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Cassandra Merry

HR ANALYTICS & STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLANNING SPECIALIST

I take pride in being a reliable conduit of strategic HR insights, fostering seamless communication among executive leadership, HR business partners, finance teams, and other key stakeholders. My role ensures a comprehensive understanding of organizational needs, enabling data-driven decision-making and timely, effective solutions. I am constantly on the lookout for opportunities to optimize HR processes and procedures, actively collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver top-notch analytics, budgeting forecasts, and actionable workforce metrics that align with business objectives.

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Results-driven HR Analytics professional with over 7 years of experience in leveraging data-driven insights to optimize workforce productivity, drive strategic decision-making, and align HR processes with business objectives. Proven track record in managing complex projects, leading change management initiatives, and delivering actionable recommendations to senior stakeholders. Expertise in financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting, with a strong focus on HR metrics and cost analysis. Skilled in advanced data analytics, process automation, and HRIS implementation, particularly Workday. Currently enhancing HRIS expertise through Workday certification to complement extensive experience in HR analytics and strategic operations. Adept at collaborating with HR Business Partners, finance teams, and cross-functional stakeholders to drive operational improvements and support organizational growth. Passionate about leveraging HR technology and analytics to drive business success in a dynamic, global environment.

CORE COMPETENCIES
Workday Configuration & Implementation • HR Analytics & Reporting • Project & Program Management • Stakeholder Communication • Change Management & Process Improvement • Data Visualization • Strategic Decision-Making • Cross-Functional Collaboration • Process Automation • Data Modeling & Forecasting • FTE Analysis & Management • Performance-Based Compensation Design • Organizational Development

 

CERTIFICATIONS 

  • Workday in Action Certification: Oct. 2024

    • Mastering end-to-end business processes across Workday HCM, Recruiting, Compensation, Benefits, and Financial Management modules

    • Developing expertise in data management, process initiation/approval, system navigation, and maintaining worker and transactional data

  • Workday Basics Certification: Oct. 2024

    • Gaining foundational knowledge in Workday's core concepts, navigation, and basic configuration


EXPERIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON MEDICAL CENTER (UWMC) |100% Remote                                                                              01/2021-09/2024
Senior Labor Productivity Analysts
Lead data-driven analytics to optimize workforce performance and strategic decision-making across a major healthcare system, employing approaches analogous to talent analytics in corporate environments.

  • Configure and implement advanced data models in Workday to forecast workforce needs and costs, resulting in a 15% improvement in resource allocation efficiency.

  • Design and maintain interactive Workday dashboards and Discovery Boards, providing real-time insights on talent metrics and KPIs to C-suite executives and HR leaders.

  • Develop and deploy a custom talent analytics tool in Workday, integrating benchmarking data, budget information, and individual performance models, significantly enhancing talent management and performance tracking.

  • Conduct variance analysis between projected and actual performance metrics, identifying root causes and recommending data-driven solutions to bridge gaps.

  • Partner with HR, finance, and operations teams to refine performance benchmarks and compensation structures, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and market competitiveness.

  • Lead the implementation and optimization of Workday People Analytics across 400+ departments, significantly enhancing real-time talent tracking and strategic decision-making capabilities.

Key Achievement: Pioneered a predictive modeling tool in Workday Prism Analytics that boosted workforce planning accuracy by 20%, yielding an estimated $5 million in annual cost savings through optimized staffing levels and reduced overtime.

UWMC SCHOOL OF MEDICINE |100% Remote                                                                                                                              01/2020-12/2020
Assistant Director of Financial Business & Planning
Led talent analytics and compensation planning processes for a major academic medical center, ensuring alignment between workforce analytics, operational outcomes, and faculty compensation structures.

  • Spearheaded the configuration and optimization of the Workday-based Faculty Funding Database, implementing comprehensive talent tracking and reporting systems. Collaborated with diverse departments and IT teams to streamline annual planning processes and deliver data-driven insights to leadership.

  • Designed and implemented advanced Workday dashboards and reports for Clinical Full-Time Equivalence (CFTE) analytics, providing critical workforce data to internal stakeholders to inform strategic decision-making.

  • Developed and executed complex data models in Workday to analyze departmental staffing needs and compensation structures, ensuring compliance with regulations while optimizing resource allocation.

