EPISODE #20: JACLYN PRITCHETT, SVP OF HUMAN RESOURCES AT BROOKDALE - COMPASSIONATE CARE, SYSTEMIC CHANGE AND MENTAL HEALTH AT WORK

In today's episode, Christie spoke with Jaclyn Pritchett. Jaclyn Pritchett is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Brookdale Senior Living.  Prior to Brookdale, she was at Bridgestone Americas, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, and worked within the auto industry, government & non-profit sector, and consulting. Jaclyn previously served on the Board of Directors for MT|SHRM, and currently serves as the Executive Sponsor for the Leadership Development Program. She also currently serves on the Board for New Frontiers, and is President of the Board for Crowned for Ashes.

Jaclyn is PHR and SHRM-CP certified, and has her M.A. in Industrial Organizational Psychology from MTSU. She received her B.A. in Psychology with minors in Business and Spanish from Auburn University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, and was Captain of the lacrosse team. She was the recipient of the 2020 McKnight Women of Distinction Rising Star Award, 2020 Brookdale Servant Heart Award, 2016 Nashville Emerging Leader HR award, 2015 Cracker Barrel “Best of the Barrel” award, and 2014 State of TN SHRM HR Management Excellence Award.

Connect with Jaclyn Pritchett on Linkedin.

LEADING FORWARD with Christie Berger

Highlights: "Compassionate Care, Systemic Change and Mental Health at Work"

• COVID-19 has provided businesses with a real-life case scenario that cannot be taught in training classes.
• A few business lessons like variables changing every day and making decisions across the nation, are products of 2020. 
• During a crisis, an organization will be successful if the right procedures were set up prior in the weeks or months before. 
• Recognizing your leaders, both publicly and privately, is critical for human resources.
• Discussions around mental health are necessary because “What’s going on at home is affecting people at work and people need to bring their whole self to work.”
• Recharging, “What happens during the loss of control in a crisis?”, Zoom fatigue, guilt, & burnout are conversation starters to let your people know they are not alone.
• What support mechanisms are set up in your organization to support your people’s mental health? What roles are dedicated to this?
• Step one of systemic change is integrating the new policy into the system. Step two is working to integrate it with your managers and other employees.
• Compassionate leadership is a tool for leading during a crisis. 
• Growing vertically in an organization is standard. Growing horizontally is not as common and having a “playground” of options is ideal. 
• Creating and letting people see what is possible in the organization, supports employees to develop as individuals and leaders. 
• Taking risks and saying ‘yes’ to things that you may not check every checkbox, may seem scary at first but can pay off.