Human Resources Director
Resume:
ATTN: HUMAN RESOURCES
RE: DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES – COVER LETTER
DATE: 03/04/2025
Dear Hiring Manager,
I would like to formally submit my resume and application for the position of Human Resources Director. My experience and years of service in both public and private sectors give me a highly qualified perspective for this position.
My background as a police officer, city administrator, human resources manager and human resources director has provided me with the professional experience needed to manage union and non-union environments. Having negotiated collective bargaining agreements with the IBEW, Steel Workers Association, Fraternal Order of Police, Fire Fighters Union, and Teamsters I am confident I can bring an array of experience to contribute to an already highly established Human Resources Team. My collective bargaining experience incorporated with my knowledge and experience as an HR leader has allowed me to successfully implement qualification-based pay initiatives that drive cross-training and help elevate the effects of high absenteeism. As a strategic HR leader, I am experienced in aligning the organizational needs with the skill sets of employees to drive succession planning and goal objectives set by executive leadership while simultaneously recruiting and staffing vacant positions. My background in budgeting is exceptional. Through my in-depth experience of general and enterprise fund budgets I understand how funds are allocated and determined for departments. I have a successful record of utilizing human resources funding for recruitment and staffing, on-boarding, training, and employee retention. These are, but a few, examples of human resource leadership I have implemented at various organizations. As a servant leader I believe it is my role to assist and help others to reach their potential and guide them in their succession planning. As an HR Professional, I have a full understanding of operations and distribution, including the safety risks and rewards employees experience on a daily basis. With that, work place safety is paramount to the success of every employee within the organization. The professional services of the human resources team are an extension of their services as we serve our employees. By elevating concerns and needs of employees they are better equipped to focus on the professional services they provide.
Respectfully,
Luke C Lewis, MPA, MBA
LUKE C. LEWIS, MPA, MBA, SPHR
Parkville, MO 64152 • 816-***-**** • *************@*****.*** • linkedin.com/in/lukelewis2652 SENIOR HUMAN RESOURCES PROFESSIONAL
Dynamic Human Resources Professional with over 20 years of experience in business relationships, resolving critical human capital issues, while collaborating with leaders to enhance employee relations and build inclusive and comprehensive culture within the organization. As an HR professional I’m a systems focused director who excels at automating processes to increase productivity and align HR functions to operational objectives and goals. I have experienced in both public and private sectors with a broad skillset that has given me the tools to successfully provide HR strategies in many fields of manufacturing, production, and power generation.
Strengths Include
Manufacturing – Food Industry Succession Planning Regulatory Compliance
Manufacturing – Supply Chain Budgeting & Payroll Employee Benefits & Bonuses
Manufacturing – Plastics & Resin Workplace Investigations Labor Agreements & Grievances
Government Management
Paycor/Workday/ADP/Paycom
Change Management
Full-cycle Recruiting
Employee Relations & Retention
Leadership & Team Building
SOME KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Restructured HR processes, practices, systems, and policies to implement automation, including full cycle recruiting by utilizing HRIS and eliminating traditional paper files and creating policy for digital retention.
100% succession rate against filed EEOC complaints due to precise timelines, documentation of facts, and alignment of federal & state compliance with company policies and practices.
Conducted wage studies within relative industries to align compensation to competitive levels for recruiting and retention purposes.
Responsible for implementing and coordinating a new wage-based qualification scale for 3 manufacturing plants.
Negotiated grievances and reduced arbitrations by half.
Negotiated collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in power plant.
Negotiated collective bargaining agreement with the United Steelworkers in two manufacturing plants.
Implemented leadership development training for managers and supervisors.
