Amanda Escobedo

I help leaders become better leaders everyday. I believe everyone has a purpose, a truth, and we are all born with innate gifts that are intended to be shared with the world. The purpose driven leaders I work with establish impactful goals which stretch them out of their comfort zone. As a result, they are on a journey of the unknown and uncertainty. They experience a lot of brick walls of frustration along the way, which trigger doubt, fear, and stress. I’m committed to helping these leaders master the mental game so they can quiet the noise in their head and consciously transform their problems into their possibilities.

Oversee and lead the People Operations team and initiatives, establishing HR strategy, which align with company vision, business goals, and promotes organization values. Serve as a strategic HR business partner to C-Suite and Executive Team, consulting, advising, and coaching leaders through different HR issues, risk management, processes, and employee engagement. Promote company compliance and practices through the implementation of policies & procedures. Accomplishments: • Established Recruiting, New Hire, Employee Change, and Separation processes; increased efficiencies; reduced company risk; contributed to one candidate and employee experience; increased New Hire productivity within the first 30 days of hire; reduced candidate and employee questions by 90%; increased Glassdoor review rating. • Transitioned Non-Exempt/Hourly employees to an arrears pay schedule, and implemented a digital timekeeping system; reduced payroll processing changes by 100%. • Implemented Employee Benefit survey and interpreted and used data to drive benefit initiatives; implemented Equity Awards Program; added employer contribution to dependent premiums; increased dental care coverage. Initiatives improved the employee compensation package and increased Glassdoor review rating. • Used Glassdoor review comments and trends to drive communication and transparency strategy into HR processes (ie.Town Halls, Company and People Leader Newsletters). Received positive feedback from both employees and Leaders. • Identified, led, and executed COVID-19 response re-org plan; reduced projected layoffs by 17%.

Identified, developed, and executed HR business strategies for 920 retail salons; 10,000 US and Canada employees. Served as a strategic Business Partner to Brand Executives and the Field Leadership team, providing counsel and advisory in high-risk employee relations/investigations, performance management, labor law & regulation compliance, and benefits administration. Played an integral role in evaluating and preparing for reduction in force; risk assessment; communication; logistical cascade. Analyzed and interpreted employee turnover and used data to drive HR strategies; policy and procedure development. Accomplishments: • Established process and procedures for Performance Management, Investigations, and Progressive Disciplinary; reduced company litigations and settlement costs by 100%; increased workplace safety for both employees and customers; aligned employees to organization goals. • Established performance-based competency model; increased employee/manager performance conversation; increased employee professional development plans; increased internal promotions. • Increased HR service response time and HR response accountability through the implementation of Zendesk ticketing system. • Developed and facilitated a variety of Leadership Training which covered policies and procedures and best practice for coaching and counseling employees; increased Leadership ratings; reduced complaints against Leadership/management.

Oversaw and led the Employee Experience Team and initiatives. Served as an HR business partner to Executive Team, consulting, advising, and coaching leaders through different HR issues, risk management, processes, and employee engagement. Used qualitative and quantitative data to drive business decisions and HR initiatives. Accomplishments: • Identified and created a venue for employees to provide open feedback, which provided leadership with measurements of employee engagement and served as actionable data to drive benefit and engagement initiatives. • Enhanced employee benefit/compensation package; added employer contribution to dependent premiums; increased vision care coverage. Changes resulted in a reduction in offer negotiations. • Boosted New Hire (HQ & Field employee) engagement and productivity within the first 30 days of hire through the development and implementation of a company-wide Onboarding program. • Streamlined and automated HR processes through the implementation of a comprehensive HRIS. • Improved transparency and evaluation of employee performance through the development and implementation of a performance management program and process; established competencies and clearly defined processes and guidelines. • Developed and implemented a PDP program and process which enabled people growth, empowered employees to drive their development, and supported managers with an effective process to develop their team.

Provided project management and coordination of HR projects and initiatives for the employee lifecycle, identified and assessed reporting analytics, conducted retail investigations, and served as a facilitator to resolve employee disagreements/conflict resolution. Accomplishments: • Contributed to HR strategy and initiatives for 8 brands by gathering employee reporting analytics, and consolidating and interpreting information into brand dashboards for Sr. Executive Team. • Contributed to Succession Planning through the identification and creation of HiPo reporting analytics; identified trends, interpreted data, and documented findings in brand Dashboards. • Participated in the implementation of a new comprehensive HRIS (ie. Workday), which streamlined HR processes; provided knowledge and insight of current HR processes and workflows; prepared employee reporting; supported employee and manager usability of Workday through the development of employee and manager training materials. • Developed, implemented, and facilitated an engaging HQ Onboarding program, which provided employees with knowledge and expected workplace behaviors. Presentation increased New Hires ability to be effective contributors to the organization within their first 30 days of employment.

Hybrid Retail & Learning & Development role: oversaw and managed high-volume HR processing for Retail, assisted in the guidance, counseling and administering of Retail disciplinary actions and procedures, and managed and maintained Learning & Development program logistics for HQ. Accomplishments: • Supported the evaluation of internal talent pool through the coordination of Succession Planning (i.e. 9 Box). • Increased training participation through training governance reporting. • Contributed to the continual improvement of training programs through the distribution and analysis of workshop evaluations. • Developed and facilitated Retail Leadership Training to support education of HR processes and employee disciplinary procedures.

Provided administrative support and coordination to the employee lifecycle. Drove a high performance and engagement initiatives through reporting and analytics.

Provided administrative support and coordination to recruiting processes. Accomplishments: Increased interview-scheduling average from 60 to 100 interviews per month.

• Generated and audited seasonal SKU lists and created seasonal image and feature/specs. • Used advanced excel formulas, keyboard shortcuts/commands, and macros for maximum efficiency.

• Applied behavior, clinical, and therapeutic techniques as appropriate to emotionally disturbed (ED) adolescents, promoting a positive and creative learning environment. • Provided crisis interventions and facilitated high-risk youth disagreements, conflicts, and misunderstandings, managing intake to resolution.