About People Smart Tools

People Smart Tools is a management consulting company that specializes in helping people work well with people. Owners and managers call us when they know they are not getting the best out of their team. We can help select, develop, and retain outstanding employees who are fully engaged.

We provide coaching and workshops that develop workplace interpersonal communication skills and help managers improve their influence with those they supervise. When workplace relationships are good, employees are engaged. When employees are mismanaged, they become disengaged, contributing very little to the success of their assignments.

People Smart Tools helps you to go beyond the traditional resume and interview process when selecting a new employee. First we benchmark the job. In essence, we let the job tell us its’ behavior, values and skills needs. We compare the needs of the job to the natural abilities of the candidate; the closer the fit, the better chance for a long-term employee who will be highly productive.

Hi, I’m Jim Rooney, the owner of People Smart Tools. Since 1985, I have provided personal skills management training and coaching to thousands. I learned the importance of understanding relationship dynamics the hard way.

My first job out of graduate school was a public health inspector in Durango, Colorado. Because of my military and graduate school training, I was pretty full of myself and my knowledge about science.

One of my initial encounters as an inspector was with a rancher for whom I was designing an individual sewage system. After an extended period of time “sharing my extensive knowledge”, I asked him if he had any questions. He screamed at me how arrogant I was and ordered me off his property! At that moment I knew that to be successful at my job I would have to learn to deal effectively with people.

After my encounter with that angry rancher, I read every book I could find, listened to audios on customer service, attended workshops and learned a lot about people. I was so encouraged that others noticed my enthusiasm and it was easy to find businesses that wanted personal skills training.

Prior to starting my own company, I earned a Masters Degree in Science and a Bachelors Degree in Biology from Western State College, Gunnison, Colorado. I have three certifications from Target Training International® (our assessment supplier): Certified Professional Behavior Analyst (CPBA), Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA), and the Trimetrix coaching and employee selection designations. These certifications require training updates before renewal every two years.

Our long association with Target Training International® (TTI) has proven to be invaluable. Their assessments have a high degree of validity and reliability. I am impressed with how TTI is always conducting research and updating their instruments.

Some of the training materials I create myself. I recently completed the Manager's Best Practices Toolkit, an exclusive package of refined and bottom-line tips for interpersonal communication and leadership skill improvement. This instant download is designed especially for time deprived managers. It is full of proven management strategies I have learned from my clients in the past 25+ years.

I developed the People Smart Workshop "How to Improve Your Personal Influence" specifically to help managers improve their influence with those they supervise by sharpening their personal skills. This unique workshop grounds employees with proven methods for getting along and prospering with other people

I hope you find this site a valuable resource for building a more cohesive and productive team. The next place to go is People Smart Training Tools or to Free Team Building Resources.