Our People
William Webster
February 2020
Human Resources Manager
North Salt Lake, UT
For over 20 years, Valin employees have experienced consistent, reliable and trustworthy support from veteran Human Resource professional, Francesca Turbok. Fran created a lasting impression on the organization through her dedication and tireless efforts to walk the organization through more than 30 acquisitions during a period of tremendous growth. Replacing that level of commitment and expertise is not easy, however, in 2017 William Webster joined team Valin bringing his level of tenacity along with a genuine interest in Valin employees.
William's tangible and intangible contributions to the organization cannot be summarized here. His background in construction and technology as an HR professional has provided unique insights as to how to support Valin employees and the management team in realizing the benefits of digital technology adoption at the individual user level. For example, William identified an opportunity to reduce a service agreement cost by transitioning to a technology-only option for 2018-2019, saving the organization nearly $130,000. In 2019, William was tasked with identifying suitable replacements that were more digitally relevant, offering employees mobile use and integrated access to time & attendance and benefits information. When a new platform was selected, the HR team initially planned for a 4-5 month project implementation timeline. However, the implementation timeline was decreased with a target for the system to be fully operational on January 1, 2020, effectively reducing the timeline to 6 weeks. William led and participated in over 25 joint planning sessions, with meetings often running late into the evening. In November of 2019, Valin completed a 100% Open Enrollment within the new platform, followed by a 'Perfect Payroll' processing on December 14, 2019. This transition saved an additional $55,000 in annual service fees to Valin.
William's experience with Benefits and Administration has been an exceptional asset as well. He takes the time to listen to employee needs and recommendations and often brings that feedback to the management team. For example, through William's efforts, Valin has introduced various programs including the company PeerFit program and Teladoc. William has also made it a priority to focus his time improving employee access to resources. Examples include him taking the initiative to build out the Human Resource Department Intranet Page, customizing an employee benefits summary guide for recruiting, developing Valin's first-ever onboarding kit, creating Valin's first HR Annual Report in 2019 and updating the total compensation statement design and information.
While many of the contributions above can be summarized as normal requirements of an HR professionals' job-role, William has gone above the call of duty. Examples include countless hours he would spend on the phone negotiating with a benefits provider on behalf of an employee for coverage of a medical claim, or the hours of data-entry required to configure our benefit and payroll data for open enrollment set up. William is a strong employee and manager advocate, often coaching managers on the importance of being objective and impartial when appraising performance and giving constructive feedback. William makes it a point to meet in person when delivering sensitive information to an employee or helping a manager or employee through a personal or professional crisis. William has coached his team and colleagues on the importance of giving individuals 'the benefit of the doubt', and to find opportunities to allow employees to perform at their best. William is best when working with employees at all levels, and you will often find him engaging with new hires upon onboarding to create a warm and welcoming environment.
William’s efforts and contributions are emblematic of what it means to be a part of Team Valin. His focus on building trust across departments, locations or management level lines has improved the image and solidified the importance of having a collaborative human resource team available to employees.
William's tangible and intangible contributions to the organization cannot be summarized here. His background in construction and technology as an HR professional has provided unique insights as to how to support Valin employees and the management team in realizing the benefits of digital technology adoption at the individual user level. For example, William identified an opportunity to reduce a service agreement cost by transitioning to a technology-only option for 2018-2019, saving the organization nearly $130,000. In 2019, William was tasked with identifying suitable replacements that were more digitally relevant, offering employees mobile use and integrated access to time & attendance and benefits information. When a new platform was selected, the HR team initially planned for a 4-5 month project implementation timeline. However, the implementation timeline was decreased with a target for the system to be fully operational on January 1, 2020, effectively reducing the timeline to 6 weeks. William led and participated in over 25 joint planning sessions, with meetings often running late into the evening. In November of 2019, Valin completed a 100% Open Enrollment within the new platform, followed by a 'Perfect Payroll' processing on December 14, 2019. This transition saved an additional $55,000 in annual service fees to Valin.
William's experience with Benefits and Administration has been an exceptional asset as well. He takes the time to listen to employee needs and recommendations and often brings that feedback to the management team. For example, through William's efforts, Valin has introduced various programs including the company PeerFit program and Teladoc. William has also made it a priority to focus his time improving employee access to resources. Examples include him taking the initiative to build out the Human Resource Department Intranet Page, customizing an employee benefits summary guide for recruiting, developing Valin's first-ever onboarding kit, creating Valin's first HR Annual Report in 2019 and updating the total compensation statement design and information.
While many of the contributions above can be summarized as normal requirements of an HR professionals' job-role, William has gone above the call of duty. Examples include countless hours he would spend on the phone negotiating with a benefits provider on behalf of an employee for coverage of a medical claim, or the hours of data-entry required to configure our benefit and payroll data for open enrollment set up. William is a strong employee and manager advocate, often coaching managers on the importance of being objective and impartial when appraising performance and giving constructive feedback. William makes it a point to meet in person when delivering sensitive information to an employee or helping a manager or employee through a personal or professional crisis. William has coached his team and colleagues on the importance of giving individuals 'the benefit of the doubt', and to find opportunities to allow employees to perform at their best. William is best when working with employees at all levels, and you will often find him engaging with new hires upon onboarding to create a warm and welcoming environment.
William’s efforts and contributions are emblematic of what it means to be a part of Team Valin. His focus on building trust across departments, locations or management level lines has improved the image and solidified the importance of having a collaborative human resource team available to employees.