Today we’d like to introduce you to Derrick Walter.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Derrick. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My family would say I came into this world as an old soul. Now, after a few decades of living, I understand that saying to mean that I already had a level of consciousness that allowed me to focus on deeper meanings or messages around me. This gift of consciousness, or enlightenment, came with the ability to question things that didn’t seem fair, just or right to me. Obviously, as a child, this meant I often found myself in trouble because I was able to reject direction if it didn’t make sense. My family is the real MVP for dealing with me!
After years of climbing the corporate ladder (or hustling my tail off), I got tired of hustling the American people. It seemed like a necessary evil. But I no longer wanted to be fiscally rewarded for negotiating more money out of my neighbor’s pocket. I have worked as the manager of shoe store, car rental sales, big-box retail operations and then went to recruitment staffing. Each company, each position, asked me to understand a Profit + Loss (P&L) statement and required me to figure out how to get more money from current and targeted client customers. Getting more money was always the goal. No matter what our customer service ethics were or what we stood for, at eye level, we were about gaining market share.
Something about recruiting and staffing, for anyone who doesn’t know, is that at the very core, it is a sales industry. Before my corporate recruiters jump down my back, I am not specifically talking about what you do. However, there is a two-way sales component happening all throughout the “Recruitment Cycle.” One the candidate selling themselves and secondly the art of closing the candidate. It is ingrained in what we do. This is how most of our professions are set-up, with few exceptions.
People matter more than profits. In recruiting and staffing, I have gone through three (3) recessions. Meaning, I had a job that asked me to hit monthly, quarterly, and yearly sales goals while listening to my neighbors struggle to make ends meet. I have seen many talented and amazing people have transferable skills for jobs but not be able to get hired because companies didn’t accept an out of the box solution. Certain cover letters, functional resumes or direct correspondence were seen as too risky. I believe it is too risky not to add this to hire like this. As for now, companies, managers and recruiters haven’t been forced to make that shift in their hiring practices. With this many people out of work and a growing need for unconventional hiring practices, I saw a need in the market.
The inability to see people for who they are (and can be) within talent acquisition translates as companies believing most applicants are inadequate candidates. People aren’t inadequate. On the contrary, people are extraordinary. I created Conscience Talent Consulting to help companies get out of their own way. Specifically, we help companies manage the talent elements of their business the right way. Our aim is to help keep people at the forefront of all Human Capital Management (HCM) programs. This includes everything under the recruiting and staffing umbrella, including processes, programs and people development. We define conscience as a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual’s moral philosophy or value system.
Social impact is becoming more and more important for businesses, corporations, and entrepreneurs alike. Thankfully, my childhood skill of always asking questions and challenging the norms has allowed me to be on the forefront of this wave. The standard by which the world operates has the ability to fully shift and focus on the human impact.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has been as smooth as a car ride down Richmond Avenue anywhere between Kirby and Gessner, or West Alabama near the Menil. Navigating the obstacles along the way is similar to the traffic in the galleria area during the holidays with construction. I could keep going, but I think most Houstonians know what I am saying here.
Along the way, I have been unfairly treated, learned some tough lessons and had to start up again after what seemed like crushing defeat. As I write this, I am wondering when will my next break in the clouds come. Consulting and coaching the way I want to do it hasn’t been the most prosperous financially. But, the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual wealth has been endless. I have a lot more today internally while also having a lot less externally. Sacrifices were necessary and staying present has been the key to keeping the faith.
Talent Management (talent acquisition and talent retention), as well as Staffing and Recruiting, are all Human Capital Management programs. Every program that involves a human within a company falls underneath this category. I’ve taken my story as well as the nameless stories of countless others to pioneer new thought-leadership on how the people business is done in the work-place. Not just for minorities and outliers, but for all people. The challenge is to get people comfortable with voicing what they need in a way that demands a shift in the freedoms we need to see in the corporate workspace. The obstacle would be for companies to realize the demands of the people.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Conscience Talent Consulting – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Conscience Talent Consulting is my gift back to the world. I’ve noticed it has allowed me to freely express who I am inside the corporate world and out in the real world. This is the reason CTC exists, to help transfer the power back to the people. We focus on creating processes that not only help job applicants join a company but also free employees within those same companies to use their internal compass to guide how they interact with the available workforce regardless of market conditions.
