Charles L. Brazik

"You are a SENSATIONAL expert on executive continuity and I am honored to scream that from the mountain tops" Dr. Jeffery Sonnenfeld, Senior Associate Dean for Executive Programs & Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management - Yale.
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Chuck has over 35 years of diverse experience serving public and private companies, with a particular focus on large public companies and family-owned businesses. Backwater Bay Real Estate, Inc was started with the focus of syndications, residential sales & rentals and commercial real estate in Southwest Florida. 

Chuck also founded a retained executive search and consulting firm. Chuck served as the Senior Vice President Human Resources and Risk Management of Dominick’s Finer Foods, Inc. Dominick’s is currently a part of Safeway Foods, but prior to its first sale Dominick's was the largest private employer in the state of Illinois and the premier grocery and mass merchant in the Chicago area. Chuck served on the executive operating committee and headed up the sale/merger of this family owned $2 ½ billion, 23,000-employee firm. Chuck also served as the trustee representing Dominick's Trustee for the Midwest UFCW Pension, Health and Welfare committee. 

Previously, Chuck served as Vice President Human Resources of the leading communications and entertainment company, Time Warner. He led the synergy effort when Time and Warner Communications merged.  Prior to that, Chuck was engaged in Human Resources and Training efforts at Hartmarx, Inc., May Company and Assistant Professor Marketing Education at Bowling Green University.
Chuck holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing Education from Bowling Green State University; a Master’s degree Marketing Education and Supervision from Bowling Green State University.  He is a frequent lecturer at Harvard, Emory University, and Yale on a variety of business, human resources, and training topics such as public policy and management continuity.

He currently serves on the Board of Advisors for DSC Logistics, Inc. a $250 million third party logistics provider, Trustee for the founders’ estate, compensation committee and strategy committee.

Senior Human Resources executive with strong organization development, training, operations, corporate policy and general management experience. Proven track record of building, overhauling and developing human resource teams. Developed innovative business solutions to Human Resource and business challenges.  Board of Advisors for DSC Logistics, Inc. and EVOKnowledge, Inc. 

Chuck is currently a Broker partner in Backwater Bay Real Estate on Sanibel Island, Florida, with a focus on water view and water front properties in Southwest Florida.

The Brazik Group, LLC conducts business as a retained executive search and business management consulting firm located in Aurora, Illinois. The Brazik Group has proven prior success in providing executive recruiting services, with a special emphasis on using assessment tools.  We have an excellent reputation with our current clients, which include Fortune 500 companies such as Victoria’s Secret Stores, 3Com, Mirro, Manulife Financial, Owens-Corning and Ingersoll-Rand, as well as privately held and family funded businesses such as Ulta and DSC Logistics.  Other clients include Loretto Hospital, Riverside Healthcare, Rush and Republic Windows and Doors. The Brazik Group, LLC is best known for its ability to successfully match and retain high-quality executives with top-notch corporations.

Performance Technology Group was a Human Resources consulting firm. The firm provided state-of-the-art compensation, performance management, business strategy, interactive computer-based training, communications and services to Fortune 500 companies.
•Developed product launch and training for high-tech medical sales force which reduced time of competency from one week to one hour. 70% ROI was achieved including cost of software development.
•Created National Sales Force marketing tool for industrial fastener company that provided customized-multimedia presentations.
•Developed technique for cashier training that allowed full customization by user, which resulted in being considered one of two companies for the development of IBM’s retail application.

Dominick’s is a $2.5 billion regional retail supermarket chain, employing 18,000(14,500 union members). Dominick’s is the fourth largest employer and the largest privately held employer in Illinois. Dominick’s was sold in March 1995 to a financial company. Reported to the Chairman, CEO and Owner. Member of the Operating Committee that guided the day to day operation. Chaired and provided leadership for the monthly people meeting of Senior Executives who focused on every aspect of employee development, placement or termination from the director levels up. Chaired the employee benefits committee, which had fiduciary responsibility for all employee benefits. Trustee for the Midwest UFCW Pension, Health and Welfare committee. Provided leadership for a staff of 40 with five direct reports that included Directors’ of Employee Relations/Benefits, Training and Development, Field Human resources/Diversity, Communications and Risk Management.

• Restructured and rejuvenated the Human Resources department. Added a field Human Resources component and a Risk Management department. Developed the management and Human Resources skills of the staff through the development of an Institute. The field Human Resources group was staffed from operational positions within the company.

• Initiated a robust 401K plan, reduced the cost of employee hospitalization by $800K peryear, while adding benefits.

• Created a self-insured Risk Management program with claims handled in house, saving $1.2 million per year.

• Developed and implemented the first interactive computer-based cashier training program for the supermarket industry. ROI of 89% over three-years and increased produce gross margins by one full percentage point.

• Assisted the Chairman, CEO and Owner with the sale of the business. Provided the Human Resource mission statement, diversity plan and due diligence answers. Kept the process confidential until the sale was consummated eight months later.

• Initiated an employee suggestion system that resulted in over $3 million of improvements.

• Developed innovative senior level benefits and incentive plans that provided executive continuity after the founders’ death.

• Chaired the UFCW Health and Welfare reform committee that turned around a potential insolvency to a richer program of benefits for all participants thru Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois.

• Developed with the Senior Vice President of Store Operations, quarterly executive continuity reviews and planning meetings to fill openings and plan for future growth and development.

Time Warner Cable is a $570 million subsidiary of Time Warner, Inc. with 110 cable systems employing 3,600+ union and salaried employees throughout the United States. Provided leadership and supervision to seven direct reports with professional support staff of 21. Reported to the Senior Vice President of Operations.

• Jointly developed an electronic interview assessment tool with Dr. Cabot Jaffee of ESS, which reduced turnover in the Customer Service departments by 65%.

• Developed cable system job incentive systems to be competitive at the 75th percentile within the cable industry. Developed the first job descriptions for the division.

Hartmarx was a $1 Billion manufacturer and retailer of fine quality clothing for Men and Women. It was made up of two divisions, Manufacturing Group and Retail. The manufacturing group comprised, Hart Schaffner & Marx, M. Wile (Johnny Carson Apparel), Hickey Freeman, Jaymar Ruby, Pierre Cardin, Briar Ties.

The retail group was composed of 350 specialty retail stores throughout the U.S. operated under various names, Baskin Clothing and Capper & Capper in Chicago, Wallach’s in New York, etc. Vice President Human Resources for the Hart Schaffner & Marx Clothes division that manufactured and marketed more than 12 brands of clothing including Hart Schaffner & Marx, Christian Dior, Jack Nicklaus, Austin Reed, etc. The division had 6,000+ employees at 17 locations in the U.S.  Supervised four direct reports with staff of 18. Reported to the President/CEO.

• Implemented electronic employee attitude surveys at unionized plant sites throughout the U.S. that resulted in improved supervisory practices and communication improvement.

• Established brand management organizational concept for the Sales and Marketing departments that provided increased customer response and brand manager authority and control.

• Negotiated union contracts with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union and IBEW.

• Revitalized the respect for the Human Resources department.            

Joined the corporate staff as Director, Management Development, Recruitment & Training for this start up Human Resources function.

• Developed comprehensive management development system-for performance management and executive continuity.

• Created a formal process for executive recruitment. Established training efforts for retail and manufacturing featuring behavior modeling for supervisory training. Established efforts for industry cooperation with government for funding of training initiatives of $5 million.