Hazel Hernandez
Papillion,NE
Summary
Human Resources Leader with 13 years of experience in all HR functions. Expertise in talent acquisition, employee engagement, and strategic planning. Demonstrated ability to enhance organizational performance through innovative HR strategies and effective leadership development initiatives.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
Work History
Employment and Onboarding Manager
Sustainable Beef
North Platte, Nebraska
01.2025 - Current
- Developed and implemented recruitment strategies to staff a new state-of-the-art beef processing facility from the ground up.
- Managed the hiring process for a wide range of positions, including production workers, supervisors, administrative support, and specialized technical roles.
- Designed and executed an onboarding program tailored to a start-up operational environment, ensuring employees were fully trained and aligned with company culture before launch.
- Partnered with community organizations, educational institutions, and workforce agencies to build sustainable talent pipelines.
- Collaborated with leadership teams to forecast staffing needs, and adjust hiring timelines to meet operational milestones.
- Established HR systems and processes for candidate tracking, onboarding documentation, and compliance.
- Achievements: Achieved 80% staffing completion ahead of schedule for the facility launch.
- Built a diverse and skilled workforce across multiple departments.
- Increased applicant flow through targeted outreach campaigns and new recruitment channels.
- Created onboarding materials and training schedules that reduced new-hire ramp-up time by 30%.
Talent Acquisition Manager
Greater Omaha Packing Co
Omaha, Nebraska
03.2024 - Current
- Developed and executed Talent Acquisition strategies for the organization.
- Developed and executed community engagement strategy that involved managing multiple partnerships with different entities.
- Managed end-to-end recruitment processes for front-line to C-suite positions, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
- Led a team of recruiters, enhancing their skills and efficiencies through targeted training and mentorship. Spearheaded learning and development programs, including an internal leadership university and internship initiatives, resulting in increased internal promotions.
- Collaborated with cross-functional leaders to support organizational growth and development.
- Achievements: Maintained staffing levels above 100%. Identified new recruitment channels, reducing time-to-fill by 25%. Exceeded quotas for learning program participation. Reduced turnover by 15% and improved retention rates.
Human Resources Generalist
Greater Omaha Packing Co., Inc
Omaha, NE
02.2022 - 03.2024
- Help develop and implement employee policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with federal and state employment laws and regulations.
- Provided leadership advice on implementing HR policies and procedures and special projects. Liaised with HR and operations to coordinate and manage employee relation matters
- Conducted exit interviews and analyzed data to identify trends and recommend improvements.
- Processed unemployment claims and acted as company representative at unemployment hearings.
- Spearheaded DEI initiatives, and community engagement efforts, playing an instrumental role in building and retaining highly desired employer of choice brands.
- Primary lead for conducting confidential investigations of discrimination, harassment, and workplace violence.
- Coached managers through employee engagement, documentation, discipline, and performance improvement plans.
- Provided job placement accommodation recommendations for employees on physician-mandated medical restrictions.
- Managed HR-related projects, including process improvement initiatives and employee engagement surveys,
- Achievements: Launched the company’s first annual DEI event, and partnered with multiple local organizations and organized two annual events locally. Led multiple roundtable sessions with employees and helped decrease turnover rates by 20% year over year and more than 50% below the industry average. Led relocation and community integration efforts for our refugee recruitment initiatives, successfully integrating more than 45 new refugees into our community and workforce. Successfully achieved 100% response and appeal rates on all unemployment claims. Decreased the number of employees at termination stage for attendance by over 75%.
Bilingual Plant Recruiter
American Foods Group
09.2021 - 02.2022
- Developed and executed recruitment strategies to attract our plant’s top talent for hourly and salaried positions.
- Conducted a full-cycle recruitment process, including sourcing, screening, interviewing, and onboarding. Partnered with hiring managers to understand hiring needs, develop job descriptions, and create candidate profiles.
- Utilized various recruitment sources, including job boards, social media, and employee referrals, to identify and attract candidates.
- Coordinated pre-employment activities, including background checks, drug screening, and skills testing.
- Maintained accurate and up-to-date applicant tracking system (ATS) records, ensuring compliance with federal and state employment laws and regulations.
- Monitored recruitment metrics, including time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and quality-of-hire, and made recommendations for improvement.
- Developed and maintained relationships with staffing agencies and other external recruitment sources.
- Coordinated all community integration efforts for all new hires outside of our geographic area
- Achievement: High-volume recruitment by filling over 50 hourly positions monthly, with over half of the hires having relevant experience in our industry. Increasing our staffing levels above 100% to cover for absenteeism and workloads. Eliminated reliance on any 3rd party agency help in recruiting resulted in over $100,000 in savings.
Human Resources Specialist
Seaboard Triumph Foods
10.2017 - 08.2021
- Developed and executed recruitment strategies to staff a new green field manufacturing facility.
- Worked closely with hiring managers to understand hiring needs and develop job descriptions for all roles.
- Established and maintained relationships with local organizations, including schools, community groups, and workforce development agencies, to attract talent to the new facility.
- Utilized various recruitment sources, including job boards, social media, and employee referrals, to identify and attract candidates.
- Maintained accurate and up-to-date applicant tracking system (ATS) records, ensuring compliance with federal and state employment laws and regulations.
- Coordinated and participated in job fairs and other recruitment events to attract talent to the new facility.
- Developed, led, and managed the TN & H2B programs
- Collaborated with external staffing agencies to supplement recruitment efforts, as needed.
- Monitored recruitment metrics, including time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and quality-of-hire, and made recommendations for improvement.
- Achievements: Successfully staffed up the new facility filling all critical salaried and hourly non-exempt positions needed for operations within the timeline set. Attracted more than 50% of salaried exempt candidates from industry competitors. Developed and led the TN & H2B programs with limited resources. Successfully integrated over 300 relocated candidates into the community and their new roles.
Human Resources Representative
Michael Foods
05.2012 - 10.2017
- Attendance and leave management.
- Maintained employee records in our HRIS system.
- Interpret and explain human resources policies, procedures, laws, standards, or regulations.
- Address employee relations issues, such as harassment allegations, work complaints, or other employee concerns.
- Recruit and help train new employees as needed.
- Schedule and conduct new employee orientations.
- Conduct exit interviews and ensure that necessary employment termination paperwork is completed.
Education
High School Diploma -
West Point-Beemer High School
West Point, NESkills
,,,,,,,,,,
Organizational development
Human resources operations
Leadership development
Community relations
FMLA and leave of absence management
Diversity and inclusion
Recruitment strategies
Labor relations
Benefits administration
Personal Information
Title: Human Resources | Talent Acquisition Strategist
Languages
English
Professional
Spanish
Professional
Timeline
Employment and Onboarding Manager
Sustainable Beef
01.2025 - Current
Talent Acquisition Manager
Greater Omaha Packing Co
03.2024 - Current
Human Resources Generalist
Greater Omaha Packing Co., Inc
02.2022 - 03.2024
Bilingual Plant Recruiter
American Foods Group
09.2021 - 02.2022
Human Resources Specialist
Seaboard Triumph Foods
10.2017 - 08.2021
Human Resources Representative
Michael Foods
05.2012 - 10.2017
High School Diploma -
West Point-Beemer High School
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