Proven ability to successfully multi-task in a dynamic environment while meeting deadlines with accuracy. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Human Resource Manager/Director 2024-Present
Tnemec Industries, Kansas City, Missouri
Providing support to US, Canada, & Mexico Operations, including distribution sites in Colorado, Florida and Baltimore. Responsible for Workers Compensation, health & welfare benefits, retirement benefits, 401k, FMLA, succession planning, organization development, and HRIS admin (Paycom). Human Resource Director 2023-2024
Gilmour Industries, Kansas City, Missouri
Based out of Dallas, TX as HR Director I support regional manufacturing and distribution sites across 3 States for Lawn & Garden Manufacturing and Jobe’s Fertilizer Manufacturing. Provide strategic solutions to Corporate Leadership, Plant Managers and HR staff to drive production and labor resources for on-site efficiency.
• Oversee and manage the Human Resources Team for Jobe’s fertilizer plant, Lawn & Garden Manufacturing, and two distribution centers with approximately 300 employees
• Coordinate and direct the EHS Team to drive safety awareness at all facilities to lower recordable injuries.
• Oversight of workers compensation for recordables and compliance over OSHA 300, OSHA 300A, OSHA 301 Logs.
• Oversight of terminations, grievances, and severances, including RIF’s (reduction in force) as needed.
• Restructured HR by moving the payroll department from Production to the HR umbrella, which in this company dynamic was the correct action.
• Created and implemented new attendance policy in conjunction with FMLA regulation for multiple sites to reduce attendance related issues, including at-risk employees who abuse FMLA intermittingly.
• Recruited DC Manager and stepped in as interim DC Manager, while also managing the HR department.
• Provide strategy options to C-Team that involve alignment and communication with all SBU’s.
• Coached HR staff on complicated issues and collaborated with the team to find solutions. Regional People Operations Partner/HRBP 2022-2023
PPG Industries, Kansas City, Kansas
Sr. Human Resource Business Partner supporting staff and management for regional manufacturing plants and retail sites across 11 States for Protective & Marine Coatings and Aerospace Industry with approximately 3,000 employees. Responsible for employee relations, compliance, employee investigations, and strategic leadership with site management. Human Resource Manager 2020-2022
Alphia Inc., Bern, Kansas
HR Manager responsible for partnering with internal and external customers to deliver production results throughout the organization. My responsibilities include collaboration with mid to high level leadership to plan, organize, and implement strategies for staffing/recruiting needs, and coach supervisors and managers on employee related issues. Alphia is a $1.1B pet food manufacturer with 11 locations and 900 plus employees. As a member of the leadership team I support, plan, and implement organizational change and assisted with leadership turnover.
• Identify staffing needs, manage recruiting, hiring, and onboarding processes for two mid-west manufacturing facilities.
• Conduct investigations of workplace harassment, theft, and loss of raw materials and/or finished goods.
• Responsible for employee engagement and retention.
• Coach managers and supervisors to identify opportunities to improve or encourage employee development.
• Identifying labor pool trends in local market.
• Conduct training of safety practices to reduce accidents, resulting in direct lowering of forklift related accidents.
• Report recordable accidents to OSHA.
• Narrow recruiting strategies based on KPI’s for each position.
• Created SOPs for warehouse to simplify tasks for shipping to reduce made to order stock from 2 million pounds of bagged product to less than 40,000 pounds within 5 months resulting a positive cash position for Accounts Receivable.
• Processed terminations and oversight of employee related discipline/formal write ups.
• Reduced turnover by 5% through various incentives and acknowledgment programs. Human Resource Officer/City Manager 2018 – 2020
City of Knob Noster, Knob Noster, Missouri
Chief Human Resource Officer/City Administrator for a small city responsible for life-cycle human resources and operational management decisions including procurement, recruiting, training, staffing, investigations, budgeting & finance, developing policies & procedures, facility management, utility management, economic development, and contract negotiations.
• Restructured the police department by dissolving dispatch services to reallocate funds for rehiring additional police officers.
• Negotiated a third-party agreement to provide emergency communications at a cost savings of $450,000 per year.
• Investigated a wrongful termination of an employee and was able to retain the employee and mitigate a potential suit.
• Reorganized departments to implement lean management opportunities to increase work orders and utility production.
