Kate Duchene wants to get Resources Global Professionals back on a growth spurt.
The chief executive of the publicly traded Irvine consultancy has mapped out an aggressive strategy to modernize the company, shifting from a project-based model to offering more ongoing advisory services, particularly in data integration and mergers and acquisitions.
Resources Global grew out of an accounting firm with a decentralized, branch office based model. Duchene is implementing a centralized governance structure in which policy and business development initiatives emanate from the C-suite and move down the ladder.
She became the company’s fourth chief executive in December after a brief stint in the interim role following the retirement of Anthony Cherbak due to health reasons.
“We’re transforming the company,” says Duchene, one of five honorees at the Business Journal’s 23rd Annual Women in Business Awards ceremony on May 2 at Hotel Irvine (see profiles of the other winners, pages 6, 8, 9 and 13).
Resources Global entered the year in the No. 2 spot among OC’s largest management consultants, employing 215 at its Irvine headquarters. Duchene oversees about 3,500 employees overall, which includes over 2,500 contractors, in 67 markets around the world.
Choppy Waters
The company, whose market cap is $407 million, boosted revenue about 1.3% in the 12 months through May 2015—the end of its fiscal year—but has since experienced three consecutive choppy quarters in which a revenue gain was followed by a dip. It ended its February quarter at $143.8 million in earnings.
About 80% of the company’s business is domestic.
Few know its operations better than Duchene, who joined the company in 1999 as its first corporate counsel after working as a trial lawyer. Her top priority then centered on building a tactical human resources department while developing legal and risk management functions. The company went public about a year later, raising about $78 million in an initial public offering.
Skills-Based Climb
Her roles grew over time into marketing and helping Resources Global establish its legal unit.
“Increasingly, I kept moving more into the business,” she says.
Duchene was honored by the Business Journal in 2010 with an Outstanding General Counsel award among public companies with revenue over $200 million.
She credits Resources Global Founder Don Murray for much of her career success. He believed in her ability above all else, despite her lack of corporate legal experience early in her tenure.
When the top position opened up suddenly last year, Duchene felt ready for the challenge.
“I was at a time in my life when I could put together all these experiences and competencies and passion for business,” she says.
Gender Challenges
Duchene held the interim role at the helm for a few months before being tapped on a permanent basis, joining some rare company in the process. She’s the only female chief executive among OC’s 100 largest public companies based on market value.
An analysis conducted by New York-based nonprofit Catalyst Inc., which promotes inclusive workplaces for women, found this year that only 29 women, or 5.8%, held the top post at companies that comprise the S&P 500. While low, it was substantially higher than in OC.
Serving at the top as a woman comes with its own challenges.
“It takes a special man to support a woman with the CEO role,” Duchene says of her 27-year marriage to Tim Duchene, which has paralleled her career. “It takes a special woman, too, because you’re going to make sacrifices.”
She can attest to the missed time with her two children, her absences at parent-teacher conferences throughout the years, and even missed family vacations.
But she’s not apologetic for the balancing act she had to do as she ascended the corporate ladder.
“I think my husband and I raised two really good adults.”
Duchene says she’s not a micromanager and prefers to challenge employees to rise up.
“I like to learn from the team, too, but I do like us to push each other.”
Duchene is a women’s advocate, serving as president emeritus on the board of directors of Human Options, an Irvine nonprofit dedicated to breaking the cycle of domestic violence. She also co-chairs the San Francisco-based California Minority Counsel Program, which promotes diversity in the legal profession.
“My two biggest passions right now are empowering women and setting an example in young females to believe in the possible,” Duchene says. “I’m focusing on community education and helping young boys and girls understand there are different ways to resolve conflicts, not through violence. And helping girls help each other.”
