Workplace MVP LIVE from SHRM 2022: Denys Pratt, David Raines Community Health Centers
On this episode of Workplace MVP, live from SHRM 2022 in New Orleans, Denys Pratt was in the R3 Continuum booth with host Jamie Gassmann. Denys is the president of the Northwest Louisiana Chapter of SHRM for 2022, and the Human Resources Director at David Raines Community Health Centers. Denys and Jamie talked about Denys’s journey to HR and DRCHC, the opportunities to learn at SHRM, and much more.
Workplace MVP is underwritten and presented by R3 Continuum and produced by the Minneapolis-St.Paul Studio of Business RadioX®.
This show was originally broadcast live from the 2022 SHRM Annual Conference held at the New Orleans Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Denys Pratt, Human Resources Manager, David Raines Community Health Centers
Denys Pratt is Human Resources Manager for the David Raines Community Health Centers. She joined the staff in May, 2020.
The doors of David Raines Community Health Centers opened in 1971 as the Cooper Road Medical Clinic, a satellite of Louisiana State University Medical Center (LSU). Medical care was provided for the underserved, low-income, and uninsured families. In 1992 David Raines Community Health Centers was established as a federally qualified health center under the medical leadership of Dr. Larry Daniels.
Since its inception David Raines Community Health Centers has provided quality and affordable primary care services while expanding access to services at six community clinic locations in five cities throughout northwest Louisiana corporate headquarters in Shreveport.
DRCHC has evolved from a small clinical team to a vibrant company that employs approximately 150 staff members throughout the organization and has a board of directors that provides oversight for the direction and growth of the organization.
DRCHC is continuing. the legacy of Mr. David Herndon Raines by serving Louisiana communities, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook |Twitter
About Workplace MVP
Every day, around the world, organizations of all sizes face disruptive events and situations. Within those workplaces are everyday heroes in human resources, risk management, security, business continuity, and the C-suite. They don’t call themselves heroes though. On the contrary, they simply show up every day, laboring for the well-being of employees in their care, readying the workplace for and planning responses to disruption. This show, Workplace MVP, confers on these heroes the designation they deserve, Workplace MVP (Most Valuable Professionals), and gives them the forum to tell their story. As you hear their experiences, you will learn first-hand, real-life approaches to readying the workplace, responses to crisis situations, and overcoming challenges of disruption. Visit our show archive here.
Workplace MVP Host Jamie Gassmann
In addition to serving as the host to the Workplace MVP podcast, Jamie Gassmann is the Director of Marketing at R3 Continuum (R3c). Collectively, she has more than fourteen years of marketing experience. Across her tenure, she has experience working in and with various industries including banking, real estate, retail, crisis management, insurance, business continuity, and more. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mass Communications with special interest in Advertising and Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Paseka School of Business, Minnesota State University.
R3 Continuum
R3 Continuum is a global leader in workplace behavioral health and security solutions. R3c helps ensure the psychological and physical safety of organizations and their people in today’s ever-changing and often unpredictable world. Through their continuum of tailored solutions, including evaluations, crisis response, executive optimization, protective services, and more, they help organizations maintain and cultivate a workplace of wellbeing so that their people can thrive. Learn more about R3c at www.r3c.com.
Company website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: [00:00:03] Broadcasting live from SHRM 2022 at the New Orleans Convention Center, it’s time for Workplace MVP. Brought to you by R3 Continuum, a global leader in helping workplaces thrive during disruptive times. Now, here’s your host.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:20] Hi, everyone. Your host, Jamie Gassmann here. And we are coming to you from SHRM 2022’s Exhibit Hall, and I am sitting in R3 Continuum, our show sponsor’s booth. And with me is Denys Pratt. Welcome to the show, Denys.
Denys Pratt: [00:00:35] Awesome. Thanks for having me.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:00:37] So, Denys, share with me who you work with and a little bit about your background in HR.
Denys Pratt: [00:00:44] Okay. I work for David Raines Community Health Center. We are a Federally Qualified Health Center throughout Northwest Louisiana. We offer medical, dental, and behavioral health services throughout five – well, about to enter into a sixth city – cities at this time for schools or communities of the underserved rural areas.
