MIT VMS Boot Camp: Human Resources

MIT VMS Boot Camp: Human Resources Strategies, Tactics and Processes for Hiring, On-Boarding, Engaging and Retaining Talent

Presented by Carlton Aird and Don Shobrys

Thursday, November 17, 2022, 6-8:00pm, Room: E51-345 

https://bit.ly/3TeUWGU

One of the most urgent challenges facing start-ups today is avoiding human capital and strategic pitfalls. The hiring of an employee is a critical ongoing responsibility which includes many requirements. Deciding when to add team members, knowing how to hire the right person, and determining the kind of team and culture you want to create and build before hiring are all vital to your success as a startup.

The VMS HR Boot Camp is designed to provide you with basic tools for hiring success and will help you avoid human resource errors that can derail your startup. Topics covered include:

• Finding Employees - Vehicles

• Hiring versus employment contracts

• Job descriptions and why you need them

• Employment offers – employment at will

• Legal and regulatory – confidentiality, I-9’s

• On boarding - new hire packets, culture

• Common mistakes of small businesses and how to avoid them

• And... Bring your top HR challenge for discussion!

Presenter – Carlton Aird

Carlton Aird is a strategic, solutions oriented and trusted executive with a track record of building enterprise value and delivering results. He brings broad experience across operations and strategic HR and a proven ability to motivate teams to execute and deliver on targeted business strategy and growth objectives. He has over three decades of large company (Fortune 100 Retail 2022) perspective including experience as a key member of three internal startups under the TJX umbrella.

Carlton is currently Senior Vice President, Director of Human Resources at The TJX Companies, Inc., located in Framingham, Massachusetts. The TJX Companies, Inc., is the leading off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the U.S. and worldwide (US, Canada, U.K., Europe and Australia). With over $48 billion in revenue (2021) and approximately 340,000 Associates, TJX ranks 75 among companies in the most recent (2022) Fortune 500 listing.

Carlton leads strategic Human Resources focusing on; General HR practices, HR Compliance, Health and Safety, Labor Relations, I&D, Executive and Leadership Development, Talent Management/Succession. In addition, he is a key partner to Senior and Executive Leadership on critical business issues to best facilitate future growth in an increasingly complex environment while maintaining the TJX Culture and mitigating risk.

He is passionate about developing targeted strategies, achieving results, developing and mentoring talent, and creating proactive solutions that enable business growth and success.

Carlton is a results driven and collaborative leader with strong integrity, business acumen, communication skills, broad perspective and insight and has proven ability to navigate complex global challenges. He has been consistently on the front end of decision-making as an executive responsible for key business initiatives at various divisions within TJX. He has also led interdisciplinary teams on important initiatives including, internal startups, business growth/expansion, reducing/managing risk at times of crisis, reductions in force and union relations.

He believes in giving back and in addition to serving as a VMS Mentor at MIT since 2016, he brings solid experience as a Board Director in the nonprofit arena where he has served on several boards over nearly two decades, including his last role (2017) as President and Chair of Bunker Hill Community College's Foundation Board of Directors and Executive Committee.

Co-Presenter – Don Shobrys

Don Shobrys is the Director of the MIT Venture Mentoring Service. Don has engineering degrees from MIT and Northwestern and a PhD in Operations Research from Johns Hopkins. His career was focused on helping organizations make decisions more quickly and more effectively. He began at Exxon, then the world's largest company, which he left to join a three-person startup that grew into a pioneer in providing analytical tools for supply chain operations management, working with over 100 Fortune 1000 companies in North America and Europe. He led the company's growth as VP of Operations. He is also a past President of the MIT Alumni Association, and served on the MIT Corporation. 

MIT Building E51 (Tang Center) Directions & Parking : https://bit.ly/BuildingE51DirectionsandParking

Nearest parking located at 100 Main Street (http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=E62)