Berlaine Smith Melton,MPA.,SPHR ( Master’s Public Administration, Senior Professional Human Resources

Philadelphia, PA Personal Cell- 215-***-****

Business Cell- 470-***-****

ad3mm4@r.postjobfree.com www.linkedin.com/in/berlaine-melton-sphr-mpa

HR Leader / Strategic HR Partner

Talented and decisive human resources professional offering progressive experience in strategic planning, recruitment, succession planning, performance management, and organizational development. Exemplary leadership skills, ability to resolve employee/labor relations disputes, oversee benefits administration, recruitment, retention, training, and performance management. Adept at effectively balancing organizational and employee needs.

Areas of Expertise

Policy / Procedure Development

Strong Budget Skills

Citrix Workspace (Budget Software)

Employee Training & Development

SAP-Success Factors

Organizational Development

SEPTA Careers Worksite

Strategic Planning Partnership with Senior Management

Professional Experience

SEPTA- Southeastern Transportation Authority, Philadelphia PA 2019- Present

Manager, Administration & Finance Human Resources

Talented and decisive human professional supplying progressive experience in strategic planning, recruitment, succession planning, performance management, and organizational development. Exemplary leadership skills with the ability to resolve employee/labor relations disputes. Assist with benefits administration, recruitment, retention, training, and organizational development. Adept at effectively balancing organizational and employee needs.

SMITH-MELTON TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, Philadelphia, PA, Atlanta, GA 2008 - Present

HR Consultant-Owner

Currently rebuilding my HR Consulting practice, by researching Public Service Federal grant funding designed to protect Public Safety, (Police & Fire Rescue) and enhance their missions to save lives!

Prior Business Clients: Superior Automotive of Philadelphia, University System of Georgia, District of Columbia City Government (1,200 employees), Atlanta Metropolitan College (400 employees), City of East Point, (600 employees) City of East Point- Worked closely with Fire Chief Rosemary Cloud-developed (3) day training course for Firefighters & EMT’s- Highlighting on scene narrative writing, roleplaying, and improved response time reporting.

Supervised Workforce Development staff at American Job Centers (AJC) serving D.C. residents Workforce. Investment Act (WIA) and City funded maintenance of HRIS PeopleSoft and DC Networks.

Developed customer service policies that contributed to business goals of (AJC), recommended new innovative processes, provided quality customer service to all clients, and trained staff on new initiatives.

CITY OF EAST POINT, East Point, GA 2007 - 2008

HR Director- (Department Head)

Reported directly to the City Manager, oversaw workforce planning strategies, managed Human Resources payroll department, and administration for Police & Fire, Operations, Water/Sewer, Kronos Workforce Management, and related Time and Attendance Systems payroll for personnel, and retirees (600 ) employees.

Staff: 9 direct reports Assistant HR Director, HR Specialists, Training Specialist, Safety Officer, attained 100%-win rate in all City unemployment claims by conducting terminated employee research, before hearings and collaborated with City Attorney’s Office for advice on City Ordinances, terminations, and garnishments.

Berlaine Smith Melton ad3mm4@r.postjobfree.com Page Two

CITY OF EAST POINT

Drove reduction of employee grievance claims, including sexual harassment and compensation in Public Safety, Public Works, and Maintenance by 10% within 4 months by investigating departments with complaints, offered alternative job rotations, and terminated offenders with advice from counsel.

Negotiated insurance rates with Health Insurance Vendors, adding cost savings of 15% in premiums.

CITY OF ATLANTA, ATLANTA FIRE RESCUE, Support Services, Atlanta, GA 2006 - 2008

Senior Human Resources Manager

Served as key member of senior leadership team and engineered complete turnaround for workforce development, managed payroll, W-2 preparation, and employee inquires for 1,115 employees, coached managers on HR Policies Procedures and functional specifications of 20 interfaces to and from Oracle HR Time & Labor (ERP) / Payroll.

Staff: 8 direct reports: HR Specialists, HR Technicians, Administrative Assistants

$400K personnel / operating budget

Launched internal recruitment function that reduced time-to-fill from 60 days to 45 days and reduced recruitment expenses by 25%.

Overhauled HR payroll processes from manual or ‘homegrown’ systems to Oracle HR.

Performed implementation support activities for HR / payroll system; designed, developed, and produced first internal benefits statement and converted clients to use new system.

Oversaw rapid implementation from People Soft to Oracle HR--live in 60 days with enough data to support Kronos.

Appointed Oracle HR Project Manager (Fire Department) for city-wide Oracle HR systems conversion.

CITY OF ATLANTA, DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION, Atlanta, GA 2000-2006

Senior Human Resources Specialist

Oversaw 500+ employee benefits’ administration, including annual open enrollment benefits orientation. Assisted with recruitment and administration of Visa, H1B1, and L1B1 for Managers.

Managed benefits administration, questions, troubleshooting, and onboarding process for new employees.

Chosen by senior management to train all new hires on City of Atlanta Benefit policies and procedures. Employees received this training through the Onboarding process.

Reported weekly Air Talk comments and HR performance data for DOA DASH Scoreboards.

Prior Relevant Work Experience

Attended Community College, Temple University in Philadelphia PA, involved with Community Centered Non-Profit Projects, Member Philadelphia Heath Center #5 -Advisory Board (5)years.

Taught K-12 students Philadelphia School System (5)years, Clayton County, Georgia School System (3)years.

Collaborated with HR Director Atlanta Metropolitan State University ADP-project systems conversion (4)years.

Assigned to CATCH-Children’s Access to Health Care (3)years-Morehouse School of Medicine-Atlanta. Program Professionally Trained - Inside Sales Experience & Finance-Mellon Bank (7) years Philadelphia, PA.

Education and Credentials

Master of Public Administration (MPA), Human Resources, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Business Management, Clark College, Atlanta, GA

Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) Certified Strategic Professional (SPHR) thru January 2025

Employment Law Studies-Greenberg Tauriq, Atlanta, GA

International Personnel Management Association (IPMA)-Business Model-HR Director Level Competency

HR Consultant for Public Sector, Police, Fire Rescue, Aviation-Atlanta GA., Microsoft Office Suite- Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Adobe

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