People First • Manager Coaching • Human-Centered Systems

When you put people first and lead with genuine care, everything else follows.

I'm a People Partner who believes that. As an HR professional, I've spent years coaching managers to be better humans, onboarding talent with real support, and building systems where people actually feel cared for—not just retained. Morale, retention, trust, growth: these aren't HR outcomes, they're the natural result of genuinely putting people first.

Let's Discuss Your People Strategy

About My Approach

Here's what I've learned: when organizations treat people like humans first and employees second, everything shifts. Morale improves. Retention improves. Managers become better versions of themselves. And growth happens naturally—not because of policies, but because people feel genuinely cared for.

As an HR professional, I've coached managers through difficult conversations and helped them show up with both competence and heart. I've onboarded new talent and provided real support to both them and their managers—not just checklists, but genuine integration. I've listened to what people actually need (not what surveys ask them), built programs around real feedback, and created systems where people know they're heard. I've watched morale shift when leaders stop managing and start caring. I've seen retention improve when people feel like more than a resource.

So yes, I coach managers, design learning, build career frameworks, and manage talent strategy. But underneath all of that is one simple belief: when you put people first, lead with genuine care, and build systems that prove it—everything else follows.

Core Competencies

Areas where I drive measurable impact and build organizational capability.

Manager Coaching

1:1 coaching on conflict resolution, difficult conversations, and leadership development. Building manager confidence and competence.

L&D Design

Program design, workshop delivery, and learning strategy. Creating development opportunities that drive growth and retention.

Talent Strategy

Career frameworks, succession planning, and mentorship systems. Building pathways for advancement and engagement.

Culture Building

Recognition programs, engagement initiatives, and morale building. Creating environments where people feel genuinely valued.

Listening Systems

Voice of Employee programs, feedback loops, and action planning. Ensuring employee input drives visible organizational change.

People Systems

HR operations, process design, and organizational infrastructure. Building scalable systems that support growth.

Featured Projects & Programs

Hands-on work in manager development, L&D design, talent strategy, and building people systems that scale.

Manager Coaching & Development

Provided 1:1 coaching to new managers on conflict resolution and handling difficult conversations, plus facilitated quarterly roundtables with leads and managers to surface challenges and gather feedback on what they need to be successful.

Manager Development Coaching Leadership

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Listening & Feedback Systems

Managed employee voice programs and monthly roundtables (4 shifts) that connected employees directly to decision-makers. Over 100+ suggestions implemented—creating a closed-loop system where feedback led to visible organizational action.

Listening Systems Voice of Employee Culture

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Career Growth & Development Conversations

Supported team leads and aspiring managers through 1:1 career conversations, helping them identify growth paths, connect with mentors for skill development, and understand what it takes to level up within the organization.

Career Development Mentorship Growth

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Recognition, Engagement & Culture Building

Created comprehensive celebration programs for employee milestones and led weekly engagement events in partnership with local businesses. When manager feedback revealed leadership felt unrecognized, expanded programs to celebrate all levels—keeping culture human and intentional.

Recognition Engagement Culture

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Building Learning & Sharing Best Practices

Designed and delivered morale and engagement workshops to HR teams across multiple sites, sharing proven tactics on listening to employees, improving morale, leading by example, and creating engaging work environments—even sent to support other facilities.

L&D Teaching Best Practices

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Manager Coaching & Development

Context

New managers were struggling with conflict resolution and addressing team concerns effectively. The organization also needed a way for managers and leads to surface their own challenges and get support. Leadership needed to stay connected to what managers actually needed to succeed.

Action

I provided direct 1:1 coaching to new managers on handling difficult conversations, addressing concerns, and managing conflict with confidence. I also facilitated quarterly roundtables with leads, managers, and other support roles where they could surface their own challenges, share what was working, and give feedback on how HR could better support them. I owned coordinating the schedule, sending notifications, attending meetings, listening, and capturing insights for action.

Outcome

New managers gained confidence in handling difficult moments with their teams. Leaders felt heard and supported in their challenges. The organization gathered direct feedback about what was working, what needed improvement, and how to keep managers engaged. Managers reported feeling like true partners in the organization's success.

Listening & Feedback Systems

Context

Employees had ideas, frustrations, and concerns but there was a disconnect between them and the people with power to fix things. Feedback existed but wasn't leading to visible action. The organization needed a system that created direct conversations and closed the loop so people knew they were truly heard.

Action

I managed a two-pronged listening system. First, I documented and tracked the Voice of Associates program—where employees could submit ideas and concerns directly to the department heads responsible for addressing them, with transparent follow-up on what would happen. Second, I facilitated monthly roundtables (4 different shifts) bringing employees together with people who had power to fix their concerns directly. I handled scheduling, notifications, attendance, note-taking, and ensuring insights led to action.

