SSG Recognized for Leadership During the Pandemic

On November 5, the annual HR Department of the Year Awards 2020 Leadership Celebrations took place. Among the many achievements and celebrations, Salveson Stetson Group, specifically Sally Stetson and John Touey, received a special recognition for their Outstanding Impact in the HR Community during COVID-19.

Touey continues, “What has been amazing is seeing how much everyone was willing to share and collaborate to move forward stronger, together, just being there for each other. We’ve been honored to provide these critical connections, because HR executives and departments have been working around the clock to ensure their teams are safe and supported.”

Below you will find all of the comments and testimonials submitted to the HR Department of the Year Awards.

“John Touey & Sally Stetson have been doing an incredible service to the HR community during COVID. Due to their efforts, they have collectively made all us, and our businesses stronger. Their impact has been immeasurable.”
– Kathleen D. Larkin, SVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, SJI

“SSG is a true partner. Their impact in our business, our profession and across our business community is extraordinary in the true definition of the word!” 
– Donna Venable, Ricoh

“John and Sally brought together leaders in the HR community in a new way as we all adjusted to the pandemic. They built a valuable network and resources that impact hundreds of companies, and hundreds of thousands of employees. Their initiative created an extremely positive outcome for our community. Thank you, John and Sally!”
– Margolit Hillsberg, Citadel

“John and Sally have pulled together an incredible network of senior HR leaders in the Delaware Valley that will outlast COVID and change the landscape or the HR network in the Philadelphia region.”
-Valerie Mogavero, FullBloom

“John and Sally offered their guidance, support and coordination to gather a growing group of Human Resources leaders to help one another during unprecedented times. We benefited from their observations and suggestions. We were able to share information, resources, policies, practices and advice in a real-time fashion as well as in formally scheduled sessions.  Thank you!”
– Deanna Koppenhofer, UGI Gas & Electric

“Thank you to Sally and John. You have gone above and beyond in supporting your clients, colleagues and community.”
– Rebecca Haley, Merakey, USA

“I appreciate their leadership. They mobilized an HR community and created an inclusive space to collaborate, engage, and transfer knowledge and resources.”
– Kristie Pappal, Philadelphia Eagles

“The foresight and fortitude that SSG (Sally and John) demonstrated this year to the HR community is immeasurable. The community that they “pulled together” to create a newly formed forum for the CHRO’s to listen, learn and lean on immediately made me a stronger individual. The email labeled in the subject line: COVID-19 HR Discussion Group became the only email I opened and responded to within seconds of it landing in my inbox! Thanks, SSG and Sally and John – you are rock stars!”
– Anita Scott, Radian

“When I moved to the area and didn’t know anyone in 2002, I regularly heard: “The first person you need to meet is Sally Stetson. She and her colleagues know everyone, and genuinely care.” During the 18 years since – and particularly during this unique year of 2020 – I have seen that played out in myriad ways.  Sally and John’s unique contribution to strengthening the fabric of our regional HR community has been selfless, impactful, and will endure long after COVID moves into our collective rearview mirror.  With sincere thanks, John and Sally!”
– Cam Hicks, Teleflex

“Through their leadership, CHRO leaders across our region were able to more easily connect, learn, share, and act with speed, for the benefit of all our associates, businesses, and communities. John & Sally saw a need and a way they could help, and they have made a tremendous difference!”
– Christin Joyner, AAA Club Alliance

“John Touey and Sally Stetson truly define “circles of innovation” as they have facilitated a productive network of professionals and provided a platform for many to understand best practices that can be applied to business and personal happenings. The wealth of resources that they have brought together allows for efficiency and one of the best resources for any COVID-19 task force.”
– Darryl Gordon, The High Companies

“Sally and John are two of the best! They listen, guide, create long lasting friendships and most of all they care. The work they’ve done bringing our network of HR leaders together during COVID, has been incredible. Thanks to you both!”
– Rebecca Bagin, KIND

“Like many HR professionals all over the world, at the onset of the pandemic crisis I was completely overwhelmed. Where do I start? What am I supposed do I do? Can anyone give me guidance? Enter Sally and John. I was blessed to be invited to the forming COVID-19 HR Networking Group that became not only my lifeline to handling many things COVID-19 (and still is) but a source of creating new friendships and learning about best practices from a wide array of HR and non-HR topics that have been of great value to me and my company. It’s the best group I’ve ever been part of, and John keeps the content super organized, easy to access and relevant. John and Sally thank you for helping me keep my sanity during a time when it was precariously close to the edge of an abyss!”
– Lisa Calicchio, SPHR, WCG

