Joel Angel Hernandez

Human Resources Leader & Strategic Business Partner

• Senior HR Director and Business Partner, providing strategic hands-on Human Resources and Employee Relations support for 15 states throughout the US and Canada.
• Partnered with business-facing leaders (up to Executive Vice President level) to mitigate risk and provide an exceptional employee experience that closely aligns with company culture and key initiatives.
• Created strong business partnerships with key leaders/decision makers to take actions that were in the best interest of team members and the business.
• Provide counsel, training, best practices and leadership support in areas of employee relations, risk assessment and management, recruitment, learning, leadership development, HR-strategy, organizational restructure & development, and change management.
• Led a team of 6 Senior Business Partners and 2 Generalists.

Employee Relations & Risk Management

• Leading full-cycle employee relations investigations for both exempt and non-exempt leaders (Team Leader, Assistant Store Managers, Store Managers, Field Directors, Vice President's, Region President, Corporate Personnel): completing grievance in-take, investigative interviews, audits/analysis, final action, documentation/reporting, and managing employment litigation. Partnering with General Counsel and Executive Director of Legal (where appropriate) on complex or sensitive complaints, EEOC/DFEH/DOR complaints, ADA accommodation requests, discrimination and harassment complaints; ensuring fair, consistent and effective investigation results that minimize risk for the organization while balancing the needs of team members.

Learning & Development

• Providing training and counsel to HRBP's/Regional HR Leaders on certain non-exempt employee relations investigations (Team Members, Supervisors, Team Leaders, Shift Leaders).

Accomplishment

• Built and successfully launched a company-wide standard operating procedure for employee relations investigations, in addition to an in-person/virtual training academy for Executive HR Directors, Regional HR Leaders, HRBP's, HR Generalists and Store Team Leaders.

Previous Roles at Whole Foods Market: Field Human Resources Business Partner, promoted to Global Human Resources Director, promoted to Senior Director, Global Employee Relations & HR Investigations (Head of Employee Relations)

• Leading all aspects of the Human Resources business for UNIQLO's western regions. Serving a population of 5,000+ team members throughout the states of California, Nevada, Washington, Colorado & Hawaii.
• Primary functions included Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, Labor Investigations, Risk Management, Training, Leadership Development, Succession Planning, Diversity & Inclusion Programs, and Legal Compliance.
• Acted as a lead decision maker and subject matter expert on nationwide Employee & Labor Relations issues; providing training and counsel on best practices, and successfully addressing labor-related organizing activities.
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• Improved companywide turnover by 11% for part-time employees and 13% for full-time employees through the successful implementation of four (4) new programs, such as University Recruting and Diversity & Inclusion Recruiting, that addressed recruitment challenges, employee retention, scheduling/time and attendance opportunities, and overall employee engagement.
• Successfully repositioned UNIQLO as a key retail employment competitior by conducting market research to I’mprove our overall employee value proposition by revamping our compensation and benefits package, engaging the organization in local and nationwide diversity and inclusion efforts (such as
• for retail employment in high volume markets, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, by conducting mass amounts of market research and data analysis to strategically revamp our overall employee value proposition; improving our compensation and benefits package, and heavily engaging the organization in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
• Accomplishment: Successfully planned and implemented a University Recruitment program to address talent pipeline opportunities and best align with Fast Retailing's (parent company) global initiatives.

Previous Roles at UNIQLO: District Human Resources Manager, promoted to Regional Human Resources Director.

• Successfully managed the daily HR operations of a high-volume Target store; utilizing best practices to resolve employee relations matters, achieve high-volume recruiting targets, lead the succession planning/talent management process, and delivering exceptional compliance standard, HR and employee engagement metrics.
• Supported eight Target Store locations with individual sales volume ranging from $30M-$75M
• Acted as an Lead HR Resource for the district, providing strategic leadership support in areas of Employee Relations and Talent Acquisition.
• Conducted store compliance audits to ensure daily HR operations are being carried out with the highest level of integrity and standards; in accordance with federal, state and local employment laws.
• Accomplishment: Received the "Golden Contribution" and "HR Superstar" (for delivering top HR metrics and upholding diversity, inclusion & employee engagement standards) Awards from Target's CHRO and SVP of Store Operations.

Previous Roles at Target: Human Resources Manager, promoted to Executive (Senior) Human Resources Manager

• Provided generalist Human Resources support with recruitment, onboarding, training & leadership development, employee relations, scheduling, payroll processing, and compliance.
• Managed an employee engagement budget; planned and executed various employee engagement events.
• Led the annual merit increase process for hourly team members/leaders.
• Acted as a liaison between corporate and the field; planning and executing various people-related initiatives such as organizational restructures, leadership development projects, and new diversity & inclusion programs.