Denys Pratt: [00:01:07] As far as myself getting into HR, I was one of those I went to school for something completely different. I’ll tell you what it was, because it’s funny we’re doing this. I went to school for mass communications originally. And while I was in school for mass communications, I took a class, it was like the heart of an institution or a heart of an organization, and it really resonated with me and made me want to jump into HR.
Denys Pratt: [00:01:32] And at that time, I was working my way up in banking, and I didn’t know I was doing HR when I was doing HR. Like, I was doing orientation. I was doing training and development. I was doing development and talent recruiting and attending recruitment events for them or whatever was needed. And they didn’t know that was HR until I started learning more into HR, because I just thought, as most people think, HR is just for hiring and firing individuals. It did not involve all the other avenues of HR. And so, I kind of just worked my way up into an HR role.
Denys Pratt: [00:02:08] I did break away for ten months and then I said, “No. I really like HR.” I got back in there specializing in training and development specialist. I worked my way up into governmental agency, where I worked my way up from an entry level to their Assistant Director of Human Resources. Once I hit that thick glass ceiling at that organization, where I could no longer progress or grow, or it became kind of like a habitual pattern of, “Oh. This is my day. I’m just doing this.” I felt I needed to grow and develop a little bit more, and that’s where I ended up at David Raines Community Health Center.
Denys Pratt: [00:02:46] It’s still kind of on that same lines of being a public servant, just not technically a public servant, because we do serve a lot of the underserved, underpopulated, rural area communities. And I help in that way by bringing the workers to those areas. And so, making sure I’m on top of that recruitment and making sure people want to work at our organization to continue in that mission.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:08] Oh, I love that. And I mean, I’ve got to imagine that some of the classes you took in mass communications has got to help in HR because I think there is a lot of communications that goes on in HR.
Denys Pratt: [00:03:21] I will honestly say, yes, it did help me in my communication skills and, basically, giving me a foundation of how to communicate and articulate and pronounce my words to where it makes sense for everyone who’s around me, regardless of who’s listening.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:36] Yeah. And, now, you’re here at SHRM, and I know you’re a chapter president, so which chapter of SHRM are you a president of?
Denys Pratt: [00:03:44] I am in the Louisiana State, so I am Northwest Louisiana SHRM President for 2022. And I’ll be the president for 2023 as we prepare for our incumbent to take over.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:03:56] Wonderful. What a great honor to be able to run that chapter.
Denys Pratt: [00:04:01] It is.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:01] And I got to imagine just hearing you talk and that drive to learn and grow in your career, that’s got to be a huge step in helping with that as well.
Denys Pratt: [00:04:09] It is. I do like the opportunity that being a local volunteer provides me. It gives me access to, not only just what our local chapter is offering, but also we have a very strong and present state chapter. So, it gives me that opportunity. And then, being in SHRM generally just gives you access to so much opportunities to learn and grow, to become credentialed in many areas to where you can really push yourself forward in your career.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:04:40] Yeah. There’s definitely a lot of areas I know that the conference is covering. So, you know, I know this isn’t your first time at the conference, but what are you excited to learn about this year? Like, what’s the hot topic in kind of your HR space that you’re like, “I got to learn a little bit more about that.”
Denys Pratt: [00:04:55] I’m going to be honest with you, every time I come to these conferences, it’s always my one thing is just to take something from everything. Even if it’s something I already feel like I know, I don’t want to be the smartest person in the room, I want to be someone whose continuous learning from in the room. So, everything in SHRM is something I’m taking away.
Denys Pratt: [00:05:15] I went to the general session with Johnny Taylor and I really liked that crisis accelerates change, and that we matter, and you matter. And so, I’m really hoping that every session I go through kind of gives me or resonate something within me to where when I go back, I’m resonating change and I’m better.
Jamie Gassmann: [00:05:35] That’s awesome. I love that. Those are great closing words to our interview. I’m so excited to have you on our show and thank you so much for sharing that. That’s some great wisdom that everybody, I think, listening can take with them.
Denys Pratt: [00:05:45] Well, thank you for having me.
Outro: [00:05:51] Thank you for joining us on Workplace MVP. R3 Continuum is a proud sponsor of this show, and is delighted to celebrate most valuable professionals who work diligently to secure safe workplaces where employees can thrive.
