This accompanies Stephen R. Fussell: Worth the Investment.

Title: Senior Vice President of Human Resources

Company: Abbott, Abbott Park, Ill.

Key HR Challenges: Fussell inherited a costly and often repetitive HR function in need of a transformation, workers who were nearing retirement but did not want to fully retire, long time-to-fill open jobs and HR processes that were not streamlined throughout the company's offices in 130 countries.

Key HR Accomplishments: Fussell transformed the HR function while ensuring ROI for the company. In the end, his HR-transformation program saved an aggregate of $100 million, reduced time-to-fill and normalized processes across the world. He also developed a phased-retirement plan that saved jobs while providing for knowledge transfer.