The Society for Human Resources of New Mexico recognized Rob Nelson with the 2024 Greatest of All Time Legacy Award at its annual awards presentation on April 29.
The annual awards show spotlights human resources professionals in New Mexico who elevate the profession, serve as a role model for their peers and set the standard for others to follow. They enable the professional community to tell their stories and recognize their contributions and achievements. Society for Human Resources New Mexico candidates are evaluated on their demonstrated integrity, leadership, innovation, strategic thinking, character, impact, passion, influence and knowledge in human resources.
Not just noteworthy
The Society for Human Resources lauded Nelson for driving impactful improvements at Sandia and noted his accomplishments, specifically his impact on national security and his ability to shape human resources professionals into highly capable leaders.
In his application for the award, colleagues wrote that “Rob and his team have been the key driver for impactful improvements at Sandia National Laboratories, including: increasing compensation; increasing promotion opportunities and creating an intralevel advancement system; improving the wellness of employees and health and time off benefits, including adding more vacation accrual and two additional holidays; improving talent acquisition, including on-the-spot offers; championing the hybrid work culture by continuing the growth in telecommuting and remote work; and transforming HR service delivery, including the implementation of shared services and analytics functions.”
Nelson’s work extends beyond Sandia and into the community, including serving as a board member for the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, and on the board of Leadership New Mexico.
“He is an integrative, brilliant and strategic thinker who consistently challenges the status quo,” his colleagues noted in the application. “He is always seeking to find a way to improve whatever project or process that he is leading.”
Path to greatness
Nelson retired on June 4 after 18 years of exceptional service to the Labs. He joined Sandia in 2005 as a principal member of technical staff before moving to management in 2009. From 2011-2016, Nelson served as the director of Sandia’s Health, Benefits and Employee Services organization with responsibility for the on-site ambulatory healthcare clinic.
As director of Human Resources, Nelson oversaw the health and welfare benefits program, talent acquisition, the shared services function, compensation, time away from work programming, and pension and 401(k) retirement benefits administration. As a member of the Human Resources leadership team, he helped create and implement Sandia’s human capital strategy and worked to advance Sandia’s human resources capability and promote service excellence.
In addition to an MBA from the University of Denver, Nelson earned a master’s degree in computational engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the University of New Mexico. Nelson maintains several industry certifications, including designation as a Senior Professional in Human Resources and certification from Cornell University in collective bargaining and labor relations.