accelHRate Lands CHRO for Service King
March 29, 2016 – HR executive search and management consulting firm accelHRate has placed Sean Huurman as chief human resources officer (CHRO) of Service King. Kimberly Shanahan, president and chief executive officer of accelHRate, led the search.
As CHRO, Mr. Huurman will oversee all administrative operations and lead the department’s efforts across Service King’s national footprint.
He joins Service King with more than 25 years of diverse experience, most recently serving as chief administrative officer at Imagine Communications. He most recently led the company’s global workforce, information technology and real estate initiatives. He also held the role of chief people officer and led the transformation of Imagine Communication’s culture and workforce following its divestiture from Harris Corporation in 2013.
Before that, Mr. Huurman served as EVP and chief people officer at GENBAND. There, he played a key role in the global acquisition and assimilation of the CVAS division of Nortel. Before joining the GENBAND team, he spent 13 years in various human resource roles with KPMG and its spinoff, BearingPoint, Inc., a $3 billion, publicly traded management consulting firm, culminating his time there as vice president of human resources.
“We conducted an extensive national search for the ideal candidate to fill this role,” said Service King CEO Chris Abraham. “In that process, Sean continually proved he aligned with both Service King’s culture and our collective vision for the future. He is a dynamic leader with a passion for infusing teams with the right talent. Service King looks forward to his leadership and positive impact across our family of repair centers.”
Service King, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, operates nearly 300 collision repair centers in 23 states across the U.S. “It is a high growth services company with an employee base of more than 6,000,” said Ms. Shanahan. “Given its unique service-oriented and engaging culture, the company was looking for a well-rounded dynamic CHRO with a strong blend of strategy, leadership, analytics and operations who would be able to help take the organization to the next level from a growth, culture and workforce / organizational development perspective. Sean Huurman is all of those things and is bringing tremendous energy and experience to the company.”
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The CHRO role continues to gain in importance in the executive suite and as a result the position continues to develop.
“The role of CHROs and their direct reports continues to evolve in terms of complexity and impact,” said Ms. Shanahan. These leaders, she said, are at the heart of linking business strategy with talent strategy and have an enormous amount of levers to work with these days. “We see an increased focus on bringing strong HR talent into private equity-backed companies,” said Ms. Shanahan. “Private equity firms are recognizing the incredible impact great HR has on the business.” In the last year, accelHRate has conducted 15 executive searches in human resources for PE-backed companies.
A strong HR organization, she said, is optimizing data / analytics, systems, talent development & management, talent acquisition, change management, workforce planning, M&A due diligence & integration, risk, succession planning, and total rewards, among other areas.
“The role of the CHRO is no longer one that is just administration and transaction oriented. The focus goes well beyond traditional people initiatives,” said Mike Bergen, human resources global practice leader for Allegis Partners. “Today, CHROs are strategic executives that are constantly interacting with the CEO, members of the executive team, and the board of directors. They are business leaders first who happen to lead the HR function.”
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