Anything that is involved with a company hiring a candidate falls under our umbrella of services. We have expertise in on both sides of the aisle. CTC helps organizations with choosing an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that works in their best interest. One that doesn’t lose candidates, easy to navigate and organizes data that works for all parties. We also train recruiters on how to best to take in a new job request, the recruitment cycle, off-boarding and account management. We work with companies who have on-site recruiters, staffing companies, as well as retained recruitment consultancies. All our consulting methodologies and processes are built with the mentality of finding what is best for the sustainable conscious of the candidate, company and community.
On LinkedIn, you will see Conscience Talent Consulting post articles, blogs, status updates and videos on various of employment issues. I’ve addressed non-competes and the need to update them to where employees are no longer trapped from moving to new companies without having to sit out years. In addition, I have presented new Business Development terms that allow sales reps to be more intentional with their budgets and consciously add line items which can directly manifest what they want without ambiguity. Anyone can check out our LinkedIn at (https://www.linkedin.com/company/consciencetalentconsulting).
The thing I am most proud of is that Conscience Talent Consulting allows people who aren’t in a position for their voice to be heard about how the job market works feel seen. Recruiters usually get a bad rap for some reason or another. Even the good ones! When things fall through the cracks, it often isn’t the individual’s fault who is handling the job opening. Additionally, applicants often feel left or lost during the hiring process without any rhyme or reason.
What sets Conscience Talent Consulting apart is that the structure of the company is set-up to give back to the community. Not just in the spirit of things, but the success of the company directly brings money back to the people through sustainable community planning. Each milestone that CTC hits allow us to add another future-forward business and donate to more non-profits. Our profits, therefore, go right back to the people. The more we do, the more we can do. Our business is really to help in the liberation of the body, mind and soul of the people. We start that within the workplace and move into the community, where real impacts can be made. We don’t just aim to challenge the status quo; we aim to change the status quo altogether.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Great question. I love this question. In the future, I would love to give Conscience Talent Consulting to the people and have others actively involved with its growth national and internationally. CTC has the ability to be a change agent in the lives of people around the globe. We are expanding our services to individuals by providing 1-on-1 coaching plans that mirror what we are doing for our corporate clients. Anyone can email me directly at dwalter@consciencetalentconsulting.com for more information. I am working through details for a donation-based service offering for those who aren’t in a position to pay for the help they could use.
Currently, I have plans for more projects around the liberation of people. I have a podcast and YouTube channel where I often speak to our community about what it means to be intentional with healing and helping others live a more prosperous life holistically. Also, I am writing several think pieces and stories which act as a social commentary about our current world. I discuss our global future and our past and each creative piece is directly connected to a theme of freedom for the people. Soon I will start pitching directly to magazines, newspapers, and websites to get published. Ideally, a weekly column would be nice to have somewhere.
With my business and creative works, I hope to become more and more involved in what I call the #PeoplesProsperityCampaign that is happening now. For me, I see that the world is asking to for a twist or inverse of MLK’s “Poor People’s Campaign.” People want to associate with the wealth that the world has and disengage from the strong arm of a way of life that keeps them oppressed from having more abundance. For more of that, visit my social media profiles (@dwreckjames) because I could talk about this for hours! I have so many ideas for how we all move forward together without being distracted or losing focus.
In closing, small companies and even larger companies are becoming more focused on their social impact. My hope is that we don’t hang on to catchy corporate lingo like “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion,” or “Emotional Quotient” as a replacement of simply having a conscious. Even being more socially focused has an ROI for big business, but we must move all the way through the bureaucracy of things and give the people what they need to have life and life more abundantly in every way we can.
Contact Info:
- Website: WWW.CONSCIENCETALENTCONSULTING.COM
- Email: dwalter@consciencetalentconsulting.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwreckjames
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwreckjames
- Other: https://linker.ee/dwreckjames
Image Credit:
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