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Cathy Susie
Vice President Human Resources, US Business Operations at Schneider Electric
Professional Background
Cathy Susie is a remarkable human resources (HR) professional with a diverse background in civil engineering and over 20 years of rich experience in the highly competitive and dynamic world of global business operations. Currently serving as the Vice President of Human Resources for US Business Operations at Schneider Electric, Cathy has marked her presence in one of the world’s most sustainable companies with an impressive workforce of over 125,000 employees. Her career journey through various leadership roles at Schneider Electric speaks volumes about her adaptability and her strategic vision within the HR domain.
Throughout her career, Cathy has demonstrated a proven ability to collaborate and influence across functional, divisional, and geographical boundaries. Her strong track record proves that she thrives in environments characterized by change and ambiguity, often turning challenges into opportunities. She excels at creating leadership dynamics that foster a collaborative work culture, even in fast-paced settings, ensuring that her teams can work seamlessly toward achieving company objectives and driving results.
Education and Achievements
Cathy lays a strong foundation for her professional excellence with a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree in Civil Engineering from Tulane University. This educational background has not only equipped her with technical knowledge but also a unique perspective that enriches her approach to human resources management, particularly in an engineering-oriented industry. Her technical expertise complements her HR skills and positions her as a well-rounded leader who understands both the people and the processes that drive organizational success.
Throughout her illustrious career, Cathy has held various critical roles in HR, primarily at Schneider Electric, where her journey began as a Civil Engineer at Halff Associates. Transitioning to the HR domain, she quickly progressed through several managerial roles, including positions such as Global Training Director and HR Business Partner, where she honed her skills in talent management, succession planning, and strategic workforce planning. Her journey reflects a devoted commitment to nurturing talent and fostering an engaging workforce.
Notable Roles and Responsibilities
In her current role as Vice President of Human Resources at Schneider Electric, Cathy is responsible for overseeing HR operations across US Business Operations. Her strategic oversight ensures effective talent management and employee engagement, embedding a culture of retention and professional growth. Previously, as VP of Human Resources at ASCO Power Technologies, a division of Schneider Electric, Cathy led initiatives that streamlined HR processes and improved employee satisfaction.
Before that, as a Global HR Business Partner and Talent Management Director, Cathy implemented innovative talent assessment techniques, designed to identify and cultivate the next generation of leaders within the organization. Cumulatively, these roles underscore her vast experience in organizational design and effectiveness.
Expertise and Skills
Cathy’s extensive expertise includes but is not limited to:
- Talent Management: Championing the importance of developing a robust talent pipeline, which ensures that the organization can meet its present and future challenges effectively.
- Succession Planning: Strategically designing succession plans that allow for smoother transitions in leadership and preserve organizational knowledge.
- Strategic Workforce Planning: Anticipating future hiring needs and aligning them with business objectives to ensure that Schneider Electric maintains its competitive edge.
- Employee Engagement: Developing programs that enhance employee motivation and engagement, encouraging a positive workplace culture that fosters collaboration and innovation.
- Executive Coaching: Mentoring emerging leaders and creating development plans tailored to their growth trajectories.
- Communication and Interpersonal Skills: Known for her exceptional communication abilities, Cathy empowers individuals and teams to take actionable steps towards achieving their goals, thereby generating a sense of energy and purpose in the workplace.
Achievements
Throughout her career, Cathy has achieved numerous accolades that underline her commitment to excellence in human resources and leadership. She has been instrumental in instituting HR practices that have contributed positively to the overall employee experience, resulting in lower turnover rates and higher employee satisfaction scores. Her initiatives in workforce planning have notably enhanced organizational agility and responsiveness in times of change.
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Cathy is recognized as a thought leader in HR circles, often participating in forums and panels focused on sustainable workforce development. Her insights on blending technical and HR aspects have made her a sought-after speaker in the field, especially concerning talent strategies and how companies can effectively manage talent in diverse environments.
In summary, Cathy Susie embodies a unique blend of civil engineering technical expertise and deep human resource management skills, making her an invaluable asset to her organization. She has consistently leveraged her background to influence practices across divisions while fostering an inclusive and engaged company culture. As she continues to innovate and excel in her field, Cathy sets a standard of leadership that many aspire to emulate.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
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Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
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User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.