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Emily Scharnowski
Employee Benefits Consulting at Plante Moran
Professional Background
Emily Scharnowski is a highly motivated and results-driven human resource professional with an extensive background in multi-site and multi-national human resource management. Her career spans over various prominent organizations, where she has adeptly honed her leadership skills while maintaining a strong focus on teamwork and quality. With her excellent interpersonal skills, Emily has positioned herself as a strategic partner in driving HR initiatives that enhance organizational effectiveness and employee satisfaction.
Emily's professional journey includes notable roles across diverse sectors, including employee benefits consulting, client services, and management of health and welfare benefits. She has a unique ability to design, select, communicate, and administer both qualified and non-qualified benefit plans, showcasing her expansive knowledge in benefits consulting and HR practices. As an Employee Benefits Consultant at Plante Moran, she has continued to leverage her expertise, providing invaluable guidance to organizations in optimizing their employee benefits strategies.
Previously, Emily served as a Senior Account Executive at Apostrophe, Inc., where she utilized her extensive HR knowledge to manage client relationships and improve service delivery. At CareATC, she thrived as a Senior Manager of Client Services, developing and implementing client-focused solutions that fostered engagement and productivity. Her role as Manager of System Benefits at Spectrum Health further exemplified her commitment to enhancing employee welfare through effective benefit programs.
Prior to these roles, Emily amassed substantial experience at Bemis Company, Inc., where she excelled in various positions, including Director of Pension & International HR, and Manager of Health & Welfare Benefits. Her time at Bemis Company involved significant contributions to the company's strategic HR initiatives, establishing her as a leader in HRIS management and process improvement. Additionally, she began her distinguished career with a foundational role as Recruitment Coordinator and HRIS Specialist at the University of Minnesota.
Education and Achievements
Emily's academic journey reflects her commitment to excellence in the field of human resources. She pursued an MBA in Human Resources at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, a well-regarded institution that has equipped her with advanced knowledge and skills essential for navigating the complex HR landscape. Her undergraduate studies consist of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and French from Calvin College, which has undoubtedly enriched her critical thinking and communication abilities, enabling her to articulate organizational strategies effectively.
With a unique combination of education and extensive hands-on experience, Emily has emerged as a skilled HR consultant and leader, adept in aligning HR strategies with business goals.
Notable Achievements
Throughout her career, Emily Scharnowski has delivered significant contributions to the field of human resources, specifically in employee benefits and client services management. Notable achievements include:
- Strategic Implementation of Employee Benefit Programs: Emily's proficiency in designing and implementing employee benefit plans has had a transformative impact on organizational effectiveness and employee satisfaction. Her efforts have ensured that organizations can attract and retain top talent.
- Leadership in Multi-National Environment: Navigating the complexities of multi-site and international HR practices, Emily has successfully managed diverse teams, leading HR initiatives that resonate across different cultural and regulatory landscapes.
- Recognition as a Trusted HR Consultant: Emily is highly regarded among her peers and clients for her ability to provide strategic insights and support in human resource management, particularly in employee benefits consulting.
- Continuous Improvement Advocate: Emily's dedication to process improvement has consistently elevated operational efficiency, demonstrating her forward-thinking approach to human resource management.
Emily Scharnowski’s blend of educational qualifications and professional excellence illustrates her as a pivotal player in the human resources domain. Her diverse experience in managing employee benefits and strategic HR initiatives makes her an invaluable asset to any organization looking to enhance their human capital management strategies.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
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Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.