Wichita HR consulting grounded in operational reality.
For growing employers with approximately 15–500 employees. Based in Wichita, Kansas, with local and remote HR consulting available.
We help growing organizations build the workforce systems, leadership practices, and HR infrastructure needed to support sustainable growth.
Why the firm exists
Growing organizations deserve experienced HR guidance before problems become crises.
Many small and midsized organizations care deeply about their employees and want to operate responsibly, but their growth often outpaces the systems supporting their workforce. Policies become inconsistent, managers lack tools, documentation varies, and employee challenges begin affecting operations.
Holt Workforce Strategies bridges the gap between informal people practices and a full internal HR leadership function. We diagnose the underlying conditions, establish priorities, build practical infrastructure, and support leaders through implementation.
Our work is designed to create order where there is confusion, accountability where there is inconsistency, and sustainable systems where organizations have been relying on individual effort.
Founder and Principal Consultant
Skylar Holt
Skylar Holt is a Marine Corps veteran and human resources leader with experience across healthcare, corporate, retail, military, and multi-site operating environments. His work has included workforce strategy, employee relations, workplace investigations, recruiting, onboarding, compliance, HR technology, payroll and timekeeping, performance management, unemployment claims, leadership guidance, and workforce analytics.
His approach combines disciplined leadership, human behavior, business thinking, and hands-on operating experience. He understands that a policy is only valuable if managers can apply it, a dashboard is only valuable if leaders use it, and an HR recommendation is only valuable if the organization can realistically sustain it.
14+ yearsLeadership and workforce experience
1,000+Employees supported in multi-site operations
VeteranNine years of Marine Corps service
WichitaLocal foundation with remote availability
Selected experience and outcomes
People leadership. Systems built. Results in practice.
From implementing an HRIS to building AI-assisted workflows, the work extends beyond individual metrics. These examples show the operating context, the work led by Skylar Holt, and the outcomes or systems established across healthcare, retail, and military settings.
Examples come from prior employed leadership roles. They describe the founder’s experience rather than testimonials from Holt Workforce Strategies clients.
Technology that connects to the work.
Technology implementation
4 locations · ~60 staff
Full Paylocity implementation
The context
A healthcare employer needed an integrated HR operating system across four locations, with one HR leader coordinating implementation and everyday workforce responsibilities.
The work
Independently led implementation across payroll, timekeeping, recruiting, onboarding, performance reviews, engagement, document acknowledgments, and employee communications. Built manager training and supported employees in using the platform.
The outcome
Established a connected system for core HR work, with processes and training to support day-to-day adoption. This experience covered implementation leadership as well as hands-on administration.
Discipline records, performance information, recognition, and compensation analysis needed to support recurring management decisions.
The work
Created AI-assisted workflows for discipline tracking, performance tracking, and compensation analysis using performance-review information. Developed an AI system supporting an employee recognition and rewards database.
The outcome
Integrated AI assistance into recurring HR workflows, connecting tracking, recognition, and analysis with the information managers use to review employee performance and development.
The organization needed a consistent way to evaluate employees, set expectations, identify development needs, and connect performance to raises.
The work
Designed employee self-assessments, manager evaluations, competency measures, individual and department goals, and development plans. Connected the review framework to performance-based compensation analysis.
The outcome
Established a repeatable structure linking evaluation, goals, employee development, and merit decisions. Managers had a shared framework for performance conversations rather than isolated review forms.
Stronger people systems and leadership accountability
The context
A multi-location healthcare employer faced low engagement and substantial early employee turnover. Reported new-hire turnover was approximately 80–90%.
The work
Built connected HR processes and manager resources, strengthened onboarding and communication, and coached leaders on consistent expectations and follow-through.
The outcome
Within six months, reported engagement increased from 45% to 69%, while new-hire turnover declined to approximately 20–30%. These were organization-level outcomes during the broader improvement effort.
Frequent call-ins created staffing disruption and repeated coverage demands across operating locations.
The work
Clarified attendance expectations, strengthened reporting and scheduling processes, coached managers, and used attendance and overtime information to guide follow-through.
The outcome
Reported weekly call-ins declined from approximately 14 to 3–5, and weekly overtime decreased by more than 20 hours. Clearer processes supported more dependable staffing and fewer recurring coverage demands.
Recruiting and credentialing needed to connect to onboarding, payroll setup, training, scheduling, and readiness to begin work.