• Responsible for managing compliance updates through documentation of policies and procedures.
• Managed payroll processing as well as quarterly and annual reports.
• Created the city’s HR department from scratch and implemented their first HRIS. HR Business Partner/Consultant 2015 – 2018
5Sails Consulting, Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Supported a wide variety of businesses to enhance their everyday HR processes and procedures; advised on best practices, effective management of employee related issues, assisted with recruiting and interviewing. I also advised on how to align business objectives for organizational goals related to complex HR issues, policy development, public-private partnerships, and public funding options for capital projects utilizing intergovernmental agreements and state economic development funding. Human Resource Officer/City Manager 2014
City of Chanute, Chanute, Kansas
Chief Officer responsible for management of 18 departments providing tax-based services to 10,000 residents; with oversight of compensation & benefits, policies and procedures, capital funding, utility management of electric power & distribution, water treatment & distribution, and wastewater management.
• Restructured organization by increasing the number of departments from 11 to 15, and reassigning responsibilities to managers to force delegation of tasks and responsibilities to underutilized supervisors and staff so the city could complete more projects and maintain aging infrastructure.
• Constructed, presented, and passed annual budget comprised of a $45M General Fund and $55M Enterprise Fund.
• Successfully negotiated labor agreement with the IBEW.
• Analyzed benefits to pinpoint and implement solutions and cost savings whenever possible.
• The city self-funded a part of the employee benefits including a cash fund for retiring and/or terminated employees with accumulated PTO/Vacation that had to be paid out upon separation. The risk was the labor pool was quickly approaching retirement age, and the city was at risk of losing approximately 35% of its labor, and the cash fund would not have been able to pay out. Hence, placing the city in a financial hardship. I worked with the HR team and identified key employees to incentivize staggering retirement to recruit and back fill for those positions and I increased starting wages in specific fields. Chief Human Resource Officer/City Manager 2011 – 2014 City of Marceline, Marceline, Missouri
Chief Officer responsible for human resources of all departments and employee-related issues with operational oversight of a small full-service city. Created the city’s first HRIS for records and recruiting purposes, conducted investigations, updated payroll system, and created new polices that were outdated from the 1970’s. Human Resource Generalist/City Manager Assistant 2009 – 2011 City of Lee’s Summit, Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Provided administrative support to the city manager conducting budget analysis on a $160 Million operating budget. Checked for outdated policies and compliant issues and reported to the city manager. Conducted interviews for open positions. Entered employee information into the system.
Police Officer/Special Operations 2003 – 2009
City of Independence, Independence, Missouri
Special Operations Officer carrying out the duties and laws required by the State of Missouri. Proudly served as a member of a highly trained 10-person tactical team utilizing tactics and strategic planning to resolve hostage barricades, active shooters, and search warrants. Conducted criminal investigations, preserved crime scenes, and served as a field training officer for new recruits. Participated in security detail facilitated and controlled by the Secret Service for Government Officials including President Clinton, President G. W. Bush, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AFFILIATIONS BOARD CHAIRMAN 2012 – 2014
Linn County E911 Board, Missouri
Led board of elected officials to create policies and implemented a cent sales tax for a regional E911communication center. Adjunct Professor, School of Business Management 2017 – 2023 Park University, Kansas City, Missouri
Part-time adjunct professor at the graduate and professional level applying real complex business issues to concepts and theories while utilizing various management skills to those solve problems in today’s society. My areas of experience and expertise include budgeting & finance, organizational development, administrative leadership, policy development, organized labor unions, public & private sector revenue, and business ethics. Master of Business Administration-Human Resources
PARK UNIVERSITY
MBA Certificate – Conflict Management/Advanced Negotiations UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
Master of Public Administration-Public Management
PARK UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Science – Education K12/Business Mgt.
FRIENDS UNIVERSITY
One-year of Law School – Criminal Law/Torts/Research/Civil Procedure MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE SCHOOL OF LAW
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