Who We Are

About Apogee Business Group

About Us

We’re in the business of helping our clients achieve their greatest potential— to be the best at what they do— by focusing on their people:  the individuals who make it happen every day.  We give them the tools and resources to help them select, place and engage their employees in positions which best match their individual strengths and capabilities within their unique organizational cultures.

In the past six years, we’ve watched our clients achieve impressive business results.  From increasing annual revenues by 40+ percent, to reducing turnover by 20%, to expanding their business operations from national to global reach.  Whatever the measure of ‘success’ , we know that in all cases a shared focus and commitment to workforce placement and engagement has been at the heart of this progress.

At the heart of Apogee is a common passion for helping organizations position for success by finding the very best employee for each position— now and in the future.  As the needs of the organization change, leaders and managers will have just the right folks in the right positions at the right time— one individual performer, one outstanding job fit, one win-win relationship at a time.

Our Core Values

• We believe organizations and individuals have a unique opportunity to define and develop their talent potential in order to create an ideal match for both— creating a win-win work environment measured directly by its impact on bottom line performance.
• We view ourselves as strategic resources for our clients, and give equal attention to business/technical delivery and customer service.  We work in collaboration— leveraging our expertise with our clients’ internal resources and knowledge of their organizations.
• Our goal is always to help our clients achieve and maintain the highest performance standards— in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.

Profiles of the Senior Partners

Stephen P. Miller, SPHR, CCP, GRP, Senior Partner

Steve is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) and Global Remuneration Professional (GRP).  He has over 20 years of professional and corporate management experience, from individual contributor to corporate vice president.  Prior to becoming a senior partner of the Apogee Business Group, he was managing partner of Stephen P. Miller and Associates, a firm that provided comprehensive human resource services to a variety of small– to medium–sized businesses.

As corporate VP of culture integration at Washington Mutual, Steve developed leadership programs to assist merger/acquisition companies in transition.  He also worked at the Boeing Company for twelve years where he held a variety of human resources and communications positions, including founding director of the Boeing Institute of Aerospace Leadership.  This work involved creating and managing a comprehensive executive management curriculum for Boeing’s customers and suppliers.

Steve has broad-based experience in human resource management, including leadership development, HR communications, organizational development, mergers and acquisitions, employee surveys and performance management.  Areas of specialized expertise include employment testing, employee relations (certified mediator, American Intermediation Services), HR metrics (assessing the relative impact, costs and benefits associated with different HR practices), corporate culture management (certified trainer, CultureTek system) and executive coaching (TEC, International).

Steve believes the two most important functions a successful manager does are:   1) hire well and 2) effectively manage employee performance.  “Unfortunately, these are the areas which are often given the least priority in organizations running at the speed of business today.  ‘Hire tough, manage easy.’  While many managers intuitively understand this truth, relatively few grasp what it means from an operational perspective –what, exactly, does it mean to ‘hire tough’?  The answer lies in the behavioral science behind the whole idea of job fit—until you know exactly what you’re looking for; it’s pretty unlikely that you’re going to find it.  Apogee High Performance Models bridge that gap.”

Steve received a master’s degree in psychology (emphasis in counseling) from the California State University at Chico where he graduated with distinction.  Prior to that he received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tufts University where he graduated cum laude.  He has been a licensed school psychologist and psychometrist.

In addition to his work at Apogee, Steve served as the communications focal for the international press core for APEC in Seattle, has served on the board of the Northwest Mediation Services, has volunteered at the Special Olympics and is an avid fly fisher.

Deborah C. Waters, Founding Partner

Deborah has over 25 years of corporate sales, business development and consulting experience, including sales of multi-million dollar training and development solutions to Fortune 50 organizations.  She has 15 years of corporate management experience ranging from regional sales positions to corporate vice president.  Much of her talent development philosophy was shaped by her first-hand knowledge of the challenges of re-engaging and retaining top performers—particularly through mergers and acquisitions—having witnessed and been a part of 13 in her career.  She also focuses on the impact of corporate change on first-line managers and their ability to provide meaningful coaching and development through times of transition.

Deborah’s work with C-suite leadership teams focuses on providing customized data and metrics by which senior management can make reliable business decisions with regard to talent acquisition and development—today and in the near term.  Objective employee engagement surveys, education and training inventories, regional labor market statistics, management and team assessments and culture-awareness offerings are just some of the tools and processes which may be used in her approach.

Prior to becoming the managing partner of the Apogee Business Group, as principal of Waters Consulting for twelve years, she provided leading-edge sales, marketing and business alignment strategies to startups and companies in transition. Executive services included sales diagnostics and troubleshooting, sales force training and organizational development, strategic planning and enterprise solution strategies.  At times she was brought in to realign sales organizations and increase revenues—often before merger or acquisition.

Deborah has held senior management positions in sales, marketing and business development at Deltak and Applied Learning (now NETg), Authorware, Macromedia, Prosoft I-Net Solutions, Ideal Learning, Teach.com (now Intellinex) and Intelliprep Technologies (now SumTotal Systems).  Her performance track record includes increasing revenue and profitability, national account securement and development, improving client retention, implementing consultative sales methodologies and enterprise-wide solution strategies and transforming businesses from being product- and price-oriented to customer-centric and solutions-based.

Deborah holds a B.A. with distinction from the University of Michigan – LSA, Honors College.  She also holds certificates of completion from the Université d’Aix-Marseille (Faculté des Lettres and Sciences Politiques), Aix-en-Provence, France, and from the Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland.

In addition to her role at the Apogee Business Group, Deb is a Board Member Emeritus at the Hospice of Seattle where she has served as a patient volunteer and board member.  She also assists local non-profit organizations in mission development and team-building.