About Kay Sever

Kay is a Management Consultant, Sustainable Improvement Coach/Consultant, Author and Speaker who partners with organizations to identify, value and capture lost opportunity and remove the organizational barriers that prevent sustainable improvement. Her focus on lost opportunity is unique and effective because she uses valuation to change mindsets about opportunity and prioritize resources for problem resolution. Her first book titled "Building An Opportunity Culture" will be out later this year.

Kay graduated from Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management and is founder and president of OptimiZ Consulting LLC. She has been helping organizations improve operational, financial and organizational performance for the past 34 years; for the past 12 years, she has shown thousands of people how to improve processes with a focus on lost opportunity. She has 27 years of hands-on experience with mobile/fixed plant equipment processes and their associated support functions (maintenance, purchasing, accounting, marketing, etc.) She has worked in 10 states, Canada and South America.

Kay is certified in quality improvement and is a CMC (Certified Management Consultant). Only 1% of all consultants are awarded this certification, which is earned through client testimonials, ethical practices, and a working knowledge of consulting processes that maximize client value.

She is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants, National Speakers Association, American Society for Quality,Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, and the Arts and Business Council of Greater Phoenix. She is a past member of the Arizona Quality Alliance, Institute of Management Accountants, Industrial Minerals Association of North America (Best Practice Chair), Arizona Mining Association (Public Relations Chair), Gilbert AZ Economic Development Council, and the Craig CO Economic Development Group.

Kay has spoken at over 20 conferences and conventions in 6 states over the past 8 years. Her enlightening and motivational keynotes focus on changing perceptions about opportunity and the barriers that get in the way of improvement. She reveals how millions of dollars never appear on the bottom line each year as a result of missed opportunities, relates personal stories about the "people side of improvement", the barriers that keep us from improving, and empowers clients and audiences to step out of their comfort zones and courageously address problems that “eat their lunch” on a daily basis.

YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION:
Eleven Reasons to choose me as your consultant and partner in improvement:

My Work Ethic:

I have a reputation for giving 110% to every client and being honest about what needs to be fixed.
I encourage frequent communications between all parties; if you work with me, you will feel connected to the process.
If I ask for your cooperation or participation, it will be because your role is important to the success of the project. I will not waste your time.
I will help you manage expectations, demonstrate progress, build your credibility and communicate to drive culture change.
I have many years of hands-on experience working with executive/site management teams and operations personnel to solve a variety of problems.
When we meet, we can get right to work because I already understand improvement concepts and processes, pitfalls with implementation strategies, management processes and execution, and the barriers that separate employees from managers and how to remove them.
I can help you maximize performance with your current equipment set before approving expansion capital that might not be needed.
I use a unique approach to valuing lost opportunity that ties dollars to problems and raises awareness about the value of lost time, lost production and dollars spent because problems occurred.
I help you prioritize resources to fix the most important problems.
I create a comfort zone for people to talk honestly about what really needs to be fixed.
My fees are not based on a percent of improvement in revenue or cost. This fee structure tends to drive the wrong behavior and may result in actions that are not in the best interest of a client. The gains are yours to keep - your organization earns them as it gets better at identifying, capturing and sustaining improvement.

WHAT CLIENTS & COLLEAGUES SAY ABOUT KAY:

"Our retreat and plan was judged a great step forward by all 12 of our board members. A clear, concise strong plan with 100% buy-in. Kay Sever did an excellent job! We rated her a "6" on a scale of 1 to 5."

SONORAN ARTS LEAGUE, Strategic Planning Retreat, Ralph Deuschle, President

“Very few of the site personnel had as broad a vision as you when it came to understanding the subsequent impact of operating decisions across the whole of the company. This allowed us to identify and capture synergies…that had otherwise gone unnoticed…Your interaction with the sites, at all levels of their organizations, while not easy, was outstanding…There was never a time when you were not available to discuss with anyone the intricacies of the concepts…Without the ability to effectively communicate across our entire operating organization, we would have been much slower in recognizing the results of the program…Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, was your incredible enthusiasm for the program.”

CYPRUS - Bill Champion, former COO, CYPRUS CLIMAX METALS COMPANY

“In the Cyprus organization, we were successful in lowering costs by 30% over a 7-year period. Integral to that effort was a clearly defined quality program with measurement parameters, which were developed and understood by the employees in the field who had the greatest opportunity to affect our success. Knowing the “hidden costs” (as represented by opportunity costs missed) and having well defined optimum performance targets, employees and management were provided with areas to improve upon which would directly lower costs and improve profitability. Kay Sever was committed to this effort with the field employees, demonstrated effectiveness in her commitment with top management and relentlessly documented the process to provide repeatability for results. Her commitment went beyond the every day course of business…She is a diligent person who works well with all levels of an organization and thrives on results.”

CYPRUS - Jeff Clevenger, Former President, CYPRUS CLIMAX METALS COMPANY

“I wish to thank you for moderating the Department’s March 31 conference. With your wise guidance and leadership, the event became a productive and positive experience. You were able to harvest thoughts and ideas from our diverse gathering and assemble them into a coherent whole. Besides navigating us through a bit of rough water, you provided a process improvement overview that gave us a firm foundation for the afternoon session. Your follow-up and notes on the conference were also very much appreciated. We will build on these at the next board meeting...The citizens of Arizona will benefit from your ability and skill.”

ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES - P. K. Rana Medhi, Board of Governors Chairman

"Kay has provided training, team facilitation and implementation services at a number of our business units across the United States. Kay helped management teams develop and improve their continuous improvement programs. Her unique ability to encourage and push improvement initiatives resulted in many successes. Kay has a broad base of continuous improvement tools which include process mapping, value-stream mapping, performance gap analysis and team-building. Our mine managers have commented that Kay helped them to “see the world differently” and zero in on the best “value opportunities” for improvement. Kay knows how to change a culture. Kay has always been accepted will by our people because she...talks the talk, is flexible in her approach to the needs of the local management group, teaches people to become self-sufficient, and rolls up her sleeves to drive results. I would not hesitate to recommend Kay to any company that needs help with their performance improvement programs”

PEABODY ENERGY - Richard Robison, Vice President, Mining Decision Support & Process Improvement

"Kay’s contributions to the results of the team effort were significant in the areas of content, teamwork, and communication. She has a unique ability to meld accounting protocol with the needs of field operations. She also has the enviable ability to communicate with all levels of an organization.”…”Her professional approach to a task is melded with a friendliness and cooperation that is unique.”
RAG COAL WEST - Steve Rennell, Operations Manager

“Kay Sever is a highly competent and confident professional whose extensive work and life experience make her an asset to any organization…Kay possesses a solid work ethic…She knows how to set goals and operationalize them to get the job done…Kay’s considerable professional knowledge and skills in combination with her conscientious and astute interpersonal skills make her exceptionally qualified for a wide array of roles within the business or educational sectors… Unequivocally, Kay has my highest endorsement.”

ARIZONA MINING ASSOCIATION - Dr. Larry McBiles, Director of Education