HR Executive Interview Series

I had the unique opportunity to spend time with Monique Kamosi-Frazier , who is the Total Rewards Manager at 24 Hour Home Care . Below I'm sharing her insights in hopes that this fuels curiosity and learnings among the broader HR community here on Linkedin. Enjoy, and make sure to give Monique a follow!

What do you consider to be your life defining moments? What did you take away from those experiences? And how have those experiences shaped who you are today??

?I would say that I have had a couple. Packing my bags and flying cross country at age 17 to go to college by myself was certainly a defining moment. I was very young, even though I felt all grown up at the time, and I encountered a lot of things that I had to handle independently at a much earlier age than a lot of my peers. This made me grow up quickly in some ways, and looking back, I think it short changed my growth in other ways that I didn't recognize until I was well into my 30s. Secondly, the experience of divorce and rebuilding my life from scratch in my late 20s had a huge impact on me. I had primarily been a stay-at-home mother during my first marriage and that experience of establishing a life and career from scratch with two children to raise was incredibly challenging, but also so rewarding. As I found myself buying my first home, receiving promotions and turning "just a job" into a career, and raising brilliant, happy children, my confidence grew. Where earlier in my life I would approach challenges with uncertainty and apprehension, I have grown to approach them with curiosity and a deep belief that I can handle literally anything. I know I would not be who I am today without these two defining periods of my life.

You've had a really compelling career leading total rewards. What is it about you and/or your journey that has enabled you to unlock access to these opportunities??

I think that my passion for creating an organizational culture that truly embodies the idea that when you take care of your people, they’ll take care of your business, has defined my approach and success with total rewards. At the end of the day, sometimes you have to make difficult decisions that are in the company's best interest, but I believe that with reasonable transparency and clarity, people are much more willing to endure the difficult moments of change that come with experimenting and refining a total rewards strategy that meets both employee and business needs.

?I have a strong personality, and I'm still learning how to temper it in certain situations. Learning how to create space for others to share their perspective and opinions, and keeping an open mind about creative solutions, has been critical for my personal development and professional success.

?I also believe in surrounding myself with experts - direct reports, colleagues, vendors, and professional friends - who I can learn from. Let's propose solutions and debate with intensity prior to landing on a decision, but I really believe that once a decision has been made, we all get on the boat and work together to achieve what we've set out to do.

?Finally, I believe in truly understanding the business and our employee demographic & needs, inside and out. How can we drive compensation programs that incent the right behaviors if we don't know what the right behaviors are to support overall business objectives? How can we build an intentional benefits program if we don't have data to support our decisions around what our population needs? Taking the time to understand the landscape of an organization is critical, because there is no one size fits all solution when it comes to this stuff.

What are some interesting tools that you are leveraging to accelerate your success at work??

A new-to-me software that I'm loving lately is Fellow. It syncs with your calendar and allows you to document talking points, action items, and even take private notes during the calendar event that are housed there permanently. I have found it so useful to be able to recall a conversation from a specific meeting and return to this tool for my notes, rather than trying to hunt them down in some other software program like OneNote or desktop sticky notes.

?When you come into an organization, what’s the analysis you conduct to understand where you focus your efforts, and how do you set prioritization around that??

?My priority in my current role, which began in February, has been to focus on building relationships and building credibility by delivering on current priorities before sharing my opinions and advocating for big changes. This has meant meeting with executives, department heads, mid-level leaders, and individual contributors, and traveling to company QBRs and other events to get into the details of the business. Understanding the strategy and decisions that has led us to where we are, and really getting granular about every little detail. The more I understand, the more informed I am, the better equipped I am to make recommendations that suit the organization, and aren't just based on my previous experience. While I believe my experience is a huge asset, it's not the only component necessary for success.

?What’s a unique contribution or approach you are taking in the field of HR that others can learn from??

I believe in meeting the organization where it is at and building a strategy to help scale appropriately to whatever is your defined ideal future state. Every company has its own culture and you have to learn how to work with it rather than against it. As a dear friend often says, "People support what they help to create." The more you can bring people along with your initiatives and take the time to get their input and buy-in, the more successful you will be.

?What’s your parting advice for your fellow HR Executive?

Read a lot.

Be confident, but not cocky. We are all just learning as we go.

Don't be afraid to ask questions - if you're thinking it, someone else in the room is, too.

Learn what it means to be self-aware and practice, practice, practice.?

Get involved with your local HR community as much as you can.

Seek feedback and take it seriously, even if you think you don't agree with it at first. How others perceive you is a huge factor in your success, regardless of how experienced or talented you may be.

A special thanks to Monique for sharing her time with me and for sharing her experiences with all of us!! She's a rockstar.