  • Leveraged expertise in Workday People Analytics and Prism to enhance data mining capabilities, producing user-friendly, actionable reports for cross-functional stakeholders a protection standards in all analytics processes.

  • Implemented data privacy and security measures in collaboration with compliance and legal departments, ensuring adherence to data

Key Achievement: Designed and deployed a new Workday-based compensation modeling tool, resulting in a 30% reduction in planning time and a 20% increase in forecast accuracy for faculty compensation and budgeting processes.

NORTHWEST HOSPITAL (UWMC) | Seattle, WA                                                                                                                              04/2014-01/2020
Lead Compensation & Practice Analyst
Spearheaded the development, alignment, and integration of talent analytics and compensation structures across the organization, leveraging advanced data modeling and analytics to drive strategic decision-making and ensure competitive, equitable practices. Led a critical year-long project to integrate talent data and compensation models of a 500+ FTE community hospital into the UWMC system, resulting in successful merger with less than 10% staff attrition.

  • Configured and implemented multi-tiered compensation models in Workday, incorporating performance-based incentives and value-based elements. Managed and analyzed incentive programs worth over $10 million annually for 500+ professionals, ensuring internal equity and external competitiveness.

  • Designed and optimized Workday dashboards and reports to analyze and redesign hundreds of compensation models, collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams to align with organizational goals during complex merger.

  • Established a scalable data reporting cadence in Workday, proactively discussing performance metrics, identifying risks, and delivering actionable insights to improve talent management and operational outcomes.

  • Developed comprehensive communication strategies for employees and leadership, effectively translating complex analytics into understandable insights for all levels of management.

  • Utilized Workday's advanced analytics capabilities to perform complex workforce analyses, prepare interpretations with high accuracy, and create data visualizations for strategic decision-making

Key Achievement: Designed and implemented a custom Workday-based talent analytics tool, incorporating automated benchmarking data, budget information, and individual performance models. This significantly improved compensation planning and talent performance tracking across the organization.

SEATTLE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL | Seattle, WA                                                                                                                               09/2012-03/2014
Data Specialist – Medical Staff Services
Led comprehensive talent data management and quality assurance initiatives for medical staff, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards while driving operational efficiency and data-driven decision-making in HR processes.

  • • Configured and implemented robust talent data management strategies in Workday to increase accuracy, accessibility, and integrity of staff credentials and qualifications data. Created advanced data validation processes and conducted training sessions on Workday best practices.

  • Designed and optimized data integration and quality assurance strategies in Workday, significantly reducing inconsistencies across HR systems and improving overall data reliability for talent management decisions.

  • Collaborated with cross-functional teams to streamline talent management processes and support strategic decision-making. Developed and analyzed new mechanisms in Workday for improving efficiency of talent tracking, demonstrating ability to optimize complex HR processes through data-driven insights.

  • Implemented data privacy and security measures in Workday, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards in all talent data management processes.

  •  Leveraged Workday's reporting capabilities to create comprehensive talent analytics reports, providing actionable insights to HR leadership and supporting data-driven talent strategies.

  • ment process, leading to improved resource allocation and data-driven decision-making.

Key Achievement: Spearheaded the adoption of Workday's analytics capabilities within HR operations, developing specialized talent dashboards for senior management. This initiative significantly enhanced visibility of key performance indicators in the talent manage


TECHNICAL SKILLS
Workday (HCM, Reporting, Business Processes, Security - certification in progress) • HR Analytics & Reporting: Advanced Excel (macros, VBA), PowerBI, Tableau • Data Analysis & Visualization: Tableau, PowerBI, Spotfire • Project Management: Agile methodologies, Change Management • Enterprise Software: SAP (Business Objects), Epic, Kronos Analytics • Microsoft Office Suites

EDUCATION & AWARDS
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON | Seattle, WA
Bachelor of Science, Informatics and Information Management - Focus on data management, information systems, and analytical methodologies, providing a strong foundation for HR analytics and strategic operations.

UW MEDICINE CARES AWARD | 2024

Recipient of the UW Medicine CARES Award Nomination for outstanding use of data and professional communication. Recognized for excellence in leveraging HRIS and analytics tools to drive strategic HR decisions, and for exceptional ability to communicate complex data insights to diverse stakeholders, facilitating successful system implementations and process improvements.

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