STEPHEN D. MILLS, SPHR

7429 Round Hill Road, Frederick, MD 21702 301-371-3964

VP / DIRECTOR HUMAN RESOURCES
Employee & Labor Relations / Talent Management / Compensation & Benefits / Acquisitions / Integrations SOX / OD / Compliance / Cost Control / HRIS / Multi-Sites / Budgets / Training / Team Building
Aligned HR as strategic partner, developing and executing business plans and strategies to foster growth and profitability in multi-site environments. Gained strong generalist experience in all human resources functions serving industry leaders, including Blockbuster, Hilton Hotels and Total Wine and More. Instituted innovative organizational processes and solutions to reduce costs, increase productivity and facilitate expansion. Managed budgets to $5.5M and staff to 33.
Played key role in major regional expansions for Blockbuster, increasing market share 27%.
Accelerated implementation of HRIS solution, facilitating early realization of $26M in revenues.
Created and implemented staffing and performance management systems, saving $27M annually.
Established and led HR department for Total Wine, enabling on-time opening of 20 new big-box stores.
Developed and utilized diversity staffing system, yielding 12% per store profit margin increase.
Special Skills: Balancing growth strategies and organizational needs against cultural and situational realities. Making meaningful and measurable contributions to achieve targeted goals and rapid expansion. Encouraging employee feedback to improve morale and productivity. Building, mentoring and motivating high performance teams.
BS, Journalism and Communications, University of Florida. SHRM: Society for Human Resource Management.

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Played key role in major regional expansions for Blockbuster, increasing market share 27%. Company was seeking to rapidly expand. Toured markets with Operations Director to determine new store growth and acquisition opportunities. Conducted extensive on-site due diligence of targeted locations. Presented findings to top management for asset acquisition decisions. Provided post-acquisition on-boarding and training. Named HR Manager-of-the-Year four times.
Accelerated implementation of HRIS solution, facilitating early realization of $26M in revenues. Rapid expansion required Total Wine to implement human capital management solution to replace legacy system. Led team that sourced and secured new Kronos HRIS system. Conducted training for 1500 employees in eight month period. Set California labor and scheduling rules. Completed implementation ahead of schedule, enabling four stores to open three months earlier.
Created and implemented staffing and performance management systems, saving $27M annually. Blockbuster inconsistently staffed and evaluated its stores, resulting in excess and misaligned personnel. Developed staffing model based on transaction level. Created HR Scorecard to ascertain performance metrics. Discovered and eliminated 23,000 inactive employees and Assistant Managers and added 12,000 Cashiers. Reduced open store manager positions from 360 to 180. Improved wage guideline compliance 45% and lowered average hourly rate 5.7%.
Established and led HR department for Total Wine, enabling on-time opening of 20 new big-box stores. Fast-growing retailer had recruiting, wage management, training and employee retention issues. Assumed responsibility to establish HR department to support expansion. Recruited and hired HR Team. Implemented compliant wage controls and schedules. Developed and instituted effective employee retention strategies. Staffed stores prior to projected openings.
Developed and utilized diversity staffing system, yielding 12% per store profit margin increase. Blockbuster lacked ability to hire store personnel that mirrored communities served. Created staffing tool that utilized census data to compare customer demographics with store employee statistics. Set goals for each store, district, region and area. Increased customer communication and feedback, enabling better targeting of product mix. Enhanced customer satisfaction.

CAREER HISTORY

Vice President of HR, CEC Entertainment, $750M family entertainment-restaurant center business, 2008. Responsible for recruiting and employee relations for 493 restaurants in US and Canada. Managed budgets to $2.5M and staff to 15.
Vice President of HR, Total Wine and More, largest independent fine wine retailer in US, 2006-2008. Started and managed first HR department in company history. Played key role in expanding from 33 to 53 stores and increasing revenues from $330M to $700M. Represented company in all employee relations disputes. Managed budgets to $2M and staff to 12.
Director of HR, Blockbuster, 1995-2006. Managed all HR functions for 1250 stores on East Coast (Miami to Maine). Directly supervised all HR managers and Regional Trainers for SE Division. Managed $5.5M budget and 33 staff.
Assistant Director of HR, Hilton Hotels, 1985-1995. Directed recruiting, training, benefits, safety and administration for Atlanta Hilton and Towers, 1222 room hotel. Conducted union negotiations. Managed $1.1M budget and 18 staff.