Daniel Rellaford loves the great outdoors, has been a choir kid his whole life, learned to speak French when he served an LDS mission to Madagascar, and chose to double-major in human resources and French at BYU. Balancing these talents and prioritizing throughout his education prepared this BYU Marriott alum for the fast-paced environment he now faces as a senior HR assistant at Amazon.
“Most people have way too much to do and not enough time to do it,” Rellaford says. “Learning how to prioritize early on is one of the greatest skills you can take out of school.”
If he hadn’t learned to prioritize while he was a student, Rellaford says he wouldn’t have been ready to handle the broad range of tasks he is now expected to do every day on the job. As an HR assistant for one of the most successful businesses in the world, Rellaford takes care of benefits, payroll, hiring and staffing needs, as well as running employee engagement programs. He supports about one thousand associates and has been given leadership responsibilities since his first day on the job.
“The pace at Amazon is incredibly fast and the responsibilities that I have are incredible,” Rellaford says. “If you show initiative to tackle projects, you take on responsibility quickly. And there’s a commitment to excellence that really makes the company unique.”
Working in HR gives Rellaford the opportunity to solve problems that center on people and their experiences rather than money and numbers. He believes he shines the most when he helps his associates enjoy their work and see the effect they can have individually.
“I’m passionate about the ideas that people should enjoy their jobs, that they feel like the work they do matters, and that they’re doing something important,” he says. “So I love that the problems I get to solve are people focused and people impacting.”
Rellaford honed his commitment to excellence at BYU Marriott. During his junior year of the HR program, he led a student team that worked with the vice president of Goodyear to improve the company’s talent acquisition. He also worked with BYU Marriott alumni from several other Fortune 500 companies throughout the project. Getting to work on real-world projects with professionals while he was a student molded his leadership skills.
“What I’ve taken away the most from BYU Marriott’s HR program is how to lead,” Rellaford says. “Learning about people and organizations helped me understand what my context would be when I got to Amazon, and it helped me understand how to relate to different kinds of people.”
Thanks to his experiences, Rellaford says he would encourage anyone to attend BYU Marriott.
“I met so many people, especially in the HR program, who were passionate about helping people and about doing good in the world,” he says. “I don’t think there’s anywhere in the whole world with as many people who are committed to help benefit and improve the world or as many faculty ready to help you succeed.”
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Writer: Katelyn Stiles
