Ken Pollet is the Principal and Founder of Answer Human Assets, a company that was founded in 1999 and provides outsourced human resource support to small and mid-sized companies. Ken has many years of successful management and technical experience having managed major organizational changes including start-ups and re-organizations, both domestically and internationally.

After beginning his career in technology with companies such as New York Life, Informatics General Corporation (contractor for IBM) and Bank of New Zealand, Ken was hired by Banco Santander as Head of Technology. He was quickly promoted to Vice President of Operations and later named Vice President of Human Resources. In this position, he was responsible for all aspects of Human Resources and Facilities for Banco Santander’s operations in the United States. When Ken helped Banco Santander become one of the first foreign banks to be granted the right to operate as an investment bank in the United States, he became responsible for all aspects of Human Resources for Santander Investment Securities. In addition to his domestic responsibilities, Ken played a significant role in the initiation and development of a variety of global programs in areas such as compensation, long-term incentive programs, expatriate policies and human resources information systems. Ken was also responsible for overseeing the construction of a nineteen story office tower in midtown Manhattan which serves as the U.S. Headquarters for Banco Santander.

Through his work with the Santander Group, Ken enhanced his knowledge of human resources for the financial services industry. In 2000, after twelve years with Santander Group, he founded Answer Human Assets (AHA). Since that time, AHA has been functioning as the “HR Department” for a variety of domestic and international clients, handling day- to-day operations such as payroll, benefits administration and employee relations as well as partnering with management on a variety of issues such as right-sizing, evaluation processes, prevention of sexual harassment and benchmarking. AHA’s other areas of expertise include compensation, long term incentives, succession planning, staffing and training. In addition to the services available for domestic companies, AHA offers a variety of specialized services for international businesses including the development of relocation packages, move coordination, cross-cultural training and visa processing.

Ken is a graduate of Bernard M. Baruch College with an MBA in Finance. He is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management and the French American Chamber of Commerce.

Ken Pollet, Principal and Founder
kpollet@ahahr.com
212-292-2336

Paula is a Human Resource Associate for Answer Human Assets (AHA), responsible for human resource and account management for small to mid-sized businesses in Manhattan, Westchester County and other surrounding areas in the tri-state metro area.  She has over 18 years of human resource management and administration experience, with an emphasis on recruitment, employee relations, communications and compliance. During her tenure with AHA, Paula has progressively taken on diverse HR responsibilities, managing the ever changing needs of AHA’s client companies, functioning as both the on-site and also the back office contact. She excels at developing and cultivating strong work relationships with all levels of employees, and works closely with the management of each client company in order to best tailor HR solutions to reflect the client’s needs, goals and management style.

Prior to joining AHA, Paula was the Recruitment & Employee Relations Manager for the Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton Fashion Group Americas (LVMH). In this role, Paula was responsible for all aspects of the recruitment process, and for the handling of employee relations issues at both the corporate and retail level. In addition, she was responsible for visa procurement and the annual recruitment budget. She completed Louis Vuitton’s management training program at their Paris, France global headquarters.

Previously, Paula was an Employment Specialist/Assistant Treasurer in the corporate Human Resource Department at Republic National Bank (now HSBC). She co-managed a large in-house temporary staff, as well as recruited outside candidates for the company’s long-term temporary and temp-to-perm positions for all departments and divisions.

Prior to joining Republic National Bank, Paula completed a three month Human Resource internship, (while finishing her master’s degree) at UPS’s Yorktown Heights, NY location. Her responsibilities included recruiting for temporary, seasonal delivery and customer service staff as well as handling new hire orientations.

Paula began her HR career as a Recruiting Assistant in PaineWebber Inc.’s Investment Banking division. In this role, she coordinated both the MBA and undergraduate full-time and summer position interview process, both on campus and in-house. She also organized both the Financial Analyst and Associate new hire training programs.

Paula earned an M.S. in Human Resource Management from Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, NY and a B.A. in English from Siena College in Loudonville, NY. She lives in Ridgewood, NJ with her husband.

Paula Ciccimarra, Associate
pciccimarra@ahahr.com
212-292-2390
212-295-1792 (Fax)

Susan Gallen is a Human Resource Associate for Answer Human Assets, responsible for account management and human resources (HR) support for small to mid-sized businesses in Bucks County and other surrounding areas in Pennsylvania and Central New Jersey.

