With over 20 years of HR experience, Melissa provides organizational transformation and people development advisement domestically and internationally. She exemplifies an altruistic track record of positive employee engagement and change transformation in rapidly growing corporate environments. Melissa has a passion for executive coaching, diversity, equity, inclusion, and talent management. She received her Bachelor of Science in Business from the SUNY College at Buffalo, an MBA in Finance and Information Systems from Pace University, and holds her SHRM-SCP. She is an executive board member for GUIDE and a career advisory member for Maxwell High School’s manufacturing career pathway. Melissa was born and raised in Westchester County, NY, and lived in NYC for a decade before relocating to Gwinnett County, Georgia.

How did you become an executive in the healthcare industry? Have you always been interested in health care?

I’m passionate about healthcare for two powerful reasons. The first is my mother, a retired nurse practitioner and former head of CCU/ICU, who inspired me with her tireless dedication to helping others. Her patience, knowledge, and leadership always left me in awe, and her unwavering commitment to answering any emergency call, any time of night, left a lasting impression on me.

The second reason is my younger cousin, who was diagnosed with MS and became a quadriplegic in his early 20s. Despite his struggles, he maintains a positive spirit and has taught me the importance of gratitude and mindfulness. I’m driven to follow in my mother’s footsteps and make a difference in the lives of others, and to honor my cousin’s resilience by giving back in any way I can.

What’s an HR standard you’d like to see more widely adopted by companies that are trying to improve their culture?

Psychological safety. I teach classes to all employees and at times just to leaders. It’s important to create an environment at work where employees feel safe and included, and that they truly belong. We do our best work when we are accepted for who we are and the people around us believe in our expertise. Fueling authentic confidence in our people is imperative to success. Most employers are focused primarily on physical safety but overlook mental wellness and its positive impact on employees.

We should all work for company leaders that encourage us to be the very best versions of ourselves and encourage us to remove our self-doubt. I am very lucky to have excellent leaders in this space and want to pay it forward whenever I can. I’d like to see all companies start to take psychological safety seriously and provide additional mental health resources to help employees through tough times.  

As a key player in employee acquisition and engagement, how are you navigating the current talent landscape? Where do you see the most room for innovation among hiring and retention practices?

Retention strategies have become a top priority for HR leaders, especially with the curveballs thrown at us over the past few years. Challenges were amplified by COVID leaves, labor shortages, inflation, and employee burnout. Anonymous surveys have been our best tool, creating a safe environment for honest feedback. We can’t fix everything, but we can listen and make affordable changes.

Attraction strategies should prioritize soft skills, with the SPIRIT acronym serving as a screening tool for Strong work ethic, Positive attitude, Integrity, Reliability, Into the detail, and Teamwork. To combat widening labor shortages, we need to create our own “farm system” pipelines in healthcare, as baseball teams do.

Personally or professionally, what might the WBL network be surprised to know about you?

Speaking of baseball, I am a huge Yankees baseball fan. I grew up about 15 minutes from Yankee stadium and went to games my entire life. It was our family pastime. I have since moved away from NY but I fly back every year to catch a game. When they come to town to play the Braves during interleague, you can find me in the front row with my Derek Jeter #2 tee shirt on!