7:13 p.m. EDT, October 8, 2012

Webster Bank has hired a chief of human resources who came up through General Electric, later led HR at CB Richard Ellis, and has been active in a group dedicated to transforming organizations through a holistic approach to "abundance, wellness and enlightenment."

Jennifer Buchholz joins Webster Financial Corp., the parent of Webster Bank, as executive vice president and chief human resources officer. She worked at GE from 1996 to 2007, with ranking positions in Mexico and Japan, and at CB Richard Ellis from 2007 to 2010.

While Buchholz was at GE, the Fairfield-based conglomerate was known for ranking employees and firing some of the bottom 10 percent every year, under CEO Jack Welch, who retired in 2001. The company also had some of the more forward-thinking team-building techniques under Welch, and has expanded that under CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

Buchholz, of Stamford, earned a Black Belt in the company's Six Sigma management methods, in which processes and manufacturing systems are designed to root out errors with fervor.

Buchholz, a University of Massachusetts graduate with an MBA from Pace University, is listed as an officer on the web site of the AWE Institute, a group that describes her as "a conduit between the spirit world and the corporate world," and a certified yoga instructor and ordained inter-spiritual minister.

Dan Haar

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GE Veteran To Head Human Resources At Webster Bank