Vijaya Bhat

Collaborated with C-Suite to lead M&A activities for asset and stock purchases, including due diligence, integration plans, and seamless transitions. Successfully closed 2 acquisitions, ensuring seamless transition and retaining 98% of the acquired employee base.

Directed the people & culture strategy for 16 locations, 350+ employees, and 2 reports with over 15 million USD in revenue. Introduced DEI as a key strategic focus within the organization, creating a roadmap to integrate it into other strategic areas.

Transitioned a major contract workforce into part-time employees across 15 states in the USA and all of Canada for over 500 employees, managing people & culture, regulatory requirements, and benefits. Developed and delivered an engagement strategy for a fully async global team with 50% increased engagement and reduced attrition.

Led workforce planning, recruitment, mergers, acquisitions, HR policies, processes, performance management, employee relations, and workplace safety for front store and pharmacy operations across Canada for over 1200 employees. Successfully managed 2 acquisitions, optimizing operations and overseeing the transition of 110 employees.

Led recruitment, employer branding, job fairs, training and development, workshops, and labour market research reports for 30+ job coaches and job developers. Managed remote workforce transition during COVID through the acquisition of Zoom, training for 45 staff, and creating user manuals, policies, GIFs, and videos.

CoE Lead for employee relations, HR policies & processes, communication, corporate governance, and HR technology projects PAN-India, managing a scaling workforce from over 18,000 to over 21,000 employees. Implemented employee self-service mobile app (including designing the UI+UX) and migrated employee life-cycle activities to the app.

Led impact and effectiveness assessment for the L&D department using the Kirkpatrick model on career progression and business outcomes. Oversaw the enhancement and development of learning strategy, programs, materials, and tools.

Led full-cycle recruitment process for 80 entry-level software engineer and QA positions for the organization. Revamped the HRIS system, enhancing candidate application management.

Led recruitment, training, program, and operations for a team of 12 staff. Prepared course methodologies and exams schedules, supervised exams, and maintained secure testing environments with fair assessment practices.

Trained contact centre staff on devices, equipment, scripts, operations, privacy & data collection laws, and customer service. Collected customer data by coordinating with team leads, supervised calls, and prepared reports.

Completed an MBA with a specialization in Human Resources. Focused on strategic people management and translating business goals into tangible people outcomes.

Obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology. Gained foundational knowledge in technology relevant to business operations.