Karen Schmidt from Let's Grow! describes herself as a workplace gardener who is on a mission to grow managers into engaging leaders.

The seeds for her role as a speaker, workshop leader and facilitator were planted early in her career when she encountered disengaging managers and colleagues who were performing below their capabilities. In order to help people to not just survive but thrive at work, she made it her goal to grow herself into an employee engagement expert. Along the way she experienced the workplace from the point of view of a staff member, manager, recruiter, contractor and consultant working in organizations of all shapes and sizes. To add to her 20 plus years of practical experience she has formal qualifications in Human Resource Management and Adult Education and is the author of two books.

Today she works with current and future leaders across Australia, New Zealand and Asia in a diverse range of industries to help them create more engaging workplaces. Her clients include corporates, government departments, SMEs, professional associations, educational institutions and community groups.

Karen continues to grow her knowledge base and practical experience through her membership of organisations such as the National Speakers Association of Australia, Australian Institute of Management and the Institute of Learning Professionals.

She has been recognised by the International Federation for Professional Speakers as a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), the highest level of accreditation for speaker's internationally and held by only 10% of members. Karen was the winner of the National Speakers Association of Australia (NSAA) QLD "Speaker of the year" award in 2006.

Attitude, Human Resources, Labor Relations, Consulting, Generational Issues, Business, Motivational, Leadership,