The city of Hutto announced Monday afternoon it has a new director of human resources.

Shawna Willis, the former director of human resources and organizational development of Golfsmith International, was hired by City Manager Odis Jones.

“I am very excited to have Shawna join our team,” Jones said. “She brings over a decade of experience, and has a proven track record.”

According to an announcement from the city, Willis overhauled Golfsmith’s performance review process with updated competency measurements, managerial training, skill gap analysis and annual merit increase trends. She also managed human resources policy compliance, updates and implementation, increasing internal promotion rates by 15 percent.

Willis’ Linkedin profile said she has a Bachelor of Arts in technical management from DeVry University and a bachelor of fine arts from Asbury University. The city release said she is pursuing a Master of Science degree in human resources and leadership management. Willis’ LinkedIn page lists that work being done at Nova Southeastern University.

The release said prior to Willis’ work with Golfsmith International, she created a human resource department for Ohio Christian University. In doing so, she established a full life-cycle recruiting process for the university, assisted with compensation analysis, as well as benefits selection and administration.

In keeping with an employee-focused vision, the release said Willis led a training initiative for the university, helping improve the performance of associates, and coached department heads on the best employee intervention practices and conflict resolution.

The announcement of a new human resources director was made four days after three former employees of the city of Hutto, including Amy McGlothlin, who served as human resources director, announced they filed discrimination charges against Jones. Former Assistant City Manager Melanie Melancon and Wallis Meshier, the city’s former senior planner, joined McGlothlin in the filing against Jones.

Jones said he terminated the employees because they "did not fit with the direction of the City Council."