Suzanne F.

About Suzanne F.

Lessons from the Herd” Growing up on a small farm, I was the primary caretaker for our dairy goat herd and our horses. I learned from my animals that they depended on me to get to know them, listen to their needs, and remain physically fit so I could do what was best for them and bring my “A Game” whether I was in the barn, in the classroom, or playing a sport. My critters taught me a lot, they all had different needs, personalities, and strengths. I was constantly looking and researching for ways to make their environment better and how to keep them healthy so they could perform at their best. When I tried a new approach and it did not work, I learned from it and figured out how to make it better, they were my team and when my focus was on them, they performed well in the barn and show ring and were a “happy herd.” Working with animals and a B.S. in Biology were the perfect background for my early career in pharmaceutical veterinary sales. After 8+ years selling and earning top sales awards, I moved to a corporate role where I trained sales reps and management in how the products worked, consultative selling, setting goals, and coaching. I approached this like “the herd,” it was about them and what they needed, my focus was on setting them up for success with 60% of all the sales reps I trained won the Sales Academy award for outstanding performance and this led to an opportunity to train consultative selling globally, resulting in a 200% ROI.When I moved to Human Resources, I recognized the similarities and opportunities it presented, to focus on the people and ensure a healthy environment (culture) for optimal performance. I was fortunate to have excellent leaders who modeled leader behaviors, were passionate about development, and taught me how to think strategically about the future. I leveraged this mindset when working with my HR colleagues and the organization to build a management development program that was adopted by the company and implemented across the U.S. and incorporated into the curriculum at a local Big Ten University. I also was able to enhance my project management skills and learn lean six sigma so I could focus on improving efficiency and effectiveness within the business and lead the U.S. HR continuous improvement team. In the 1st year, we found over $500K in cost efficiencies and I was invited to join the global cross-functional team that fostered these projects for the entire organization. I live by the leadership principles and cultivate a healthy and fit culture “the herd” and my mentors taught me.

Experience

1. Director of Talent Management

   J.B. Poindexter & Co

   Jun 2024 — Present · Houston, TX, US

   Lead Talent Management for team members across North America, lead the Talent Management Center of Excellence, create and implement the Talent, Performance, and Leadership strategy, and manage a $2M budget- Lead functional talent reviews, enhanced and implemented potential identification, refined talent designation, competency assessments, and built succession benches, resulting improved visibility, targeted succession benches, and successors for 50% of Sr. Leader roles- Increased engagement by 23% and reduced attrition by 50% by developing 100+ leaders through 360 assessments, development planning, peer groups, and coaching- Facilitate and sole implementor of the executive leadership program, resulting in 100% development plan creation, and $220K+ in cost savings- Partnered with one of the largest business units to address gaps in frontline and mid-level leaders, conducted needs assessment, designed, and developed a frontline and mid-level leader curriculum, implemented in 9 months, currently expanding program enterprise-wide, and awarded \"Best Organizational Development & Transformation Initiative\" at the L&D Summit- Partnered with HR BU leaders to develop the Performance Management process, created tools and facilitated training for leaders across the enterprise, resulting in 75%+ leader participation, and increased an overall review completion rate in the first year- Led search for new engagement survey vendor, manage the relationship and build all engagement communications, presentation deck, and action plan materials, facilitate reporting, and within budget.

Education

• Wright State University

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Biology/Biological Sciences, General

Skills

• Culture Change
• Leadership
• Management Development
• Onboarding
• Personnel Management
• Situational Leadership
• Training Delivery
• Organizational Learning
• Performance Management
• Employee Training
• Talent Management
• Change Management
• Leadership Development
• HR Transformation
• Sales Operations
• Talent Development
• Management
• Team Building
• Strategy
• Succession Planning
• Strategic Planning
• Employee Relations
• Human Resources
• Workshop Facilitation
• Instructional Design
• Strategic Thinking
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Mbti
• Employee Engagement
• E-Learning
• Executive Development
• Mentoring
• Performance Improvement
• Organizational Effectiveness
• Workforce Planning
• Coaching
• Interviewing
• Talent Acquisition
• Emotional Intelligence
• Organizational Design