Métier, Ltd., of Healdsburg, California, USA, received a Stevie® Award for Community Involvement Program of the Year in the company awards categories of the 2011 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, while founder Sandra Richardson was named Mentor of the Year in 2010. (The final entry deadline for the 2012 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world's premier awards for women executives, entrepreneurs, and the organizations they run, is September 28. Request your entry kit today.) Here we look at how she and her company are helping veterans. 
As a founding partner of Métier, the PPM Company™, Sandra Richardson has united her foundations in traditional Human Resources management with her innovative desire to build a fresh, effective approach to career development and employee mentoring.
Asked about her award-winning Community Involvement Program, Sandra commented: “The Protectors to Project Managers program is a great example of how we structure our corporate giving programs at Métier. We want to give to our community, but also produce a return on investment. This program helps the wounded service member, their families, the military support organizations, our local community, and the project management profession. It’s a win-win-win for everyone involved. We are living in a project-centric world, so the skills they obtain are valuable and make a positive impact, whether or not they ultimately decide to change their profession to project management.”
Background
She and business partner Douglas Clark have established a career-development and employee-mentoring program that focuses on a results-driven approach. Métier employees have ongoing coaching sessions with their managers as often as every week, and at least once a month instead of the traditional annual performance review. Employees are encouraged to schedule “skip-level” coaching sessions with directors and executives. In addition, Métier has a third party executive coach for regularly scheduled and ad hoc coaching sessions.
Promoting from Within
Rather than hiring from outside of the organization, Métier prefers to nurture and mentor its employees. The impact on both the employees and the organization has been dramatic. Métier has promoted the majority of its management from within, including every member of Métier’s executive leadership. This has also translated into results for the organization. Métier has increased its client base by 48% over the past year and achieved the highest SaaS customer retention rate in the industry.
Giving Back to the Community
Métier develops their social responsibility programs to provide the greatest return on investment for each philanthropic dollar invested. Métier developed their award-winning program, Protectors to Project Managers, in order to give back to America's veterans. The program offers project management training, Project Management Institute (PMI®) certification, and professional development coaching to Wounded Warriors to prepare them for new careers as certified project managers.
Project Management Skills In Demand
Project management was named as one of Money Magazine’s “Best Careers in America” in 2010 and was also ranked as #2 in “Hot Skills for 2011” by Computerworld. According to a 2010 Computerworld report, people with project management skills would “be sought by 43% of Computerworld's survey respondents who plan to make new hires,” and by even more in a poll taken by Monster.com.
A New Career for Veterans
Métier’s Protectors to Project Managers program contributes more than just monetary donations. Instead, the program capitalizes on the company’s deep industry knowledge to give veterans an opportunity to jump-start a new career in project management.
Métier's investment in project management training not only assists the veterans, but also helps the U.S. economy to be more efficient by adding a larger number of certified project managers to the workforce.
Making Meaningful Connections
Métier employees—dubbed Métians by the company—get to see the tangible impact of their work in this program.
Jason Graham, senior consultant for Métier, was the leading instructor of the 2012 Protectors to Project Managers class. Through Métier’s philanthropic program, Jason has been able to share his knowledge of project management while making meaningful connections with America’s veterans along the way.
Jason had the opportunity to work with an outstanding group of veterans. However, there was one veteran in particular who broke new ground for the program under Jason’s instruction. This particular veteran became so comfortable with the material that he learned during the 10-week class that he requested to skip the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) exam and go straight for his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. With Jason as his project management teacher and coach, this individual successfully obtained his PMP certification in record-breaking time.
Extending the Program
Métier already has plans to extend the program to other military branches next year, including to Navy and Marine Service Members.
About Sandra Richardson:
Sandra Richardson is one of Métier’s founders and the Chief Marketing Officer responsible for the marketing and business development teams. Her leadership has contributed to the rapid growth of Métier. Under Richardson’s purview, Métier has earned a five-time position on the Inc. list of fastest-growing privately-held companies in the country and has been named an industry leader by third party analysts.
Richardson has received many accolades, including being profiled as a ‘Top Techie to Watch’; nominated for the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award for Working Woman magazine; and receiving the Entrepreneur Leadership Award from Women in Technology (WIT).
About Métier, Ltd.
Métier, The PPM Company offers cutting edge project portfolio management (PPM) solutions. Ranked as a PPM leader by third party industry analysts, Métier's software and services can mature any organization, regardless of size. Métier is the thought leader in the PPM industry and holds an extensive portfolio of industry-enhancing patents. In addition to numerous awards for innovative corporate culture, Inc. Magazine has consistently ranked Métier as one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. For more information about how your organization can workforward®, please visit www.metier.com or call 1.877.965.9501.
If you haven't yet downloaded the 2012 entry kit, you can 
Organization of the Year: Quality Systems, Inc., Irvine, CA, USA. With 52 total points, Quality Systems is the most honored organization in the 2012 IBAs.
The following professionals participated in the 
Nicknamed the Stevies from the Greek word “crowned,” the awards will be presented at a gala event on Monday, 15 October at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Seoul, South Korea. Tickets for the event are on sale now at 
