Michelle Saunders, manager of organizational design and leadership at Ocean State Job Lot, has been at her position for just one year. But her work has spoken volumes. In that time, “she has accomplished more than most leaders could get done in five,” said Bob Selle, chief human resource officer at the company.
She worked at AAA Northeast as director of workforce development, was senior talent development business partner at Sensata Technologies, and worked as organizational development consultant for Fidelity Investments, Provant Health Solutions and Bryant University.
Saunders’ position at Ocean State Job Lot is in learning and development. She was attracted to the job because “it’s a great company to work for. They are committed to being an employer of choice, they’re committed to being employee-focused and not just bottom-line focused.”
Some of Saunders’ contributions at Ocean State include building a successful learning site and company learning program – OSJL YOUniversity – and developing and facilitating classroom training for more than 125 stores, corporate leadership teams and a distribution center. She also designed Ocean State Job Lot’s first corporate internship program, and supported talent-builder/workforce-planning conversations with executive leadership.
Saunders’ favorite part of the job includes working with people of all levels, from associates to management.
“I focus on leadership development, which is helping people recognize who they are, whatever their strengths are, what they bring, and how they can make a difference in the workplace. I think people are often surprised when I go into a classroom and facilitate and make it about them and give them some information and have them think about how they apply the learning. I think people are used to a lecture, but now it’s ‘Who are you; What do you bring; and What information can I give you and how can you apply that?’ ”
