Kate Hernandez Email & Phone Number

As a member of Senior Leadership Team, professionalized the HR function in a virtual, start-up environment. Connected organizational strategic objectives with actionable HR priorities such as developing systematized job descriptions and development tiers, established performance assessment objectives and matrices, leadership development for senior and emerging managerial staff, developed a compensation development plan, and redrafted the employee handbook and policies. Tactical functions include creating and analyzing project time keeping records for tracking employee bandwidth and utilization, regular check-ins (1-on-1) with members of senior leadership and staff on organizational and personal professional objectives, HR concerns, and culture feedback. Managed all elements of benefits administration for medical, dental, vision, life, and retirement including enrollments, updates, reporting requirements, and invoicing.Manage the semi-annual staff retreats including budgeting, site selection, travel arrangements, agenda creation, team building exercises, conducted 2-3 presentations, and troubleshooting.

Partner with Wastewater and Water Quality divisions on department needs and strategic goals. Manage full benefits programs including vendor relations and employee support for medical, flex spending, retirement, and life insurance. Manage leave of absence processing for multiple states. Handle the HRIS data entry and system maintenance. Create, manage, and maintain the training programs and schedules including internal process training cross-departmentally, compliance requirements, individual professional development, and DE&I. Track and update compensation policies in concert with member states, mindful of industry trends and state caps. Maintain EEO compliance for DOL and state/federal contracts.

• Manage the employee orientation and onboarding process, updating company information and improving upon the new employee experience. Solicited feedback from employees and managers on successes as well as areas for continuous improvement.• Identified needs in training, developed materials and facilitated manager training on core foundation skills as well as functional applications.• Managed online training portal, updating and assigning courses for onboarding and training.• Managed the semiannual survey of 1,000+ employees, collected data, and provided analysis of 33 specific groups, identifying key drivers for focus and improvement to present to senior leadership.• Chaired the planning committee for HR group retreat planning. Led sessions on team introductions, cross-functional communications, and interpersonal communications utilizing DiSC assessments.• Reviewed and updated forms for annual performance review process. Provided timely communication to all levels of management regarding the process. Maintained internal portal of instructions, forms, and resources for all employees.• Led a team in the development, design, test, and launch of a new automated OKR/goal setting system to launch company-wide.• Participated in Talent Advisory Groups on virtual employees and women in the workforce. • Acted as a trusted resource for employees on Diversity and Inclusion efforts and initiatives.• Led scrum and reoccurring cross-functional People Operations meetings.• Participated in Leadership Academy.

Groveland, Massachusetts

Act in a consultative capacity to provide strategic and tactical support to client groups (Sales, Marketing, Customer Care, and Engineering) and provide counsel on HR programs, practices, and strategies to support overall company objectives.Areas of focus include performance management, organizational development & change, turnover management, workforce planning, compensation reviews, and project management. Work with Sales leadership on the creation and communication of commission and sales incentive plans as well as deployment and expansion of a CRM system.Partner with team leaders and provide strategic growth advice on changes in the Customer Care and Marketing departments including reporting structures, promotions, identifying developmental opportunities for staff, and in-office team dynamics.Create a development management plan with Sales and Engineering teams with a focus on utilizing existing expertise through skills analysis to strengthen critical and single point of failure areas.Conduct and lead internal investigations and make determinations and actions plans based on findings.Partner directly with leadership in client teams on project management to successfully achieve annual strategic initiatives and goals.Work in collaboration with HR COEs to address business needs and provide mentorship to more junior level HR staff.

Concord, Ma

Partnered with Engineering, Education, Finance, Marketing, Product Management, Operations, and Sales business unit leaders to deploy strategic planning objectives for significant and sustainable growth with focus on advising on talent management, workforce planning, coaching, performance management, retention, and succession planning. Evaluated ongoing employee job descriptions, market trends, and internal equity issues to aid in succession planning, career development, and ensure compliance.Worked with and support the greater HR team on company-wide initiatives on performance management process, manager effectiveness training, diversity & inclusion programs, and onboarding program development.Partnered with company HR shared service teams on Compensation, Talent Acquisition, Benefits, Legal, and Learning & Development to support client group.Developed content for modules and conducted intensive management training with focus on topics such as employee relations issue resolution, expectation and goal setting, employee professional development, writing job descriptions, time management, change leadership, and providing feedback.Worked on a cross-functional team to develop and deploy company-wide competencies. Followed up on the deployment by introducing competency-based interviewing and performance evaluations.Interpreted results and data from employee engagement survey to identify key drivers for increasing engagement, broken down by business unit. Designed action plans for 7 business unit leaders on employee engagement based on key drivers identified in employee survey.

Working from a virtual/home office environment, responsible for all areas of Human Resources.Extensive recruitment and selection done for C-level positions, Sales, instructional/educational, and administrative functions.Partnered with executive team and directors to lead culture changes in the organization as it went through leadership and strategic changes.Created and implemented performance review forms and standards.Managed employee relations issues to productive resolutions.Updated and developed the organization’s employee policy and procedure handbook.Supplied on-site set-up, implementation, and troubleshooting assistance at national conferences.

Sole Human Resources representative for all US DALSA offices. Worked with corporate senior leadership on strategic focus and change management within the local offices, including management structure and coaching as well as employee engagement improvement programs and events. Acted directly with employees and managers on employee relations issues, identifying root causes, establishing action plans, and following up to ensure successful outcomes.Worked with HR team on redeveloping and rolling out a new continuous goal setting and performance appraisal metric system.Represented Human Resources in ISO and Quality Assurance audits. Developed the tracking and documentation on training/skills needs analysis, action plans, and documentation. Provided information to internal and external auditors during annual and ISO Recertification audits.Managed all aspects of US benefits selections, enrollments, and claims issue resolutions. Completed monthly verification and reconciliation reporting on enrollments and invoicing.Developed and implemented Human Resources policies and procedures.Managed the process for foreign worker authorizations and permits (H1B, PERM).Maintained a workplace safety program based both on common sense practices and legal requirements.Ran payroll processing and prepared related quarterly and annual financial and record-keeping audits.Supervised one individual

Developed content and conducted all training of nursing, administrative and auxiliary support positions including orientation/onboarding, HIPAA, and customer service methodologies and expectations.Recruited for nursing and administrative positions. Managed benefits renewals, open enrollment, and onboarding.