Nicole Dessain

Building Talent-Driven Organizations

15+ years in HR leadership

On a mission to reinvent the way people view talent and work

Believes that talent is an organization’s most valuable asset

In Chicago, but is open to travel

Nicole wakes up every morning inspired to help organizations unleash their most valuable resource: talent. This is why she created her own company, talent.imperative, with the mission to re-imagine how companies recruit and engage talent in the 21st century.

Nicole is an Accenture-trained consultant and thought leader with over 15 years of experience advising HR and global business leaders on their talent strategy and people programs. She has worked in and consulted to a wide range of companies including AXA Assistance, BASF, BP, Cisco, Comcast, DaimlerChrysler, Huron Consulting Group, i.c.stars, Orlando Magic, Syngenta, UNIQLO, Walgreens, and Walmart.

She regularly shares her passion for talent through writing and public speaking. She has her own talent blog and is a co-author of Springer's "Handbook of Human Resources Management." A true thought leader, Nicole has been quoted in the Chicago Tribune, SHRM's HR Magazine, Workforce Magazine, and Talent Management Magazine. She has spoken to live and virtual audiences at the Global Association for Human Resources Management Conference, CHREATE Summit in San Francisco, German-American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest HR Circle, SHRM Chicago, SMA Seattle, HRPDA Indianapolis, ERE, TLNT, and ISPI.

You can learn more about Nicole on LinkedIn, through talent.imperative’s web site or by following her on Twitter. She can be reached via email.

“Nicole is an excellent business consultant. We were very pleased with the results. Her unquestionable integrity and care for others makes her one of the best consultants I have worked with.”
~ Markus Kumpz, VP Human Resources, BASF

ALL Testimonials

Audra Hollifield - CHRO, Orlando Magic
“We brought Nicole in to help us map out our Talent Acquisition strategy. I was particularly intrigued by the innovative approach around candidate and hiring manager touch point analysis. Nicole was very flexible in tailoring her consulting approach to work within our unique culture. I loved that we collaborated with our internal Innovation Lab for the hiring manager workshop. This was a very powerful way to engage our business leaders with a design-thinking method they were already familiar with. I am extremely pleased with the work Nicole did for us – I got a game plan that is actionable and that our key stakeholders were involved in shaping. I would recommend Nicole to any of my peers who are looking for a thought partner to address key challenges in their talent processes or who want to take their practices and programs to the next level."

Sandee Kastrul - President & Co-Founder, i.c.stars
“Nicole is an HR rock star! I brought her back to help us refine our talent practices at i.c.stars as we move from start-up to growth stage. Nicole conducted an innovative talent-experience audit and coached our leadership team on how to implement the recommendations she made. We are starting to execute on Nicole’s blueprint and have already seen a positive impact on employee engagement and leadership effectiveness. I was extremely impressed by the richness of Nicole’s deliverables and insights – especially given the two-week project time frame. I would recommend Nicole to any organization who is looking to take their HR and talent practices to the next level and create sustainable impact."

Ulrike Hildebrand - HR Director, AXA Assistance USA
“Nicole is a true Talent Acquisition expert. I brought her in as a consultant to help us re-design our Recruiting Strategy. I appreciated the way she outlined a clear, step-by-step approach that heavily drew on data analysis and on gaining early buy-in from the business. Nicole used input from candidates, hiring managers, executives, and the recruiting team to create a road map that is both strategic and actionable. One year later, we have already seen key metrics improve, especially time-to-fill. I would recommend Nicole to any organization who wants to take their Talent Acquisition practices to the next level or address key pain points in the process.”