“Leave it to this team, with the most esteemed network of HR leaders, to connect us during one of the most challenging crisis in our lifetime. While we had considered hurricanes and other potential catastrophes, we were completely unprepared for what COVID-19 would mean to the world’s population and its workforces and families. With no playbook, we were brought together to start to tackle these challenges in an ethical and compassionate ways, while keeping our businesses growing and delivering to our customers. Like clockwork, the challenges I would see in day to day life were raised and solutioned by this forum, so I had an instantaneous way to benchmark what was happening across a multitude of industries. It also was reassuring that we were seeing such similar challenges, and no one was alone in this. This network proved to be so helpful on other topics as well – including racial injustice, diversity and more. It’s a sincere pleasure to be a part of it and so grateful Sally and John for being the ultimate connectors!”
– Jeanine Boyle, Zelis

“John has done yeoman’s work to build an inclusive and safe space for CHROs to gather and engage across a variety of topics. It started with COVID and has blossomed into a central point for best practices. He keeps abreast of the trending issues and has set up small group conversations in addition to the large email distribution. His efforts have been invaluable to me and my CHRO colleagues.”
– Susan Kelliher, Chemours

“John and Sally took the initiative over the past several months, to leverage their local and extensive HR network, to create a forum for us to connect and collaborate with each other in the face of a crisis unlike anything most of us had previously experienced. They created structure, safety, camaraderie, and a library of work products that has been invaluable. Never before have I seen this level of collaboration amongst HR leaders across businesses of varying size, industry and sophistication.  John and Sally have truly embraced what it means to be a strategic business partner to their clients, outside of just their core offerings.”
­– Rochelle Krombolz, Tekni-Plex

“During such an unprecedented time, they quickly brought the calm to the storm we were facing. Without hesitation, they created an HR community to come together and collectively get us all through what we were facing. They encouraged an open and generous exchange of information and thought partnership and enabled each of us to be better leaders as a whole, during a time when our organizations needed us most.”
– Lisa Dalton, Spark Therapeutics

“They are consistently able to present a solid number of qualified candidates because they take the time to understand our needs. They are very responsive.”
– Linda Sanchez, SHRM-CP, Bryn Mawr Trust

“Sally Stetson, John Touey, and the SSG team have brought the HR community together like never before. They have provided an invaluable forum for us to collaborate during these unprecedented times. They provided some order to our chaos and we are forever grateful. Thank you Sally, John, and team.”
– Dianne Hart, SHRM-SCP, DDI, MS, IPS-Integrated Project Services, LLC

“John and Sally have made an indelible impact on the extended HR community through their efforts, which has helped hundreds of thousands of employees as we have all navigated these challenging times. Their hard work and dedication have been invaluable.”
– Kevin Vilke, Seritage Growth Properties

“During the pandemic, they organized all of the Chief HR Officers through email, something that I don’t think had been done before. We all utilized this forum to email each other questions, forms, asked for help, whatever the need was. It was a huge effort on their part to keep the list going and organized.  It gave me a feeling of community within the Philadelphia area that I had not felt before. I am grateful for their efforts.”
– Pam Teufel, MBA, SPHR, Saint Peter’s Healthcare System

“John and Sally quickly anticipated and proactively responded to the needs of the HR community. During a time of separation, they brought us together giving us the confidence we need to advise and support our people during the most unique and challenging times.”
– Christine Thatcher, TW Metals LLC

“John Touey and Sally Stetson: they are and were a light in the COVID darkness. Their willingness to be the catalyst that brought People Leaders together was a show of support that I will remember long past the pandemic.  Bravo!”
– Janet Moran, Krapf Group

“Sally and John kept the HR community aligned and up to date on all critical matters during the COVID crisis, and continue to do so today. There is nothing like a crisis to test HR’s metal and certainly we all have risen to the occasion in so many ways. The group grew from a smaller number of Philadelphia based companies to a powerhouse informational gathering for the Mid Atlantic states. Proud to have been one of the first members and equally proud to call John and Sally friends.”
– Kathleen Weslock, Avalara

“John and Sally have not only been committed to our profession, but they have been committed to our community. Their work in connecting us has created an invaluable support network. They have also raised the bar on thinking about the roles we each play in delivering on diversity and inclusion within HR and the development for future CHROs. Thank you for being great partners.”
– Calvin Allen, CHOP

“John Touey and Sally Stetson have been a part of my work network for many years. Besides being top professionals in their field, they are compassionate and caring colleagues in so many situations through my career, it is impossible to name the times they have helped me, or a colleague or a company.  Selflessly giving – Always. Their recent leadership in pulling HR professionals together has made us all stronger, and our community companies better at managing this very challenging Pandemic. They are heroes.”
– Karen Kirchner, Customers Bank

“John Touey and Sally Stetson saw a need and went to action. They have been instrumental in establishing a forum by which CHROs can openly discuss and share ideas regarding the challenges we face with COVID-19 and civil unrest this country has been experiencing.”
– Annette F. Favorite, West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.