Wendy Berkowitz
Summary
Accomplished HR Director with a proven track record at Amazon, enhancing organizational effectiveness and employee satisfaction. Expert in strategic planning, organizational development, and leadership, demonstrated by launching innovative HR programs that reduced attrition by 59%. Skilled in talent acquisition and fostering strong interpersonal relationships, significantly improving operational efficiencies and workforce engagement.
Overview
23
23
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
HR Director
Amazon
Remote, C.T.
02.2015 - Current
- Experience working in a start-up-like environment where the pace is quick, and responsibilities stretch between strategic and tactical.
- Implemented organizational assessment and design for several emerging businesses, including Prime Now, Treasure Truck, and Last Mile-Whole Food Markets.
- Defined and delivered innovative solutions by assessing member needs, and developing a customized value plan in accordance with overall executive program strategy and product deliverables.
- Developed and leveraged strong partnerships with VPs and Directors from various support teams, and Finance leaders, to deliver integrated solutions that are also aligned with companywide initiatives.
- Lead decision-making related to compensation, organizational structures, promotions, and attrition for multiple organizations.
- Developed several innovative employee labor models to complement business strategy and meet growth demand. Consistently exceeded company goals and operational deadlines.
- Developed a self-directed training strategy (VNHO) for the part-time population, which resulted in cost savings of $2 million.
- Responsible for managing Human Resources initiatives for 230 WFM locations, with over 50,000 associates.
- Responsible for designing, planning, implementing, and enhancing Human Resource programs and policies specific to business needs.
- Streamlined the HR launch process for new locations from 8 weeks to 4 weeks for all businesses company-wide. Removing barriers and allowing us to launch 189 WFM locations in 6 months to meet customer demand.
- Collaborated with other departments to support their business objectives through effective HR initiatives.
- Identified opportunities for process improvement within the HR department based on feedback from internal stakeholders.
- Developed employee orientation and training programs for new hires.
- Led initiatives to foster positive employee relations, workforce engagement and inclusive work culture.
- Created staff teams based on employee strengths and made adjustments to promote overall productivity.
- Provided guidance on organizational design, change management, succession planning, talent management, and compensation practices.
- Launched innovative incentive program to achieve low turnover rate in highly competitive market. Resulting in attrition improvements of 59%.
- Partnered with senior business leaders in planning and delivering robust talent plan aligned with business objectives.
- Partnered with leadership team to ensure alignment between business objectives and HR initiatives.
Human Resource Director – East Region
Equinox Holdings Inc.
New York, N.Y.
12.2013 - 01.2015
- Created and execute human resource strategies related to employee relations, retention, performance management, and the day-to-day administration of the HR department
- Responsible for conducting thorough investigations to ensure appropriate resolution of all employee issues and concerns
- Working proactively with Managers to mitigate future issues
- Influenced and lead the development of company talent; appropriately set the bar for all talent within the organization
- Developed and implemented successful HR strategies for various newly acquired companies and brands
Human Resource Business Partner
Target Corporation
New York, N.Y.
01.2010 - 01.2014
- Improved district ER culture concerns and decreased ER concerns by 300% YTD
- Developed and lead the District teams to prioritize time to impact business needs (e.g., talent and culture gaps, performance management, compensation planning, promotions, & talent reviews)
- Improved team operations by 80% ranking #1 in the group consecutively YOY
- Led teams to achieve turnover, wage rate, payroll and headcount goals in all stores in district
- Built self-sufficient Districts; produced backups at all levels through excellent succession planning and leading District Talent Days
- Played an active role in the planning of Group management reviews in close partnership with Directors and VP
- Created Plans and executed the summer internship program improve retention and campus hiring mix by 40%
- Stabilized two districts for a total of 15 stores through a focus on productivity and turnover at all levels
Director - Business Development
NYC Business Solutions
New York, N.Y.
11.2008 - 01.2010
- Provide strategic and operational leadership for the NYC Career Centers and its workforce development programs
- Review placements, applications for training grants and other regulatory and contractual processes to ensure that they are taken or approved in line with current policy from the Department of Small Business Services
- Created and implemented hiring strategies for key business accounts
- Worked closely with other Directors such as the Department of Labor, the Disability Program Navigator and others to ensure that our shared programs were able to maximize while reducing cost
Recruiting Manager
Bear Stearns
New York, N.Y.
06.2006 - 10.2008
- Developed recruiter metrics to drive productive behavior and set clear expectations
- Managed Recruiting Teams, including, Recruiting Team Lead and Sr
- Recruiters
- Continually refining and re-contracting services and processes to meet client and business need
- Worked closely with SVP’s and HRD community to determine workforce planning/recruiting needs for business lines resulting in savings of over $1.3 million in non-business critical headcount
- Set up engagement models and service level agreements for various projects
- Identified key client obstacles related to recruiting success and develop 30, 60, 90 and 12-month action plans
- Managed team’s performance through monthly metrics and customer satisfaction
- Team’s average number of openings 297, average fills per month 200 and average time to fill per month 32 days
- Led project team developing strategy and best practices for mass hiring events
Recruiting Program Manager
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
New York, N.Y.
03.2002 - 05.2006
- Created the campus recruiting strategy and lead the divisional summer analyst and associate programs
- Managed all vendor agencies used by the firm and reduced expenses with effective vendor management by 20%
- Improved employee retention rates by 26%
- Successfully increased the quality of Audit candidate pool and decreased outside agency usage by 30%
Education
Bachelor of Science - Psychology
Iona College
New Rochelle, N.Y.01.2004
Skills
- Talent Acquisition & Training
- Strategic Planning and Execution
- Global HR Leader
- Organizational Development
- HR technology
- Succession planning
- HR policies development
- Performance Management
- Strong Leadership & Interpersonal Skills
- M&A Diligence & Integration
- Program Development
- Retention strategies
Accomplishments
- Transformed previously underperforming department into a well-functioning, cost efficient and highly utilized entity as evidenced by 46% improvements in Connection team survey score.
- Created various flexible employee models with a cost savings of 3 million and projected 40 million savings in 3YP.
- Entered an organization undergoing rapid expansion; lacking in organizational effectiveness, with no established HR practices, built virtual teams from the ground up to implement HR standards and compliance, revamped employee policies, procedures, job descriptions and introduced new performance management systems. Increasing the span of control and manager to employee ratios.
Certification
- Stanford AI-Driven Leadership: Strategies for the Future
- SHRM-SCP
Languages
Spanish
Professional
Timeline
HR Director
Amazon
02.2015 - Current
Human Resource Director – East Region
Equinox Holdings Inc.
12.2013 - 01.2015
Human Resource Business Partner
Target Corporation
01.2010 - 01.2014
Director - Business Development
NYC Business Solutions
11.2008 - 01.2010
Recruiting Manager
Bear Stearns
06.2006 - 10.2008
Recruiting Program Manager
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
03.2002 - 05.2006
Bachelor of Science - Psychology
Iona College
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