1. Melissa Jane Hawkins. BA Hons, MCIPD, SPHR, NLP.
A commercially strong international HR Director successful in driving and implementing people strategy for some of the
worlds leading brands, resulting in proven business returns. Passionate about delivering real business results through
excellent customer satisfaction and talent development, creating an engaging and rewarding environment for employees to
become true brand ambassadors. Sector experience in hospitality, entertainment, leisure, financial services, manufacturing,
fire & security and construction. Awards and accreditations include: National Business Award ‘Employer of the Year’,
Investors in People Gold, Times Top 100 Best Companies (14th position) and a personal award from Merlin Entertainments
for ‘Outstanding Contribution’.
Key attributes:
European and USA HR Strategy People Engagement Acquisition & Integration
Talent Acquisitions Unions and labor relations Cultural change management
CAREER HISTORY:
MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS PLC
Merlin Entertainments PLC is a British company headquartered in the UK operating 124 attractions globally, 16 hotels and 3
holiday villages in 25 countries. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a Top 14 Company to work for, a constituent of
the FTSE 100 Index. Iconic brands include LEGOLAND, SEALIFE, London Coca Cola Eye, Madame Tussauds and The
Dungeons.
HR DIRECTOR for MIDWAY EUROPE and LEGOLAND CALIFORNIA
December 2014 to February 2016
HR DIRECTOR, LEGOLAND California Resort (LLCR), Carlsbad, California, USA.
LEGOLAND California Resort is the largest of all the 124 Merlin attractions and is c$100m EBITDA; the resort consists of a SEALIFE,
Hotel (250 rooms), Waterpark and Theme Parks. LLCR seasonally employs up to 3000 employees who welcome 3m visitors each year.
Part of LLCR Senior Executive, reporting directly to the Divisional Director. Responsible for leading a team of 15 HR professionals for all
HR functionality including Engagement and Internal Communications, Talent and Development, Compensations and Benefits, Total
Rewards, Employee Relations and Talent Acquisition. Key achievements and responsibilities:-
• Refocused and restructured the HR function to create a greater business partnering emphasis on L&D, Total Rewards
(compensation review) and Talent Development and Acquisition, Culture and Engagement.
• Employer Brand and attraction strategy that includes a total review of employment proposition, total compensation,
personal development offer, CSR and engagement. Underpinned by a clear marketing and communication strategy.
• Developed and implemented ‘delivering the magic’ (customer service model) across the resort which formed part of the
culture change program and improved service KPIs by 6%.
• Built business case for new payroll, T&A system and scheduling portal that improved operational efficiency and overall
budget management. Resulting in operating cost savings after first year of 8% (including employee attrition reduction).
• Built a center of excellence of L&D, for talent pipeline growth across the resort and wider Merlin Group. Established nine
box models, talent profiling and a new appraisal system for front line employees linked to a clear bonus plan. Introduced a
blended learning approach to L&D delivery, which included investment of an LMS system and e-learning capability.
• Solved employee resourcing challenges by reaching out to alternative demographic groups and aligning attraction strategy
and HR policy accordingly. Resulting in a fully operational resort.
• Drove an increase in employee engagement across the resort that has resulted in 92% staff engagement in 2015 and
increase of 2% on previous year. Achieved through the creation of ‘Wizard Champions’, action planning focus and
feedback mechanisms. Underpinned by an internal communication strategy linked to Merlin Way Values.
• Developed HR ‘Balanced Scorecard’ to measure the return on people strategy that includes, staff turnover, cost and time to
hire, ROI for L&D activity, engagement activity all linked to business KPIs.
• Exec coach and mentor to graduates and HR talent pool across the Merlin Group.
December 2011 to December 2014
HR Director, Merlin Entertainments, Midway Europe, based in the UK, relocating to Germany.
Design & delivery of European HR Strategy for 49 attractions across UK, EIRE, Germany and Rest of Europe, c 2700 people.
Responsibilities include engagement, succession & talent mapping, employment law for 15 countries, cultural change and people
engagement. Leading a team of 10 HR professionals throughout 14 counties across Europe.
Key Achievements:-
• Turned around a disengaged workforce in Midway Germany from a climate of employee strikes and protests to creating
ambassadors of Merlin through winning ‘hearts and minds’. A change program consisting of harmonization, new payment
frameworks, improvements in working conditions, learning and development opportunities, re-election of works councils and
targeted internal communication campaigns.
