Michael Keppen

Experience

• 

  US Navy

  May 2003 - May 2023

  • Served in an executive HR role as Chief of Staff & Vice Commander for United States Military Entrance Processing Command - Eastern Sector. We are "Freedom's Front Door!"• Directed a HQ staff of 19 and prioritized “people services” across 3 lines of business (Medical, Operations, and Processing)• Led 6 Regional Directors and a workforce of 1,283 employees to assess, evaluate, and process over 210K applicants into the Armed Forces annually• Managed operations at 34 field offices with a real property value of over $300M across the eastern half of the United States and the Caribbean Show less • Led the organization's largest Directorate - a distributed staff of 924 personnel including 11 senior direct reports. Promoted to Training Director during COVID-19 and ensured continuity of training operations during pandemic• Directed the training of 41K recruits annually. Systematically realigned manpower, repurposed facilities, and postured organization for future growth from an 8-week to 10-week course of instruction• Managed a training budget of $107M and campus operations across 25 multi-use training facilities valued at over $800M Show less • Led a distributed staff of 170 including 4 senior direct reports while managing a curricula portfolio of 190 academic and technical training courses• Designed instructor training workshops and infused curricula with evidence-based teaching and learning strategies that improved quality of training and increased long-term retention and transfer of knowledge• Led the creation, implementation, and expansion of an inaugural resiliency/mental toughness program. Efforts improved on-time graduation rates, increased fitness scores, and enhanced organizational buy-in among thousands of employees• Redeveloped curriculum and training programs resulting in 450% increase in collegiate credits and $213.8M tuition assistance savings• Served as Principal Advisor and spearheaded Congressional policy updates to the Montgomery and Post 9/11 GI Bills and other education-based entitlements. Show less • Led 4 direct reports and 79 staff to develop and execute instructional training programs at 160 Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps units at colleges & universities nationwide• Directed multiple, large ($10M+) cross-functional Learning & Development projects. Innovative efforts improved talent management and quality of training across multiple areas including: virtual ship handling, celestial navigation, cyber security, emotional intelligence, and tablet-based eLearning.• Designed, leveraged global crowdsourcing technology and conducted first, exhaustive review of basic military training in 25 years. Authored inaugural training manual and redeveloped the professional core curriculum for all Navy accessions • Implemented modern, web-enabled software and removed systemic curricula development barriers to streamline 30 credit hours and increase critical tactile training by 300% for 41K personnel• Led a strategy to improve Inclusion & Diversity programs and workforce/organizational effectiveness Show less • Led a staff of 135 personnel and directed the in-processing and onboarding of 44K students annuallyExecuted a departmental operating budget of $250,000 and managed the daily use of $1 million worth of equipment and training assets. • Designed and implemented innovative fitness curriculum for Naval Special Warfare candidates that decreased injuries and attrition to <2%. Led a cross-functional team to implement a new Health and Wellness program to over 1,000 staff and 44K students. Efforts reduced attrition rates from over 20% down to 8.04%, the lowest rate in 20 years• Identified constraints within the Navy Enlisted Accession Supply Chain and exposed an error in the system’s production algorithm saving 7 days of planned training time per student and $56M in associated program costs• Served as Lean Six Sigma Green Belt for two large-scale projects. Efforts reduced student separation processing time by 29 days and saved an average of $2.4M in annual training costs• Conducted exhaustive workforce analysis audits for 4 senior government civilian positions. Facilitated the hiring and onboarding process for new employees, ensuring compliance with Federal laws and regulations Show less

  • DoD Skillbridge Partner (AbbVie Pharma | Allergan Aesthetics)

    Jan 2023 - May 2023

  • Vice Commander | Chief of Staff

    Dec 2020 - Jan 2023

  • Director of Training

    Apr 2020 - Dec 2020

  • Head of Learning and Development

    Nov 2017 - Apr 2020

  • Director, Training & Curriculum

    Sept 2014 - Nov 2017

  • Director, Talent Management

    Aug 2011 - Aug 2014

  • Senior Manager, Talent Management

    Feb 2009 - Aug 2011

  • Naval Flight Officer

    Oct 2005 - Jan 2009

  • Student Naval Flight Officer

    May 2003 - Oct 2005
• 

  AbbVie

  Sept 2023 - now

  Associate Director, Leadership Development