Meet Don Cimorelli | Retired Human Resources Executive

We had the good fortune of connecting with Don Cimorelli and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Don, how has your work-life balance changed over time?\

My personal views on work life balance have evolved throughout my entire career and into retirement. First, let’s acknowledge that when I began my professional career in the early 1980’s, the phrase work-life balance was not uttered. The phrase began to be mentioned in the latter 1980’s, but it took several years into the 1990’s before most in the workplace had minimal grasp on its relevance. Even then, the early perception was that work-life balance was a women’s issue for juggling career and family. Additionally, during the early years, people had a view that work-life balance was an attempt to balance career and family like walking on a tight rope when in reality it has nothing to do with achieving a 50-50 balance. Work-life balance pertains to the appropriate personal alignment of these dimensions for the individual.

So what does all of this mean as it relates to my personal situation. First, during the early years of my career when there was no remote work and most business records were recorded on paper, balance frequently meant working about 60 hours per week in the office which also included a few hours on Saturdays. I did not view it as out of balance since this was the norm for me and most of my colleagues who were also single and in roles with a high degree of paper processing, high workload, and strict cycle time goals to be achieved.

As technology began to be introduced, our view of balance changed in that if we needed to work on weekends, we could skip the commute to the office and perform work from home. Fast forward a number years, and the industry view of balance was that we could work very different schedules in the office and at home, both weekdays, nights, and weekends in order to handle everything going on in our personal lives and career. Simply put, my view along with the industry view was that flexibility was a key aspect of balance. Also, in the 2000’s, it finally became more recognized that work-life balance was not a women’s term since it applies to everyone, and personal life did not just mean raising children, but increasingly included managing elder care for parents and other adult family members requiring care.

In my mid and late career phases, work-life balance evolved to using all of the tools available (scheduling flexibility, on-site and remote work, digital tools, and video technology) to accomplish all that I needed to do for my employer and for my family and I. Video technology had the most profound and positive impact post 2010 as it enabled me to reduce out of state business trips from 3 weeks per month, to business travel 1 week per month and video meetings from the office or home during the other 3 weeks of the month.

Now in retirement, balance for me is morning fitness classes at the gym and pursuing my volunteer organization and other personal interests during other hours of the day however I choose to do so. I am very committed to my volunteer role as President of the Triangle Sons & Daughters of Italy. We sponsor about 30 cultural, social, and charitable events per year. I am a big user of technology and video meetings in retirement to balance my personal and volunteer interests.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

I spent the first half of my career in traditional human resources roles spanning different HR functional areas (Recruiting, Compensation, Employee Relations, Management Development, Diversity, Shared Services) and leading major aspects of HR at the site, regional, division, and corporate level. During the second half of my career, I transitioned to roles in the HR & Benefits Outsourcing Industry and ultimately to positions with significant strategy and program office management.

What is unique about my skill set is that it is rare to encounter HR Executives like myself who held many key positions within an HR Function and then likewise held numerous key roles in the HR & Benefits Outsourcing industry coupled with private consulting experience as well.

My professional background reflects the end-to-end scope of HR services delivered by HR Functions, Third Party Providers, and Industry Consultants. This is a claim that can only be made by a select few.

However, beyond my technical and leadership skill set, I can confidently state that throughout my career I earned a reputation of meeting business commitments, making operations run more efficiently, conducting myself with a high degree of integrity and trust, and being able relate to complex organizations and constituents with varying needs.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

If I could plan a perfect week in the Raleigh-Durham, NC area, here’s what I’d love to do with a best friend. Admittedly, all of these things would not be occurring in a given week, but if I could do so, here is what it would include:

1. Experience the best of professional athletics. Go to a Carolina Hurricanes Professional Hockey Game.
2. Attend an NC State, UNC, or Duke University Football Game. Watch rivals like UNC, Duke, and NC State play each in college basketball.
3. See the North Carolina Symphony at the Raleigh Performing Arts Center.
4. Catch a Broadway play at the Durham Performing Arts Center
5. Get tickets to a major concert. All genres and mega celebrities and groups come to the Triangle Area. I’ve seen Elton John, Billy Joel, Cher, Taylor Swift, and will soon see Andrea Bocelli.
6. Go to a Food Truck Rodeo with 50+ trucks, and also attend the largest Italian American Street Festival in North Carolina called Festa Italiana on Fayetteville Street.
7. Hit up popular spots for BBQ and newly opened breweries.
8. Have an incredible steak dinner at the famous Angus Barn.
9. Head out to a Durham Bulls Minor League Baseball Game
10. Experience a half day at the NC State Fair

There is so much more I could incorporate. It’s crystal clear why this is one of top places to live, work, play, get educated, and access leading healthcare in the USA. Additionally, we have superb weather and more affordable living than other metropolitan and surrounding suburban areas across the USA. We also have the added bonus of easy access to both the Western North Carolina Mountains and Eastern North Carolina Coast.

It’s no surprise that the Raleigh Durham area is a top destination for businesses, working people, and retirees.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I am very thankful to my two primary employers throughout my career for all that they did to support my professional development. During my 18 years at IBM and then 15 years at Fidelity Investments, there were formal organizational programs and practices to sharpen my technical and leadership skills, and every single manager over a 33 year period delivered value to me in a more personal and informal way.

I value being surrounded by diversity, and my managers assisted me to learn how to look at situations through different lenses. I credit both my employers and my managers for contributing to my abilities to effectively relate to a complex and diverse world. My employers and managers assisted me to sharpen my skills to lead organizations forward through change and challenges, and drive the attainment of aggressive goals.

I give a huge Shoutout to IBM and Fidelity Investments along with every manager at all levels that I reported to. I also give a Shoutout to longer-term Executive Council Members at the Triangle Sons & Daughters of Italy who supported me to evolve into my role as President.

Website: https://www.trianglesonsofitaly.org/

Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/doncimorelli

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/917282849220375/?ref=share_group_link