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Examples: Some of Barry Sweeny's Clients

The following are a small sample of the hundreds of agencies, organizations, and individuals with whom I have worked. These are presented here so you can see the diverse range of my experience and hear what others who have worked with me have said about my services.

INDEX:


Fortune 500 and Other Major Companies:

McDonalds - Oak Brook, IL. Consulting on development of managerial mentoring program for increased manager performance and retention, and for succession planning.

Value Enhancement Strategies, Inc. - "Barry amazed us while consulting with us on rethinking our marketing approach and web site to make them more effective. We are a business consulting firm and yet, he really helped us to see more objectively some flaws in our own plans and work. We were impressed!" - Byron Miller, President and principal consultant.

Frito-Lay - Consulting regarding development of a middle management mentoring program.

Parker Aerospace, Control Systems Division, Ogden, Utah - Consulting and materials for a middle managers mentoring program.  -  " Barry, thank you again for your wonderful help. Our program is off to a great start and the materials you provided have been used in our mentoring reference manual. Thanks for your great assistance and information." - Mark McConkie

Nabisco, Inc. -Developed and recommended a process for a managerial mentoring program & training to increase employee retention and performance.

Ernst & Young, LLP, New York - Review and suggest improvements to the existing mentoring program to increase the results and accelerate the managers' learning curve. - "Barry's help, advice, and information was very much appreciated. His organizational understanding and ability to quickly adapt his work to our needs was of great benefit to our work." - D. Hobson

McGraw-Hill, Dallas Texas - Consulting regarding development of a mentor program to target increased employee performance and retention, and recruitment of a more diverse manager team. -  "Barry was a critical contact for us in developing the mentor program we needed. He helped us to design the program so as to more effectively achieve our goals." - Bruce Salazer


Media and Broadcasting

Louisiana Public Broadcasting Corporation - Barry was part of a partnership with LA PBS and Focus Marketing of Asheville, N. C. Barry's role was as content expert and consultant, and as client trainer for development and delivery of presentations using effective professional development to promote a series of online professional development courses by PBS.

"Barry's help was critical to the success of this project. By a week before the session, the client was excited about the plans Barry helped create and about the enrollment for the session.

  1. By the end of the session, our LA PBS client was “ecstatic”!
  2. The session was attended by 162 administrators, more than attended the conference keynote speaker, and more than triple the attendance goal I had set for the session!
  3. The session went extremely well and the LA PBS client was very satisfied with her own role as the session leader, for which Barry and I had prepared her.
  4. Many attendees were inquiring about the use of the PBS online professional development courses which were the PBS product the session promoted.

     Obviously, we shall continue to rely on Barry's expertise for future work."   -  Glen McCandless, representative for Focus Marketing.


High Tech Industries and Organizations:

A.T. & T. Network Software Systems (now Lucent Technologies) - A three month full-time contract in 1988 to audit the existing informal mentoring program, research and evaluate employee and organization needs, develop a mentoring program model to address the needs,, and recommend an implementation process for a formal mentoring program in the 5ESS Switch Division. Barry also provided mentoring training for pro-tech staff.

"We contracted for three months of full-time work from Barry because of a request from our most important division for assistance in an area in which existing staff had little expertise. He quickly learned what he needed to know to deliver valued added services to our department's support for this critical internal client. His products and processes were consistently high quality, his advice was well-researched and practical, and his presentations were concise and challenging. We were very pleased with Barry's work and productivity." - Cathy Keifer, Senior Consultant, Training & Development Department, Lisle, Illinois.

RMS Business Solutions - Buffalo Grove, IL. Consulting on content and design during a four month software development process to increase the effectiveness and usability of modules for needs assessment, learning assessment data management and analysis, program evaluation, organizational improvement, and accountability. - "I'm very excited about your recommendations! Your ideas will at least double the value and the potential market for this (software) package. Your view points were just the catalyst we needed!" - Howard Soukup, Senior Partner.

Panhandle Center for Technology and Professional Development, Lubbock, TX. Provided consulting, program research and development, and mentor training. - "Barry Sweeny undertook a HUGE assignment and did an OUTSTANDING job for us! We were very pleased with the participation and his presentation of information. His input was vital to the success of our mentoring program."


Energy Companies:

BP Oil Americas- Warrenville, Illinois.  Barry provided "High Impact Mentor Strategies Training" for middle level managers and team leaders.  These leaders are all in the Global Integrated Supplies and Trading Division of BP Oil Americas.

