The finalists for WashingtonExec’s 2023 Pinnacle Awards were announced Sept. 25, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person Nov. 16.
Next is Denise Picarelli, human resources director at Two Six Technologies, who’s a finalist for the HR Executive of the Year, Private Company, annual revenue less than $250M category. Here, she shares key achievements and her best career advice.
What were your key achievements in 2023?
Two Six Technologies was formed in February 2021 as the merging of Two Six Labs and IST Research. Since then, there have been 3 strategic acquisitions: Trusted Concepts (August 2021); River Loop Security (April 2022); and Thresher Ventures (April 2022).
2023 was a year for transformation at Two Six Technologies. With the uniting of five companies, the sustainability of duplicative systems, processes, policies, and benefits was not practical, cost efficient and did not foster a sense of ‘one community’. To support the demands of a growing and evolving business, I led several initiatives aligned to a new People Strategy for Two Six Technologies.
The goal was to foster better candidate attraction and career development and improve employee engagement and retention. The creation of a common Career Model focused on career development and progression and was intentionally designed to be agile and serve both current and future employees.
The Career Model introduced various career paths and levels, refined job titles and job summaries and highlighted an expectations and advancement matrix which outlined a clear road map for career development and advancement. A new performance management process was launched leveraging goals to align employee contributions to team, project and/or company-wide objectives.
A company-wide compensation structure and guiding principles were created to enable consistent and fair pay practices. Leaders were equipped with salary bands, external benchmarking, and internal data, allowing them to make more informed decisions related to pay.
In 2023 all legacy companies were aligned to the same overall benefit plan and one Human Resource Information System.
This transformation journey was established to promote trust and transparency throughout the company. While change may be perceived as difficult and disruptive, we have created the foundation and structure for supporting people related priorities, company cohesion, and growth goals.
What’s your best advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
I was fortunate to spend a significant portion of my career working for a leading consulting firm. The corporate environment provided me with the experience of what best practices encompasses in a large company’s Human Resource function. I was exposed to subject matter experts in the various facets of HR and was challenged to evolve by taking on new and different responsibilities.
I also had the opportunity to work for smaller organizations where roles were blended, resources limited, and decisions were influenced with a ‘people first’ and empathetic mindset.
While both experiences were vastly different, I am a more impactful HR professional as a result. My advice – Break away from what is comfortable, try something different and pay it forward by leveraging the best from all your experiences.