Gavin Pommernelle, MBA

Organization Development Practice Leader & Executive Coach

Gavin Pommernelle has over 25 years of global, executive leadership and human resources experience across for profit and non-profit organizations in healthcare, consumer goods, medical technology, marketing and professional services, and technology. He excels in guiding leaders of start-ups as well as large organizations to enhance executive and team performance through strategic planning, organization design, change management, workforce planning, culture development and employee engagement, leadership development, succession planning, and executive assessment and coaching.

Gavin has consulted with domestic and international clients including among many, Geosyntec Consultants, Interwell Health, Maximus, Norwalk Public Schools, Safeguard Scientifics, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Spencer Health Solutions, and WebMD. He brings a unique, culturally-informed perspective to his HR solutions, talent assessment, and executive coaching and has developed talent solutions in over 60 markets having been based in New York, London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, and South Africa.

Prior to consulting, Gavin served as Chief HR Officer within organizations needing rapid growth within fast-change business environments. At Harte Hanks (international marketing business based in Texas), he led a cultural re-alignment to achieve business strategy though introduction of a performance-based culture, leadership coaching, and talent strategies, increasing employee engagement scores by more than 15 index points, reducing employee churn by 30% within a 12-month period, and improving satisfaction scores for in-house HR partnership and services by 80%. At Synovate (global market research business based in London), he built the leadership team’s capability adding 70% value to the business in 2 years through coaching, focus, personal performance and team dynamics. At Pentland Group (London-based clothing and footwear brands including Speedo and Ellesse), he implemented a group-wide, high potential talent identification methodology, was Change Leader for a worldwide ERP system implementation, and created of a Global Reward and Benefits structure. Earlier roles in Southern Africa included Project Lead for ISO9000 implementation in Sandoz and Sales Manager at Shoprite. His insights from HR and line management roles have been invaluable to clients’ perspectives and solutions.

Enhancing his Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Psychology and Economics from University of Natal, South Africa, Gavin earned his MBA from Heriot Watt University in Scotland. Additionally, to have a greater and enduring impact on teams and organizations with which he works, he completed in-depth programs on Leading Strategy & Change (Ashridge University, UK), Strategic Organization Design (USC), and Project Management (Cranfield University, UK). He is a member of the International Coach Federation. Gavin is certified to utilize tools including Hogan, 16PF, OPQ, PXT Select, CPI, DISC and MBTI and to deliver Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team programs.

Committed to volunteer leadership, Gavin currently serves on the Board of Directors of Gaudenzia and is an Adjunct Instructor in Organization Design at Cornell University. He also has been a highly rated presenter for WorldatWork’s Annual Total Rewards Conference.