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Member Spotlight on Dale Kreienkamp, SPHR

Many years ago, in 1991-1992 (a time when some of you were infants or not yet born), in a galaxy far far away, Dale Kreienkamp was the President of SHRM of Greater St. Louis, known then as the Human Resources Management Association (HRMA). Joining the chapter right out of college and stepping up to volunteer was one of the best career development decisions he ever made. In volunteering Dale expanded his network through the people he met, and those relationships remain solid today. Dale also developed his leadership skills in his many roles with SHRM. Dale’s advice - don’t miss the opportunity to volunteer and give back to this chapter, you’ll never regret it.

Dale’s HR career spanned over 40 years as an executive in non-profit healthcare and consulting. Yes, he has a lifetime SPHR accreditation and believes accreditation is important. Any successes he’s had professionally were because of the great teams of HR professionals surrounding him. If Dale were to share one piece of wisdom with you it’s that your job gets much easier when you develop the skills of identifying and developing HR talent. Today he enjoys consulting, which allows him to enjoy the grandchildren he has been blessed with.

Dale’s concerns for the profession today are twofold. The first is that we are getting disconnected from those we serve. Remote work is here to stay, but we must increase our intentional in-person presence to maintain relationships with those we serve, to maintain the “Human” in our profession. The second is based on stories he hears more frequently of us in HR being the person asked to terminate and discipline the staff within organizations, which makes it difficult for an employee to believe we are their advocate too. Dale says that our job must always to be to equip and advise leaders in what and how to do things, not do it for them.