Our Team

Emily Killham, M.A.

Senior Director, People Analytics, Research & Insights | Head, The Center for Workforce Transformation

Emily Killham has dedicated more than two decades to fostering better workplaces through data-driven insights. Her career, marked by a deep understanding of the links between employee experience and organizational success, has included partnering with some of the world’s largest organizations, spanning all major industries and geographies. Centered on solving complex challenges through empirical analysis, Emily’s expertise in quantifying the impacts of the worker experience on key business outcomes — such as profitability, productivity, turnover, customer loyalty, safety, and absenteeism — has made her a leading voice in the study of the employee experience. She has authored numerous reports on the efficacy of employee listening and action, and is a frequent contributor to discussions on the future of work within HR, tech, and business media outlets such as Forbes, SHRM, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and the BBC.

Lauren Beechly, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Leader & Workforce Transformation

Lauren leads the global consulting practice that empowers organizations to transform their employee experiences at speed, at scale, and in sustainable ways. In her role as Senior Director, she oversees a diverse team of industry-leading Workforce Transformation Consultants who partner with Fortune 500 companies to help their people and organizations thrive. By aligning listening strategies with key business priorities, Lauren and her team ensure that organizations effectively hear and act on the voices of their employees, bridging the gap between valuable insights and meaningful impact. They analyze employee listening data to address business challenges and craft compelling narratives for executive audiences, helping leaders align on the most impactful actions to take. By incorporating industry trends and research, Lauren and her team provide context to organizations’ data and deliver customized experiences that drive and sustain exceptional employee experiences.

Lauren has more than 15 years of experience in the employee experience and people analytics field, joining Perceptyx in 2018. Before that, she was a managing consultant at IBM, served as a director of employee experience for an advisory organization, and worked as a human resources consultant in the industry. As a thought leader, Lauren speaks at conferences, hosts webinars, publishes research and writes articles on transforming and sustaining exceptional employee experiences. She believes that employees are an organization’s greatest asset and that listening to them — and acting on their feedback — is a key strategy for understanding their needs, making them feel valued, improving their experience, and addressing business challenges.

Lauren earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Oklahoma and is a member of the Society of Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

Jonathan Elbaz, M.B.A.

Director, Leader & Workforce Transformation

Jonathan partners closely with many notable organizations spanning the Fortune 500 in the design and administration of employee listening, workforce analytics, and talent management interventions. In doing so, Jonathan supports these companies to improve business performance and realize employee potential. Additionally, Jonathan often speaks at industry events and writes on topics relating to shaping and measuring the employee experience.

Prior to joining Perceptyx, Jonathan was responsible for leading employee listening and consulting initiatives at Willis Towers Watson, Aon, and IBM.

Jonathan holds a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, Canada, and a Bachelor of Commerce from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

John Estudillo

Senior EX Operations Manager

John Estudillo has been engaged in employee experience research since 2017, partnering with some of the world's largest companies to foster thriving workplace cultures. As Senior EX Operations Manager with Perceptyx, John oversees a team that delivers executive presentations based on survey insights and their connections to business objectives. His experience encompasses survey design, administration, and analysis, serving organizations seeking to understand and improve their workforce sentiment.

Since joining Perceptyx in 2019, John has collaborated with more than 160 organizations and contributed to projects for more than 270 customers across various industries. John's work focuses on translating complex survey data into clear, actionable strategies for executive teams. He regularly collaborates with leaders across departments to refine processes and enhance customer experiences. Before joining Perceptyx, John worked at NRC Health, where he managed multiple aspects of the survey process from design to result presentation. John holds a Business degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University.

Megan Steckler, M.A.

Director, Leader & Workforce Transformation

Megan leads a team of Workforce Transformation Consultants who help customers transform employee experiences at the organization, team, and individual levels. Her team partners with a diverse range of organizations leveraging employee listening to drive improvement on a variety of business and talent priorities. Co-creating listening events, analyzing survey data, and incorporating industry trends and research allow this team to tell compelling stories that drive meaningful change and transformation. Megan also leads the integration of behavioral science and consulting best practices into the Perceptyx platform.

She has more than 17 years of experience in employee survey and engagement studies and has previously been a managing consultant for IBM’s Talent Management Solutions Group and Kenexa's Global Survey Practice, a consultant for Kenexa’s Employment Branding division, and a research analyst for Talent Plus, Inc.

An avid writer and speaker in the industry, she focuses on the employee experience, employee surveys, people analytics, and change management. She has presented at SIOP, hosted numerous webinars, and is published frequently on the Perceptyx blog.

Megan has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and holds an M.A. in Industrial/Organizational psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Nick Hayter, M.S.

Director, Leader & Workforce Transformation

Nick Hayter is Director, Leader & Workforce Transformation. He is based in Europe, where he leads a team of EX Experts and Workforce Transformation Consultants, supporting customers using the Perceptyx technology platform to empower managers and activate employees in achieving measurable impact on their key business and talent priorities.

Nick is a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol), Associate Fellow of The British Psychological Society, and Registered Practitioner Psychologist with The Health & Care Professions Council. He also holds a Board Member position as Standards Pillar Lead with The Association for Business Psychology. He is an experienced presenter at professional conferences on the topics of employee experience and workplace wellbeing, as well as trends in employee listening, activating change and workforce transformation.

Vanessa Stuart

EX Operations Manager

Vanessa Stuart brings more than a decade of expertise in survey research and data analysis to her role as EX Operations Manager. As leader of a team of EX Analysts, Vanessa has been instrumental in revamping customer deliverables, particularly in enhancing data visualizations. She excels at using data to drive organizational success and cultivate positive employee experiences. Her experience includes more than seven years at NRC Health, where she held various key positions and honed her skills in survey design, data analysis, and data visualization. Vanessa earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Jacksonville University, which laid the foundation for her analytical approach to human behavior and organizational dynamics.

Kira Foley, Ph.D.

Senior Behavioral Scientist

Kira is passionate about making work better for everyone with science-backed approaches to behavioral change. She earned her Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from The George Washington University, where her published research explored diverse workplace challenges affecting leadership and teams across various organizational settings, including U.S. Army soldiers, women leaders, and desk-less workers. She joined the Perceptyx team following the acquisition of  Humu, a leading behavioral science innovator. At Humu, Kira sat on the product team and was instrumental in the start-up’s work to integrate behavioral science into HR technology Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products. Now at Perceptyx, Kira conducts applied research on implementing rapid, large-scale, and sustainable workplace transformations.

Laura Sinkler, M.S.

Senior Data Analyst

With a background spanning SaaS, human resources, retail, and pharmaceutical industries, Laura Sinkler has consistently delivered impactful solutions by leveraging advanced analytics techniques. Her expertise includes data storytelling, visualization, and predictive modeling to drive informed decision-making and operational efficiency. As a Senior Data Analyst at Perceptyx, Laura conducts original research within specific customers, across industries, and within the marketplace, performing complex statistical analyses with large datasets in R Studio. She designs research methodologies to answer novel questions about employee listening and action, catalogs case studies, and creates visual and written representations of complex analyses. Laura's work involves automating critical processes, conducting marketplace research, and translating data into actionable strategies. Prior to Perceptyx, Laura held analyst roles at Paycor, Meijer, Wolverine Worldwide, and Booking.com, where she honed her skills in various aspects of data analysis and business intelligence. She holds a Master of Science in Business Intelligence & Data Analytics from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a minor in Human Resource Management from Southern New Hampshire University.