2010 40 Under 40: Melissa Carr

Melissa Carr showed a natural tendency toward leadership from a very early age, holding leadership roles in 4-H and at all levels of her education.

“I believe that I chose my career based on this early natural inclination toward, as well as my desire to work with people,” says Carr, who is vice president and human resources director at Guaranty Bank.

She holds Professional in Human Resources certification and completed human resource management school at the University of Wisconsin’s Graduate School of Banking.

“I wholeheartedly believe that the concept of leading has more to do with influence than with position,” she says. “My goal is to be followed because I am doing the right things and demonstrating the right behaviors and attitudes, not because people are impressed  – or intimidated, as can sometimes be the case – by my title.”

Carr has worked in human resource management for the past 11 years, managing all aspects of employee relations, compensation and benefits, legal employment issues, staffing, and training and development for three different local banks.

“I am extremely proud of the fact that at age 27, I had the opportunity to go into a growing organization that did not have an established human resources program and build that program from the ground up,” Carr says of her early experience at Ozark Bank. “It gave me a chance to put into practice many of the concepts that I had only studied in the past.”

At Guaranty Bank, Carr meets regularly with staff members who want to know more about their career opportunities within the organization.

“I enjoy helping employees consider their options,” she says. “As I often tell them, people spend a lot of their life at work. It needs to be a fit that will benefit both the person and the organization.”

She also enjoys helping managers develop their people skills.

“Many times, supervisors are promoted because of their technical abilities and then left to flounder when dealing with their employees,” says Carr, who is a past president of the Springfield Area Human Resources Association. “Teaching continuing education courses gives me the chance to provide those individuals with tools to make them better at their jobs and more confident in dealing with their employees.”

Her personal approach to supervision, she says, is to help the people she leads become stronger employees.

“I want them to understand how they can continually make the process better,” she says. “My goal is to help them see the big picture.”[[In-content Ad]]