- "We spent almost a year looking for the consultant and trainer to use in our mentoring program pilot before we settled on Barry Sweeny. After we tentatively selected him, we interviewed him and checked his references. The interview went very well and his references were phenomenal! We are glad we selected him as Barry delivered everything we had asked him to do. We are excited to be working with him." - M. Konrad, Commercial Director.

- "The mentor training Barry provided us was very effective and insightful. This was the beginning our mentoring program needed. As a result, I expect to use Barry to help me start mentoring in our section." - Paul, a manager from another division who also attended and was considering the use of mentoring in his area.

Arizona Public Service - Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Phoenix & Tonopah, Arizona.  This is an on-going and very comprehensive mentoring project designed to deal with "aging workforce", knowledge management, and new hire retention issues for the 300+ employees in the Engineering Department at the largest electrical power generating operation in the U.S. The goal of the project was nothing less than the creation of a department-wide mentoring culture.


Government Agencies:
 
United States Postal Service - Office of Inspector General - "High Impact Mentoring Training" for about 65 mentors in the OIG's Washington D.C. office, plus another 30 in seven other cities across the US via video conferencing. Also included in the training were about 50 OIG managers who wanted to be informed about mentoring strategies they could use as supervisors and about what was expected of mentors, so the new hire development process would be well coordinated. A second role for Barry was consulting with the Mentor Program Coordinator.

Rhode Island State Dept. of Education - Training in mentoring and coaching, and consulting in development of the state mentoring program and state program standards. -  "Dear Barry, this is just a quick note to thank you for the time and effort you put into our program and the development of our standards. We appreciate all your help during your several days visit here and in supporting us afterwards as well. The feed back and advice you provided us was well received and very valued. You have been such a help to us! Thanks again." - Kathy Rainone, Program Coordinator & Fellow.

United States Department of Defense - Consulting and materials provided U.S. Army trainers regarding improvement of three levels of professional development programs to improve individual and unit performance.

The International Boundary & Water Commission - US Section - Conducted needs assessment discussions, then planned and delivered a comprehensive three day "High Impact Mentor and Coaching Training" for managers, supervisors, executives, and selected other staff.   -  "The mentor training was very well received by our people because Barry adapted it to the needs of the diverse departments and functional groups we have. He was especially capable in discussing how mentoring will support our efforts to improve supervision, our strategic plan implementation, and our new employee Orientation Program initiative. I am so pleased I want to invite him back again next year for additional training."  - Fred Graf,  IB & WC Compliance Officer.

Singapore, Ministry of Education - Advising the deputy director regarding a new mentoring program addressing improved performance and retention.  -  "We contacted Mr. Sweeny because of how positive some of his previous clients were about his information and services. We are glad we followed their advice and chose to work to him. The information he provided us was excellent and his guidance was just what we needed. We even traveled to the US to attend his training in New Orleans." - Nicholas Tang Ning

Barry has consulted and trained with an amazing range of businesses and organizations all over the world to some extent, but primarily in the USA. One of the more unique projects was consulting on development of a mentoring program for a Las Vegas casino. That project focused on development of the program model, implementation planning, and alignment of the mentoring program with existing performance appraisal and supervision processes and instruments.



Public Service & Law Enforcement Institutions:
 
Ormond Beach Police Department, Florida - Consulted regarding development of a mentoring program for middle managers.  -  "Barry's help was really appreciated. He provided us general direction for program development, plus lots of ideas for program goals, budgets, training for our managers, selling decision makers on the proposal we developed, and design of implementation time lines." - Bill Netterville.
Barry also helped a large countywide police department in the south west USA develop their mentoring program.

Alberta Public Service, Alberta Provincial Government , Canada - Provided advice and materials for public service employee coaching by managers. This information was eventually incorporated into a handbook they published.


Health Care Institutions:

Hammond Henry Hospital, Illinois
1. Before the mentor training
“Hi Barry, I just got done reviewing the handout master that you sent me –it is AWESOME!!!  I am so excited you are coming to share all rhese great concepts and strategies about mentoring.”   - Beth Keim

2. After the mentor training
“Thank you so much! I have not yet done a formal evaluation, but I have had the opportunity to see some of the workshop attendees already this morning. Every one has had positive feedback about how helpful they found all the information you provided us. Thank you so much.”

