Mike Schlonsky

I am an experienced Chief Human Resources Officer with a track record of driving performance, transformation, and growth through human capital strategy. With 20+ years of hands-on HR leadership and P&L experience within a large public company, I bring a unique perspective to workforce strategy - balancing talent optimization with operational execution to fuel business success. Throughout my career, I have been a trusted C-suite advisor and board partner, helping organizations navigate rapid scaling, large-scale transformations, and complex macroeconomic challenges while fostering high-performance cultures. As an HR Executive at Big Lots, I have led the company through transformative change—scaling the business to ~1,400 stores and five distribution centers, and most recently, navigating its bankruptcy and sale. During this time, I built and led a high-performing HR team of 100 professionals, spearheaded a rapid store expansion, drove the acquisition of a Canadian business, and implemented industry-leading HR practices, programs, and technologies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. I also architected a strong organizational culture by aligning team members with company values/behaviors, leveraging employee engagement surveys/action plans, and delivering company-wide training and development initiatives. In addition to leading HR, I also oversaw store operations for several years and had full P&L responsibility, a rare combination that makes me unique in my field. Managing the business beyond HR gave me a deep understanding of the financial, operational, and customer-facing challenges our teams navigated daily. This experience made me a more strategic HR leader—one who could align people strategies with business outcomes, drive profitability through talent initiatives, and develop HR programs that directly supported operational success.