Employee Relations Manager
Resume:
Hello,
I possess food, grocery retail and manufacturing industry experience and I have successfully performed as the top HR Executive Officer for my current and prior employers. I’m confident that I can help your client in transforming HR into a strategic support center and help develop an outstanding people culture because I have done it before. I am excited to apply for this role because I have performed as a change agent who understands best practices, likes to solve problems, and enjoys making a difference in an organization. I am poised and ready to help with your client’s People Strategies, People Engagement and People Platforms while also contributing my Risk Management expertise to help maximize your client’s bottom line. I believe that I check all the boxes with your leadership requirements as I have always performed with an exceptional “get stuff done” attitude with a high degree of organization, strong communication skills, creative thinking and great ability to maintain composure – please see my letters of recommendation below included with this cover letter & resume.
I currently lead People functions for employees in 15 states. I am confidentially sharing that my current Owner-Executives are looking to sell the company and hence, I am on search mode. I’ve always had a deep understanding and appreciation of the pivotal role that HR leadership plays for any dynamic and growing organization. I also have the natural ability to drive and participate in strategy development.
Given my prior experiences with national retail organizations like CVS Pharmacy, I am confident that I can successfully lead your HR function and initiatives. My retail experiences make me naturally accustomed to a high energy and entrepreneurial environment. Last April, 120 employees were laid off by my aerospace manufacturing employer due to the severe negative impact by the corona-virus on the aerospace industry.
I possess high “EQ,” and I am extremely detail-oriented. Below are a few of my prior leadership accomplishments to demonstrate that I am the hands-on, pro-active, high integrity, low-ego and results-oriented HR Leader that you are looking for:
1. Developed and partnered with Corporate and Field Executives to implement company-wide HR initiatives such as "career pathing" and employee engagement programs for several employers.
2. Developed Talent Acquisition and Retention strategy to help Harbor Rail Services grow from 150 to 1,000 employees. We grew to operate in 13 states and I successfully implemented a positive employee relations culture for our workforces spread out in the 13 states.
3. Developed Talent Acquisition and Retention strategy to help Sprouts Farmers Market open 8 new stores in 12 months.
My letters of recommendation document my track record of perseverance, dedication, experience and ownership. I am proficient in developing and maintaining good working relationships with diverse members and staff. I have an exceptional ability to inspire and motivate others. Please see the letters of recommendation including one from Aaron Dollenmeyer, General Manager for my recent aerospace employer. Although I possess a law degree, I have no plans to become an attorney as I enjoy the HR role and profession. I obtained the SPHR certification on my first attempt many years ago but it is currently expired. I greatly look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Norv Rivera, J.D.
NORV RIVERA, J.D.
**********@***.***
Cell 909-***-****
Qualifications
Versatile and resourceful leader who is a proven strategic partnership builder. Strong business-partnership experiences with executive management in producing organizational success for multi-state companies. Strength in employee relations and influencing for success in fast paced environments. Outstanding interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills. Possess extensive experience in food, grocery retail, manufacturing, service and distribution organizations with multi-state locations.
Areas of Expertise
Employee Relations Training & Development Employment law
Compensation & Benefits Compliance Audits Executive Level Presentations
Staffing & Recruitment Wage & Hour Organizational Development
Performance Management Unemployment Claims Investigations
Discipline & Termination Employee Orientation workman’s compensation
Professional Experience
Harbor Rail Services, Corporate Headquarters, Pasadena
Senior Director of Human Resources Apr 2020 to Current
Strategic business partner and adviser to the President and COO for railcar service organization.
Oversee and direct benefits, payroll, employee relations, staffing & recruitment, compensation and risk management.
Mentor field leaders to operate with executive presence and improve people leadership and engagement.
Effectively risk management and champion labor compliance
Develop and implement HR programs and processes to help achieve company success.
Key Accomplishments:
Oversee the automation of open enrollment process by creating a paperless process by May 22, 2020 or within 45 days of hire date.
Automation of benefits enrollment will lead to the accuracy of benefits reconciliation.
As Plan Administrator, effectively oversee company 401K plan and all other benefit plans.
Develop effective organizational development and deliver effective L&D leadership.
Champion compliance and risk management.
ACRA Aerospace / Novaria Group, Regional Headquarters, Anaheim
Regional Director of Human Resources (Laid off due to Covid pandemic) Sep 2019 to Apr 2020
Delivered and executed strategic HR value for regional aerospace manufacturing company.
Excellent influencing & negotiation skills when coaching managers on employee relations matters.
Leadership-coaching and change management for all leaders, managers and directors.
Oversaw and directed employee relations, staffing & recruitment, compensation & benefits and risk management.
