives to provide actionable advice and takes pride in teaching leaders the skills they need to successfully support their teams and feel confident to make difficult decisions concerning their Human Resource issues.
When Dara isn’t assisting leaders to create a positive self-image and strong reputation throughout their organization, she can be found spending quality time with her husband and son or playing competitive volleyball.
Darla Blackmore
Senior HR Consultant
Darla is a resulted oriented, client focused professional who is dedicated to helping others achieve success. Her career has evolved from teaching with the public school board to progressive leadership roles in the talent management realm in oil, gas, utility, insurance and public sector companies.
Darla brings considerable learning and leadership development, program development and project management experience with a focus on implementing solutions in collaboration with clients. Her positive and consultative personal style lends itself to building great partnerships and achieving great results.
When Darla isn’t helping to develop solutions for her clients, she can be found volunteering in the community, golfing, traveling or spending quality time with family and friends.
Megan de Nooy
Senior HR Consultant
Megan is a practical, solution focused HR professional. Clients appreciate her fit for purpose focused consulting – delivering solutions which fit each organization’s needs and environment. She brings her Gemini attributes to HR roles and offers an unusual blend of skills: able to operate strategically and operationally, demonstrated intuitive and analytical skills, combines practicality and creativity, delivers independently and is also a solid collaborative contributor. Engineering companies, not for profit, consumer goods, and manufacturing have benefitted from her HR expertise over the years. She is also a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and works with individual clients in the areas of career and life satisfaction. Her expertise includes recruitment, compensation and benefits, talent & performance management, learning and development, employee relations, workforce planning, and HR employee communications.
As a native Calgarian, Megan believes strongly in Calgary’s agility and resourcefulness. She enjoys working with small to medium sized organizations, and believes they are key to Calgary’s economic transition, recovery, and growth. Outside work, she volunteers as a White Hatter every weekend, sharing her enthusiasm and helpful attitude with visitors, passengers, and locals at the Calgary International Airport. She has also volunteered with Social Venture Partners’ Fast Pitch campaign, Junior Achievement, and is an active Toastmaster. She has been married for over 30 years and has two sons.
Testimonials
“Krista is a highly capable HR professional, and is quick to respond, approachable, and really easy to work with. She and her team really understand various intricacies of HR management. While working with her, she not only prepared the requested document for us, but went above and beyond by coaching me on how to present the document in a correct manner. I strongly recommend her services.”
Avneesh K - CEO and President
Web Services Company
“Shannon is extremely knowledgeable and up to date on all HR policy and practice areas, knows how to implement and maintain policy in a non bureaucratic way, and is skilled on investigation and follow up when required. She has comprehensive knowledge about HR information systems and operations and can make systems “sing”."
Gill B - VP Human Resources
Mid-Size Oil and Gas Company
“Joely has been very responsive and helpful from the first conversation had about our business needs. She understands our culture, her knowledge is broad and she is able to give a clear, concise responses in areas we lack. I sincerely recommend adding her to your team.”
Donna H - Executive / Clinical Director
Psychological Services Organization
“Krista, Joely and Shannon are a professional, trustworthy and results driven team committed to delivering value to the organization.”
Erin K - VP, Human Resources and Environment, Health and Safety
Mid-size Utility
“Krista and Joely conduct workplace investigations in a professional, confidential manner that mitigates clients’ legal risk. They also recommend and implement solutions following investigations that have created more harmonious work environments, reinforcing a client’s desired corporate culture and increasing employee engagement.”
Cameron B - Manager, Total Talent
Municipal Airport
“I have no hesitation in recommending both Krista and Joely based on their high level of performance and the confidential manner in which they conduct business on our behalf.”
Terri J - People Services Manager
Mid-size Energy Company
"Krista and her team have been an absolutely invaluable resource. As a small business owner, having someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Krista on HR laws, guidelines and industry norms available to answer questions and guide us has definitely increased our professionalism, confidence and trust that we are doing the right thing for our people."
Stephani C - Owner
Sustainable Consulting Company
“We are a small company that occasionally needs to draw upon the knowledge and expertise of a senior Human Resources Team and we have found ACTivateHR to be a perfect fit for our needs. The ACTivateHR team is responsive and knowledgeable; they understand our HR needs and most definitely provide value-added services. We highly recommend them.”
Lisa G - Senior Business and HR Analyst
Professional Services Company
"ACTivate HR is an amazing company and wonderful to work with. Our company had a large scale investigation occurring, and our team was overloaded and unable to respond to it by ourselves. Upon reaching out to ACTivate HR, I received a quick response from Krista, followed by plenty of great assistance. She was extremely professional and insightful, and provided a thorough report of the findings in a timely manner. I can’t recommend ACTivate HR enough.”
Garnet D - People Portfolio
Health Care
"When working with Krista on some sensitive topics I found Krista was quick to understand the business, responsive and understanding in difficult times and thoroughly professional in her approach to these sensitive issues. I would recommend Krista’s services and will be using them again the future should the need arise!”
Tania D - AVP HR Client Support
Financial Services Company