Tanika Yancy
Summary
Transformational HR executive with a proven ability to drive enterprise change and modernize people strategies at scale. Recognized for aligning workforce, culture, and talent initiatives to business performance and growth objectives. Trusted advisor to C Suite leaders, leveraging financial acumen and data driven insights to shape workforce planning, talent management, and organizational effectiveness. Known for building high‑impact partnerships, developing leaders, and delivering scalable solutions that enable sustained business results.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Sr. Director People, Employee Experience
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-ALSAC
06.2023 - Current
- Promoted to Sr. Director People, reporting to the Chief People Officer, leading, managing and developing a team of Employee Relations and People Partners.
- Demonstrating a change management mindset through identification of opportunities to enhance the employee experience through process improvement and refinement of services, while offering solutions to create greater stakeholder satisfaction.
- Partner with executive leadership to diagnose and prioritize critical business challenges, deploying targeted HR and employee experience interventions.
- Design and implement enterprise people strategies spanning employee relations, professional development, learning, compensation, and benefits to drive engagement and workforce effectiveness.
- Lead the analysis and evaluation of employee performance, identification of strategic needs, gaps, and creation of strategies from those analyses to cultivate talent and drive succession planning.
- Advise business leaders on workforce planning, forecasting talent needs and trends using internal data and external market insights.
- Collaborate cross functionally to deliver organizational development and team effectiveness initiatives aligned to business priorities.
- Provide strategic guidance on complex employee relations matters, creating scalable tools, frameworks, and processes to support leaders at scale.
- Executing a multi year, enterprise Job Architecture initiative, overseeing framework design, stakeholder engagement, and adoption to modernize role structures and enable scalable workforce and talent strategies.
- Established a new People Partner strategy and operating model, redefining how people partners engage with leaders and drive workforce outcomes.
- Designed and implemented a performance framework that equipped PL and employees to lead clear, development-centered performance conversations while strengthening performance outcomes.
- Developed integrated Talent Review and Succession Planning framework.
- Redesigned the enterprise promotion process and governance, introducing quarterly review cycles and executive oversight to improve rigor, transparency, and equity.
Sr. People Business Partner, Employee Experience
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-ALSAC
11.2021 - 06.2023
- Served as a principal advisor to the Chief People Officer, partnering closely with executives and senior leaders as a trusted consultant and business partner.
- Maintained a high level of business literacy across client groups, including financial performance, strategic priorities, organizational culture, and workforce dynamics, to inform people and talent decisions.
- Led the development and execution of strategies to elevate the effectiveness and enterprise impact of the People Business Partner team, strengthening their consultative capability and alignment with business outcomes.
- Increased People Team effectiveness from 82% to 93% by delivering strategic and functional leadership, driving OKR execution, and leveraging people analytics to enable data‑driven decision making.
- Provided executive oversight of enterprise change management initiatives, establishing governance, tracking performance against milestones and metrics, and ensuring sustained adoption through coaching and embedded cultural practices.
- Directed end to end HR delivery across functional specialty areas, aligning resources and capabilities to execute HR and business unit priorities at scale.
- Translated business strategy into a forward looking workforce strategy, ensuring the right talent, capabilities, and cost structures were aligned to organizational cost objectives.
- Applied advanced people and business analytics to measure impact, identify trends, and drive continuous improvement, enabling proactive interventions in support of business performance.
Vice President, Human Resources Business Partner – Revenue + G&A
First Horizon Bank
03.2017 - 11.2021
- Promoted to serve as a strategic HR advisor supporting six business units and partnering with eight executives and senior leaders across the organization, with accountability for a workforce of up to 1,400 associates.
- Led the execution of the people strategy across talent acquisition, performance management, compensation, and DEI, ensuring alignment with business objectives and enterprise priorities.
- Recognized with the Blue Chip Award for Customer Service for exemplary partnership and service delivery.
- Led strategic workforce planning initiatives, aligning talent, capabilities, and resources to current and future business objectives to enable organizational performance and growth.
- Played an integral role in the integration of two acquisitions and one merger, partnering across functions to enable operational continuity and deliver $2M in cost savings.
- Supported enterprise execution of the annual performance and rewards cycle, including talent calibration, performance reviews, and employee value surveys, translating insights into targeted action plans, retention strategies, and development programs.
- Partnered with key HR functions, including Compensation, Benefits, and Payroll, to proactively address and support employee needs.
