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Rhoda McVeigh has more than 30 years of experience as a Human Resources professional, with great depth in performance management, including talent acquisition, pre-employment assessments, employee engagement, performance appraisal and improvement, training and development, succession planning, internal investigations, exit strategies, and compliance.

Rhoda lives and works from Bedford, New Hampshire. In her capacity as a KMA Human Resources Consultant, she will also support KMA business development efforts.

Prior to joining KMA, Rhoda was a Director of Human Resources for Panera, LLC, first on the corporate side, then on the cafe/retail side. Before that, she spent 16 years at national specialty retailer, Brookstone, Inc., 11 of which were spent as the Director of Human Resources with responsibility for corporate, retail, and distribution center HR.

Rhoda has an SPHR Certification from HRCI and a SHRM-SCP Certification from The Society of Human Resources Management. She also holds certifications in a variety of human resources specialties including pre-employment assessments, employment law, 360-degree processes, leadership training and development programs, civil workplace, and harassment-prevention training.

She attended George Mason University, in Fairfax, VA, where she studied foreign languages and music.

Rhoda takes her work and client responsibilities very seriously, but not herself. She loves to find the humor in every situation and easily shares a laugh.

 

What interested you in working for KMA?

I wanted to be able to use the breadth and depth of my human resources experience in a variety of situations and with a variety of clients. As I learned more about KMA and met several members of the team, I could tell this was a sophisticated and professional organization that would help me meet my personal and professional goals.

Why did you choose to work in HR?

My first professional mentor, many years ago, encouraged me to pursue human resources, feeling my skills and talent would lend themselves well to that field. He was right!

Through my human resources experience, I’ve been able to be a compassionate practitioner who can make (often) tough decisions, and I’m able to support leadership in identifying and maximizing the talents of its employees, which gives the company a strategic and competitive edge.

What do you like best about your work as an HR Professional?

Problem solving. Every problem, situation or crisis is a puzzle where I’m able to use my critical thinking skills and logic to determine a business-based solution in the best interests of the employee and the employer.

I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction from supporting leaders with their people problems, which can seem to them, at first, to be unsolvable. I also like to help employees come up with plans, strategies, and techniques to perform at highly productive levels.

What’s one takeaway from your HR work that you’d like to share with others?

I truly believe to every problem there is a solution. My job, as an HR consultant, is to provide optional solutions to my clients that will ultimately be in the best interests of the employee and the employer. Also, to be effective in human resources, one has to be flexible and adaptive, have a sense of humor, and must be able to see many shades of gray versus only black-and-white.

Tell us a little about yourself…

I’m originally from the Washington. D.C. area, and relocated to New Hampshire 24 years ago to join the human resources team at Brookstone, Inc. My two sons were middle-schoolers at the time and, as a single parent, I knew completing their growth and education in New England would be very beneficial for them. They are now grown, still live and work in New Hampshire, and are starting families of their own.

I am a foodie who believes life is too short to eat bad food! I enjoy cooking, particularly baking. I also enjoy music, theater, arts and travel. I’m a voracious reader and life-long learner. I love staying current on technology and pop culture, which I feel makes me more relatable to my clients. My personal goal is to collect “experiences” through fine dining and travel with friends and family.