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Laura Picking
Manager, People Services at University of Notre Dame
Professional Background
Laura Picking is a seasoned professional in the realm of human resources, boasting a multifaceted career characterized by her expertise in benefits and compensation, administration, recruitment and selection, and employee relations. With a proven track record of fostering employee engagement and satisfaction, Laura has held significant roles in reputable organizations, enhancing HR frameworks and promoting a positive work culture.
Currently, Laura serves as the Manager of People Services at the prestigious University of Notre Dame, where she utilizes her extensive knowledge to streamline HR strategies, oversee employee benefits programs, and fortify employee relations. Her dynamic approach to human resource management has garnered recognition and respect within the field, reflecting her commitment to supporting organizational goals while addressing the needs of employees. In addition to her current role, Laura has a rich history with the University, having previously worked as an HR Consultant where she provided expert guidance on various human resource issues.
Prior to her tenure at the University of Notre Dame, Laura accumulated valuable experience in human resources management at Delta Dental of Kansas. Beginning her career as a Human Resources Assistant, she quickly moved up the ranks to hold key positions such as Compensation & Benefits Analyst and eventually, Human Resources Manager. This progression showcases her ability to manage complex HR functions and her dedication to ongoing professional development.
Education and Achievements
Laura's educational background is impressive and aligns seamlessly with her professional trajectory. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Bethel College, where she developed a solid foundation in business operations and management principles. Eager to enhance her HR knowledge, she further pursued a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Webster University, equipping herself with advanced strategies in recruitment, employee relations, and workforce management.
In addition to her formal education, Laura studied for the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) Certification at Wichita Area Technical College (WATC), an achievement that underlines her expertise and commitment to human resource excellence. This certification is a testament to her proficiency in implementing HR policies and practices that meet organizational objectives while ensuring compliance with legal and ethical standards.
Achievements
Throughout her career, Laura has achieved a number of notable accomplishments that highlight her skills and dedication to the field of human resources. At Delta Dental of Kansas, Laura played a pivotal role in redesigning employee benefits programs, which led to increased employee satisfaction and retention rates. Her analytical abilities as a Compensation & Benefits Analyst contributed to creating competitive compensation structures that attracted top talent to the organization.
Moreover, in her current role at the University of Notre Dame, Laura has implemented innovative employee relations initiatives that promote communication and enhance workplace culture. By developing comprehensive recruitment strategies, she has successfully attracted diverse candidates, enriching the university's talent pool and fostering an inclusive environment.
Laura's commitment to professional development and mastery of HR concepts has made her a well-respected figure in her field. Her ability to connect with employees and management alike, coupled with her systematic approach to human resource management, has set her apart in the industry. As a thought leader in HR, Laura continues to engage in ongoing learning and professional networks, ensuring she remains at the forefront of emerging trends and best practices in human resources.
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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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- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- 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.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
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 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.
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