HR Retail 2025
2025
TBD
Day One - Monday, April 8: Transforming People Strategy
7:00 am - 8:00 am
Breakfast & Registration in the HR Hub
Welcome to HR Retail! Pick up your badge at the registration desk and head on over to the HR Hub for some breakfast to fuel through an inspiring day of learning and networking!
8:00 am - 8:20 am
Welcome Remarks & Ice Breaker
Zainab Hayat -
Program Director,
HR Retail 2019
8:20 am - 8:35 am
Chairpersons’ Opening Address
Ernesto Lamaina -
Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
Adia
Uri Barasch -
Head of Adia US,
Adia
8:35 am - 9:05 am
Keynote Interactive: Fostering Inclusion through the Third Place for Partners, Customers & the Communities We Serve
Molly Hill -
Vice President, Global Talent,
Starbucks
On May 29 Starbucks closed more than 8,000 company-owned stores and offices across the United States for a conversation on race, bias and the continued work to build a warm and welcoming company where everyone belongs. Molly Hill and her team continue their work through a year-long program to provide learning, discussion and a deeper understanding of different cultural perspectives and approaches to ensure we provide a true Third Place for every partner and customer, as well as an innovative open source curriculum with ASU, available to partners and customers, to address a broad spectrum of different forms of bias. Almost a year later, with the release of more public content due in Spring, Molly will share how Starbucks has been working through unconscious bias before opening the forum up to the audience for further discussion.
9:05 am - 9:30 am
Keynote: Transformation Overload: Leading People Strategy through Retail’s Metamorphosis
Sara Patterson -
Vice President, HR & Head of Talent Management, Digital Consumer Brands,
Walmart eCommerce
As Walmart expands its eCommerce business, Sara Patterson and her team have been thinking about incorporating newly acquired businesses into the enterprise and keeping people strategy relevant. She will talk with us about:
- Establishing talent strategy for the new roles and functions the business needs
- Strategizing new methodologies with the end user in mind
- Rethinking what makes your company an attractive place to work
Sara Patterson
Vice President, HR & Head of Talent Management, Digital Consumer BrandsWalmart eCommerce
9:30 am - 10:10 am
Panel Interactive: Driving Change Management across the Organization
Kim Davis -
Vice President, HRBP,
Under Armour
Kasper Hulthin -
COO & Co-founder,
Peakon
Jacqueline Meyer -
Vice President, HR - Coach North America,
Tapestry
- What are HR teams doing to support the business during transformation?
- How do you work with business partners on organizational design?
- How are communicating during times of change?
After 30 minutes of hearing from the panelists, audience members will have the opportunity to discuss a related follow-up question in smaller groups for 10 minutes.
10:10 am - 10:50 am
Rise & Shine Break in the HR Hub
Need a quick refreshment after the inspiring content from the morning? We have got covered with snacks and coffee in the HR Hub next door!
10:50 am - 11:10 am
Case Study: Differentiating a Grocer for Tech Talent
Jen Davis -
Director, Global Recruiting,
Whole Foods Market
Ray Malouf -
Vice President, Talent Acquisition,
Whole Foods Market
At Whole Foods Market, Ray & Jen have been working to make their grocery retail organization an attractive place for tech talent to work. During their session, they will share how they are:
- Building the case internally for raising the bar and understanding the success profile of who they are recruiting
- Enhancing their employer brand to attract tech talent
- Illustrating Whole Foods Market’s commitment to a healthy work-life balance
11:10 am - 11:30 am
The Real Costs of Candidate Experience: The Virgin Media Story
Chris Hogan -
VP Sales – Retail Solutions,
Avature
A poor candidate experience doesn't just damage your brand, it can have a detrimental impact on your bottom line too - especially if your candidates are also customers. This is something that Virgin Media experienced firsthand. In this session, Chris will explain how they leveraged Avature, not only to put a stop to a very expensive problem, but to transform it into a lucrative business opportunity by delivering an exceptional candidate experience!”
