Lorraine C. Serva
Director of Human Resources
Company:
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant
Industry:
Restaurant
Number of full-time employees:
1,200
Number of Locations:
15
How long have you been with the company?
9.5 years
How long have you been in a HR role?
28 years
Approach to success
Serva started the HR department from scratch 9½ years ago with one part-time administrative assistant. Today it’s a full-service HR department. When she started, the company had seven locations and 700 employees. By this November, it will have 1,600 employees at 16 restaurants in four states. Employees have voted Iron Hill a Top Workplace every year for the last 10 years. Some of her achievements include the development of Iron Hill University, a platform for more than 150 custom classes for employees; a two-year apprenticeship program that takes hourly employees and trains them to the level of salaried managers; the implementation of a Learning Management System, which automates performance evaluations, tracking training completion, etc.
Community engagement
Serva volunteers with many social and professional organizations, often serving in leadership positions. Her main focus is children, education and human resources-related organizations. She served on the board of Girls Inc. for a number of years. She served on the board of Girls Inc. for many years and founded the Austin Chapter of Project Linus, a nonprofit that provides handmade blankets to children of need.
