Overview
Served as HRBP and Project Lead for a comprehensive Lean Six Sigma Green Belt project at CareerBuilder, addressing critical voluntary turnover of 40% within the New Business Development sales teams during their first year. Led a cross-functional team through the complete DMAIC process to identify root causes, develop data-driven solutions, secure executive buy-in from the board of directors and CEO, and implement a complete overhaul of the onboarding and training program.
The Challenge
CareerBuilder's New Business Development sales teams were experiencing devastating 40% voluntary turnover within the first year of employment. This high attrition created a vicious cycle: significant costs for recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding new team members; reduced sales performance due to constant team instability; lost productivity and revenue from vacant positions; and damaged team morale. The Green Belt team was tasked with identifying the root causes, proposing solutions to executive leadership, and implementing sustainable improvements.
Methodologies & Approach
Lean Six Sigma DMAIC
- Define: Mapped current state & metrics
- Measure: Collected turnover data & patterns
- Analyze: Root cause analysis (5 Whys, Fishbone)
- Improve: Designed new training program
- Control: Monitored results for 1 year
Stakeholder Management
- Board of Directors Presentations
- CEO Approval & Buy-in
- Sales Leadership Negotiation
- Cross-Functional Team Collaboration
Training Development
- Learning & Development Partnership
- SaaS Product Training Curriculum
- 6-Month Onboarding Program
- Sales Enablement Tools
Root Cause Analysis & Solutions
Root Cause Identified: Insufficient Training
Through extensive data analysis and employee interviews, the team identified that new sales reps were being placed on client calls too quickly without adequate product knowledge. CareerBuilder's complex SaaS ecosystem required deeper understanding before reps could effectively sell and position solutions, leading to early failures and frustration.
Overhauled Onboarding Program
After intensive negotiations with sales leadership, secured buy-in to completely redesign the onboarding process. Extended upfront training time to allow reps to develop comprehensive product knowledge before client interaction, ensuring they understood the full SaaS ecosystem and how to leverage it for sales success.
Ongoing Product Training Curriculum
Partnered with Learning & Development to create a structured 6-month ongoing training program. Designed progressive product training modules that reps could complete throughout their first six months, reinforcing knowledge and building expertise systematically rather than overwhelming them upfront.
Implementation & Monitoring
Led the implementation of the new program across all New Business Development teams. Established control measures and monitored results continuously for one full year, tracking turnover rates, time-to-productivity, quota attainment, and training completion rates to validate improvements.
Results & Impact
40% → 15%
Voluntary turnover reduction
62.5%
Decrease in turnover rate
Major ROI
Reduced recruiting & training costs
This project delivered enormous cost savings for CareerBuilder's sales organization. The dramatic reduction in turnover meant more experienced reps making sales and consistently hitting quota, while significantly reducing time and money spent on recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding replacement team members. The improved retention also boosted team morale and created a more stable, productive sales environment.