Profile

I oversee the strategy and day-to-day execution of the Human Resource Department which includes recruiting, training and development and employee relations. I work very closely with other senior managers and am responsible to develop and execute company policies and benefits, ensure compliance to legal requirements, develop and improve processes for employee hiring and onboarding and develop best practices to train and develop employees.

I probably spend 30% of my time working on strategic plans for the company. Right now I’m working on a project to evaluate benefits for part-time employees, pricing those benefits, determining value and impact to employees and the corporation, etc. I spend a large percentage of my time working with other business partners to improve processes, systems, etc. I spend a lot of time coaching managers and employees how best to deal with sensitive employee relations issues and ensuring employees are treated fairly and proper processes are followed.

You really need to have good people skills and the ability to effectively communicate at all levels. You often have to deal with employees who are upset who may want to sue the company so you need to be able to listen well and try to understand where they may be coming from. The thing that I’ve learned the most over the years is you keep yourself calm. It’s important to think clearly without emotion and to be able to calm the other person down. You have to be a good listener and really try to understand where another person may be coming from. Our job in Human Resources is to remain neutral, listen to employees, gather facts and then take the right action based on the facts. You deal with a lot of sensitive issues and you also have to have the emotional maturity to keep issues confidential.

It’s also important to understand the business you are in. When I worked at Autoliv I worked during the day from 8-5, however, I took it upon myself, once a month, to come in during swing shift at 2:00 a.m. to get to know the workers. I was even trained on the manufacturing line and would sometimes work with the people. This built support with the employees and managers and allowed them to trust me as their advocate.

Attention to detail is also very important. Legal and policy compliance is very important and paperwork has to be right. One word or sentence can change the meaning of something and put the company at risk. If a person is going to really do their job right – they have to appreciate the attention to detail and make that a part of their life. Example: That applies to disciplinary actions and making sure documentation is accurate as it could end up in court or a legal action

I work in a nice corporate office building. Because I live in a different state than my corporate headquarters, I actually work at home half of the time and then commute to headquarters the other half.

In this job at my level, it is generally intense and requires a lot of hours. I typically work 60+ hours/week and depending on the issues going on I work as many as 70 hours/week. In my entire professional career, I have never had a 40 hour work week. Some of that is my work style, but some if that is just because my job is very demanding. If there are employee relation or legal issues they have to be dealt with immediately and they typically require a lot of time.

Yes but only approximately 10% overall. The nice thing about my job is I can do a lot of work over the phone with conference calls, etc.

I really like the people interaction. I also like that my job is continually changing. There are always new projects to work on whether it is improving a process, working to improve efficiencies, putting a new system in place, etc. There is a big variety in my job and I am constantly learning. I like that my job gives me opportunity to work with so many different people in the company at every level of the company. I work with executives and line employees and like the variety of interactions.

Sometimes I see people make bad decisions and lose their jobs. In my job I know a lot about the workforce and know a lot about their personal lives, illnesses,etc. and it can weigh on you when you know someone is going through bad health challenges, or a tough time at work.

Developing other people and seeing their growth. I also love seeing my team get recognized for doing a good job and accomplishing their goals and completing major projects. I like to see people happy in their jobs and enjoying what they do.

My mother. She taught me the work ethic that I have and she is very compassionate. She always taught me if there is something you want, you have to go get it.

There are so many issues that arise between individuals, to always put yourself in their shoes and treat other people how you would want to be treated.

I remember the very first termination of an employee that I had to do. I told my boss that it was very hard for me to fire someone. He said “don’t worry, after you do a few of these it will get a lot easier”. From my perspective, the day it ever becomes easy and you don’t feel something, you’ve then lost touch and should get out of your job. Compassion for other people is very important to me

If you are considering Human Resources, my advice would be to start in a smaller company and involve yourself in as many functions as you can (Recruiting, Training, Employee Relations, etc) which helps prepare you for management. Otherwise, focus in one area and be a specialist.

It’s also important to find one or two mentors and do short-term internships at companies to understand more about the type of business you would be involved in.

No – I don’t think so. I put a lot of things on hold to have my kids so I completed my graduate education later in life but it worked out well the way I chose to do it. I wish I had found a mentor earlier in my career. I learned a lot on my own but it would have been helpful to have an experienced mentor to ping ideas back and forth with.

I’ve always been driven to always get to the next level. My personality type is that I’m not a real content person so I’m always looking for something more I can work towards, taking classes, etc.

I started out in training. I was a corporate trainer for a while and loved it. That department got phased away and I was asked to go into employee relations. It wasn’t anything I had really considered, but I found I really enjoyed it. From there I went into management in HR and eventually was promoted to a Vice President.

I was going into business at first and then I thought about social work. I really wanted to work with juvenile kids. As I got into some of my sociology classes and spent time in halfway houses and observing counselors, I realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I decided to stick to the business degree and see what opportunities that would bring. I completed my bachelors and eventually my masters in organization management. Personally, I think my masters degree was much more fun because it was very focused in a field I loved.

I had four children when I was getting my masters degree and got an average of 4-5 hours/sleep. It was very difficult to balance family, work and school.