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Gotcha Covered HR - Juanita Hill-Kennedy, SPHR, SHRM-SCP - HR Consultant

“Simply put, I love Human Resources because it is the heart of a Company. By attracting, engaging and retaining top talent, I know my HR expertise and efforts make a difference in the engagement of Employees first and to the company's bottom-line second. And, in that order as there is absolutely nothing I am more passionate about than engaging Employees and letting them know they are valued. When this occurs, everything else falls into place.”

Juanita Hill-Kennedy, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

HR Consultant


Juanita Hill-Kennedy is a strategic human resources executive with more than 20 years of experience conceptualizing and implementing HR policies and procedures to promote the organizational mission. Her expertise includes supporting comprehensive, high-performance human resources roles that incite business excellence. Juanita delivers exemplary strategic vision and tactical implementation to assess and improve human resource programs and processes that retain superior talent and reduce turnover. She is known for routinely evaluating and reengineering systems to improve quality standards resulting in bottom-line results.

​Throughout her career, Juanita has been recognized as a genuine influencer who thrives on solving challenging problems, understanding organizational priorities, formulating strategies, and translating vision into actionable, value-added goals. As the Director of Human Resources with Royal Sonesta New Orleans, Juanita championed continuous improvement, defining and executing talent management strategies that reduced 2019 90-day turnover by 8% and property turnover by 7%, securing cost savings of $350K+. She also devised and implemented strategies that improved workplace culture and employee engagement, leading property to an 11-point increase in employee engagement growth in one year, resulting in she and her Human Resources team being recognized with Sonesta’s Sonny & Esther Award.

​Recently, Juanita had the opportunity to work as a Consultant on a key labor relations project that included heading up a union avoidance campaign. Her expertise encompasses presenting and educating employees on all aspects of the National Labor Relations Act and the National Labor Relations Board. Juanita is also talented in educating employees on collective bargaining, union organizing strategies, and the impact of unionization on business development. Additionally, she spent time meeting with employees in “one on one’s,” which included understanding and addressing staff issues and concerns while educating them on the processes involved in an NLRB secret ballot election.

​Juanita holds an SPHR certification with the Human Resources Certification Institute and a SHRM-CP certification with the Society of Human Resources. She studied Business at the University of New Orleans, Honolulu Community College and Tulane University. She is a Member of SHRM, HRCI, and Nola SHRM. Juanita is a transformative and empowering leader who supports companies and top executives with a unique perspective, respect, and appreciation that engaged employees is every organization’s greatest asset.

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