- Beth Keim, RN BSN, IT Clinical Educator, CNA Instructor, Mentoring Coordinator,  Hammond Henry Hospital,  Geneseo, Illinois

Christina Health Care, Delaware - I originally met Kathleen when she was a participant at one of the mentoring conferences I sponsored and led. She was doing her masters degree on mentoring in health care and I consulted with her on general adaptations I recommended be made in my model and strategies for her setting. About a year later, she was appointed to a new position in a hospital and she was charged with development of a mentoring program for her new employer. As the new mentor program director and trainer, she sought me out again. This time I helped her with more specific advice on how to design the new program and training for mentors in the hospital setting.

"Barry, thanks for helping me AGAIN! I knew that I could count on you to mentor ME, to help me prepare for this opportunity, and to deliver the quality program that was needed. As usual, you were terrific! You made me look good! I owe my success to your insights, model, and guidance." - Kathleen Williamson, Preceptor Coordinator

College of Nursing, North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC. Consulted on-site and long distance with the mentoring program design team. I also lead mentoring training for faculty mentors to work with students in their program, and with new faculty across all of the university's programs.

"Mr. Sweeny, thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us and giving us the direction we wanted to get our program off on the right foot. At least for now, you have answered all our questions, and had the foresight to address issues of which we were not even aware yet. I personally appreciate your ability to adapt what you do to suit our specific needs and setting. We will definitely be calling on you again in the future!" - Dr. Marion Gooding, Program Director.

OTHERS INCLUDE:

  • Chicago Medical School (now University of Health Sciences)
    • "Mr. Sweeny is truly the 'guru of mentoring and coaching', just as we were told when we checked his references before using him. His insight into our type of organization and our personnel needs was uncanny and his suggestions and solutions to our problems were always very effective. That is why we used him repeatedly for over two years. I would have called on his guidance more, but I retired the following spring." - Consulting with Dr. Jay A. Smith, Professor of Physiology and Department Chair of Medical Communications, regarding faculty use of mentoring strategies in advisement and instruction of medical students, multiple times during 1978 and 1979.
  • University of South Dakota School of Medicine- Sioux Falls, South Dakota, "Effective Peer Mentoring Strategies Training", training mentors from institutions across the state in the use of mentoring & coaching strategies to support implementation of training in more inclusive practices, a part of the "State-Wide Systems Change Project". June 26-29, 2000
    • "Our sincere thanks, Barry for the ways you adapted to suit our needs, and the great training. We especially valued your demonstrations of the effective mentoring strategies and the developmental assessment and planning model you provided. Our teams felt very prepared to be effective mentors." - SWSC Project Manager
  • Wayne State University, College of Nursing. “Mentoring for Future Nurse Professionals” Program, Detroit, MI. Consulted with Lisa Fuller, Program Coordinator. Trained mentors and nursing educators. Sept. 2004


About Barry's Keynotes and Presentations:

The Association of Teacher Educators -  "Thanks so much for your presentation to the group in Los Angeles. It was so on-target! As you were speaking, my co-chair and I looked at each other and whispered 'This guy its just what we needed!' We've decided, we are not the only ones who were impressed with your message. There have been so many positive comments that we would like you to be our keynoter at the national conference next year in Atlanta." - Dr. Leslie Huling, S.W. Texas State. Univ. Co-Chair of Assn. of Teacher Educators' Mentoring S.I.G.


  Some Not-For-Profit, Community-Based Projects on Which Barry Has Worked:
 
The Professional Development Alliance - Program Evaluation
A two year project in the Joliet Illinois region. Hired as external evaluator for this federally funded project. Designed and conducted a two year evaluation of a complex staff development and coaching program. Developed all instruments, observed and assessed employee performance improvements, collected & analyzed data, provided feed back on manager performance and project leadership, assessed results, wrote final program evaluations, conclusions & recommendation, two years in a row.
 
The program coordinator, Adrianne Roggenbuck, Project Coordinator, stated, -  "Barry, we knew after our first meeting with you that your work was going to be much more helpful than our previous consultant. Now that we have your final evaluation report, we are so glad you've been the external evaluator. The report looks great and Marge, Beth and I are impressed and pleased with the work you have done in the evaluation. You gathered the data we needed and provided us with the feed back we wanted to improve our impact and our planning for next year. Thank you so much!"


