Damond Fauconier

▶0:00IntroWelcome to the Built by People podcast, where we share the stories and insights of the world's top HR leaders. Join us as we dive deep into the minds of HR executives, uncovering their strategies, challenges, and triumphs in shaping today's workforce.

▶0:42HostI'm excited to welcome Damon to the Built by People podcast. Damon, thank you so much for joining us today. And as a starting question, I always love to ask if you could share a little bit more about your career journey.

▶0:52GuestThanks so much for having me, Dave. I'll say my career journey is similar to a lot of folks, I guess. I actually started out really looking to be a trainer, an HR trainer. And that actually was my first few, my first real major job in HR. I worked for a nonprofit in New York City. And I was, you know, I started out as their coordinator and then really turned to the learning and development management side where I was creating curriculum, facilitating classes, working on people's individual plans. And I know we'll talk about career-defining moments probably later, but unfortunately, I was not able to stay on that kind of trajectory because I was focused on, you know, I was going to have certifications through the Association of Talent Development. I was working on that, but I was part of a RIF in that organization where actually close to about 20% of the administrative side were eliminated. And so I had to kind of skip gears and sort of decide no longer just to be on training, but really the gamut, really the generalist side, overseeing everything, learning benefits, talent acquisition, compliance, all that. And so with that, you know, I did then take a position actually with the firm that did let me go, maybe 9 months, almost a year later, and became an HR, basically business partner, and was there for 5 years, 5 5+ years, and then eventually decided that I wanted to— that organization was quite large, and I felt I was part of a— I was more of a small person in a big pond where I wanted to have much bigger impact. So, I actually took a role in a smaller organization and actually transitioned into the DC metro area where I was a firm's basically their whole HR person for a department of one for the first two years. And then I got an assistant later, later on. And then just from there, it was like getting different positions. I had a position as a, at a transportation, a motor coach company, where I was their regional HR person. And there I learned, got the opportunity to really work with unions. So really got involved in collective bargaining experience, was actually on the other side when we were like, when they were threatening to strike, almost at that. And so those experiences really helped me. And And then finally went to where I'm currently at, which is a financial institution, a credit union, and where I have overseen everything from, like I said, from leading a team of 3 here at, in the organization, and really rose up to be their chief human resources officer.

▶3:50HostDamon, thanks for that great introduction. I want to dive in now and try to understand some of the career-defining moments that you've had in your HR career? What comes top of mind for you?

▶4:02GuestGoing back, I would say definitely top of mind is first when being that, not, you know, that riff where I was let, my position was eliminated because it really did teach me I have to always be, you know, willing to maybe change things up or just to adapt. Because I was set on, hey, I'm going to train folks. I'm going to love facilitating for the rest of my life. No, that didn't happen. So I would say that was one of the big career-defining moments. I would say that was the biggest because that actually led me to even leave where my home base was, where I grew up, which was the New York area. That was definitely, I would say, the biggest one. Another one was when I decided to leave the nonprofit world for a time and worked for a motor coach, a regional motor coach company that had well over 800 employees. And I was responsible for the region that consisted of 350 employees. So getting, because when I was at the nonprofits and I'm, it was much more mission-driven, or they constantly talked about they're mission-driven. When I went to the motor coach company, it was a mission, but they did, the way they defined the mission was much more in terms of the bottom line, you know? So everything I had to do was really any changes that I want to make or anything I want to implement, I need to show at least how that would impact the bottom line in terms of like the, and primarily like the cost of certain, interactions. And so therefore, yeah.

▶5:53HostI want to go back to that experience you had with the RIF. And you said something that was really compelling, and that was just being more prepared moving forward with change and being adaptable. I'm curious to understand that a little bit more in terms of like, what steps have you now taken to prepare yourself for those changes and also set you up for sustainable success?

▶6:19GuestI think, thanks, Dave. I think really what I took from that and what I continue to do is that where before I was so focused on like my HR piece, like, okay, this trainer, what I learned is that I have to be not necessarily a jack of all trades, but interested in all trades, understanding. And I know HR folks always get told, yeah, you have to know the business. So definitely from that perspective, but just in general interest and just being really being curious about things. And it doesn't have to be just curious about something that may affect employees, but just in maybe just in general from the business side, like understanding the, you know, the sectors one works in and what industries one is involved in. And so that way, in terms of like how I prepare myself, is really just being curious because by being curious, It has forced me to sort of ask questions, other questions of what's going on. And I find that it sort of makes me think about, oh, this works here. How can I maybe apply it in another area? Or if this is affecting our folk, this could be something that affects our folks down the line or potentially affects our industry down the line. So, I would say in terms of how to be more adaptable or how to really embrace change, I would say one does need to be, just embrace one's curiosity because one will see the, one will see patterns and connections with things as well as seeing and also seeing differences and just seeing the sort of just your mind works a little differently. So I think that was, I would say.

▶8:08HostDavid, can you talk to us about a challenge that you faced in your career and how you overcame it?

▶8:14GuestSo a challenge I would face was for an organization, I was the HR, head HR person, and unfortunately in that organization, two of the top executives really had a very contentious relationship and one executive reported to the other, but these were two top, very top folks. And they, I, what I learned to deal with that they also were basically, I saw the sort of the people side of how the politics of certain things are because they, each of them had their folks on the board that were sort of in whichever particular corner. And you had this situation where basically the one person, each person was sort of badmouthing, but it really was almost like two different camps and which obviously was impacting the organization in terms, and it trickled down to the employees obviously in some cases, some didn't know as much as others, but it's, it still was there. What that taught me was I, even though I don't like to play the game of politics per se, I realized that just human beings in general, there is that, that component. So I did have to, what, what it forced me to do was develop my own relationships with the board and really stress to them what they're obviously to remind them of their role of, you know, the organization, and, you know, sort of, you know, taking into account like this, these two executives, you know, their acrimony is having an impact and sort of having this almost help manage up the board itself to sort of how they could manage these two executives. So I would say that was a very, quite challenging for me.

▶10:05HostDamon, what's a legacy you hope to leave as an HR leader and why?

▶10:09GuestI think what I wanna I believe is that no matter where I went, I helped to empower or help guide people to empower for their own specific careers, but also generally just in terms of how they work in their professional roles. And also when, and specifically when it comes to those folks who manage other folks, have them sort of embrace that empowerment. I think empowering is, we live in a very competitive environment changing world and people constantly have to adapt and evolve. And in order to do that, one does have to sort of look at oneself and realize that one is fully capable and one has the capacity to grow as well as have an impact on others. So I definitely want folks to, to definitely feel empowered. And I do feel that in almost everywhere I went, that, that has been a legacy of mine.

▶11:09HostI mean, what parting advice would you like to provide to our HR community?

▶11:13GuestI'll just remind folks again, stay curious. You can, and not just in terms of just curiosity in terms of what particular business or role that one has, but just stay curious in general. Human resources, the key part is human, right? And so, it's wonderful for us to, I think human HR folks, people folks have to really understand and realize that something new is always going to be coming on the horizon. And that if one stays curious and one is willing to sort of embrace those changes, it, it will benefit not only one's individual, but also the organization. And then also I would just say one other piece of parting advice is particularly for HR folks is See yourselves as stewards always. See yourselves as, I'm here to help this organization along. I'm here to help the team along. And not be as— even though HR folks are usually selfless, but understand that one is that steward that oversees everything.

▶12:21HostDamon, thanks so much for joining us today on the Built by People podcast. It was a pleasure to have you involved.

▶12:26GuestThank you so much, Dave. It was a pleasure being here.