Susan is a human resources professional offering 15 years of generalist experience. Her previous experience includes being a contractor with the Rosen Group where her diverse group of clients included one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, a cellular phone provider, a hospital system and a financial services organization. AstraZeneca became her client immediately following the merger of Astra USA and Zeneca. She recruited and placed over 100 internal and external pharmaceutical professionals in promotional and medical educational positions in less than two years, helping to build the US Marketing division of this newly created organization. She also trained hiring managers in new staffing processes and administrative staff in the use of PeopleSoft.

Prior to her work as a contract professional, Susan worked for CGI Consulting Group. In that position, she created and managed the administrative processes of annual enrollments for the health and welfare plans of her client companies. She integrated newly acquired divisions into clients’ existing benefit plans, conducted on-site enrollment meetings and trained CGI call center representatives on the particulars of her clients’ plans. Susan also negotiated with insurance vendors on behalf of her clients and aided in plan design.

Previously, she worked as a Human Resources Representative with Clement Communications where she was responsible for recruiting, on-boarding new employees and the training for prevention of sexual harassment. She also administered the company’s health and life insurance plans and implemented the company’s Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action plan.

Susan’s professional experience began as a Personnel Representative at State Farm where she managed the HR needs for 10 of the Pennsylvania claims offices of State Farm Insurance, an employee population of 300. She recruited and on-boarded new employees, coordinated state-wide college recruiting efforts, conducted on-campus interviews and facilitated in-house employee self-development courses.

Susan holds a M.S. in Human Organization Science from Villanova University and a B.A in Social Science from Rosemont College. She resides with her family in Newtown, PA.

Susan Gallen, Associate
Pennsylvania/Central New Jersey
sgallen@ahahr.com
610-500-1801

Phyllis is an Associate for Answer Human Assets (AHA), a company that provides outsourced human resource support to small and mid-sized companies. Phyllis has been a Payroll Specialist for over 20 years and is currently responsible for payroll and benefits administration for AHA’s clients in the tri-state area.

Prior to joining AHA, Phyllis worked for both employers and for payroll processing companies. After joining AHA, she also has gained valuable knowledge and expertise in other office administration areas including benefits implementation and administration, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll tax administration, audit preparation, bank reconciliation, personal and business tax return preparation, and operations management. Phyllis is a dedicated team player and quick study, qualities that make her an invaluable asset to the AHA team.

Phyllis resides in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters.

Sue Panzer is a sales and marketing executive with a successful track record leading and motivating national sales organizations to deliver exceptional top and bottom-line financial results.  She is specifically skilled in developing strategic marketing initiatives, solidifying long-term client relationships, managing high-performing teams and negotiating challenging agreements. Currently, as the President of Sue Panzer Consulting, she is providing her expertise on sales strategy, management, distribution, marketing promotions, business development, affiliate relations, business communications and project management to domestic and international companies in the telecommunications and human resource industries

Sue was the Vice President, Affiliate Ad Sales and Distribution Marketing for Lifetime Networks where she led a team to develop strategic local ad sales and affiliate marketing promotions.  Previously, she was the Vice President, National Distribution where she was responsible for managing the affiliate sales team across the country with the goal of increasing the revenue and the distribution of Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network and Lifetime Real Women among cable operators and other distributors.

Prior to Lifetime, Sue was a sales executive at Showtime Networks as the Vice President, Area General Manager in the Northeast Region.  Over her eleven year tenure, Sue was responsible for increasing the revenue and the distribution of Showtime and The Movie Channel, running the regional operations and managing the department’s sales training and incentive programs.

Sue graduated from the University of Richmond with a B.A. in Education.  She taught gifted fifth graders in Richmond before entering graduate school to earn her MBA from The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.  She has served on the Board of Directors of the MBA Alumni Association for the graduate business school.

Sue served as a National Board member of Women in Cable and Telecommunications (WICT) from 2003 – 2006 and as the President of the New York chapter of WICT in 2001 and 2002, where her chapter won the “Chapter of the Year Award” for 2002.  She was selected to be a member of WICT’s prestigious leadership program, the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute, for the class of 1996 – 1997.  She served as a Board Member of the New York Chapter of Cable Television Association for Marketing (CTAM) from 1998 – 2006.  From 2003 through 2006, she also served as President/Co-Founder of the “Fire Island Golden Wagon Film Festival” in Ocean Beach, NY.