Levy Restaurants

Maria Marilena DeSena is the Director of Employee Relations with over 20 years of HR experience. She provides strategic leadership in performance management, conflict resolution, and organizational culture, partnering with senior leaders to ensure fair, consistent practices while promoting equity, transparency, and a positive employee experience.

Performance Management Builds Clarity

Organizations today are navigating a workplace that is more complex, diverse, and fast-moving than ever. Leaders are expected to drive results, support employee well being, and foster inclusive cultures, all while managing day to day challenges that can easily derail team performance. In this environment, three capabilities consistently rise to the top as essential: effective performance management, awareness of unconscious bias, and strong employee relations practices.

These areas are often treated as separate HR initiatives, but in reality, they are deeply connected. When organizations invest in all three, they build workplaces where expectations are clear, decisions are fair, and employees feel valued. The training I deliver focuses on helping leaders strengthen these skills in practical, actionable ways that improve both culture and performance.

Traditional performance management relied heavily on annual reviews and assessments. Today’s workforce needs something different. Ongoing communication, clear expectations, and meaningful coaching. Employees want to understand what success looks like and how they can grow. Leaders want tools that help them address issues early and support development without creating tension.

Performance management emphasizes:

• Continuous feedback rather than once a year conversations

• Specific, measurable expectations that reduce ambiguity

• Coaching skills that help leaders guide performance, not just evaluate it

• Early intervention, preventing small issues from becoming major problems

When leaders learn how to deliver feedback effectively and consistently, performance becomes a shared responsibility rather than a source of anxiety. This shift not only improves results but also strengthens trust between employees and managers.

Awareness Driving Fair Leadership

Even the best leaders carry unconscious biases. Automatic mental shortcuts that influence how they interpret behavior, assess performance, or assign opportunities. These biases are not a sign of bad character; they are a natural part of how the human brain processes information. But without awareness, they can lead to inequities that undermine morale and limit organizational potential.

“Clarity, fairness, and trust are not soft skills — they are the foundation of high-performing, inclusive workplaces.”

Unconscious bias shows up in subtle ways, such as:

• Who receives stretch assignments

• How performance concerns are interpreted

• Which employees are seen as “high potential”

• Whose ideas are taken seriously in meetings

The training I provide helps leaders recognize these patterns and adopt strategies to interrupt them. This includes structured decision making, more intentional communication, and a deeper understanding of how bias affects everyday interactions. When leaders become more aware of their own cognitive habits, they make more objective decisions and create more inclusive environments.

Trust Through Employee Relations

Employee relations is often associated with conflict resolution, but its true value lies in prevention. Strong employee relations practices create a culture where employees feel heard, policies are applied consistently, and concerns are addressed before they escalate.

Effective employee relations includes:

• Encouraging open communication

• Providing leaders with tools for difficult conversations

• Ensuring fairness and consistency in decision making

• Supporting employees through challenges with empathy and clarity When employees trust the process, they are more likely to speak up early, collaborate effectively, and stay engaged. Leaders, in turn, feel more confident navigating sensitive situations.

Performance management, unconscious bias awareness, and employee relations are powerful on their own but transformative when combined.

Performance management without bias awareness can unintentionally reinforce inequities. Bias training without strong employee relations support leaves leaders unsure how to apply what they’ve learned. Employee relations without effective performance management leads to inconsistency and frustration.

When these areas work together, organizations create systems that are fair, transparent, and supportive. Leaders make better decisions. Employees feel respected. Performance naturally improves when the environment enables people to do their best work.

Investing in these three capabilities is not just an HR initiative, it’s a strategic advantage. Organizations that prioritize clarity, fairness, and trust see stronger engagement, better retention, and more resilient teams.

The training I deliver is designed to help leaders build these skills in practical, real world ways. By strengthening performance management, increasing awareness of unconscious bias, and improving employee relations, organizations can create workplaces where people feel valued, and performance thrives.