- Coached executives, leaders, and managers on individual and team performance, collaborating with HR partners to deliver leadership development and training initiatives that strengthened accountability and capability.
- Drove measurable improvements in employee engagement and retention, increasing engagement to 83% and retention to 90% through targeted culture‑building and development programs.
Vice President, Business Performance and Strategy
FTB Advisors, Inc.
06.2016 - 03.2017
- Promoted to lead Wealth Analytics and Business Performance, partnering with financial advisors to evaluate portfolios and wealth programs, driving increased production, revenue growth, and client retention.
- Enabled advisors to optimize portfolio performance and book growth by designing standardized, data‑driven toolkits, generating $900K in incremental revenue and a 12% increase in product penetration across advisor portfolios.
- Delivered strategic portfolio recommendations by translating business intelligence, customer and market segmentation, and product analytics into actionable insights for advisor decision making.
- Established KPIs and activity metrics in partnership with Wealth Management leadership, improving performance tracking, optimization, and overall portfolio profitability.
- Led the department’s strategic account planning process, aligning mutual performance objectives, financial targets, and execution milestones across advisor teams.
- Drove advisor sales activity and pipeline growth through targeted lead generation strategies and advanced customer segmentation.
Senior Manager, Strategic and Tactical Development
FTB Advisors, Inc.
03.2012 - 06.2016
- Promoted and oversaw the adoption and implementation of wealth practices and technology across the regional offices, working with 82 Advisors and 50 Client Specialists.
- Served as a subject matter expert (SME) on the Salesforce and Albridge technology platforms.
- Educated client teams on the technology capabilities and strategies within the Albridge platform, contributing to a 20% increase in utilization within the first three months of system rollout and launch.
- Built the competency and knowledge of wealth advisors and client specialists, which expanded their client strategies and led to more targeted campaigns, resulting in a 15% increase in client meetings.
- Fostered collaboration and partnership with regional directors and senior teams to gain buy-in on the strategy and direction to improve portfolio and practice management skills.
- Selected out of 200 applicants to participate in the Emerging Leader Program, focused on developing future business leaders and included key leadership and development topics.
Manager, Wealth Management Support
First Tennessee Brokerage
04.2006 - 03.2012
- Led a team of 30 Client Specialists supporting financial advisors and the wealth management program, overseeing day‑to‑day operations while delivering strategic services to internal business partners in support of enterprise initiatives and regulatory requirements.
- Partnered with executive leadership and five Regional Directors to design and implement wealth management strategies and solutions that improved advisor effectiveness and overall client experience.
- Developed and mentored client‑facing teams, setting service standards, resolving complex account issues, and ensuring consistent achievement of service‑level commitments.
- Directed onboarding, training, and ongoing coaching for new and existing team members, strengthening service quality, compliance, and performance outcomes.
- Held Series 7, 66, and 24 FINRA licenses, demonstrating deep regulatory knowledge and credibility in leading compliant wealth management operations.
Education
Human Resource Management -
Villanova University
Bachelor of Science (BS) - Marketing Education
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TNKnoxville, TN
Senior Certified Professional -
Society of Human Resources Management
Skills
- Talent Management
- Conflict Resolution
- Organizational Transformation
- Change Management
- High Performing Teams
- Leader Coaching
- Employee Experience
- Employee Relations
- Culture Transformation
- Strategic Planning
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Workday
- Ultipro
- MS Office Suite
- Salesforce
- Tableau
Websites
Certification
Senior Certified Professional, SHRM – SCP, Society of Human Resources Management
Community Leadership
- Board of Directors, Gestalt Community Schools
- Finance Chair, Woodland Presbyterian School
- Member, Forbes Human Resources Council
Timeline
Sr. Director People, Employee Experience
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-ALSAC
06.2023 - Current
Sr. People Business Partner, Employee Experience
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-ALSAC
11.2021 - 06.2023
Vice President, Human Resources Business Partner – Revenue + G&A
First Horizon Bank
03.2017 - 11.2021
Vice President, Business Performance and Strategy
FTB Advisors, Inc.
06.2016 - 03.2017
Senior Manager, Strategic and Tactical Development
FTB Advisors, Inc.
03.2012 - 06.2016
Manager, Wealth Management Support
First Tennessee Brokerage
04.2006 - 03.2012
Human Resource Management -
Villanova University
Bachelor of Science (BS) - Marketing Education
University of Tennessee
Senior Certified Professional -
Society of Human Resources Management