pSemi Corporation is a leading fabless provider of high-performance radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), owned by Murata Electronics. The company builds upon Peregrine Semiconductor's 30-year legacy of technology advancements, including innovations around silicon on insulator (SOI), RF switches, and antenna tuner, which paved the way for new products in adjacent markets. pSemi's semiconductors enable advanced modules for smartphones, base stations, personal computers, electric vehicles, data centers, IoT devices, and healthcare. The company takes pride in its commitment to bold and innovative ideas that advance intelligent electronics and drive semiconductor integration.

A Strategic Leader Guiding Business Growth

Donna Fenn is the Vice President, Human Resources of pSemi Corporation. She serves as the head of human resources for over 600 employees globally. Donna has built her career on forming strong strategic partnerships to drive business initiatives and deliver sustainable results. Her HR experience encompasses leadership roles at global technology companies where she has played an active role in due diligence and post-merger integration.

At pSemi, Donna's vision from day one has been to deliver best in class HR services and programs through the adoption of new technology platforms and applications. This enabled a partnership with other Murata businesses in North America to implement a human resource shared services model for talent acquisition, learning and development, benefits, and more. pSemi has now proven the feasibility of this model to implement in other regions globally, reducing expenses while improving the efficiency of its services and enhancing the user experience.

Intensifying Gains Through Semiconductor Integration

pSemi spearheads Murata's efforts in new semiconductor growth markets, while maintaining a level of autonomy that stimulates its path to semiconductor integration. This combined innovation results in applications that are compact and more efficient, which is particularly significant as demand for smaller and thinner electrical and electronic components increases. pSemi's capabilities allow truly integrated, next-generation modules with smaller footprints, lower profiles, and better performance than the traditional larger assemblies

Streamlining HR Processes with Advanced Technology

Donna views that the role of an HR leader today has changed dramatically. Businesses have reached an inflection point where the future of the work environment and the employee experience will be vastly different from the past. pSemi has been proactively adopting HR technology for several years now, and all of its HR systems are in the Cloud. For example, the company uses AI chatbots to capture candidates on its career web page, interview scheduling, and benefits enrollment decision-making. pSemi's talent acquisition sourcing tool uses AI to perform in-depth data probing of the Internet to identify specific technical experience and skillsets of potential candidates for its positions. Donna also believes that utilizing Blockchain will improve the efficiency of the company's HR operations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, pSemi made a fast pivot to a virtual environment, finding effective tools to interview engineers, like a virtual whiteboard to draw schematics. "As remote work becomes commonplace, digital technology will become increasingly important to facilitate daily tasks and streamline collaboration with other team members," she said.

Unmatched Leadership Attributes

Donna believes that a good leader's hallmark traits include establishing credibility through integrity, honesty, active listening, and following through on their commitments. Being humble, showing empathy, and being passionately curious will open up doors a person never knew existed. Building on that foundation, a transformational leader doesn't accept the status quo. Further, she says that any significant change in business or life requires taking risks, relentlessly asking "why" when told "no," and knowing when to push, when to pull, and when to put on the brakes.

Strategic Management to Navigate Challenges

Early in her career, Donna falsely believed that hard work alone would ensure professional success. Donna says she had valuable talents but went unnoticed because she didn't know how to make them shine. She was unaware of why an executive presence was so important; gaining credibility and respect from your peers in a predominantly male industry is paramount to success as a female leader. pSemi has established the "pSemi Female Engineers and Managers (FEM)" program to advance the careers of women who have chosen STEM and management roles. The program is designed to provide valuable skills in the areas of negotiation, business acumen, public speaking and presentations, and, most importantly, executive presence. "My commitment to the organization is to increase the number of women at pSemi to at least 25%. We are close but have more work to do," she mentioned.

Crafting Career Path – Achievements

According to Donna, leaders must always keep the big picture in mind with a focus on the future. They should know what they want to achieve with a plan to get there. Prior to launching her career in HR, Donna spent a lot of time researching the topic and what it would take to succeed in the field. She interviewed every HR leader whose opinion she respected to understand if this was a viable career path for her. Donna learned that her chosen path would take significant time, hard work, and financial funding. Her achievements are a testament to how important it is to find a support network that guides a person along the way. Understanding the industry, the company's business, and whom to serve has been instrumental in shaping Donna's path and success as a female leader.

Global Talent Trends in the Semiconductor Industry

Donna predicts that semiconductor chipmakers will need to meet the increasing customer appetite for emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, and 5G, and at speed to market that hasn't been seen before. As a result, the industry is faced with looming concerns over how to address the performance vs. cost issues of manufacturing more technically difficult products.

pSemi is facing an ongoing fierce competition for STEM talent industrywide, much of which is not readily available in the U.S., as graduates are not being turned out of the U.S. universities to match the pace of demand. Until the imbalance of supply and demand of talent equalizes, industry employers must rely on a steady supply of foreign nationals to fill the country's engineering technology roles. Given the country's volatile immigration policy, the ability to secure talent continues to plague HR executives and semiconductor CEOs alike.

Cultivating Young Minds

Donna advises emerging women leaders to find a male sponsor, become part of a male network, learn the business, and understand the industry they serve to establish themselves as a credible, trusted business partner and equal. Women must be leaders who are resilient in the face of adversity, criticism, and obstacles, and never let others say it can't be done.