The George Washington University has hired Marlon Sukal as the new assistant vice president of talent and organizational development of the Human Resource Management and Development division.
In this role, Dr. Sukal will guide key strategic initiatives that support the university’s organizational development goals and will oversee employee orientation, onboarding, succession planning, performance management, learning and development and employee engagement.
He began Jan. 6.
While he said coming from Houston will mean it will take him some time to acclimate to the Washington, D.C., lifestyle and weather, he has wasted no time getting involved in GW’s service and diversity and inclusion efforts.
“In my three short weeks here, I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of the Disney Immersion program with my human resources colleagues and have participated in the MLK Jr. Day of Service and Leadership—what a great onboarding experience so far,” he said.
Dr. Sukal has more than two decades of leadership experience in motivating, attracting and retaining a high-performing workforce. Most recently, he worked for the University of Texas Medical Branch, where he led the talent and organizational development division to create mentorship programs for employees, engage leaders across departments and design a variety of learning and development programs.
He will report directly to GW’s Vice President and Chief People Officer Dana Bradley.
Ms. Bradley said she is excited to have Dr. Sukal at the university.
“Marlon will have an instrumental role in organizational development, leadership and learning strategy in support of the OUR GW cultural initiative,” she said. “This is a great opportunity for our university to place our “putting people first” initiative, by developing our talent, at the forefront of what we want to accomplish.”
Dr. Sukal joins GW as a member of staff and values the importance of our faculty. As an associate professor in industrial-organizational psychology, he has developed and taught a variety of courses, ranging from talent management to organizational development at several graduate institutions.
He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles, and an M.B.A. from National University, San Diego. He is also an experienced executive coach with certifications in emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, leadership development and team assessment.
For fun, Dr. Sukal participates in triathlons for charitable causes. He said his personal dedication to service and prior experience puts him in “perfect alignment” with GW’s pillar of “putting people first.” He said they also inform his goal of making the working lives of GW faculty and staff better.
“There is so much good work to be done,” he said. “My overarching goal is to build a talent and organizational development team that functions in the areas of training and development, organizational development, leader and manager development, employee engagement, succession planning, and rewards and recognition to boost GW employee morale, improve performance and retain our best talent.”
