Rachel Sutherland Email & Phone Number

Hartford, Connecticut Area

Serve as head of Human Resources for Catalina U.S. Insurance Services which includes 5 U.S. locations. Charged with providing leadership and oversight on full scope HR functions including; HR compliance, due diligence, policy development and implementation, strategic planning, performance management, organizational development, acquisitions and mergers, employee relations, recruitment, payroll, and employee benefits programs.

Rocky Hill, Connecticut

Sought out by President and COO to develop “ground-up” Human Resources function with a focus on building the HR foundation and infrastructure to support short and long term operational and strategic goals. Charged with managing all Human Resources functional areas including employee relations, strategic planning, organizational design, recruitment and talent retention, safety assessment and compliance, employee engagement, change management, benefits and compensation, policy development, performance management, and leadership and staff development.Highlighted Accomplishments:Successfully established human resources function and aligned it to meet the needs of the business.Reduced operational costs by $265K, elevated talent, and optimized productivity; successfully led senior leadership team and managers through a strategic workforce realignment.Reduced operating costs and reliance on outside services by developing partnerships with local colleges and utilizing grant funded programs that supply no to low cost workforce solutions.Strategically focused on reducing operating costs by partnering with multiple state agencies and local non profits to take advantage of a variety of grant programs available, ytd 2015: $106+K.Increased the percentage of top performers aligned with business-critical roles; identified and transitioned emerging talent to gain traction and create business momentum.

Successfully created, developed and sustained professional resume branding and career coaching business that provided highly customized resumes and job applicant services to fulfill professionals through executive-level client needs.Effectively created highly customized, quality resumes and cover letters for clients from a wide variety of backgrounds and skill levels; additional services include resume writing and interviewing skills workshops, interview skills coaching, skill identification, career consultation, custom letter writing, professional bios, LinkedIn.com branding, business plan documents, and supplemental documents and services.Passionate and focused on helping individuals to properly market and “sell” their unique skills and abilities to potential employers; empowered and enabled clients to effectively articulate and promote themselves.Selected Accomplishments:Created a successful business that exceeded customer expectation, with 100% customer satisfaction and positive client referrals that generated 75% of new business.Recognized for writing resumes that gained employer attention and “created traction” in the marketplace through numerous client testimonials and recommendations on LinkedIn and internet websites.Recognized by clients and industry professional as the “go-to” provider for resume services; reputation for consistently delivering a quality service and final product.Developed, created, and facilitated “Empower Your Resume” and “Interviewing 101”, workshops developed for use in outsourced transition services, community involvement, and one-on-one client coaching.

Effectively managed 3 teams with 22 employees in the Call Center, Customer Liaison Services, and Administrative Forms Teams supporting 25+ field offices and an extremely large book of business; managed the handling of over 1200+ customer service calls daily.Selected Accomplishments:Aggressively grew weak start up team of 5 into 3 high performing teams with 22 employees; actively involved with all aspects of team development, policy creation, recruiting, hiring, and training.Instrumental in initiating, leading, and developing division-wide training program impacting 300+ employees; created and facilitated call center, liaison services, and forms training workshops.Restructured team for growth and customer driven improvements as well as developed, created, and implemented new department policies and procedures.Generated $100,000+ annual cost saving and selected to receive the annual Division Special Achievement Award for initiating, managing, and driving the client manual redesign and automation project.Improved customer service and agent quality by initiating and managing the development and implementation of a comprehensive quality program using the E-talk product.Selected to participate in prestigious Continuous Process Improvement Training; learned process improvement methodologies and chosen to work on team that tackled division wide billing and collection function process improvements and change management initiatives.Positioned division to dramatically improve client service; selected to participate on project team to create, develop, and implement a new cutting edge customer service focused website as well as provided “train the trainer” facilitation for service team.

Successfully recruited and delivered talented new employees into high growth and fast paced business units; effectively handled all facets, including selection, management coaching, and reference checking. Recognized for providing key employee retention data to senior leaders by managing, evaluating, and reporting on all exit interviews for the Retirement Plans, Investment Products, and The Individual Life Divisions.Co-developed and presented interviewing skills workshops for UCONN MBA students. Received annual HR Special Achievement Award for the redesign of company-wide orientation program and associated materials, with weekly new hire participants up to 25+.Selected to receive annual HR Special Achievement Award for the rapid hiring of 25 employees into an in-house Programmer Development training program.Provided HR consultation and management of the Special Achievement Award selection process for the Investment Products and the Individual Life Divisions.Reduced advertising costs and generated recruiting leads by participating on a project team that created a recruiting “roadshow” for high schools and colleges.

Charged with managing all aspects of $1.3 million branch operation; independently led 20-person team of both sales professionals and service providers; managed P&L, resources, training, sales, service, collections, and expense control.Solely responsible for recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and training sales, service, and bookkeeping staff.Directed, monitored, and motivated the sales staff to increase the customer base with quality sales by implementing daily accountability sessions and sales plans.Coordinated and directed the service department staff to provide quality service to all customers.Supervised the bookkeeping staff in the areas of data entry, accounts receivable and payable, and customer service.Conducted local and regional sales and service meetings for up to 100+ employees.

Mba, Human Resource

Activities and Societies: Graduated with Honors Inductee - Beta Gamma Sigma Society

Bs, Management

Diploma, College/University Preparatory And Advanced Placement Coursework

Activities and Societies: Inductee National Honor Society Graduated with Honors