Danone North America [EPA: BN]

Brief Overview of Your Career Path

I started the first 5 years of my professional career with Target as an Executive Intern in logistics, began my full-time career as the Guest Experience Manager, was promoted to HR Manager, and then promoted to the General Manager (Store Director) of a $38 million dollar store of over 200 team members. I loved my time in retail management and learned a lot about my leadership and the impact I had on others, however, I decided to go back to school and pursue a Master of Science in Human Resource Management. This education fueled me to transition back into an HR focused role as the National HR Generalist with Nestlé Waters to focus on driving great business results through people. After six months of building relationships and enhancing processes, I moved into a multi-unit HR Generalist role in the field, covering five NY branches and supporting 500+ employees and leaders. Six months after that, I was promoted to the HR Business Partner role partnering with the Information Technology heads of Nestlé Waters, Nestlé USA, Nestlé Infant Nutrition, and Nestlé Health Sciences and their teams. I focused on combining different teams and ways of working at various operating companies into one IT team.

In 2019, I was recruited to the Danone North America Team as the HR Business Partner supporting the marketing and venture capital leaders and their teams in New York and Colorado, focused on people strategy, team engagement, leadership development, talent and change management. In 2021, I was promoted to be a Director, HRBP, where I led people strategy for the marketing center of excellence, e-commerce, and venture capital leaders and teams. Earlier this year in 2023, I progressed and diversified my career at Danone by taking on a new challenge: Director of HR Transformation. In this role, I lead various human resources, organizational design, and change management topics for critical organization-wide transformations. As a certified B-Corporation, Danone uses its business as a force for good. I am thrilled to continue to be part of this team and to have the opportunity to continue to increase value in the strategic HR industry.

Major Challenges and Trends Impacting the HR Industry

Some major challenges and trends impacting the HR industry lately include 1) organizational culture & transformation (including remote/hybrid work, DEI and well-being), 2) talent attraction (playing offense and not just defense) development (stepping up critical capabilities), and retention through continuous sustainable engagement and elevating the employee experience and 3) leadership development.

Major Predicaments in the HR Industry

Burnout and mental health and well-being. Even though we are three years past the initial onset of the pandemic, boundaries are not getting clearer or firmer, and it is easier to 'just answer this one email' than to have it in the back of your mind for the rest of the evening and add it to your never-ending to-do list. There will always be too many things to do, and it takes extreme discipline and intentionality to ruthlessly prioritize, be comfortable with saying no, and spend time on quality of work over quantity. Employee fatigue is a major issue happening to many employees; combined with the stress of a potential recession and high inflation, it is difficult to manage mental health intentionally on top of everything else, and at the same time, it is crucial and non-negotiable.

 I am constantly looking for ways to develop in HR, as a leader, and in business – through courses, certifications, reading great books, and talking to great mentors and friends. 

The other thing that keeps me up at night when it comes to some of the major predicaments – is the pressure managers are facing. They are constantly surrounded by 360-degree pressure by managing employees and their expectations (from below), feeling pressure (from above) from their managers and also from their cross-functional partners and colleagues (all around). Managers may not be or feel fully equipped to deal with all of this and support their own well-being. Given the many day-to-day 'fires' they are focused on putting out in the short term, it prevents longer term and deep strategic thinking that should be happening to truly move organizations forward.

Exciting Technological Trends for the Future of the HR Industry

Two spaces that excite me (but also make me a little nervous) are AI and ML. I do think there is a lot of work that can be done to support remote and hybrid work, diverse and inclusive hiring, and optimized performance management with better transparency and accountability. When we think about 'elevating the employee experience' and how we strive to support employee engagement and happiness while doing great work at our organizations, I foresee technology playing a bigger (or different) role than it is today. Technology can easily be manipulated and become addictive, so of course, we need to watch out for mental health and well-being and the ability to 'shut off'.

Adapting and Growing Throughout Your Career

I enjoy staying up to date with trends and advancements in the HR space while having a great ecosystem around me at Danone to test and learn in the various realms of HR. I try to always be curious and look for new and different ways to solve problems and get to the root cause of inefficiencies or roadblocks for our employees, employee lifecycle, and business. I’ve developed the ability to analyze data and provide valuable insights and recommendations to business leaders and employees, which helps me remain a relevant and thoughtful leader and partner. I am continuously looking for ways to develop in HR, as a leader, and in business – through accreditations (Prosci and Insights), certifications (SHRM-SCP), reading great books, and talking to wonderful mentors and friends.