Jose Tomas will replace Quattrone.
After more than 41 years of serving vehicle manufacturer General Motors, the company’s senior vice president of global human resources, John Quattrone has decided to retire. He will retire effective September 1, the company stated in an official release.
GM has hired Jose Tomas, who will join the company effective July 1, and later replace Quattrone. Tomas will report to Mary Barra, chairman and CEO, GM and serve as a member of GM’s senior leadership team.
Barra says, “John has played a crucial role in the development of GM’s senior leadership team as well as serving as a trusted advisor and counsellor on many important issues across the company.”
She also shared that Quattrone has been a big part of the cultural transformation that has occurred at GM over the past several years, led by his passion for the company and its people. “John leaves a legacy based on vision, dedication and a strong commitment to building relationships throughout his career,” she adds.
Quattrone, a native of Syracuse, New York, began his GM career in 1975 at the Fisher Body Syracuse plant. Over the past four decades, he’s held a variety of leadership positions in personnel, labour relations and human resources.
Quattrone has held GM’s top global HR position since April 2014. Earlier, he was vice president of human resources for GM’s global product development and global purchasing and supply chain. In his previous role, he played a key role in reorganising GM’s global product development function.
Tomas joins GM after building more than 20 years of strong human resources experience in leadership positions in the healthcare, food service and transportation and logistics industries. Most recently, Tomas served as the executive vice president and chief human resources officer for Anthem Inc., an American health benefits company.
Earlier, Tomas served as global chief people officer for Burger King Corporation. Concurrently, he was president of Burger King’s Latin American and Caribbean operations, which consisted of more than 1,400 restaurants in 30 countries, generating more than $1.3 billion in sales.
During his tenure at Burger King, the company shifted between public and private ownership multiple times. Tomas played a crucial role in leading the cultural transformations during these moves.
As a member of Anthem’s executive leadership team, Tomas was responsible for human resources, corporate communications and security. Tomas led the implementation of culture shaping programs designed to enhance organisational performance and employee engagement, leveraging technology to drive predictive talent insights.
“Jose brings to GM a strong, well-rounded background with experience managing a complex global employee base in a challenging, results-oriented and diverse environment,” said Barra. “With his background and experience he is well-positioned to serve as a strategic advisor as well as lead our global human resource team as we continue to work to develop our diverse and dedicated workforce and transform the company to lead in the future of mobility.”
Tomas has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management degree and a Master of Science degree in human resource management from Florida International University. He also currently serves as a board member for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). He holds a SHRM-SCP (Senior Certified Professional) certification and is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) fellow.