11:30 am - 12:10 pm
Panel Interactive: How are Organizations Transforming HR Strategy for the Changing Worker?
Semone Bamboat -
Senior Director, US Talent Acquisition,
Michael Kors
Lori Pierson -
Vice President HCM Transformation,
Oracle
Jocelyn Stratter -
Director, Talent,
URBN
Kerry Noone -
Director, Recruitment Marketing & Advertising,
CVS Health
As customers become more customer service and experience conscientious and talent pools continue to remain competitive, what are organizations doing to:
- Ensure that organizations are listening to the needs of the workforce?
- Assessing and developing talent for the changing needs of the business?
- Defining and changing behavior strategy to make your organization an employer of choice?
After 30 minutes of hearing from the panelists, audience members will have the opportunity to discuss a related follow-up question in smaller groups for 10 minutes
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm
What Retailers can Lear About Hiring from Uber, Lime, and Other Gig Companies
Dan Westmoreland -
VP of Demand Generation,
Fountain
With the gig economy has come the proliferation of on-demand industries who are able to grow and hire at an amazing scale. Traditional industries like Retail are now having to compete more than ever for the same talent pool.
Dan Westmoreland is going to present Fountain’s internal hiring data on these large, on-demand companies. You will learn exactly what companies like Safeway, Lime and UberEats are doing in order to hire so efficiently.
More importantly, however, you will be able to take these findings and apply them to your own hiring practices so you can improve your own time-to-hire from months to weeks and even days.
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Networking Lunch for All Attendees at the Marker 10
Get to know your fellow attendees better during our sit-down lunch.
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Collaborative Roundtables
Melissa Hassett -
VP, Client Delivery,
ManpowerGroup Solutions
Stephanie Scharaga -
Director, Client Strategy,
TextRecruit
Danielle Weinblatt -
Co-Founder & CEO,
ConveyIQ
Steven Huang -
Head of Diversity & Inclusion,
Culture Amp
Elizabeth McLean -
General Counsel,
GoodHire
Ilene Ringer -
Full Time Faculty, School of Business and IT,
Purdue University Global
Alaa Pasha -
Chief Revenue Officer,
Instant Financial
Cindy Klein -
SVP, Enterprise Sales,
ZipRecruiter
Attendees pick two discussions for 30 minutes each.
1. An Internal Gig Network– Providing Your Associates Opportunities and Choice
Melissa Hassett, VP, Client Delivery, ManpowerGroup Solutions
2. Leverage Text Message, Live Chat, and AI in a Changing Labor Market
Stephanie Scharaga, Director, Client Strategy, TextRecruit
3. Will Recruiting Ever Be Fully Automated or Is This Just Hype?
Danielle Weinblatt, Founder & CEO, ConveyIQ
4. Round 1: Fostering a Frictionless In-Store experience through an Engaged Workforce
Round 2: Applying Employee Engagement Innovations from Digital-Native Pioneers
Steven Huang, Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Culture Amp
5. Remaining Abreast Regulation Changes in Background Screening
Elizabeth McLean, General Counsel, GoodHire
6. A New Take on Benefits to Drive Employee Retention and Hiring
Alaa Pasha, Chief Revenue Officer, Instant Financial
7.Employee Career Development and Retention By Personal Values Fulfillment
Irene Ringer, Full Time Faculty, School of Business and IT, Purdue University Global
8.AI-Driven Recruitment
Cindy Klein, SVP, Sales, ZipRecruiter
2:30 pm - 3:10 pm
Town Hall: Ensuring HR Agility in the Face of Digital Disruption
Lora Dikun -
Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer & Chief People Officer,
Giant Eagle
Adam Tanner -
Co-Founder,
Waggl
Laura Kato -
People & Culture Business Partner Director,
Stitch Fix
Join our panel for open discussion on the challenges faced as HR keeps up with an industry shifting in response to demanding consumer expectations. The panelists will open discussion before you submit questions on the app for the moderator to pose to them – and the rest of the room!
