Robert Blecke

Experience

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  ComEd

  Jan 1995 - Jan 1999

  Sr. Quality Administrator

  • Led analysis, improvement, and installation of work processes in a new HR Shared Services center resulting in a productivity improvement of 15FTE over original process design.• Led and developed Baldrige-based internal business assessment process, recognized in Chartwell's Utility Best Practices. • Led design and development of highly successful TeamFest annual corporate quality sharing and celebration event representing over 191 teams and 230 million dollars of savings in its first three years, recognized in Chartwell's Utility Best Practices Show less

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  W.W. Grainger

  Jan 1999 - Mar 2010

  Led a staff of Project Management and Continuous Improvement professionals.• Project Lead for multiple enterprise-wide projects, including the HR / HRIS portion of two M&A projects affecting 1500 employees at 5 locations nationally; and an SAP Payroll project affecting pay frequency for 6000 salaried employees in the US and Puerto Rico.• Adapted and deployed Lean continuous improvement approach and tools based on Toyota / Lean Enterprise Institute approach within Grainger Human Resources. Coached multiple Lean CI teams to significant, sustainable performance improvements.o Cut out a month of delay time and improved accuracy by over 30% in FMLA Administration;o Reduced the time to fill on the average requisition and reduced 4 process variants down to 1 in the recruiting selection process;o Improved availability of critical resources to new employees on their first day from <.1% to over 70%;o Reduced resources required to support recruiters by 25% and reduced the process variants from 3 to 1; Show less Built a staff of Project Management and Six Sigma professionals to develop new and improve existing business processes, and add new processes to the SAP environment.• Developed and deployed a work management process that accounted for individual HR resource commitments across the HR project portfolio in a simple, graphical fashion, and facilitated HR leadership through resolution of resource conflicts. Created a plan for the portfolio that balanced resource commitments across key resources and provided development opportunities for others that would have been missed otherwise, resulting in projects being brought in on time and budget.• Managed a portfolio of projects that included addition of an outsourced online benefits open enrollment platform; addition of annual pay increase functionality to the SAP environment; development & deployment of new employee competencies; development of a new workforce planning process; a major HR reorganization; a new employee development philosophy and process; a new leadership development process, and the design of a new aligned recognition & reward programs Show less • As the Process Engineer for the SAP implementation, led the HR/Payroll team in a successful three-year full life cycle design and implementation of the HR & Payroll portion of Grainger’s SAP implementation for 12,000 employees in the US and Puerto Rico. Included Personnel Administration, Benefits Administration, Org Management, Employee and Manger Self-Service through an enterprise portal, Time Management, and Payroll. Exceeded post-implementation productivity targets.• Led a cross functional team of HR and Payroll personnel in improving employee-facing service processes. Applied basic quality tools in a cross functional team setting to identify, select, and act on key service problems. Improved working relationships and reduced service deficiencies. . Show less • Led the HRIS team in building out the HR intranet and establishing and providing workforce data and information to HR leadership.• Project lead for the design and implementation of a systematic employee survey and action planning process to provide key people metrics for a balanced scorecard strategic / business planning process, resulting in a measurable improvement in overall employee commitment in its first two years.• Played a lead role in the selection, development, and implementation of an online employee self-service platform that served 2000 employees in 5 locations, providing 24/7 access to personal, pay, and benefits information. Show less

  • Group Manager, Planning & Continuous Improvement

    Jan 2008 - Mar 2010

  • Group Manager, Process PMO

    Jan 2006 - Jan 2008

  • HR Quality & Systems Manager

    Jan 2001 - Jan 2006

  • HR Process Manager

    Jan 1999 - Jan 2001
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  OfficeMax

  Jan 2010 - Jan 2014

  Senior Manager, Business Process Management

  Manage enterprise-level projects; lead/coach/mentor junior PMs; develop and deploy methodologies to increase project management effectiveness.• Worked within the OMX/ODP merger Initiative Management Office developing and deploying tools and methods, and managed multiple integration teams.• Project Manager for $10.5M SAP Consolidation project implementing SAP Order Management and improving Customer Order Visibility and Serviceability.• Adapted, deployed, and trained associates in a systematic approach to gathering and documenting Business Requirements in projects. Applied methods in 3 consecutive SAP consolidation projects and revised based on experience.• Developed and deployed a project health assessment used to intervene and correct issues with troubled projects. Show less

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  Blue Star Partners, LLC

  Jul 2014 - Nov 2014

  Project Management / Process Improvement

  Had been engaged as Project Methodology Manager for NiSource Corporate Services, Merrillville, IN.

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  Self employed

  Apr 2018 - now

  Project Management, Quality, and Compliance

  Responsible for the design, development, deployment, evaluation, and improvement of the Project Management Methodology (PMM), and compliance reviews, for the ITPMO at NiSource.