Philip Gathecha

Human Resources and Operations professional with strong experience supporting employees and managers across multisite retail, logistics, public-sector and outsourced workforce environments. Currently supports HR and operational delivery for more than 750 employees across Eastmatt's branch network and Head Office. Experienced in employee relations, workforce planning, recruitment, performance management, payroll coordination, disciplinary processes, labour compliance, HR policy implementation and workforce reporting.

Brings practical supermarket HR experience, including high-volume staffing, shift-based operations, attendance management and direct partnership with branch managers to resolve workforce issues and support business continuity.

HR & Operations Officer at Eastmatt Supermarket (2025-02 – Present)

• Provide HR and operational support to more than 750 employees across over 11 supermarket branches and Head Office.
• Work closely with branch managers and departmental heads on staffing requirements, recruitment, deployment, transfers, attendance, leave, performance, employee relations and workforce concerns.
• Coordinate recruitment and onboarding activities, including manpower requests, interviews, placement, documentation, induction and employee movements.
• Handle employee-relations and disciplinary matters, including investigations, show-cause processes, disciplinary hearings, warnings, suspensions, recoveries, termination and separation documentation.
• Support workforce planning by reviewing staffing levels, employee movements, vacancies, attendance trends and operational requirements across branches.
• Coordinate and validate payroll inputs covering attendance, overtime, leave, employee movements, salary changes, losses and damages, recoveries and other payroll adjustments.
• Developed a role-based salary and grading framework for retail, production, warehouse and management positions, incorporating salary bands, statutory wage requirements and internal equity considerations.
• Prepare salary-review and compensation analyses to support management decisions on salary adjustments and identified pay gaps.
• Designed performance scorecards for cashiers, general assistants, packers, back-office employees, branch managers, production teams and warehouse personnel.
• Develop and review HR policies, procedures and operating guidelines covering attendance, leave, off days, employee conduct, welfare, discipline, workplace safety, training and branch HR controls.
• Prepare workforce reports and analysis covering headcount, turnover, absenteeism, leave, disciplinary cases, staffing gaps, payroll risks and branch compliance.
• Coordinate occupational health and safety activities including safety committees, incident reporting, training, improvement actions and compliance follow-up.

Human Resource Personnel at Agility Logistics Limited (2024-06 – 2024-11)

• Provided general HR support covering employee records, payroll preparation, benefits administration, leave, attendance and employee enquiries.
• Supported recruitment, onboarding, probation management, performance appraisals, employee engagement, exit interviews and employee separation.
• Assisted managers and employees with day-to-day HR matters and supported timely resolution of employee concerns.
• Contributed to the review and implementation of HR procedures covering recruitment, onboarding, employee records, payroll, benefits, performance, leave, discipline and exits.
• Supported HR records management and process controls in line with ISO 9001:2015 principles and audit requirements.
• Prepared workforce information and HR reports while supporting statutory compliance, data accuracy and departmental planning.
• Completed research on employee engagement strategies and productivity using a population of 267 employees and a study sample of 73.

Human Resource Officer at Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (2023-04 – 2024-05)

• Administered employee and payroll information through IPPD and UHR, including payroll changes, statutory deductions and employee records.
• Supported recruitment, appointment documentation, onboarding, staff confirmation, transfers, contracts and employee exits.
• Verified academic and professional qualifications for 87 employees and maintained the related documentation and records.
• Coordinated leave administration, training-needs assessment and staff-development activities.
• Prepared HR correspondence, workforce statistics, management reports, payment documentation and committee records.
• Supported employee-relations matters and general HR administration within the institution.

HR Operations Assistant at Gilani's Distributors (2022-07 – 2023-04)

• Supported day-to-day HR operations for a busy workforce, including recruitment, onboarding, employee records, attendance, leave and payroll preparation.
• Worked with operational supervisors and managers to address staffing requirements, attendance concerns and employee-relations matters.
• Assisted with disciplinary documentation, performance follow-up, staff communication and employee record management.
• Supported payroll and benefits administration and maintained employee information required for HR reporting.
• Assisted with labour, occupational-safety, WIBA and employee-record compliance.

Team Supervisor at MoonWalk Investment Limited (2021-01 – 2021-12)

• Supervised daily team operations, duty allocation, scheduling, attendance and workflow.
• Monitored service standards and employee performance and provided day-to-day guidance to team members.
• Resolved operational and customer escalations, enforced procedures and prepared operational reports.

HR Clerk at State Department for Infrastructure (2019-08 – 2020-08)

• Maintained employee files, onboarding documentation, leave and attendance records and employee-data updates.
• Supported payroll administration, recruitment logistics, document verification and preparation of HR correspondence.
• Assisted with workforce reports, HR returns and general public-sector personnel administration.

Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management – University of Kabianga (2014 – 2019)

Certificate in Computer Applications – Karima Youth Polytechnic (2013 – 2014)

Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education – Karima Boys High School (2010 – 2013)