James Harwood, president and founder of Total HR, has more than 20 years of experience as a human resources executive and consultant with Fortune 500 companies, including Intel Corp. and Tektronix Inc., as well as nonprofit corporations and small businesses. He oversees HR administration departments, including payroll, benefits and workers’ compensation. His areas of expertise include leadership and management development, employee satisfaction surveys and performance management consultation.

As a part-time faculty member at Woodbury University, Harwood teaches courses on human resources, organizational behavior and communication, labor relations, and conflict management. His work as a professor has improved his ability to communicate clearly and efficiently with client companies. When it comes to helping those companies face the challenges of the current business environment, Harwood explains: “The reality is that the organizations that can survive these difficult economic downturns emerge a stronger and better company. You want to convey that kind of message and really engage employees in that vision for the future, because the last thing you want is mystery about what’s going on.”

James Harwood received a Masters of Arts in Psychology from Pepperdine University. He attended Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and received his MBA in 1995. As the President of Total HR, James Harwood has fostered an interactive and responsive business environment that offers a balance of both responsive attention and detailed expertise to clients. Harwood expresses this balanced approach for effective HR management: “It’s important for leaders and managers to be as honest as they possibly can about the factors that are driving the business decisions and the realities that are leading to some of the difficult decisions, while also trying to stay as optimistic as possible about the future.”