Sandra Araujo on How to Innovate, Optimize, and Bring Your Whole Team with You 

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Innovation is never without friction. Sandra Araujo is a longtime veteran of Headway Technologies Inc., a TDK group company, with a journey that began in 1998. She’s worked within multiple TDK companies, building an impressive career due to her unparalleled ability to manage across its different entities. Through potentially divisive, vital operational optimization, she leads with an eye for building unity and working toward tangible results.

From her teenage days as the youngest employee in a cleanroom to being a member of the senior leadership team as Headway Technologies’ senior director of human resources (HR) and ethics compliance officer, Araujo has left a legacy of success at every level and in each organization where she has worked. She’s done it by making hard decisions and working tirelessly to help her fellow leaders understand why the changes were necessary and how to motivate their teams to embrace them.

“I get it; change is never easy. But my life has been a series of validating proofs that making those difficult changes is worthwhile—and vital to long-term success,” Araujo says.

Her first significant change was her decision to emigrate from her war-torn homeland, Nicaragua, to seek a new life in the United States.

Araujo grew up in Managua, Nicaragua, during one of the most challenging periods in the country’s history. Her father was a businessman, and her mother was a bank manager. Both were self-made, and Araujo recognizes their determination to propel themselves through difficult financial and personal circumstances to earn their success as a formative, core memory that has established a pattern she has followed throughout her life. Her parents worked hard to provide a private Catholic education for their four children. To this day, Araujo remains a woman of devout faith as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

During the civil war of 1979, Araujo’s family was targeted because a relative had married a federal official, and the rebel guerrillas singled out her family as sympathetic to the government. After their home was bombed, the family was forced into hiding for several months before having to separate and flee.

“The new government was pushing for forced military service,” Araujo recalls. “My oldest brother quit medical school in his last year; my sister also quit her architecture studies; another brother had to leave the country without finishing high school. Two siblings left to Costa Rica, and another sibling came to the US.” Araujo remained in Nicaragua for another four years, but at age sixteen, she decided to leave behind everything she knew and move to California.

After graduating from a US high school, Araujo immediately worked in the tech industry. She was thrilled by the opportunity but soon realized she didn’t just want a job; she wanted to build a career. Despite being the youngest employee in the company, Araujo quickly grew into leadership roles. She led the inspection line and was handpicked to build a technical training program covering new hires and lateral, cross-functional training.

“I get it; change is never easy. But my life has been a series of validating proofs that making those difficult changes is worthwhile—and vital to long-term success.”

Sandra Araujo

The future director also married and started a family, but she still made time to complete her bachelor’s degree and later transition into the HR field.

“You’ve got to stretch yourself to grow consistently,” Araujo affirms. “This is why I love HR—especially employee relations. I never know what challenge is coming next, and it keeps me on my toes while inspiring me to never stop learning and honing my craft.”

It’s not just personal growth; she believes companies must evolve as well. In 2011, Araujo was offered a position as Headway’s employee relations manager. She immediately recognized that changing how the department handled the day-to-day operations was both needed and inevitable. She began to push for a digital transformation.

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In 2013, Araujo was promoted to director and began implementing sweeping changes. The company managed its payroll and human resources information system (HRIS) on disparate systems, which required constant manual oversight and cross-checking. Araujo unified all HR operations under Paycom, an HRIS software her organization continues to use today. The implementation took a year of dedicated effort, but the results were 100 percent worthwhile.

Consider performance appraisals. Those routine annual reviews previously required thousands of printed pages. They also needed someone to cross-reference prior ratings and catalog them manually. The whole process took several weeks of work for four employees. With the new system, appraisals are uploaded and cross-checked in real time, freeing up nearly two months of productivity for her team each year.

But Araujo’s lasting impact on Headway is as much cultural as it is digital. The HR maven’s personal touch, directly coaching all levels of leaders through employee relations issues, has created an environment of trust.

“It’s a great compliment now when managers and directors I have counseled with previously come to me preemptively when they see potential employee relations issues among their teams,” Araujo shares. “It’s validating—they’ve seen the value of dealing proactively with employee relations issues in their careers and want the same for their team. And that’s how you create organizational change that lasts.”

Colleagues outside the company have also seen Araujo’s capabilities shine through in her roles. “Over the many years I’ve worked with Sandra, I’ve been very impressed with her strategic perspective and her attention to detail. She always asks pertinent questions and expects clear, concise answers. I am delighted to see her success in reaching the higher echelons of her global company,” says Gene Williams, senior vice president at WTW.

Indeed, Araujo’s role has expanded to support TDK’s global HR initiatives. She currently serves as the Americas regional lead in coordinating TDK’s annual My Voice team member engagement survey. Tens of thousands of team members from around the globe are invited to share their thoughts and feedback through this survey process. The survey results help TDK’s executive team and leaders across the company make informed, data-driven decisions to shape the organization’s future. Araujo provides training and support to HR leaders so they can, in turn, help local leadership act on the survey results to enhance their teams’ engagement and productivity.

Will there be some resistance to the changes? “Of course,” Araujo replies. “People and organizations are inherently change averse. But if my career has taught me anything, it’s that great leaders and great organizations learn to embrace continual improvement and the inevitable changes that come along with it.”

Araujo’s life and career stand as clear evidence of the value of that mindset.

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