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Boisjolie Test Drives an HR Career
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n June 15th, Stacy Boisjolie, Nichols human resource management intern at LEGO’s manufacturing plant in Enfield, Conn., was told that outsourcing to Mexico would eliminate 290 jobs. With consumer electronics radically changing the toy industry, LEGO found itself in a market crowded with cut-price products. “The Company values its employees,” says Boisjolie. “So, it was a difficult decision for everyone involved to relocate labor-intensive production.” “Stacy was literally thrown into the frying pan of globalization,” says Associate Dean of Business Libba Moore. “She emailed me weekly logs that demonstrated her maturity and ability to tackle difficult projects.” This included working on an Apollo outsourcing project and “resiliency training,” and attending a meeting with the U.S. Department of Labor about its dislocated worker assistance program.
Putting Education to Work
The Human Resource Management Program is one of three business specializations, including Business Communications and Sport Management, requiring an internship to graduate. The 120 hour, two-month internship put Boisjolie’s classroom knowledge to the test. She fine tuned her skills doing 360 degree performance evaluations learned in Professor Mary Trottier’s staffing class. She also updated LEGO’s crisis manage-
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ment policy manual with a section on bird flu contingency planning which will be later presented to the American management team for consideration. Like LEGO’s interlocking block presenting unlimited building possibilities, Boisjolie’s LEGO’s internship helped her test drive an HR career before she made a long-term commitment. She discovered that she loved employee interaction. “The experience taught me that I have the compassion needed to make a difference,” she says. “I want to be an HR consultant who helps other people.” “I feel that Nichols has educationally-prepared me to excel in my field of choice,” says Boisjolie. “LEGO’s HR Director was an incredible professional, and I am so thankful to have worked with her.” Boisjolie plans to use the network of contacts she made and her stellar work portfolio to position for future employment opportunities, and notes, “My internship was all about preparing for life after Nichols.”
NICHOLS COLLEGE MAGAZINE WINTER 2007
(L to R) Human Resource Program Chair Libba Moore and Stacy Boisjolie
(L to R) LEGO personnel: Director of Human Resource Mary Sutton; Human Resource Coordinator Mary Peterson; intern Stacy Boisjolie; Human Resource Consultant Shannon Paynter; Human Resource Manager Barbara Walton