Jeanette Higham is a Senior Consultant with Highland Performance Solutions, bringing more than 25 years of executive human resources leadership experience helping organizations build people strategies that drive business performance. Throughout her career, Jeanette has partnered with CEOs, Boards of Directors, executive leadership teams, and private equity investors to transform HR functions, strengthen leadership capability, and align talent strategy with evolving business priorities. Her practical, business-focused approach enables organizations to navigate growth, transformation, mergers and acquisitions, and organizational change while building scalable, high-performing organizations.
Jeanette has served in Chief People Officer, Vice President of Human Resources, and senior executive HR leadership roles across private equity-backed, publicly traded, family-owned, and government organizations. She has extensive experience building and scaling HR functions from the ground up, leading enterprise-wide organizational transformation, and developing talent strategies that support long-term business growth. Her expertise spans organizational design, workforce planning, executive leadership, talent acquisition, succession planning, performance management, employee relations, compensation and benefits strategy, HR technology transformation, and change management.
Throughout her career, Jeanette has led complex business transformations across manufacturing, consumer products, transportation, technology-enabled services, and industrial organizations. She has successfully integrated acquisitions, modernized HR operating models, implemented enterprise HR technology platforms, and redesigned organizational structures to improve accountability, operational effectiveness, and leadership capability. She is particularly skilled at helping organizations establish practical HR infrastructure that scales alongside business growthwhile preserving organizational culture and employee engagement.
Jeanette is recognized for her ability to connect business strategy with people strategy, helping leaders create organizations that are both operationally effective and prepared for future growth. Her collaborative leadership style, deep operational experience, and pragmatic approach make her a trusted advisor to executives navigating complex organizational challenges.
EDUCATION
- BA in English, Illinois State University
RECENT COACHING AND CONSULTING EXAMPLES
- Advised executive leadership teams on building scalable HR organizations that align talent strategy with business growth and transformation.
- Led organizational design and workforce planning initiatives to improve accountability, operational effectiveness, and leadership capability.
- Directed HR strategy and integration efforts for multiple acquisitions across manufacturing and industrial organizations.
- Partnered with CEOs and Boards of Directors to align executive talent strategies with long-term business objectives.
- Implemented enterprise HR technology and people processes that improved organizational effectiveness and enabled data-driven decision making.
- Designed and modernized talent acquisition, performance management, leadership development, and total rewards strategies to support rapidly growing organizations.