Shaunda Betts
SHRM-CP | Director of Human Resources | Associate
Shaunda Betts is a certified SHRM-CP professional and serves as DBR’s Director of Human Resources. Shaunda joined DBR in 2013 and is a recipient of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace certification from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business. She is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management and HR Houston.
Through Shaunda’s leadership of the department, she manages and directs the effective delivery of human resources and workforce initiatives, compliance with local, state, and federal laws and regulations, payroll, and benefits administration, the 401(k) plan, and employee relations. During her tenure, she implemented the company’s Wellness Committee which was later combined with the Culture Committee. She recently worked with leadership and staff to start the company’s first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee to promote DEI culture in the workplace.
During her downtime, Shaunda enjoys traveling, reading, blogging, going to the movies, visiting museums, and philanthropy. Shaunda works with career programs at various high schools to prepare students for college/workforce. She also provides job seekers with career/resume services and provides HR consulting to small businesses.
Q&A with Shaunda:
Q: Describe your strategy to HR as it relates to the organization and growth of DBR.
A: Communication – Keep communication open and accessible. Information sharing is important. A breakdown in communication can make employees feel they are in the dark about what’s going on with the business. Lack of communication or not having a clear communication strategy can have a negative impact on the culture.
Egalitarian mindset – Each employee is a valuable part of DBR’s success regardless of title. Everyone should feel their voice is important and willing to be heard, be it whether they are sharing concerns, ideas, or general feedback.
Fairness and consistency – Make it a rule of thumb in the compensation process as well as the selection process for hiring and employee growth.
Q: What have you found yourself focusing on most during the last few months given the current industry challenges?
A: Self-care and wellness. The last two years pushed everyone to readjust our focus on personal and professional activities. HR professionals and departments faced the challenges of maintaining routine HR operations while navigating through unchartered waters of pandemic rules, regulations, and guidelines. HR is always focused on helping the organization and its people, but COVID-19 forced many HR departments to remember to also focus on their wellness too.
Q: Because of last year’s unprecedented challenges to cope with COVID-19, what effective new practices were created, and how are we better today for it?
A: More flexibility in working from home. The workforce of today is not the workforce from forty years ago. It’s not even the workforce from five years ago. Society’s structure is no longer a simple one. Offering a variety of flexible work options such as WFH makes the company more competitive which helps attract great talent and is also a benefit offering balance and flexibility to our current hardworking and skilled employees who contribute daily to DBR’s success.