“Money and a fancy title are not the only motives, at least not for me. I need to be able to say, I did that, I helped them, I changed that. I have done a lot and helped many, but when is it enough? There’s so much hate in the world, so much to get done to try and change that—one day and one person at a time,” says Lisa Smith-Maxam as she reveals her compassion and her burning desire to disrupt the vast human resources industry. She has assisted many organizations in growing by providing exceptional talent that is best suited to their processes. Her drive and fortitude aided her in reaching numerous milestones along the way. She is a true example of a great leader who does not sabotage the success of others but instead encourages and guides them to work hard and even outperform her.

Her entry into the HRM industry was unexpected, as a result of an unfortunate event at the growing software firm where she previously worked. Lisa left the team after the President of her previous company was involved in a legal dispute. She made the decision to work in human resources full-time after being inspired by one of her clients’ suggestions and her own abilities. She recognized that her approach to training others is noble and encouraging. After leaving the firm, she founded The Staff Room and started recruiting talent for a few clients, soon earning a reputable stature in the market. 

Foundation of The Staff Room

Lisa is the Founder and CEO of The Staff Room. She founded the HR consulting firm in the GTA in 2000 and reopened it in 2008 after it had been temporarily closed. It specializes in offering excellent advice and quality services to local businesses. Since its inception, the firm has become a well-respected and award-winning brand within the human resources industry. She describes the firm as the catalyst for sustainable talent development excellence with an entrepreneurial approach. The human resources management firm also offers employment law. The team at the firm works with various lawyers and law firms to provide its clients with sound and best-practice HR advice. The firm is well-known for saving its clients thousands of dollars in legal fees by ensuring they are and remain compliant. It maintains contact with its clients even after the contract has expired.

Lisa believes in the blend of quality and generosity; thus, the firm restrains from charging any fee for small jobs. After considering the overwhelming response, Lisa decided to expand the firm’s focus to include both HR and human capital, to be a better resource to her clients. Today, the firm’s vision has been modified to include more focused services that help those in search of human resource consulting, staffing, or career coaching in Ontario turn to the quality advice offered by The Staff Room.

An Admired Leader

Lisa reckons that a leader knows when to promote, grow, and guide another great leader and help them surpass them, never holding anyone back or delegating everything they are responsible for and taking all the credit. She says, “Give credit where and when credit is due.” Being a competent leader, she drives with an optimistic approach. She has always been persistent in perfecting her work. She adds, “I am always learning; I am attending classes, school, webinars, seminars; it never stops. I have always told those under my belt that if you cannot say at the end of a day that you learned even one small thing all day, then what have you done all day? If you can say that you learned even that a co-worker has a new pet that they rescued, then you learned something small, but it is only the beginning.”

For more than 15 years, Lisa has been serving senior leaders and C-level executives in the public and private sectors. She is known for building core business skills, sharing knowledge, and cultivating leaders at both local and multinational companies. Lisa’s major successes include redirecting corporate and business unit objectives, streamlining organizations, ensuring HR Law compliance, boosting productivity, and managing pre- and post-merger integration. Her customized business approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client’s organization. She and her team ensure that clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Her peers regard her as a vigorous and imaginative expert capable of distilling complex legal issues into simple, understandable components in order to achieve practical resolution. Lisa is not a lawyer, but she has a Senior HR Law Certificate from Osgoode Hall Law and a large network.

Lisa ardently gives time to her family; she tries to work from home as much as possible. She prefers to balance her professional and personal lives. She strives for a self-time period in which she can sit and work by the lake from the back hatch of her vehicle, which is both soothing and productive. She considers Fridays to be no-work days and devotes all of her energy to catching up on pending work and completing it, both personally and professionally. Lisa is a result-driven business woman, and thus every endeavor is carefully calculated in every aspect of her life; her time management is one such example. 

Glancing into the yet-to-happen 

Canada is a hectic market, and engaging in successful business practices, especially in the HR industry, is difficult. Lisa emphasizes that being positive in any job can lead to a position in HR. She asserts, “Prove your worth each day and then do it again.” Even a filing job can lead to great things if an aspirant incorporates a positive learning attitude into their work and eliminates the notion of entitlement and knowing it all. “Because you are not and you do not…learn and grow. Make friends, not enemies,” she says. “One day you will need those around you.”

Lisa and the team have recently launched their newest division, Advanced HR. Many of the same services are bundled for lower rates to assist struggling businesses that still require HR. All businesses, whether small, medium-sized, or large, require HR services. Many of these companies are not growing, so they are looking for proper HR executives, teams, and leaders. One can connect and obtain free information by dialing Lisa’s firm at 289-842-7181.

Lisa has discovered every aspect of an entrepreneurial journey, from working for a firm to laying the groundwork for The Staff Room to becoming a market leader. She hopes to grow her firm and assist others in achieving their goals through dependable HR and legal services. Her prospects include launching the new division and possibly closing the current one.