About Pivotal Practices Consulting
Pivotal Practices Consulting LLC (Pivotal) supports organizational leaders in developing and implementing breakthrough solutions that foster fully engaged workforces, with an emphasis on leader engagement. Our exceptional performance has garnered us National recognition as the 2017 Minority Professional Services Firm of the Year, a 2017 Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) - National Minority Supplier Diversity Council, a 2016 U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Achievement Award winner, a 2016 SmartCEO Brava Award winner, and a 2016 Enterprising Women Award winner.
We are certified by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as a Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) and Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB). Other certifications include Small, Woman, and Minority Owned (SWAM) by the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity and Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) by the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). We are also in our fifth year of the SBA's 8(a) Business Development Program.
Our collaborative, strengths-based, client-centric approaches ensure that the solutions we deliver exceed expectations and support meaningful and lasting change. We are passionate about and committed to public service excellence. We have a strong cadre of position classification specialists who are ready to take on projects of any scale.
With Pivotal, you get large firm discipline, consistency, and reliability with small firm specialized attention and responsiveness. We connect our clients with the brightest and best practitioners and academics around the world – within every imaginable specialty and focus area – while maintaining a clear focus on what matters most throughout our engagements. Our portfolio service areas include specialized consulting services and leader development.
Consulting Services
Having expert and trusted advisors who understand the nuances of government service can exponentially enhance the efficacy of people, process, and technology strategies. Leveraging leading public and private sector practices and the latest academic research, we will design an engagement based on your specific needs. Context matters - so, we familiarize ourselves with your mission, culture, strategic leadership focus, and organizational constraints.
Examples of the types of government consulting, management consulting, and advisory services we provide include:
- Staffing and position classification
- Evaluative studies (qualitative and quantitative)
- Climate surveys (design and implementation)
- Strategic and operational planning (with supporting KPIs and performance dashboards)
- Staff augmentation (short-term and long-term staffing placements
Our federal government services are aligned with the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM's) Human Capital Business Reference Model (HCBRM) and the President's Management Agenda (PMA).
Leader Development
Engaged leaders are critical to sustainable organizational excellence. And, timely and effective developmental experiences are vital to sustained leader engagement. Leveraging the experience and perspectives of former executives and senior leaders, we offer engaging and experience-based training and development programs that support current and aspiring leaders in effectively addressing their most pressing challenges.
Examples of our leader development services include:
- Individual and cohort coaching
- Leader assessments (e.g., Birkman, CliftonStrengths, Energy Leadership, Everything DiSC Workplace, Hogan - and many others)
- 360 Projects
- Performance management support
- Executive Resources Board (ERB) management and support - we can manage all or parts of your ERB activities
- Training (curriculum design, instructional design and delivery, program evaluations, and content conversion (i.e., from instructor-led training to web-based/on-demand content)
Position Classification and Position Management
We are experts at evaluating and designing organizational structures based on sound position management and classification principles. Classification encompasses assigning positions to the appropriate title, series, and pay band/grade levels, as well as creating or modifying the indicative relevant data (e.g., master record number, individual position number, etc.) specific to the position that is used for documenting official positions of record. Classification also entails conducting organizational analyses to ensure agencies effectively and most efficiently accomplish their mission, goals and objectives.
We employ a cadre of geographically dispersed classification experts who are ready to support projects of every scale and duration, to include completing the most complex cases.
Our federal government services are aligned with leading federal classification processes, meaning we are experts at implementing and applying guidelines in Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Handbooks, including Handbook of Occupational Groups & Families:, Introduction to the Position Classification Standards:, and The Classifier's Handbook:. We can also quickly adapt to agency-specific position classification and position management requirements.
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About Pivotal's President
Dr. Patrina M. Clark, President & Founder
Dr. Patrina M. Clark is a dynamic facilitator and speaker, a trusted government consulting advisor on a broad range of human and organizational performance challenges, and an expert in public sector leader development.
As the President and Founder of Pivotal Practices Consulting (Pivotal), Dr. Clark has led the firm to national recognition as a top provider of exceptional services to government agencies. Recognition includes the Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA) 2017 Professional Services Firm of the Year, the Central Region National Minority Supplier Diversity Council’s Top 100 MBEs (Minority Business Enterprises), and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 2016 Small Business Achievement Award.
Before launching Pivotal, Dr. Clark served with distinction for 25 years in five federal agencies – U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Federal Election Commission (FEC), Department of Navy, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Dr. Clark’s last federal position was Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) for GAO. A career member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), Dr. Clark received numerous awards and commendations during her government career, including the Navy’s Meritorious Civilian Service Medal and a Hammer Award from the Partnership for Reinventing Government.
Since moving to the private sector, Dr. Clark has continued to receive recognition and accolades for her exemplary professionalism. In 2016, she received the SmartCEO Brava Award and was inducted in the Class of 2016 Enterprising Women of the Year Awardees. In 2015, Dr. Clark was awarded the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce (PGCOC) Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was also a finalist for Business Woman of the Year Award.
Active in the federal community, Dr. Clark is the President of Executive Women in Government (EWG), Vice Chair of the Senior Executives Association (SEA) Professional Development League, and Vice Chancellor of the African American Federal Executives Association (AAFEA). Dr. Clark is the creator and moderator of the LinkedIn group “Public Service Excellence,” which has more than 4,000 members. She is a contributing author to the ATD Public Manager Journal. Dr. Clark also served as a Presidential Rank Award Board Member for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2014 and 2016.
Dr. Clark earned her doctorate in Human and Organizational Learning at The George Washington University, where her dissertation explored the social identity and self-efficacy of female law enforcement leaders. She has also completed graduate studies and programs at Harvard, Cornell, Georgetown, and the University of Maryland.
Dr. Clark is an alumnus of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses (10KSB) and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Emerging Leaders programs. Other professional affiliations and certifications include: Human Capital Institute Human Capital Strategist; HR Certification Institute Senior Professional in Human Resources; SHRM Senior Certified Professional; and Neuro Leadership Group Results Associate Certified Coach.
Dr. Patrina M. Clark