Outcome

Over 100+ employee suggestions and concerns were addressed. Employees felt genuinely heard and saw direct evidence that their voices mattered—from simple changes like TV options during breaks to significant process improvements. Trust in leadership increased. The listening system became a core part of how the organization gathered insight and made decisions.

Career Growth & Development Conversations

Context

Team leads and aspiring managers wanted to grow within the organization but didn't have clear support or clarity on what it took to level up. Many needed help identifying growth areas, finding the right mentors, and building the skills they needed to move into new roles.

Action

I provided 1:1 career conversations with team leads and aspiring managers to understand their growth aspirations and what they needed to get there. I helped them identify skill gaps, connected them with mentors who could help them develop, and supported their progress through check-ins. The focus was on each person feeling genuinely invested in and supported in their journey.

Outcome

Team members felt their growth was being actively supported and invested in. They had clear mentorship relationships and understood what they needed to do to advance. Retention improved among high-potential talent because people saw a real future at the organization. The 1:1 conversations became a foundation for ongoing development and succession planning.

Recognition, Engagement & Culture Building

Context

Employees wanted to feel valued and celebrated for personal milestones, but the organization wasn't doing it consistently. A management questionnaire revealed that leaders and managers felt especially unseen—they wanted recognition too, not just employees. The organization needed intentional programs to build belonging, morale, and culture.

Action

I created a comprehensive milestones and celebrations program tracking birthdays, anniversaries, and promotions for all levels—employees, leads, managers, and leadership. I organized weekly engagement events in partnership with local businesses (social activities, learning opportunities, community events). I made celebration personal and visible—cakes, favorite treats, recognition announcements—so people felt genuinely valued, not just as workers but as humans.

Outcome

People reported stronger sense of belonging and community. Morale improved significantly across all shifts. Leaders felt valued and celebrated. Retention improved because people felt cared for as whole humans. Weekly engagement events had 75%+ participation. The culture became intentional and human-centered, not just operational.

Building Learning & Sharing Best Practices

Context

The organization wanted to spread learnings about what drove morale, engagement, and culture across different teams and sites. When I was sent to support another facility, there was an opportunity to teach and help other HR teams implement the same approaches that had worked.

Action

I designed and delivered morale and engagement workshops for HR teams across sites, teaching them what I'd learned about improving team sentiment and culture. The workshops covered practical tactics: listening to employees, using questionnaires to understand what people actually needed, being present on the floor, leading by example, and creating engagement that felt genuine. I went to a facility in Reno to help get their new HR team started on the right foot.

Outcome

Other HR teams adopted the tactics and methodologies, implementing questionnaires in their morning standups and feedback systems. The teams I trained showed visible improvement in morale and engagement. The learnings became a framework that spread across the organization, creating consistency in how we approached people-first culture.

Measurable Impact

Real results from manager development, L&D, and people strategy work.

30%+

Increase in manager confidence and effectiveness scores

85%

L&D program attendance and completion rates

24%

Improvement in retention and reduction in flight-risk turnover

42%

Improvement in trust and psychological safety indicators

What Leaders Say

Feedback from managers and leaders about coaching, development, and partnership.

"She told me she'd be at every inbound standup, and she was. She dedicated an hour every single day to be in our area, talking to people, solving problems. She keeps her word—and more importantly, she shows up. That means everything to a team that felt forgotten."

Christopher Bottorff

Inbound Manager at Chewy

"Coming into a new operations role, having Fatima as a support system made all the difference. She helped me navigate challenges, coached me through problems, and helped me coach my managers. She's always engaging, always helpful, exactly what you need."

Stefan Kleather

Operations Manager at Chewy

"Fatima created a platform for our IT team to share concerns and processes with management. She involved us in events and made us feel like invaluable parts of the team, not just a support function. That inclusion changed how we showed up at work."

Russell Bennett

IT Specialist at Chewy

"When I asked what this shift needed, I said 'you.' The spirit she brings, the way she builds trust, how she creates simple systems that actually work—it's rare. She doesn't just fix problems; she changes how people experience work."

Kelly Mankin

HRBP & Supervisor at Chewy

"As a new manager straight out of college, I was struggling with a team member not following critical product handling policies. Fatima didn't just teach me how to have the conversation—she helped me understand the positive intent behind it and how to explain the 'why.' She gave me confidence when I needed it most."

Jack Linduist

New Manager at Chewy

Let's Work Together

Interested in strengthening your managers, building your people systems, and scaling your organization while maintaining culture? I'd love to discuss your people strategy, L&D, and organizational challenges.

Or reach out directly:

fatimatoumbacke1@gmail.com