Victor Agruso, a business executive with HR and management consulting experience

Victor Agruso

Victor Agruso has 20+ years of executive human resources (HR) and management consulting experience with private and public companies ranging from startups and mid-market enterprises to Fortune 50 union/non-union corporations in multiple industries. Mr. Agruso’s core competencies include: strategy clarification and structure-capability-culture alignment; leadership succession and branding; and HR functional transformation.

Project Portfolio

Mr. Agruso specializes in leading transformative change within organizations. He excels at empowering HR professionals to become stronger business partners, change agents, and talent engagement managers. Over the years, Mr. Agruso has executed domestic and global HR division transformations for an emerging growth technology infrastructure services merger, a marquee program division of a $400MM digital cable and satellite television network, a $6B disease management biotechnology company, and an $18B healthcare provider.

Mr. Agruso’s notable leadership and talent management related projects include:

  • Mapping a learning strategy and implementation blueprint for the HR division of a $40B technology products and solutions retailer
  • Delivering a stakeholder-centered executive coaching program for a $3B chemicals manufacturer
  • Providing leadership branding guidance for a privately held multibillion-dollar premium food grower and harvester, the largest international college/career readiness non-profit, a $20B restaurant conglomerate, and a $35B mining and metals multinational.

Mr. Agruso’s organization and capability driven projects include:

  • Developing and deploying the business case for a specialty market expansion of a $38B health insurance and financial services company
  • Formation of an HR Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business for a national employee benefits and payroll provider
  • Strategy clarification and organizational alignment guidance for a $1.2B small group health insurance carrier, a $450MM global specialty chemical manufacturer and distributor, a $250MM diversified media company, the IT division of $1B market research firm, and the finance division of $40B global fuel logistics corporation.

Additionally, Mr. Agruso positioned a preeminent mutual property and casualty Insurer for successful market expansion by clarifying strategies, aligning organizational structures and processes, and upgrading HR systems and services to attract funding and accelerate transition from a regional, personal lines based insurance carrier to a national personal and commercial insurer and investment broker within 18 months.

A cofounder of two information technology ventures, Mr. Agruso was instrumental in the finance, product architecture, and sales efforts that created the following ongoing 7-figure businesses: (1) an HR SaaS provider to small and mid-market subscribers available now to strategic partners via custom licensing; and (2) a first-mover application service provider of data visualization and knowledge management software..

Mr. Agruso is a long-term consulting partner with The RBL Group and member of the original strategy formation, product design, and market expansion team.  RBL is the premier global organization and leadership development and HR effectiveness consulting firm (cofounded by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood).

Corporate Position Background and Credentials

Humana hired Mr. Agruso for the newly created position of Vice President of Organization Development and Corporate Relations, where he directed a pivotal strategy clarification and organization alignment campaign that streamlined the Company’s product portfolio, work processes, and executive team, while enhancing corporate administration capabilities and HRIS technologies for substantially less expense.

For Nike, Mr. Agruso served as Global HR Director for the Company’s largest division (footwear) and led the international HR planning process that ensured solid key position succession and organizational development plans were generated and launched on time for the entire company; while also applying HR effectiveness best practices to reengineer Nike’s corporate HR division structures, services, and technologies.

Earlier in his career, Victor Agruso held the new Corporate Director for HR Development & Organization Planning position with Hallmark Cards where he oversaw delivery of comprehensive learning modules for several thousand team members annually, and co- facilitated the corporate strategy clarification and organization alignment mission that reversed declining performance trends and substantially decreased operating expenses without downsizing.  At Hallmark, he also designed and implemented a state-of-the-art balanced scorecard performance management and incentive compensation program that remains largely in use today.

Prior to Hallmark, Mr. Agruso was an HR Planning & Development Consultant as an integral part of the renowned McBer division for the Hay Group that offered progressive competency-based HR products, services, and information technologies to global clients.

Victor Agruso graduated from Drury University summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and English. He subsequently received Master of Education (HR and organization development concentration) as well as Master of Theological Studies degrees from Harvard University. As a compensated intern, he completed multiple retained executive searches for select financial services clients of Fidelity Investments, numerous mid-to-senior management-level retained executive searches for venture capital funded high technology companies, and served as a career planning advisor to fellow graduate students.

Following Harvard, Mr. Agruso joined Maritz, Inc. in the HR division, and eventually became the HR Vice President for the commercial training and communications business unit. In this capacity, he established a decentralized HR function and instituted best practices for HR strategic planning, performance and succession management, college relations, executive and sales variable pay, as well as salary administration for regular/freelance employees and independent contractors in the U.S. and Canada.

Mr. Agruso is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the Organizational Development Network. He operates from Florida and Michigan.