CVS Health taps Laurie Havanec as chief people officer

CVS Health has a new human resources executive. Laurie Havanec is joining as executive vice president and chief people officer, effective Feb. 8.

Havanec will succeed Lisa Bisaccia, who is retiring after 16 years at the company.

"Laurie is an innovative leader who brings a wealth of experience partnering with executive teams to build strategic, people-focused human resources strategy," said Karen Lynch, who will become president and CEO of CVS Health on Feb. 1. "Laurie will lead talent and culture initiatives that support our business strategy, and she will also play a central role in helping to inspire and engage all 300,000 employees across CVS Health."

Havanec joins CVS Health with a distinguished career of over 20 years, most recently serving as executive vice president and chief people officer of Otis Worldwide, the world's leading company for elevator and escalator maintenance, installation and service. She's an experienced HR professional who has worked across all human resources functions including talent development, diversity, equity and inclusion, compensation and benefits, labor and employee relations, and HR systems, shared services and operations.

Before joining Otis, Havanec served as corporate vice president of Talent and HR at United Technologies, where together with her team, she transformed and modernized the company's talent agenda and priorities. She championed technology and new ways of thinking to create industry-leading practices in engagement, recruitment and performance. Havanec also was a senior HR leader at Aetna.

"It's been said that businesses don't create value; people do. That's why I'm honored to join CVS Health at such a critical time in the company's history. In partnership with our business and HR leadership teams, I look forward to building and maintaining a corporate environment that enables us to achieve our vision to transform health care for consumers across the nation," said Havanec.

Havanec will become a member of the company's executive leadership team and report to Lynch. She has a BS in Marketing and a JD, both from the University of Connecticut.