Kyleen DeMember, PHR, SHRM-CP

Kyleen DeMember is a People and Culture leader with more than 20 years of experience across construction, healthcare and consulting. As Director of People & Culture, she leads talent development, employee engagement, recruitment and organizational effectiveness, helping build strong workplace cultures and high-performing teams.

Leadership Shaped Across Three Industries

With more than 20 years of experience across construction, healthcare and consulting, Kyleen DeMember has developed a well-rounded, people-first approach to leadership. Her experience in healthcare reinforced the importance of empathy and compassion, while her work in construction taught her that strong cultures are built through trust, accountability and genuine care for people. Consulting strengthened her ability to think strategically, adapt to change and develop solutions that align people with business goals.

Those lessons found lasting perspective in construction, where she came to appreciate that trust, accountability and strong relationships are the foundation of a successful organization. It showed her that culture is built every day through leadership, communication, recognition and the way people treat one another, not through policies alone.

One experience that shaped DeMember was working in an environment where leadership did not reflect the culture she believes people deserve. It strengthened her understanding that employees perform best when they feel respected, heard, supported and valued, and it shaped the kind of leader she wanted to become.

Today, she leads with authenticity, transparency and a people-first mindset without losing sight of the business. For DeMember, the strongest cultures are built when leaders invest in developing their people, communicating openly and creating opportunities for employees to grow. Her goal is to leave every organization stronger than she found it by building trust, developing leaders and creating workplaces where people want to stay and succeed.

Building a Culture of Recognition and Growth

One initiative DeMember is particularly proud of is developing Kearney Electric’s new employee recognition program, designed to strengthen the company’s culture and reinforce its mission and core values. The program creates a structured approach to recognizing employees who exemplify the organization’s core values, while complementing traditional service and project-based recognition. She also helped establish clearer career pathways through apprenticeship development, leadership development and succession planning, giving employees greater visibility into future growth opportunities.

Together, these initiatives reflect her commitment to building an engaged workforce, strengthening communication between leadership, office and field teams, and creating a culture where people feel valued and supported.

Beyond these initiatives, DeMember sees recognition as a way to help employees feel seen, appreciated and connected to purpose. She believes that when employees understand that their contributions matter and see the organization investing in their growth, it creates stronger engagement, morale and culture. While building a strong culture is an ongoing process, these efforts have strengthened communication, reinforced the company’s core values, encouraged employees to recognize one another and helped leaders become more intentional in supporting their teams.

“ Culture is not created through policies alone. It is built every day through leadership, communication, recognition and how people treat one another. “

Those outcomes reflect a broader leadership philosophy that has guided her throughout her career. She has learned that some of the most meaningful improvements do not come from large initiatives. They come from consistently showing up for people, listening, communicating with transparency, recognizing contributions and creating opportunities for employees to grow. Those small actions have a lasting impact on individuals and the organization.

Leading People through Workforce Change

The workforce is evolving quickly, and People and Culture leaders must be proactive rather than reactive. Today’s employees expect meaningful work, opportunities for growth, trusted leaders and a clear connection to organizational purpose. While compliance with employment laws and regulations remains essential, organizations that respond to these evolving expectations will be better positioned to attract and retain talent.

Because of that, one of her biggest priorities is investing in leadership development. Supporting leaders as they communicate effectively, build trust and develop their teams has a significant impact on engagement and retention because employees often experience the organization through their direct supervisors. Alongside leadership development, technology is improving processes and the employee experience while preserving personal connection.

In her view, today’s workforce wants more than competitive pay and benefits. In construction and specialty trades, one outdated mindset is that employees should be grateful simply to have a job and that retention is driven primarily by wages. While competitive compensation remains important, lasting retention is built through leadership, career development, recognition and trust. Recruiting is about telling an authentic story, and retention is about delivering on that story every day. When employees experience consistency between what they are promised and what they actually experience, trust is built, and trust is one of the strongest retention tools any organization can have.

Another outdated view is treating HR as only a hiring function. People and Culture should be a strategic business partner focused on strengthening leadership, culture and communication. DeMember believes People and Culture is not simply a department but a leadership responsibility shared across the organization. Organizations that view people as positions to fill rather than individuals to develop will struggle to attract and retain talent. She also sees an opportunity for the industry to change how careers in the trades are perceived by investing in leadership, developing the next generation of skilled professionals and creating workplaces where people can build long-term careers.

Leadership Lessons for Sustainable Growth

One thing DeMember would have done differently early in her career was to trust her instincts sooner when leading change. Early in her career, she spent more time seeking complete buy-in for initiatives before moving forward. While collaboration is important, leadership also requires timely decision-making and the ability to move forward.

That experience has shaped her leadership style. She continues to listen, ask questions and encourage different perspectives, while also balancing collaboration with decisive action. She has learned that people do not expect leaders to have every answer, but they expect transparency, communication and integrity. Challenging experiences have strengthened her confidence, resilience and ability to lead through change.

Looking back on those experiences, DeMember’s advice to emerging leaders is to learn the business as deeply as they learn their function. In construction and specialty trades, credibility comes from understanding field teams, project managers and operational realities. She emphasizes that relationships matter because people remember how they were treated, supported and valued during difficult times.

She also encourages leaders to challenge the mindset that “this is how we’ve always done it.” In her view, the industry is evolving, and organizations that invest in people, prepare leaders and create growth opportunities will continue to move forward. Sustainable growth comes from building workplaces where people stay, grow and contribute to something bigger than themselves.