Steve Safier, Ph.D.

Steve Safier is a change management/turnaround authority and trusted consigliere to Boards of Directors, executive management and employee teams. He has experience working as a transformational leader and strategic advisor, having served as a CHRO, COO, Business President, and Human Capital consultant.

Steve joined the Columbia School of Professional Studies Human Capital Management program as a part-time lecturer in the Fall of 2018, and joined the full-time faculty in July 2019. He currently serves as program director.

Steve began his business career consulting for HayGroup, a role he performed for nearly twenty years. He has demonstrated expertise in HR strategy development, organization design, leadership development, executive coaching, talent selection and development, performance management, compensation and HR team effectiveness, with an emphasis on helping organizations develop and execute practical, actionable business solutions.

Steve was hired by one of his clients—the Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust—to build out the marketing and advertising capability for Subway restaurants around the world. As chief operating officer, he had accountability for Finance, Legal, HR, IT, Governance, Facilities, Internal Communications, and Meetings.

Steve returned to consulting for a brief period, and then joined Panasonic North America, first as chief transformation and human resources officer, and then as president of the Health and Wellness Solutions business. He has held other HCM consulting roles since.

Steve has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, and enjoys speaking to audiences, including HR and other professionals, graduate and college students about implementing business strategy through organization structure, role clarity and personal and team behavior.