World Relief Corporation, USA Ministries Division, North Area - An international relief and resettlement/assistance agency working under US Dept. of State and other state and foundation grants.
Program Redesign to Align and Set Standards for Four Major Growth Processes
Interviewed managers at several levels to clarify needs, goals, existing activities, and desired deliverables. Sought input and consensus as I developed prototype growth processes, developed text and graphic elements to communicate the products and consensus, recommended next steps for integration of the growth process models with other work processes, and provided implications of the growth processes for the on-going revision of their management structure and program delivery approaches. Project completed March 2003.
      The client was the Northern US Area Director, who said, "Thanks so much for your help in this difficult time of change in our organization. I was frantic about my own job, changes in our whole work process and management structure, and cost cutting, to the point where I wasn't sure what to do next. You really brought clarity and the kind of expertise and gentle nudging that I needed. The four Growth Process Variations we developed have given me the quality standard I needed to respond to these changes in a positive, yet best practice focused way. As a result, I am more clear about my role on the National Management Team in shaping the direction we are moving to ensure that whatever results will still be effective. Thank you so much."
Web-Based Management Evaluation
Worked with the Midwest Area Director and two affiliate office directors to develop, refine and implement a 360 degree, Internet-based, management feed back system. The system was developed to avoid setting unrealistic expectations among direct reports regarding the use of the data they provided, to promote openness on the part of managers to the feed back of direct reports, and to prompt self-assessment and planning for management improvement. The system had two layers, providing feed back to both affiliate office directors, and to the area director. Finally, the system was also designed to provide the area director with data to inform her supervision, support, and accountability of affiliate directors. Follow up consulting regarding training for implementation was also provided. Project completed in 2002
Grant Writing
Interviewed staff and then developed the program goals, outcomes, activities, and evaluation components for the project proposal. The grant was approved and described as a "model program" by the grantor who offered 50% more funding than was requested!
   -  "Barry recently worked with us to develop the most difficult part of our recent FY 2000 Secretary of State Grant. We were so pleased with his work and the quality of his writing because these parts are the core of the proposal, around which we had to build all the rest of the project, and his work made ours go so well. Also, Barry was prompt in meeting our short time line for completion and was a pleasure to work with. We certainly feel we got our money worth and more, and will definitely be using Barry again on other projects".   -  Ms. Pamela Meadows, Director of Education Services, World Relief DuPage.
World Relief - Mentor Program Development and Mentor Training
Worked with a collaborative team of teachers, program directors, site director, and a university partner who was an ESL content expert, to develop a peer support/mentoring system to better utilize best practices and increase employee performance and client results.

"Barry, it was terrific to work with you again on the mentoring project. Thanks for all the wonderful materials that you developed or adapted for our program. Thanks too for the great mentor training. You are an excellent model. I especially appreciate your mentoring me so that I can become more the mentor of mentors for our staff, and provide this training in the future." - P. Meadows, Director of Education Services


Consulting with and Coaching Individual Program Managers

"Wow, Barry! You gave me all that I needed and more! It is like you are reading my mind. This only goes to prove that you are very experienced and therefore, very insightful about just exactly what a program and program leader need. I have grown so much from our work. Thanks again, for all the input." - Fern Cohen

"I attended Barry's mentor training in Albuquerque New Mexico, hoping that, afterwards on my own, I could somehow adapt the information to my own needs and the company which I lead. I gained so much more than I expected. The information I received was absolutely terrific, is better described as "wisdom", and has been very useful for the applications I had in mind. Also, Barry volunteered to meet with me after the training to help me consider how to adapt his models and processes to our business. He helped me analyze my situation and plan for more than an hour! So often we see people in the business world pulling others down instead of helping others learn and develop their skills. Barry is a wonderful exception!

He quickly got to the heart of my situation with his great questions and he seemed to already understand the unique issues we face in our industry. It was amazing to see how easily he did that. He helped me plan the specific ways I could use what his training had provided, and he gave me several insights into myself as well. I will use Barry's valuable information in our annual Strategic Planning Process where I plan on introducing a mentorship/development program for our organization. Barry has really made my life easier.

I strongly recommend Barry to anyone in any setting who needs to develop a "high impact" mentoring program." - Barbara Ricci, Operations Manager, IMagic Business Solutions, Espanola, New Mexico.

"I cannot thank you enough for your answers to my questions and your great advice about mentoring. You have given me many ideas that I want to explore more. I really appreciate your willingness to share your expert knowledge. As I continue to work in mentoring I know that I will continue to call on you for your sage advice and mentoring for ME. Thanks again!" - Jeanna Weldon, Program Coordinator, Athens, Georgia.