Human Resources’ Own Becomes YAAA Co-Chair

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Human Resources’ Own Becomes YAAA Co-Chair

Cliff Brown, human resource generalist, is a native of New Haven. Currently living in Middletown, Cliff is either at the 221 Whitney Ave building, his office base, or at other sites on campus when handling employee to manager relations. Cliff graduated from Southern Connecticut State University and has been working for Yale for a total of 7 years. “Yale definitely is a great place to work,” said Cliff during his recent interview. In his free time, Cliff can be found either working out or trying out new restaurants for their chicken wing selection. “I consider myself a wing connoisseur; if a restaurant is known for its wings, I’m there.”

Congratulations to the new co-chair of the Yale African American Affinity group (YAAA) Cliff Brown. He joins Wendy Hall, strategic procurement professional in Yale Procurement, at the helm.

What are your main responsibilities?
I’m currently an HR generalist floater assigned to departments at the Yale medical school. I support the Yale Cancer Center as well as the Smilow Cancer Center and Yale Urology, so three in total. I assist with any HR-related responsibilities, which can range from interpreting policies and procedures, to answering contract questions for local 34 employees who are administrative employees. I also assist with any type of employee relations cases that range from counseling one on one with employees to coaching managers on advising employees about performance. We partner with compensation as well as the staffing department to assist with recruiting talent for each department that we support.

What do you like most about your work?
I like the opportunity to work with so many different employees at different levels within the organization. One day I can be meeting with a clerical and technical employee who may have questions about how to enroll in benefits, and the next with a department lead administrator to talk about talent planning and how to successfully recruit talent for that department. Just being able to work with so many different levels within the organization I find interesting, and I think it’s a rather challenging task I face every day because you adjust your style to working with different personnel within different departments. But I think that’s probably what I like most about my role.

How did you learn about your affinity group?
I received an email. I think it was my second week at Yale, and it was interesting to work in the Human Resources building at 221 Whitney Avenue where the affinity groups held meetings on the third floor.  It was so easy for me to attend their monthly steering committee meetings. I think they held them once a month. I remember going to a meeting one month and introducing myself to the committee. I was still getting adjusted to the job so I couldn’t attend as many meetings, but as time progressed, I received more and more emails about events and different things YAAA was doing so I continued my involvement and resumed attending more meetings.

How have you incorporated your volunteer role into your current job?
By taking on the responsibilities of working with different subcommittees. I know when I first started, I merely assisted with putting together programs with the professional development committee, but now I find it really interesting that as a co-chair, I’ll be able to interact with all the other steering committee members. I like being able to have a say and being able to possibly create new programs and new ideas.

What skills, abilities, and personal attributes are essential to the success of being an affinity group co-chair?
The ability to listen. I think a lot of people in leadership like to take control in meetings and that’s no way to progress. Also, the ability to be creative, as newer ideas and innovative thinking is always geared toward success. So, I think those two are the most important abilities. Also valuable is the ability to influence—being tasked with trying to get individuals to either volunteer or push them out of their comfort zone. 

What is your reason for choosing to become co-chair of YAAA
The reason I chose to become a co-chair of YAAA was to have the opportunity to help employees here at Yale university. One of my passions in life is building comradery among employees through networking. I’ve always believed that networking and building relationships is key to creating a healthy work culture, and retaining good employees. In order to succeed and gain a strong understanding of the university, employees should network with other employees because everyone has unique qualities that they bring to their organization—these qualities help others feel comfortable and grow professionally. For many employees, including those who identify as African American/Black, opportunities to build these relationships can be a challenge.  African American/Black employees often feel silo-ed in their departments. Working in Human Resources has allowed me to build relationships with many employees, including those who identify as African American/Black. When I hear their concerns about not always having a safe harbor within which to network and connect with other like-minded colleagues, I immediately feel responsible for making a change. This co-chair position will help me strengthen the relationship between members of the YAAA community and other communities at Yale.

By Samuel Suffrard, New Haven Promise Scholar intern, 2017