Key Accomplishments:
On target to elevate overall skills matrix for hourly workforce by 25% within 12 months of hire date by utilizing Hoshin method.
Business plan was for me to mentor 6 HR director reports before aerospace economic crash occurred due to Covid-19 and Boeing failures.
Delivered key leadership and people-management training and practices to all managers & directors for the main purpose of litigation or claims avoidance.
Championed positive employee engagement culture.
Progressive Produce, LLC., Corporate Headquarters, Commerce
Director of Human Resources Feb 2018 to Jul 2019
Business partner for the President and Vice President for produce grower & distributor organization.
Directed employee relations, staffing & recruitment, compensation & benefits and risk management.
Excellent influencing & negotiation skills when coaching managers on employee relations matters.
Leadership-coaching and change management for all leaders, managers and directors.
Key Accomplishments:
Automated the open enrollment process by creating a paperless process within 90 days of hire- first automated enrollment process ever for 50-year company.
Automated the new hire and onboarding process for new hires – first ever for 50 year company.
Delivered key leadership and people-management training and practices to all managers & executives for the main purpose of litigation or claims avoidance.
Championed positive employee relations culture.
Harbor Rail Services, Corporate Headquarters, Pasadena
Senior Director of Human Resources Jun 2014 to Feb 2018
Delivered and executed strategic HR value for railcar service organization.
Implemented HR policies, procedures and guidelines.
Oversaw and directed employee relations, staffing & recruitment, compensation & benefits and risk management.
Delivered excellent influencing & negotiation skills when coaching managers on employee relations matters.
Key Accomplishments:
During my tenure as the top HR leader for Harbor, developed processes and training to reduce the overall turnover from 60% to 40%.
Automated HR processes to increase efficiency.
Maintained a union-free population for an industry that is predominantly unionized.
Prevented costly harassment complaints against the company with effective training.
HR lead to in recruiting and delivering training for a brand new 200-employee Texas location from scratch.
Effectively trained managers and directors to minimize wage and hour claims.
B & V Enterprises, Corporate Headquarters, Los Angeles
Director of Human Resources Nov 2012 to May 2014
Oversaw staffing & recruitment, compensation & benefits, employee relations, safety functions.
Delivered excellent influencing & negotiation skills when coaching managers on employee relations matters.
Managed the corporate communications and messaging on employee matters.
Directed the consistent implementation and application of HR policies, procedures and guidelines.
Strategic HR partner and adviser to the Owner and CFO for grocery-retail organization.
Key Accomplishments:
Reduced high turnover for this retail organization by approximately 15%
Prevented unionization of stores and prevented harassment claims through effective training.
ModernHEALTH Holdings, Inc., Corporate Headquarters, Monrovia
Director of Human Resources Jun 2011 to Nov 2012
Delivered strategic HR leadership value for Executives with the growth of healthcare organization.
Managed and directed the payroll, compensation & benefits, training and all other functions and services.
Oversaw and directed employee relations matters and deliver excellent influencing & negotiation skills for managers.
Developed and implement HR programs and processes to help achieve company success.
Key Accomplishments:
Prevented EEOC claims and costly harassment claims with effective training for managers.
Led HR initiatives for company acquisitions and helped Executives increase company value.
Sprouts Farmers Market, CA Regional Headquarters
Regional Human Resources Manager – Business Partner Oct 2009 to Jun 2011
Delivered and managed effective business partnerships with Regional VP, Regional Merchandisers, District Managers and Store Managers.
Managed all employee relations matters up to and including harassment investigations, terminations, performance management issues and development action plans.
Provided on-site presence for all CA stores to promote the company core values and to ensure compliance with all published HR policies and procedures.
Key Accomplishments:
Directed HR support for the opening of 8 new stores in 12 months and prevented unionization of all stores.
Prevented costly harassment claims with effective training for managers.
CVS Pharmacy / Longs Drugstores, Southern CA Regional Headquarters
Regional Human Resources Manager – Business Partner Jul 2004 – Oct 2009
Delivered high HR customer service for approximately 250 stores as the first Southern CA HR Field Advisor for Longs.
Effective business partnerships with Group Vice President, Pharmacy District Managers, District Managers and Store Managers.
Managed all employee relations matters up to and including harassment investigations, terminations, performance management issues and development action plans.
Leadership, coaching and mentoring for store management and leaders.
Drove employee engagement and employee retention at high levels.
Key Accomplishments:
Rated as delivering “exceptional performance” throughout my career at Longs.
Rated as the best in "Employee Relations" among my HR peers who were very talented professionals.
Resolved many complex employee relations matters.