2. • Achieved Outstanding Contribution Award 2014, for continuous drive and commitment, passion and enthusiasm to make a
difference in Midway Europe, spending several months in Germany building a talented strong HR team.
• Led the creation of ‘Midway GM Bootcamps’ and ‘Career Discovery Days’, now key strategic global initiatives.
• Seconded in July 2014 to Group HR Projects to drive the Global Engagement Strategy and positioned the Group to Top 15 in
the Times Top 100 award.
September 2010 to December 2011
HR Business Partner, LV= LIFE SBU, based in Dorset, UK.
LV= LIFE comprises of Retirement Solutions and Protection products. A member of the LIFE Executive and HR Leadership team.
Enterprise Value of c£400m, Headcount of 1,000, Influence of 4,700 across all LV=.
Ultimate responsibility to provide strategic HR direction to the LIFE & Pensions business that enables the company to meet its growth
objectives whilst retaining strong internal and external brand values. Responsible for all HR areas including talent attraction strategies
and executive remuneration packages, integration and acquisition project lead, including organizational design.
August 2003 to September 2010
Head of HR reporting to MD of Peverel Building Technologies (PBT) Dorset, UK, (now known as Appello) part of the Peverel
Property Management Group. PBT comprises of: Cirrus Communication Systems Ltd, Interphone Security Group, Instant Fire Protection
& Cirrus Careline the largest call monitoring centre in Europe. PBT is a national operation, operating 24 hours, 365 days a year. Total
head count c500.
• Working with Heads of Business to ensure that the Business Plans are achieved through effective 3 year HR & Learning &
Development Strategy.
• Responsible for defining & managing HR related budgets e.g. salary, L&D, head count & recruitment.
• Project managing HR integration of two new business acquisitions creating two new business streams into the PBT Group of
companies involving 100 transferred staff.
• Ensuring effective Succession Planning and Personal Development Plans are implemented throughout PBT.
• Responsible for Reward and Recognition Strategy, ensuring market rate analysis and pay benchmarking.
• Responsible for full H&S co-ordination and compliance, in accordance with QMS, ISO9001 and TSA accreditations.
Key Achievements:-
• Achieved Orange National Business Award for ‘Employer of the Year’ category November 2009. The judges praised how the
robust HR Strategy that returned outstanding financial business results and able to enter into markets the competition couldn’t.
• Led HR related activities in transforming the four PBT businesses from a loss of £500k to profits of £3.5m over a three year
period, now the largest contributor of profit to the Peverel Group. Activities included: Organizational redesign & restructure,
Leadership Programs, Performance Management, Cultural Change & Customer Service Programs, Quality Standards, ‘Plan on
a Page’, Employee Briefings etc.
• Project led PBT to gain Investors in People Gold accreditation.
• Reduced recruitment costs by £30k and reduced employee turnover across the PBT Group from 48% to 8%.
December 2000 to August 2003
Personnel Officer for Warings Contractors Ltd, Hilsea, Portsmouth, UK. Construction Company with head count of c300 across a
multitude of sites, providing national contracting services with large clients such as BAA & Unite.
• Provision and co-ordination of full range of personnel expertise to ensure efficient and timely issue resolution performance
management, compensation and benefits and talent management.
• Advising the Management Executive (10 members) of current personnel issues/ legislation.
• Recognized as a ‘star’ and placed on an external Management Development Program, this gained points towards an MBA.
September 1998 to December 2000
Personnel Advisor for Coopervision, Southampton, UK. Manufacturer of Contact Lenses, c1000 headcount.
EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS:
BA (Hons) Human Resource Management 2:1, June 1998 - Southampton University, UK
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, March 2002 to July 2002, UK
MCIPD Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, September 2014, UK
Studying towards SPHR (part of SHRM - Society for Human Resource Management) Current
SDI Strength Deployment Inventory Practitioner level 1&2, May 2006 & 2013, UK
Thomas International, (DISC profiling tool) July 2012, UK
NLP Practitioner, NLP Coach & Time Line Therapist , November 2013, The Performance Partnership, UK
Contact: liddymel@me.com (760) 460 6121 (cell), 2548 Marron Road, Carlsbad, California, USA, 92010
