Debbie Johnston, MBA, CHRP

debbie.johnston@humber.ca 416-675-6622 X4547

Profile
An accomplished post-secondary educator, and senior business leader and administrator with extensive experience in the Canadian financial services sector. Proven capabilities demonstrated in the areas of:

Teaching at the college and university levels in both face-to-face and distance settings Curriculum and course design, development and evaluation Human Resources consulting and operations Large-scale organizational change leadership and project management (including complex problemsolving) Strategic and tactical planning, as well as frontline business leadership

Experience
Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning Full-Time Professor 2009 Present
Successfully teaching Introduction to Business and Principles of Management courses, achieving high levels of student satisfaction. Additional accomplishments include: Instructional lead for the Principles of Management course. Currently designing a new career management course for fifth semester Business Administration students (planned launch September, 2012). Representative of the Business School at Humbers Academic Council (ongoing). Created a textbook evaluation template to facilitate efficient and effective tracking and decision-making. Developed the Business Schools first formal Research Ethics Board submission to have a course designated as a Humber Research Ethics Board Approved Course. Key contributor to the Business Management Advising Program (BMAP) pilot for mentoring new students. Acting in a consultative capacity for the programs second phase in May-June, 2012. Developed and delivered workshops for the Centre for Teaching and Learning on student team development as well as e-portfolio development. Implemented many innovative instructional techniques, including using magic in the classroom, building online Vocabulary Builder modules in Blackboard, writing student course guides, integrating live projects into the Principles of Management course, and developing a successful new approach to creating student teams. Mentored a new full-time instructor as well as several part-time instructors.

Part-Time Academic Instructor

Successful part-time academic instructor teaching a variety of courses at the following institutions: University Degree and Post-Graduate Courses Ryerson University (May June, 2009) University of Guelph-Humber (January April, 2009) George Brown College (September December, 2008) Diploma and Certificate Level Courses Humber College (May July, 2009) Georgian College Durham College (January April, 2009) (September December, 2008) (January 2009 August, 2009)

2008 2009

Organizational Behaviour & Interpersonal Skills Introduction to Organizational Behaviour Organizational Effectiveness (Post-Graduate)

Introduction to Business Principles of Management Management & Planning Principles Essentials of Management Training & Development (via distance learning)

Sole Proprietor of Bluebird Learning, Toronto

2005 Present

Owner of a small business that provides workshops on parrot behaviour, training and conservation. Sessions have been successfully delivered to approximately 10,000 participants, including elementary school students, pet owners, parrot clubs, international conference attendees and veterinary students at the University of Guelph.

CIBC Vice-President, Workforce Excellence & Employee Investment, Toronto

2001 2005

The primary purpose of this role was to ensure that all frontline Retail Banking employees and managers had the knowledge and skills needed to achieve job-specific performance targets and career objectives. Key functional responsibilities also included participating as a member of the Retail Banking executive leadership team (contributing to strategic and tactical planning, decision-making and problem-solving), organizational change management, employee communications, business initiatives planning, and conference management. Employee and Manager Development

Developed and implemented a strategy that transformed classroom-based learning into a blended approach centered around e-learning. Outcomes included the successful introduction of a Learning Management System as well as the development of a fully integrated curriculum that included 125 e-learning courses, 45 in-branch workshops, a variety of learning videos, synchronous distance learning courses, self-study programs and job aids (all of which were designed in-house). Designed a creative employee communications approach that contributed towards extraordinarily high acceptance levels of the new, self-directed approach to learning. Generated a 900% increase in course utilization, an 85% reduction in the cost per course completion, increases in business performance and higher employee satisfaction levels. Received four key industry best-practice awards: CSTD Canadian Award for Training Excellence - Internal e-Learning Program category Brandon Hall silver award - Outstanding Learning Programs and Initiatives category Two Corporate University Xchange Excellence and Innovation awards - Alignment and Launching a New Corporate University categories. Designed a measurement methodology to quantify the impacts of learning on specific business outcomes, as well as a capability planning application which defined knowledge and skill requirements for each branch job and provided real-time workforce skill level analytics to management. Produced comprehensive, job-specific new hire development programs that were awarded college and university-level credits by Campus Canada in conjunction with Humber College. Successfully led a departmental team of 50 people and managed numerous external learning vendors and contractors. Also effectively managed a multi-year project budget of $14 million and annual operating budgets of approximately $8 million.