Lora Dikun
Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer & Chief People OfficerGiant Eagle
3:10 pm - 3:50 pm
Sweet & Savory Refreshments in the HR Hub
Need an afternoon pick-me-up? Grab a quick treat from the HR Hub.
4:00 pm - 4:30 pm Case Study Interactive: Refreshing Your Employer Brand for Your Market
Melissa Enbar - Vice President, People & Culture, Birchbox- Understanding how to make your workplace an employer of choice in different markets
- Using different assessment models for candidate fit
- Using social recruitment to reach your target demographic
3:50 pm - 4:20 pm Workshop: Communicating Change and Helping Leaders Grow, Be Confident, and Resourceful
Jennifer Sullivan - Regional HRBP, West, Logistics, Macy'sAs a result of Macy’s HR team’s recent centralization, Jennifer Sullivan has the task of supporting leaders at distribution centers who aren’t traditionally HR practitioners and no longer have an HR generalist to rely upon. She will share how she is helping her leaders:
• Boost confidence in their management
• Grow their toolbox and resources to deal with people challenges
• Help communicate change
4:00 pm - 4:30 pm Boardroom 1: Empowering Your Workforce for Inclusivity
Molly Hill - Vice President, Global Talent, StarbucksAs we think further on Molly's presentation from earlier this morning, share your thoughts and ideas on nurturing an environment of equity and inclusivity. Some questions that we will discuss include:
•How are you holding your leaders accountable for prioritizing conversations around workplace culture and D&I?
•How have are you working with your associates in acknowledging and effectively address unconscious biases?
•How does your organization position itself to be an inclusive place of work?
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm Workshop: Crafting a Scalable Talent Acquisition Process for Seasonal Hiring
Adam Godson - Vice President, Technology Solutions, Cielo Ryan Festerling - Former Executive Vice President of Human Resources, Kohl'sThe challenge of finding and engaging quality hourly talent during peak seasons is only increasing as competition intensifies and candidates have more options than ever. In this session you’ll gain actionable ideas on how to improve your seasonal hiring strategy by using the right process and technology to increase quality applications and build an experience that creates raving fans in both your candidates and hiring managers.
Key Takeaways:
• Learn the key questions you need to be asking to connect your seasonal hiring strategy to critical business challenges
• Find new ways to understand your employee and candidate base to more effectively market your open positions
• Hear how to tailor your process and technology to meet candidate expectations
• Build hiring manager advocates by providing the right balance of data and insight during the hiring process
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm Workshop: Will the Real High Potentials Please Stand Up?
Brandy Agnew - Executive Strategist, Hogan AssessmentsIn a tight labor market, it is critical to place bets on the right talent and cultivate employees for customer service and sales roles. Do you know who your real High Potentials are? Most organizations do not. You could be investing your scarce development resources on the wrong talent.
- Reveal common mistakes in HiPo programs and processes
- Share a framework for thinking about High Potential talent
- Challenge your thinking and change your paradigm about who your high potentials are
- Offer sound, scientific advice about how to get the most out of your High Potential identification processes
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm Boardroom 2: People Transformation in High Turnover Times
Retailer Roundtables by Organization Size
5:00 pm - 5:30 pm Large Employers For retailers with >100,000 employees
For retailers with >100,000 employees
Take this opportunity to connect with peers from similarly sized organizations to discuss how some of the content you heard today applies to your workforce size!
5:00 pm - 5:30 pm Mid-Size Employers For retailers with 10,000–100,000 employees
For retailers with 10,000–100,000 employees
Take this opportunity to connect with peers from similarly sized organizations to discuss how some of the content you heard today applies to your workforce size!
5:00 pm - 5:30 pm Small Employers For retailers with <10,000 employees
For retailers with <10,000 employees
Take this opportunity to connect with peers from similarly sized organizations to discuss how some of the content you heard today applies to your workforce size!
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Texas Backyard BBQ in the HR Hub
After a full day of content, have some fun with your new friends with some games, beer, and yummy apps!