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Domonique Williams knew she was stepping into a difficult environment. In fact, the chance to solve a complex problem and make a meaningful impact is part of what drew the human resources professional to Forbo Movement Systems in the first place. A thirty-year veteran who once led HR at the conveyor belt manufacturer left a big void upon his retirement. Two other practitioners had come and gone in less than a year, and their tumultuous tenures tanked employee morale and frustrated a workforce in need of direction, clarity, and stability. Williams had her work cut out for her.
She has always had a knack for helping and connecting people. The Ohio native was the second of nine children. It’s part of what attracted her to her industry. “Coming from a very big family with lots of siblings got me accustomed to interacting with many personalities and competing desires,” she says. “I guess that’s why I do well in human resources.”
But Williams didn’t originally set out to recruit job candidates and build total rewards packages. She earned a psychology degree from Westerville’s Otterbein University and had her eye on advocating for reform by working in the prison system. After taking a stressful assignment in a school for children with severe learning and behavioral disabilities, Williams reconsidered and met with a career counselor to find a new path. He suggested Williams pivot towards HR and found her an internship with Discover Financial Services.
“Coming from a very big family with lots of siblings got me accustomed to interacting with many personalities and competing desires. I guess that’s why I do well in human resources.”
Domonique Williams
As Discover’s HR managers and other leaders started to mentor and invest in Williams, she fell in love with her new field. “It’s exciting to me when I get to create a win-win situation by helping people find jobs where they can contribute and help an organization succeed. Once I experienced that, I knew I wanted to keep going,” she says. Williams accepted a full-time role at Discover and enrolled in a master’s program for human resources management at the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University.
In 2022, after Williams had left Discover to hone her craft at a German auto parts company and a financial services firm known as Meduit, a recruiter made her aware of the opportunity at Forbo. Both the recruiter and company leaders were transparent—they needed someone to come in, fix old problems, and make big changes.
“Some HR leaders are locked into maintaining the status quo and never get a chance to be creative,” Williams says. “I saw coming to Forbo as my opportunity to get creative and build something special.”
To find success, Williams would have to resist the urge to move too fast and do too much. It was no easy task given the HR department’s aging technology and outdated employee handbook. Still, she resolved not to make any major changes in her first year. Instead, Williams spent her first twelve months meeting with employees and managers, getting her team aligned with an updated departmental plan, brainstorming new strategies to measure employee engagement, and crafting plans to create an HR handbook and update Forbo’s human resources information system software.
“Some HR leaders are locked into maintaining the status quo and never get a chance to be creative. I saw coming to Forbo as my opportunity to get creative and build something special.”
Domonique Williams
By 2023, Williams had buy-in from Forbo’s leadership team and was armed with the data she needed to execute a plan for improvement in her region, which covers North and South America. Her team updated the company’s human resources information system software, launched an employee satisfaction survey, and started a committee designed to get more direct feedback from representatives of an Americas workforce that totals around 675 people.
Results came quickly. After implementing changes and holding informative town hall sessions, Williams started to notice that employees who once resented HR were making appointments with generalists to discuss their issues and concerns. A global CEO’s request to adopt her methods in other regions served as further validation.
After nearly two decades in HR, Williams is still creating win-wins. Forbo’s HR department recently launched a bonus program that is based on company performance and available to all employees, not just senior leaders and mid-level managers. “If we as a company hit our target numbers, the company wins, and the employees win. That’s how it should be,” she says.
Williams gives the credit for her success to those working alongside her and says holding regular departmental meetings and prioritizing professional development have engendered loyalty. Now that she’s addressed morale, Williams is turning her attention to health and wellness. After all, she’s a certified nutritionist and part-time yoga instructor. Forbo now offers quarterly wellness events, which address issues like financial literacy, stretching and mobility, mental health, and diet.
In creating these win-wins, Williams represents the transformative power of thoughtful leadership in HR. Through her strategic patience and inventive insights, she has replaced a workplace marked by apathy and frustration with a culture of engagement and shared success. As she moves her projects and initiatives forward, Williams is sure to keep making a lasting positive impact on her company and its workforce alike.