Prevented unionization of stores and prevented costly harassment claims with visible leadership and effective training for managers. Union prevention easily saved $75,000 per store per year.
Documented as a leader of high integrity, great collaborative skills and passion for driving results – see performance evaluations
Chosen to be HR lead for the acquisition of Network Pharmacies (NP)- a network of smaller pharmacies in various cities. The acquisition of NP helped enhance the overall value of Longs Drugstores prior to being acquired for $38 billion by CVS Pharmacy.
Education and Professional Development
Juris Doctor
Western State University, College of Law
B.S., Business Administration, Finance emphasis
California State University of Los Angeles
Dean’s Honor List
Member, Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM)
Member, Professional in HR Association (PIHRA)
Computer Skills
ADP Workforce PeopleSoft Paycom MS Outlook Word Excel PowerPoint Access
Hello,
I am writing this letter of recommendation for Norv Rivera in his application with your organization. As General Manager for Long-Lok, I had a nice opportunity to partner with Norv on our employee and HR matters. Earlier this week and most unfortunately, our company had to layoff over 100 employees throughout our Novaria organization due to the Covid-19’s severe impact on our aerospace industry.
His position was Regional HR Director and he was responsible for all our California manufacturing locations and employees which included ACRA Aerospace, Space-Lok, V&M Aerospace and Long-Lok (my area of responsibility).
During our brief partnership, Norv immediately demonstrated his natural attributes of showing sincerity, passion and equally important having a commitment to his position. He is a consistently positive person and patient in helping our Managers and Supervisors address challenging employee matters. On this note, Norv is passionate also in mentoring Managers & Supervisors to improve their people-management skills as he is truly exceptional in Employee Relations.
His performance was outstanding in all areas of HR. Just a few of his exceptional traits as a leader is his natural ability to build partnerships, diffuse and stabilize difficult employee matters, mentoring and elevating others including, communication, and overall pro-action. Simply put, he acts swiftly and effectively to prevent any employee-related liability to our organization.
I would have greatly benefited from Norv’s expertise and passion as a HR leader for my manufacturing facility and it is unfortunate that we are going through this corona-virus crisis.
I would definitely recommend Norv for rehire.
Sincerely,
Aaron Dollenmeyer
General Manager
Long-Lok
To Whom it May Concern:
I am writing this letter in support of Norv Rivera who worked with me at Longs Drugs from 2004 thru 2009. During these years I was the Director of Pharmacy for the Southern Region. I found Norv to have great communication skills both written and verbal, his great partnership building skills and ability to work and partner with executive or senior management.
Norv has shown a positive attitude for the entire time he has worked with me.
Norv has great attributes of being honest, having integrity, showing sincerity, passion and equally important having a commitment to his position. Working with Norv over the years with Longs Drugs I have recognized these attributes of Norv and I strongly recommend Norv into any leadership role with HR.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions regarding the qualifications of Norv Rivera.
Sincerely,
Pete Cangialosi
****.**********@*******.***
To Whom It May Concern:
I am a partner and Vice Chair of the Labor and Employment Group at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP, a national multi-discipline law firm with offices across the country. I am based in the firm’s Dallas, Texas office, and have had the pleasure of working with Norv Rivera over the past 3 years. During this time, Norv has served as the executive director of human resources for a large business with locations in several states.
Norv is a consummate professional with a keen understanding of complex employment and labor issues. He is good at spotting issues before they arise and, as a result of his expertise, has been able to save his company significantly in fees and costs. Norv regularly implements policies and procedures which reduce risks and improve company morale and productivity. He has the ability to oversee numerous issues, and works diligently to keep ahead of the curve on changing trends, laws, and issues in the human resources field.
One of the most striking thing about Norv, is his dedication and diligence to his employer. It is common for me to discuss legal issues with Norv during evenings, and even during the weekends. Norv is conscientious about putting in the time necessary to complete any task and making sure the required attention is given to each issue. In addition to a tireless work ethic, Norv also exercises good judgment. Norv’s decision making skills and attention to details are key when legal issues arise. He understands how to properly document employee files, and how to exercise progressive discipline in a productive way.
Of most importance, Norv is extremely articulate and knows how to listen and interact with people. He respects his co-workers and understands the significance of his position and the importance that position holds. Not only does he interact well with employees, he is also an asset to management in that he provides a candid analysis and maintains the team approach throughout the resolution of any issues.
It would be my pleasure to further discuss Norv’s qualifications should there be any questions.
Best regards,
Tracy Graves Wolf
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, LLP
2100 Ross Avenue, Suite 2000
Dallas, Texas 75201
Telephone: 972-***-****
*****.****@*************.***
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