Serving as the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Baylor Scott & White Health, Nakesha Lopez began her career in HR nearly 20 years ago, first with Memorial Sloan Kettering in 2002, followed by Lehman Brothers in 2004 and then with Barclays in 2008. While her journey reflects experience and knowledge in HR, Lopez says her dream job growing up was to become a physician; in fact, she began her college education with a focus on premed studies.
During her undergraduate years, Lopez found she was more interested in and influenced by her classes in sociology and psychology. This led to a recommendation for Lopez to apply for a junior HR role with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. While Lopez was not yet committed to a career in HR, she gave the opportunity a chance and joined the organization.
After graduating from Hunter College with her undergraduate degree in sociology, Lopez pursued her MBA at the University of Phoenix, taking HR management courses to improve her skill set and expand her field of knowledge. Using her education and her experience, Lopez began to establish herself as an effective and passionate employee representative through her roles in HR.
Speaking about her earliest years as an HR professional, Lopez said, “I thought, ‘How can I make people’s experiences meaningful when they come to work every day? How can I make it so that they want to return and put their best foot forward?’”
Lopez has brought this perspective with her to every position she has held since the beginning of her career in HR. The policies and processes she has implemented in her current role are aimed at creating a supportive work environment for Baylor Scott & White employees. She also uses her platform to advocate for employees and help them navigate complex issues.
In her role as CHRO, Lopez has worked to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and respected, and she has developed programs focusing on the whole person, including their physical, mental, and emotional health. Under Lopez’s leadership, Baylor Scott & White has been recognized as a top employer by Comparably for leadership and career growth.
Looking to the future of HR under her leadership, Lopez plans to continue developing policies and programs that will support employees in all aspects of their lives. She also wants to continue using her platform to continue to advocate for the equity and diversity and further advance inclusion and belonging at Baylor Scott & White .
Lopez believes that driving diversity in the healthcare space is particularly important due to the organization’s mission. “Our mission calls on us to focus on the well-being of all individuals,” Lopez said, adding that “in order for us to fulfill that mission, an individual’s experiences internally and externally should feel like [Baylor Scott & White] is a safe and inclusive environment.”
“It’s really important for us to elevate our accountability and our transparency with not just our people and our leaders, but with those at the board level,” Lopez said, further emphasizing the commitment to inclusion throughout the organization. “Through this, we are focused on building a culture of inclusion for our team members and communities and closing gaps in care.”
“These two key areas have driven initiatives that we believe will be sustainable and allow us to hold ourselves accountable [for what we can control],” Lopez added. She explained how her team carefully listens to input from employees when designing the company’s diversity and inclusion programs. About her goals, she said, “Our focus is establishing health equity. Our goal is to eliminate barriers within our health systems control that will improve opportunities for positive health outcomes for those we serve.”
While known for her deft expertise in HR, Lopez has mastered the art of change and transition as a result of her professional experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was selected as the new CHRO at Baylor Scott & White during the height of the pandemic and had to begin implementing changes to support employees immediately.
Lopez helped Baylor Scott & White make the transition to a remote workforce for applicable departments and develop policies that would support employees during the uncertainty of the early weeks of the pandemic. She also created a culture of trust and transparency, which she says is essential for any organization going through a period of stress or change.
“During COVID-19, everyone rallied together to make it the most important focus for the organization,” Lopez said. “If our culture wasn’t strong, if we hadn’t done the work up to this point where our people felt really connected to our mission and values, if they didn’t feel in it together, I don’t know that our response would have been as quick and impactful as it was… We couldn’t have overcome the pandemic if we didn’t have that strong base,” Lopez emphasized.
As Baylor Scott & White looks to become more customer-centric under the leadership of a new CEO, Lopez said that she is seeing some of the same themes that she saw throughout the pandemic, and she believes many of the same lessons apply to both situations.
“Communication has been key,” Lopez said, adding that her team members’ most reported opinions of the culture at Baylor Scott & White are that the organization has been intentionally focused on open communication and transparency, both with its employees and with its patients.
In responses to questions about the organization’s best traits and areas in which it could improve, employees continuously requested that Baylor Scott & White maintain its open lines of communication and transparent approach to change. About these employee responses, Lopez said, “whether it was system-wide communication or local communication, it was very clear, it was concise, and we knew what we had to do, when we had to do it and why.”
Lopez has created opportunities for employees to connect with one another and feel supported during this time of change. She believes that during any transition, it’s important for employees to have authentic and flexible leadership that offers support and guidance while also allowing employees the opportunity to grow.
This support extends beyond the workplace, as Lopez and her fellow leaders understand that creating an inclusive and productive culture starts by respecting each individual’s personal needs.
Describing the leaders at Baylor Scott & White, Lopez said they “are supportive and really listen to employees to know what they need both at work and outside of work to be equipped to do their job. This is a continuous focus for us as you can never stop working to improve”.
Alongside communication and flexibility, Lopez emphasized that teamwork is a core part of the Baylor Scott & White culture that makes the organization a leader in times of change.
One aspect of teamwork, she said, “is understanding if our people have the support and resources they need.” Lopez added that “resources aren’t always money, and sometimes providing someone with the resources they need is bringing in members from other teams to assist, prioritization and flexibility.”
“A lot of new employees are somewhat surprised at how much teamwork exists here,” Lopez said, explaining that this culture can be seen “both upstream and downstream” throughout Baylor Scott & White.
“We are very intentional about our huddle system, where team members and leaders come together and work to identify the issue and often work with other teams to find a solution,” Lopez said, adding to the picture of Baylor Scott & White’s strong culture of teamwork.
