Danson Barnes

• Provide top-notch client service through advice, consultation, support and guidance to leaders on various people issues resulting in building strong relationships and continuous coaching in alignment with business needs; and act as a trusted advisor and strategic partner for project work in areas of expertise.
• Provide generalist HR outsourcing to a variety of clients who do not have an HR department internally including recruitment & selection, onboarding & offboarding, workforce planning, talent management, career development, benefits administration, succession planning, policy administration, HR programs, driving strategic initiatives, compensation and benefits, leave administration, employee relations, performance management, conflict resolution, discipline and termination.

Achievements:

• Served as HR Partner for more than 10 clients simultaneously since 2021, handling the entire gamut of HR operations.
• Led full-cycle recruitment efforts for clients, successfully sourcing and hiring over 50 top talent between 2021 and 2024including Executive Directors and Director-level roles amongst others.
• Scoped and drafted employee handbooks for 7 clients across diverse sectors over a three-year period.
• Supported in the roll out, analysis and reporting of 6 Employee Engagement, Culture and Pulse surveys for clients.
• Co-facilitated over 100 leadership training modules for leaders across multiple sectors.
• Aided in conducting and completing over 10 workplace investigations, including cases of sexual and workplace harassment.
• Assisted in 5 business transformations spanning the municipal and non-profit sectors.

Reported into the CEO and led the people function across the UAE, Oman, and Qatar, for 700+ team members with a 3 member HR team. Successfully managed the Corporate Office, 50+ retail stores and 1 distribution center.

Achievements:

• Led the largest change management initiative reducing people costs by over 50%.
• Collaborated with the CEO to implement a new organizational structure aligned with business needs.
• Drove employee engagement as the Happiness Champion, raising engagement scores from 78% to 94%, contributing to two consecutive Great Place to Work awards.
• Championed a Pay for Performance culture, enhancing productivity and supporting the achievement of bottom-line goals.
• Improved gender diversity, increasing women's representation from 12% to 18% through targeted recruitment strategies.
• Partnered with the group CoE team to roll out successful people initiatives engaging with different levels of the organization.
• Conducted and resolved over 20 workplace investigations and facilitated a number of difficult conversations in resolving conflicts.
• Part of the core team that revamped the group HR policies, incorporating industry best practices, HR trends and updated labor regulations.
• Identified 15 critical roles and successfully filled 7 positions through effective succession planning.
• Reduced employee turnover from 17% to 7% by implementing effective retention programs and employee engagement.
• Contributed to a 7-member team that redefined the organization's core values after 40 years.
• Led the successful implementation of Oracle Fusion HRIS, managing communications and training to ensure a smooth transition through the change management process.

Supported the Territory HR Head in managing the HR operations for 21 brands for 100+ retail stores and over 900 team members with a 7 member HR team.

Achievements:

• Achieved CAD 100,000 in recruitment cost savings by implementing a local walk-in only hiring strategy.
• Reduced attrition from 17% to 6% by introducing targeted people initiatives that enhanced the workplace environment.
• Supported the successful launch of 100 new retail stores by strengthening the people function.
• Rolled out in-house development programs for warehouse and store supervisors, resulting in the promotion of 25 supervisors to next level.
• Maintained 95% headcount levels consistently in stores through strategic workforce planning.
• Prepared and analyzed key reports for the COO and senior leadership team, leading to data driven decision-making on salary cost, recruitment, headcount, nationality mix, departures and exit interviews, gender mix amongst others.

Reported to AVP - Operations and led HR function for South India Region for 9 hypermarkets supported by a 15-member HR team for over 700 employees.

Achievements:

• Established HR function for the regional office, laying a strong foundation for future growth.
• Facilitated in developing a new employee orientation program for retail staff, improving engagement and reducing new hire attrition by 8%.
• Achieved over 25% savings in outsourced people costs by renegotiating hourly rates with 3rd party manpower contractors.
• Spearheaded the people team on brand transition from Spar to Auchan in 2013.

Reported to the Director and managed HR operations for the Flavours and Seasonings division, overseeing 300 permanent, contract, and management employees. Acted as an advisor and mentor for plant leadership team and provided insights on recruitment, labor relations, workplace safety, employee welfare, auditing, union negotiations & liaison, collective agreements, performance evaluation, talent management, career development, employee training, labor laws, payroll and employee benefits.

Achievements:

• Led an extensive role clarity exercise for the senior leadership team, addressing long-standing responsibility overlaps and outdated job descriptions that had not been updated in over 10 years. This project brought clarity to roles and resulted in the review and rewriting of job descriptions for 20 key positions within the factory.
• Ensured 100% compliance to legislations, which helped in zero violations being reported during my tenure.
• Mitigated a major lockdown by leading tactful and transparent negotiation process with employees.