Colleen Zanicchi oversees the development and implementation of Pentegra’s human resources policies and programs including recruitment, selection, retention, and Pentegra’s compensation and benefit programs.
She’s also responsible for managing all of our offices and facilities and making sure our employees are comfortable and happy.
Colleen appreciates the opportunity to work with the Pentegra team to offer experienced, practical advice and support along with tactical problem-solving skills. She also serves as a major agent for innovation, progressive change and continuous improvement at Pentegra.
Colleen began her career in 1981 as a Benefits Administrator at General Foods, after which she joined Phibro Energy as Human Administrator before moving on in 1992 to become a Human Resources Assistant Consultant at Aon Corporation. She’s now closing in on over 24 years here at Pentegra.
Zanicchi got her start at The State University of New York, where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. She also holds the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) designation from the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRIC) and the Society for Human Resources Management – Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) designation from the Society for Human Resources Management.
More from Colleen…
The field of HR has evolved significantly over the years and it’s continually changing. Therefore it’s important for HR professionals to adapt and be agile in an ever-changing landscape. Colleen shares insights on what she sees as the future of the profession.
“I think human resources is critical in the future of any organization. We need to make sure we’re compliant with all of the legislation that has morphed over the last few years with well-known claims and lawsuits and discrimination and I need to protect the employees and I need to protect the company and you can’t just sweep things under the rug anymore.
You need to practice what you preach, if you will, walk the talk. And we put in a bunch of fundamentals, that we require all our employees to live by. And we call it the Pentegra away. And we did this about a year and a half ago. We rolled it out.
And every week we focus on one of our fundamentals. Every week, there’s a little quiz about it, [that’s] mandatory, and we tied it into our performance appraisals, to be sure that people are treating people the way they deserve to be treated. We follow the platinum rule: don’t treat people the way YOU want to be treated, treat them the way THEY want to be treated.
And HR is key in that and I think more CEOs are realizing the importance and that’s where it comes down to where I am. I’m lucky enough to know that our CEO recognizes the value of the people and how they feel. [It] makes a huge difference. And how they’re treated makes a huge difference.
And by allowing the senior members of the senior team partnering with HR, I’ve just seen HR change dramatically in the last 20 years. I’d say even more so in the last eight to 10. And I see it getting a bigger value in the workplace and in society, and it’ll probably even start to show in the salary demands at some point. But it’s really grown into a field that people really want to be part of now and again.”
In our full conversation with Colleen, find out why she values learning to stay ahead, having empathy, and how she leverages personal relationships to help in her professional life.
