Manager Training

DEBORAH ANN SAARI

972-***-**** Plano, Texas adc2gv@r.postjobfree.com

ORGANIZATIONAL TALENT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Top-performing talent development leader with strong background of learning services, performance improvement and talent resource management expertise in an extremely demanding and challenging enterprise environment.

Valued for record of success in providing a passion for leadership development, Human Resource compliances, mentoring, coaching and training paired with a complete mastery of field operations. AREAS OF STRENGTH

Talent Development Talent Strategy Planning Training & Development Leadership/Consulting-Coaching Cross-Functional Partnerships HRIS Systems Facilitation and Classroom Management HR Compliance Training Succession Planning

Collaborative Team Building Written and Verbal Communication PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

ORGANIZATIONAL TALENT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER – WHATABURGER – IRVING, TEXAS 2016 – 2020 Business partner responsible for assessing individual and team behavior to identify opportunities for development; creating plans for improvement that guide Organization & Talent Development's just-in-time and long-term solutions to improve employee engagement, retention and loyalty. Provide effective performance consulting for Operations and Support System individuals and teams through goal development, needs assessment and diagnosis, role and responsibility clarification, leadership and team development, coaching, HR compliance and implementation of process and performance interventions.

• Led the Organizational Talent Development (OTD) efforts for 139 corporate stores General Managers and above-unit leaders to enhance leadership competency skillsets, drive internal bench growth, and support the employee satisfaction experience through HR best practices.

• Partnered with Senior Operations leaders on a quarterly basis to identify top talent’s potential and readiness to support succession planning and talent pipeline efforts. Advised on skill gaps and development goals solutions. Resulted in increasing the 2018-2019 internal bench growth for Area Managers promotes to reach 80% internal/20% external versus prior year which was on average a 40% internal/60% external.

• Aligned closely with Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP) on post employee investigations to help identify root cause from a leadership perspective and provide solution-based processes.

• Spearheaded a quarterly process for newly promoted General Managers to provide pertinent information on HR policy and procedures relevant to their role. This included: I-9 requirements, Employment verification, addressing attendance violations, Benefits, FMLA processing, Employee investigation procedures to ensure fairness and thoroughness, Performance documentation, Internal compliance binder practices, Title VII, Sexual Harassment, Rewards and Recognition, Promotion and Termination processes

(separation discussions), and retention discussions and best practices. This process was adopted and led to cross-divisional use.

• Facilitated numerous high-impact leadership development and team-building workshops for General Managers and above-unit leaders.

DEBORAH ANN SAARI

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DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC., Orlando Florida Headquarters Operations Training Manager – LongHorn Steakhouse – Dallas, Texas 2014 – 2016 Provided dedicated operating company support for all aspects of training and development for frontline team members and operations management in 218 locations. Improved the focus on building knowledge and skills to support operating and Darden business objectives.

• Increased compliance of the Certified Trainer position to meet company fulfillment by creating a standardized process for managers to follow.

• Provided support to Certified Trainers and Professionals on the training and execution of new menu initiatives, culinary rollouts, and service procedures, resulting in increased metrics as measured by guest satisfaction scores.

• Created internal tracking process of restaurant visits to be disseminated to executive teams for accountabilities to be shared and reinforced back to the restaurant level.

• Designed presentations/study aides for comprehension of LongHorn top 20 drinks in order to increase knowledge and awareness for alcohol sales.

• Assisted with the successful execution of the annual Managing Partner conferences for over 450 Managing Partners and the LongHorn Leadership conferences for 380 restaurant managers, by creating and delivering leadership accountability presentations each year. Operations Talent Development Manager – Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse 2012 – 2014 Managed the processes for identifying and promoting the development of high-potential employees across 3 brands. Initiated opportunities to strengthen the talent pipeline through targeted developmental activities and succession planning for operation managers.

• Succeeded in seeing 22 managers promoted to the General Manager role and 7 General Managers promoted to the Director of Operations role and 2 Directors of Operations promoted to the Regional Vice President role.

• Identified talent and promoted and initiated talent sharing among brands, which helped filled manager position shortages.

• Designed and facilitated a development plan writing class to over 180 (brands combined) high-potential managers in order to increase the understanding of leadership competencies and how to apply them with actionable activities.

• Co-designed, facilitated and managed a mentoring program for Directors of Operations to use with 18

(brands combined) high-potential general managers. This program resulted in the promotions of 7 General Managers.

• Grew diversity bench strength by 20% in 9 months by recognizing leadership competency needs and skill gaps and creating additional programs to address and close those gaps.

• Managed the Talent Review process among brands to include tracking and analyzing of information to prepare for presentation to executive teams in order to keep awareness on talent strengths and deficiencies and affording them the opportunity to make fact based decisions when promotions were required.

Division Training Manager – Red Lobster – Dallas, Texas 1996 – 2012 Facilitated technical skill building and leadership classes to Directors of Operations, General Managers and Restaurant Managers for 95 locations. Managed team of 13 Certified Crew Training Managers located throughout the division.

• Led the openings of 31 Red Lobster Restaurants: Solely responsible for the coordination of all training for new or relocated restaurants.

• Implemented and created weekly dissemination of the divisional priorities to 95 restaurants ensuring the operators were “in the know” about all current initiatives, holiday guest count projections, best practices for new training, etc.

• Partnered with corporate task forces on a $15M brand revitalization which led to increased hospitality metric scores.

DEBORAH ANN SAARI

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EDUCATION

B.A., Business Administration – University of North Texas, Denton, Texas Culinary Institute of America – Hyde Park, New York

• CEU in Seafood Cookery – 2002

• CEU in Cooking Basics – 2000

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

MBTI (Meyers & Briggs Type Indicator) Certified – 2018 Extended DiSC Communication Skillls Certified - 2016 Association for Talent Development – Consulting Skills for Trainers – 2010 FMP (Foodservice Management Professional) – 2001

National Restaurant Association Servesafe Proctor- 1999 – 2013 Achieve Global – Zenger Miller Facilitator – 1998

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Women’s Foodservice Forum – 1997 - 2005

Board of Directors for the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association – 2004 – 2005 Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers – 1997 – 2003 National Association of Female Executives – 2000 – 2002 REFERENCES

Karen Gebelein – (Former) Director of Organization Talent and Development, Whataburger 214-***-****

adc2gv@r.postjobfree.com

Greg Miller – Vice President of Franchise, Jack in the Box 801-***-****

Cathy Gainey – Human Resource Business Partner, Whataburger 972-***-****

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Dimitrios Vasilakis – Director of Operations, Red Lobster 330-***-****

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