Live the Life You Love
Corporate Human Resources Manager John Feeney can find giving suggestions to aspiring corporate HR managers a little challenging because everyone has their own way of accomplishing a task or goal, and everyone has a different way of processing information. But, from a career perspective, the best “advice” he can give is that he’s found he receives the most professional fulfillment when he’s doing something he enjoys.
“If I enjoy what I’m doing, it feels a lot less like work and more like I’m on a team with people, having fun and trying to accomplish a shared goal,” Feeney said. “MPW is a great company, with a really smart and energetic workforce. I like that my job allows me to interact with a lot of different people, within a lot of different departments, often within the same day!”
As a Corporate HR Manager at MPW, Feeney assists Director of Human Resources Jim Tyznik with different aspects of the department. Some areas of focus include corporate policy development and management, benefit administration, HR compliance matters—such as wage and hour compliance—union-related guidance and HR system-related enhancements or changes.
Feeney said a Corporate HR Manager’s “routine” depends on what projects are taking place. For instance, he said MPW just finalized a very complex business transaction, which meant that most of his days, especially leading up to the transaction’s conclusion, were consumed with making sure everything was lined up and ready to go.
“With that in mind, I think one of the most challenging things about any job, and not just the corporate HR manager role, is time management,” Feeney said. “Everyone would love to get everything done, and on time, but that’s not always possible. So, I’m always searching for how I can be the most efficient with my time.”
In total, Feeney has worked for MPW for roughly 10 years, beginning as an attorney within the legal department. He said there is a lot of cross-over between an Associate General Counsel—attorney within the legal department—and his current Corporate HR Manager role.
Many of Feeney’s current responsibilities overlap with his former position because he still ensures MPW’s corporate policies and procedures are compliant with various laws and regulations. These range from pay practices to leave of absences and benefit administration, among many others. “Having established relationships with many employees while I was in the legal department has most certainly helped in the transition to the Corporate HR Manager role,” Feeney said.
Feeney enjoys being at home with Katie, his wife of nearly 20 years, and their three boys ages 14, 12 and eight. “My kids are active in sports, so I like to attend their practices and games. But seriously, outside of that I’m a pretty uninteresting person,” he confessed. “Most people who know me at MPW would say that in my spare time, I like to run and eat Spaghetti-O’s. Actually, that’s not true. I’ll eat most any Chef Boyardee product!”