ABOUT
WORKWISE
Your Hire-to-Retire Solution
With over three decades in business, our team has developed a passion for helping organizations hire smarter and build thriving cultures. Utilizing a variety of tools and assessments, we’ll help you find the best-fit individuals for your team, and then we’ll stick around to guide you through their full employee life cycle — streamlining and simplifying your human resources processes along the way.
Because when you change the way you work, you change the way you live. And we’re here to help make that change for the better.
Our Mission
The goal behind all of this? To enhance the effectiveness of individuals, teams, and leaders within your organization. Our approach is designed to identify everyday human resources challenges and transform them into opportunities for growth. With the right people in the right seats, you can better thrive as an organization, enjoying company-wide productivity, profitability, and alignment.
Meet Our Team
We’re a small, but mighty team — each bringing our unique experiences and skill sets together to make the magic happen for you. Feel free to stop by our office and say “hi,” or get to know us virtually through the bios below.
John Heiss
Chief Serving Officer + Nature Buff
John holds the esteemed position of Visionary at WorkWise, where he embodies the role of a Chief Servant Officer. He leads certification courses, nurtures hundreds of in-house trainers, advises executive groups, and ultimately empowers teams to surmount challenges.
John's fervor for business and people has always been a defining aspect of his life. His first student-selected book report featured Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, and at just sixteen, he embarked on his inaugural business venture. This experience served as John's introduction to the school of hard knocks, where he earned his business degree. He went on to hone his sales skills as a lease renewal manager and later supervised operations for multiple power plants. In 2013, John rekindled his entrepreneurial spirit with a single ambition: to revolutionize the way people collaborate in the business world.
Outside the office, John is a proud Michigander, devoted family man, and avid nature enthusiast. He cherishes spending time with his wife and five children, be it through traveling, boating, or simply relaxing on the porch of his log cabin, sipping a cup of coffee.
John’s DiSC Style: iD
- Results
- Enthusiasm
- Action
Lisa Stafford, SHRM-CP
Strategic Business Partner + GlamMa
Lisa is the in-house career matchmaker here at WorkWise. She also oversees and operates the entire recruitment and hiring channel. As a natural people person and great communicator, Lisa is a our de-facto brand ambassador and community engagement officer. Lisa enjoys another cherished title of GlamMa. She and her husband, Dwight, have three adult children and seven beautiful grandchildren.
With a degree from Michigan State University and over 25 years of Human Resources experience, Lisa is prepared to place the right talent in the job by matching organization requirements with the skills and qualifications of candidates.
When she takes a break from matching talent to opportunity you will find Lisa, Dwight, and their golden retriever, Brix, entertaining poolside where you may find them enjoying a glass of handcrafted red wine and wood fired pizza. Because Lisa is a believer in using data you will find her visiting and doing research at different wineries tasting and evaluating.
Just like creating the best wine, there are many factors to consider when hiring a candidate for your organization. It takes time to cultivate strong relationships and following a process driven by data is imperative to finding the right talent.
Lisa feels blessed beyond measure to call West Michigan home. Finding inspiration in this area of beauty with the sandy beaches of Lake Michigan, the sparkling turquoise waters, spectacular sunsets that take your breath away and the natural beauty found in miles of wooded hiking trails.
Lisa’s DiSC Style: S
- Support
- Collaboration
- Stability
Kathy Richards
Director of Operations + Podcast Enthusiast
A naturally inquisitive and dedicated learner, Kathy is the backbone of our day-to-day operations, ensuring that everything runs like clockwork. As our adept integrator, she collaborates seamlessly with John, the visionary behind WorkWise, to bring our goals to life. Kathy is the driving force behind our processes; she oversees group submissions, expertly manages projects, and takes charge of financial matters.
Passionate about client interactions and business administration, Kathy is constantly seeking innovative ways to streamline tasks and improve efficiency. Armed with an A.A.S. in Business Management, she continually pursues opportunities to broaden her expertise.
Beyond her professional life, Kathy is an avid podcast listener and a lover of the great outdoors. She cherishes spending time with her family and takes on the role of a proud grandmother to an endearing Labrador Retriever named Bahbu. If you want to score points with Kathy, let her know your Enneagram type. She is a Type 6 - the Loyal Skeptic.
Kathy’s DiSC Style: DC
- Results
- Challenge
- Accuracy
- Stability
Client Testimonials
Hear what our clients have to say about working with us.
"I feel beyond fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Lisa. She was supportive, motivating, encouraging, and highly professional throughout the entire process. I have gained invaluable knowledge and had a very positive experience working with her. She spent the time to understand who I was, what my strengths are and found an opportunity with an employer that was compatible with what I have to offer as an employee. Lisa was with me, every step of the way. She also checked in on me after I started my job, to see how things were progressing."
"WorkWise is an indispensable partner for creating a happy, cohesive, and productive team. John's DiSC assessment process will arm your team members with the tools to be more self-aware of their personality and work style, AND most importantly, how to use that insight to create effective, cohesive, and trusting teams. Lisa's above and beyond recruitment style brings you the right candidate for your open position and her partnering style ensures your company is the right fit for the candidate. This approach results in a harmonious and long-term relationship for both parties. We love working with Workwise!"
CUP-Health
"In Lisa and WorkWise our company found the recruiting and Human Resources partner we were hoping for, but had not been able to find. Our experience was great from start to finish. Their approach is vastly different from what we experienced with others in their field. They took the time to understand our structure and culture, becoming a true business partner. They vetted candidates and led the interview process. Their guidance throughout these pre-hire processes gave us confidence that we found the right person for our team. Their assistance in onboarding helped us put our new hire and current staff in the best position to succeed. WorkWise has quickly become a trusted resource and we will certainly work with them again."
Shoreline Insurance Agency, Inc.
"If a team is willing to commit to the process, this will truly be a life-altering experience. It certainly was for me. The Five Behaviors made me better at my job and benefited my personal life as well."
Our Partnerships
We’ve partnered with the following Wiley brands to offer our clients premium talent acquisition and company culture solutions.
Let’s Have Coffee
Interested in learning more about how we can help you hire smarter and build a thriving culture? Let’s connect! Our team is happy to discuss your hire-to-retire process, and how we can work together to improve it.