The work
Streamlined hiring and credentialing steps and coordinated documentation, HRIS onboarding, employee acknowledgments, orientation, and operational handoffs.
The outcome
Average time to start reached approximately four to five days. Coordinating hiring, credentialing, and onboarding gave operating leaders a clearer path to bringing qualified employees into the workforce.
Clearer responsibilities and a leadership pipeline
The context
As operations grew, leaders needed defined responsibilities, reporting relationships, promotion expectations, and potential successors for house leadership roles.
The work
Authored organizational job descriptions, created organizational charts, clarified reporting relationships, and realigned responsibilities by role. Established promotion criteria and identified future house leads.
The outcome
Created an organizational foundation connecting role ownership, accountability, and internal development. Leadership could use documented expectations when assigning work and planning progression.
Policies and HR software needed practical manager training to support consistent use in everyday employee situations.
The work
Built training covering Paylocity, coaching, employee development, performance conversations, corrective action, and workplace investigations, including statement collection and confidentiality.
The outcome
Established practical learning resources connecting technology, documentation, and leadership behavior. The work supported managers in applying agreed procedures and holding clearer employee conversations.
District leadership needed more consistent candidate assessment and a clearer pipeline for department and store-management development.
The work
Trained store HR teams to evaluate candidates against role requirements and strengthen screening. Partnered with store leaders and HR teams to identify associates ready for department leadership and salaried management development.
The outcome
Reported staffing vacancies decreased by 18%, while internal promotions increased by 27%. The work combined district-level coordination with coaching for the teams carrying out hiring and development.
Turning employee feedback into leadership visibility
The context
Leaders across a 15-store district needed regular insight into employee concerns and sources of satisfaction.
The work
Established twice-weekly associate-engagement walks at each store and directed HR teams to gather employee feedback. Partnered with leaders to understand the concerns raised and inform follow-through.
The outcome
Reported district engagement improved by 12 points. The operating approach gave employee listening a recurring place in the leadership routine rather than relying on occasional feedback alone.
Executives needed a clearer view of staffing, attendance, overtime, engagement, and compensation to guide workforce priorities.
The work
Analyzed workforce trends, connected performance-review information to compensation analysis, and advised executives on staffing and people practices. Developed policies and coached managers on consistent implementation.
The outcome
Gave executives a more connected view of workforce conditions and practical priorities for staffing, attendance, performance, and compensation. Reporting became part of the discussion about what leaders needed to address next.
A military workforce needed career planning, retention coordination, and clear advice on development and continued service.
The work
Led retention and career-development programs for five years supporting more than 500 Marines. Advised senior leaders on personnel readiness and retention priorities.
The outcome
Achieved 150–250% of assigned retention goals. This earlier leadership experience informs the firm’s approach to workforce planning, development conversations, and accountable program execution.
Figures are reported measures from prior roles. Percentage changes, percentage-point changes, and target attainment are labeled separately. Outcomes reflect broader operating conditions and implementation, and are not guarantees for future engagements.
How to read these reported outcomes
The figures above are reported measures from prior employed roles, not independently audited Holt client results. For example, engagement moving from 45% to 69% is a 24-percentage-point increase. Call-in counts refer to weekly reported events, while time to start describes the reported hiring-to-start measure. These measures describe different outcomes and should not be treated as interchangeable.
The examples describe the operating context, work led, and reported outcome where available. They do not isolate the effect of one intervention or establish that a similar engagement will produce the same result.
What guides the work
Leadership, service, accountability, and growth.
Clarity
Leaders deserve direct findings, clear priorities, and recommendations they can understand.
Practicality
Solutions must fit the organization's resources, operating reality, and stage of growth.
Fairness
Consistent systems protect organizations while creating a more dependable employee experience.
Accountability
Strong workplaces require defined expectations, responsible decisions, and leadership follow-through.
Wichita roots, practical reach
Local understanding with flexible support for growing employers.
Based in Wichita, Kansas, Holt Workforce Strategies supports owner-led and growing organizations that need experienced HR guidance without immediately adding a full-time senior HR leader. Local engagements can be delivered in person when appropriate, while remote consulting makes focused project and fractional support available beyond Wichita.
Our experience is especially relevant to workforce-intensive environments, including home care, assisted living, behavioral health, construction, skilled trades, manufacturing, transportation, nonprofits, and professional services.
Every engagement begins with the organization's actual operating conditions. Recommendations are designed around workforce size, leadership capacity, business priorities, and the systems the organization can realistically maintain.
