CHICAGO, IL—The CARA Group, a leading consulting firm specializing in custom learning and performance solutions, announced the recipients of its PURE Service Award for the first quarter of 2009.

CARA is pleased to recognize two CARA Consultants for Q1, 2009: Emma King and Susan Spale.

Susan Spale is receiving a PURE Award for outstanding contributions to our clients, United Airlines and Tellabs. Susan came highly recommended to CARA from a former customer. She began her first assignment with CARA at UTStarcom. Susan exceeded all expectations and the UTStarcom CEO told our customer, Suzanne Laine, to “hire her on as a permanent employee.” Suzanne Laine has since moved to another CARA client, Tellabs, and actually waited until Susan became available because she felt that Susan was the perfect Consultant for her project.

At United Airlines also, our customer has also been very pleased with Susan’s work effort. Here, again, Susan’s been asked back due to her original competence and professionalism. Susan is the ultimate professional. She models the PURE values consistently in her demeanor. Thank you, Susan, representing CARA and our Clients so well.

Emma King is receiving her PURE Award for exceptional service to our client, Pivot Point International. Emma has proven herself as a valuable contributor by bringing her unique expertise in LMS selection and implementation. Her ability to identify a client’s LMS needs for potential system redundancy, proper interface and future expansion considerations, is a process driven approach. Aligning these characteristics with an extensive database of potential vendors, and then ranking each with a proprietary rating system, reinforces the right LMS selection for client requirements. In addition, Emma has demonstrated that delicate balance between taking charge throughout a client organization to drive the initiative while always maintaining a consultative profile and a smile to accompany her British wit!

Her client recently told us, “All is going great … Emma’s insights are extremely helpful. The biggest problem we have is we have so many new IT initiatives. Emma is flagging potential conflicts, duplication and the number of integration points.” Emma clearly embodies the PURE characteristics that earn her this award.

CARA’s PURE Service Program sets it apart from other firms by providing a unique way to measure success and evaluate how well their consultants’ service client needs. The firm’s entire recruitment process is based on the PURE Service philosophy and consultants are reviewed quarterly based on how well their work-ethic aligns with the PURE Service criteria: Professionalism, Understanding, Responsibility and Excellence. CARA’s staff selects the recipients after careful consideration of candidates nominated through client feedback, team observations and proven results.