Organizational Change Management

Led the merger of Branch Banking and Small Business Banking (15,000 employees), resulting in $20 million in cost savings. Key components included organizational design, employee communications, re-defining branch roles, job grading, developing new performance scorecards, establishing a modified exit program for impacted employees, and creating an accelerated recruitment plan for new positions.

Business Initiatives Planning

Established an innovative methodology for managing the scheduling and implementation of new projects/initiatives into the branch network, in order to ensure the effective introduction of extensive business changes without negatively impacting day-to-day frontline productivity.

Conference Management

Led the development and delivery of numerous large-scale learning conferences, including a 3-day leadership conference held in Toronto for 1,200 managers from across Canada, and a conference-style customer service seminar delivered to 15,000 employees across Canada within a one-week period.

CIBC - General Manager, GTA Branch Banking, Toronto

(3,000 employees) achieve record-breaking performance levels, including:

2000 2001

Provided a broad range of business support services which helped this region of approximately 200 branches

Managed the regions annual business, workforce and compensation planning processes, as well as recruiting programs (including developing a new manager intake program).

Resolved complex customer complaints and mediated employee relations issues. Developed a mystery shopping program which dramatically increased customer service levels, and a sales tracking application which provided rapid access to critical measurement analytics. Addressed operational issues relating to branch sales and service practices, risk management, health and safety, facilities management, etc. Designed and implemented numerous large-scale employee recognition events.

Designed, developed and delivered numerous workshops for frontline leaders in areas such as employee motivation,

coaching, communication skills, recruitment and interviewing practices, time management, prioritization skills, etc.
Established and managed the regions communication strategies, and wrote all internal and external

communications (including speeches, presentations and position papers) for the Senior Vice-President.

CIBC - Director, Human Resources Consulting, Toronto

1999 2000

Led a team of 10 senior HR practitioners and provided direct support to the Senior Executive Vice-President and his

leadership team in areas including organizational design, change management, performance management, compensation planning, equity/diversity management, workforce and succession planning, and leadership coaching.

CIBC - Director, Human Resources Management Information Systems, Toronto

Managed a team of 10 technology specialists responsible for all aspects of HRIS management and HR

1996 1999

desktop technologies, including payroll and benefits processing, LAN administration, hardware/software support, application development and business recovery planning. Developed and initiated implementation of a multi-year HR technology strategy and initiated work on the legacy systems migration to PeopleSoft.

CIBC - HR Generalist, Toronto

1995 1996

Researched and authored position papers, speeches, presentations and employee communications for the

HR Senior Vice-President and the Personal & Commercial Bank President to deliver to internal and external audiences. Also, developed a Branch Manager staffing guide to support a large-scale hiring initiative.

CIBC Restructuring Support Program Manager, Toronto

1992 - 1995

Led a diverse team of 25 HR specialists. Established and managed all operations associated with CIBCs

Restructuring Support Program, including payroll and pension administration, termination package preparation and tracking, relationship management of numerous outplacement companies, program financial monitoring, and the provision of extensive policy and practice guidance to HR consultants, managers and employees.
As HR practices lead in a large-scale business segmentation initiative, identified implications of the

organizational change, analyzed workforce profiles, developed new workforce models and position descriptions, and defined performance measures.

Previous Experience (Toronto)

CIBC - HR Business Centre Manager CIBC - Training Manager and Senior Instructor The Answer Computer Centre Training Coordinator IBM Canada Ltd. various roles, including Customer Response Line Analyst Technical editor of three published books (1990): WordPerfect 5.1 Training and User Guide, Lotus 1-2-3 Simplified User Guide, and MS-DOS Simplified User Guide.

1990 1992 1987 1990 1985 1987 1979 1985

Education and Professional Development

Various professional development workshops through Humbers Centre for Teaching and Learning Humber Colleges 2-year Teaching Excellence Program Teaching Excellence workshops - Georgian Colleges Centre for Teaching and Learning MBA with Distinction University of Liverpool. Also recognized as Student of the Year. Basic and Advanced Alternative Dispute Resolution courses - Stitt Feld Handy Finance for Senior Executives - Harvard Business School CPES Process Engineering (Six Sigma and Lean) CHRP Designation (Member of HR Professionals Association)

Ongoing 2011 2008 20062008 2006 2004 2004 2000