Our Story
Our Purpose
Heston + Associates Consulting was created to help businesses thrive through exceptional leadership and outstanding human capital management.
Our Promise
Honesty and integrity are the foundations for everything we do. To support this, Heston + Associates strives to:
- Build lasting relationships based on trust and mutual respect
- Honor our commitments
- Provide timely and reliable service
- Use our experience and expertise to drive extraordinary outcomes for our client partners
Our Team
Mark Heston
Mark Heston is the founding principal of the firm. Prior to founding Heston + Associates Consulting, Mark served 14 years as the Chief Human Resources Officer for LCS, a national leader in the senior living industry with over 5000 employees and operations in 35 states. As a member of the executive leadership team, he led all human resources efforts across the LCS family of companies, and served as a trusted advisor to three CEOs and scores of senior executives. He was also Chair of the 401(k) Savings & ESOP Administrative Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee.
Before joining LCS, Mark held leadership positions at organizations in various industries, including banking, agriculture science, education, and municipal government. Through these experiences he gained strong expertise in all areas of human resources management. His extensive C-Suite experience uniquely positions him to coach and guide executives and Board of Directors.
Through his 25+ years of leadership experience, Mark developed a passion for strategy development, executive coaching, leadership development, and compensation & total rewards. He holds a master's degree in human resource management from the University of Iowa, a bachelors in finance from Iowa State University, and is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). He is also active in national associations and is the Chairman of the Human Resources Roundtable for Argentum, the nation’s largest senior living association.
Mark is committed to serving the community and is currently Chairman of the Board of Accra, a large not-for-profit healthcare organization in Minnesota. He was previously a member of the Link Associates Board of Directors 2007- 2019, serving as Board President from 2015 – 2017.Mark also served two separate terms on the Administrative Board of Prairie Ridge Church.
Dana King
Dana King is a respected HR Professional with over 20 years of experience, most of which has been spent specializing in Compensation and Business Partner support. Whether it be designing and developing or coaching and guiding, Dana’s strength lies in creating relationships and a collaborative space where conversations generate the best possible solution for her customer.
Most recently, Dana spent 13 years at American Enterprise Group, Inc where she served as HR Business Partner to the Finance department, Actuary team and Health division. At the same time, she also served as Compensation Consultant for the broader organization. She was appreciated for her ability to see and understand the vision, then apply her creative spirit in helping leaders deliver on their strategic goals, identify process improvement opportunities and organize and develop their team. As Compensation Consultant, Dana has extensive experience in market pricing, job descriptions, plan design and data analysis.
Other roles have included: Wellness Champion, where she designed and executed the companies first wellness program; Food Service Relationship Manager involved overseeing the cafeteria and serving as client contact; Facilities Lead where she served as primary vendor contact and worked closely with their staff on all facility related work; Benefits Manager where she led the Benefits team and annual administration of benefits as part of a development rotation.
Dana also has experience in building an Agile Work Environment, HR Systems Implementation, Reporting and Data Analysis, Training & Development, Performance Management, Succession Planning and Employee Development, Org Design and Restructuring.
Our Services
Leadership Development
Compensation & Total Rewards
Executive Support Services
Our proprietary leadership development experience, The LEAD Experience, is a truly unique program that combines comprehensive feedback, group activities, individual learning, and individualized coaching. Built on best-in-class research and tailored specifically to each business, The LEAD Experience has elevated the leadership capabilities
Our proprietary leadership development experience, The LEAD Experience, is a truly unique program that combines comprehensive feedback, group activities, individual learning, and individualized coaching. Built on best-in-class research and tailored specifically to each business, The LEAD Experience has elevated the leadership capabilities of hundreds of leaders in all levels of organizations. We now offer two additional LEAD Experiences:
- The LEAD Experience for Emerging Leaders
- The LEAD Experience for Senior Living Communities
Executive Support Services
Compensation & Total Rewards
Executive Support Services
Highly effective leaders are the key to success for every business. Our extensive experience as trusted advisors to Board of Directors, CEOs and other senior leaders allows us to lend first-hand insights and proven strategies to elevate the effectiveness of leaders. Our approach to executive coaching utilizes extensive feedback to ensur
Highly effective leaders are the key to success for every business. Our extensive experience as trusted advisors to Board of Directors, CEOs and other senior leaders allows us to lend first-hand insights and proven strategies to elevate the effectiveness of leaders. Our approach to executive coaching utilizes extensive feedback to ensure each executive's experience drives self-awareness and is directly appropriate to their unique situation. We work with executive teams to align strengths and leadership styles and enhance team effectiveness. We also work with Board of Directors to lead performance evaluation process for CEOs.
Compensation & Total Rewards
Compensation & Total Rewards
Compensation & Total Rewards
Compensation and Total Rewards programs that are competitive and aligned with business strategy are critical to success in today's environment. Whether you need a review of existing programs, development of new programs, job pricing or a competitive analysis, we use our access to proprietary data and wealth of experience to get the result
Compensation and Total Rewards programs that are competitive and aligned with business strategy are critical to success in today's environment. Whether you need a review of existing programs, development of new programs, job pricing or a competitive analysis, we use our access to proprietary data and wealth of experience to get the results you need. Our services cover foundational rewards, variable rewards, and non-monetary rewards and include:
- Competitive market analysis & job pricing
- Total Rewards strategy
- Market-based compensation structures and programs
- Short-term and Long-term incentives
- Benefit program reviews
- Executive compensation programs
- Advising Boards & Compensation Committees
- Deferred compensation programs
Additional Services
Human Resources Consulting
With decades of human resources management experience, Heston + Associates is prepared to help you with a wide array of human resources engagements. Our areas of expertise include:
- Human Resources strategic plans
- Human Resources function reviews
- Organizational design and development
- Employee relations management and support
- Merger & acquisition support
- Special project support
- Culture analysis and review
- Compliance reviews
- Performance management processes and systems
- Policy development and support
- Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation plan advising