Sabrina Gannaway

I mostly attribute my success to hard work and determination. I was very passionate about entering the HR field. I always found myself doing some type of role in previous jobs that were not HR titles, but I always found myself doing some type of role within HR, and I fell in love with it. I was determined that I was going to go back to school and work really hard to make myself stand out so that I could tap into this career field. I also attribute a lot of my success to mentorship. I had an amazing mentor when I first started with the Department of Adult Corrections. I started as a case specialist, and within 9 months in that position, I was promoted to supervisor, and I attribute a lot of that to our deputy director who mentored me and pushed me to higher heights.

The best piece of advice that I've ever received is to speak with candor. Always make sure that you are being honest and direct with your communication, that way people are able to understand you as well as respond with understanding. You should always be accountable and reliable. If you are going to do something, make sure that you are putting your all into it, and that involves holding yourself accountable for the things that you say you are going to do and being reliable, especially if you want to excel in whatever career path you're taking. Reliability, accountability, as well as speaking with candor are three of the main things that I prioritize.

I think the biggest advice that I would give is to put people first. That is the biggest thing, that's the most important thing when you're working in HR. HR is about the people and the culture of an organization, and it's important to remember that without the people, you don't have a successful organization. The people that work the jobs, whether it be the lower-level positions all the way up to the C-suite, it's important to remember to prioritize the people and the culture.

The biggest challenge in my field right now is making sure employees understand their benefits and eligibilities, as well as our policies and procedures, and making sure employees feel comfortable using their benefits, especially when it comes to things like FMLA. With the severe shortage within our facilities in the state of North Carolina and a lot of turnover, these employees are working long hours and overtime, and there is a fear of retaliation or job loss due to these shortages. They're scared to use their FMLA and they don't understand the protections that it brings them. The same goes for employees transferring to another agency - they don't want to tell people where they're going because they're scared of retaliation. The biggest challenge is making sure people understand that they have the availability to take FMLA if they're dealing with an illness, either within their family or a personal illness, so that they don't feel the need to quit their job or push through if they need to take time off. The biggest opportunity is education - educating employees on our policies and procedures and the benefits that they have available to them. With around 16,000 employees, the biggest opportunity is definitely reaching out and educating employees all across the state of North Carolina about what their leave of absence benefits are.

I think it goes back to putting people first and making sure that I make decisions and the right choices, because your choices can affect the people around you. I always try to make sure that I am considerate of others, and the decisions and choices that I'm making make sure that it's not going to impact anyone else in a negative way. I also value remaining true to myself and making sure that my voice is heard. I feel like it's very important to speak up for yourself. If you have an idea, you never know how far it will go. If you have a good idea or strategy that may change a process for the better, speak up and don't be afraid to speak up. You never know - you may have an idea that changes your organization or changes the aspects of how you interact with people in your personal life in a very impactful way, but you'll never know if you don't speak up.