March 10, 2025. Hughston Clinic Orthopaedics recently celebrated National Healthcare Human Resources Week.
Human Resources Manager, Frances Fann
A certified HR professional, Frances joined HCO in April 2024 to manage all aspects of Human Resources for Hughston’s Tennessee clinics. Before joining Hughston, Frances worked eight years in the HR field helping employers and employees with benefits and compensation, employee relations, general HR operations, recruitment, payroll, HRIS data management, compliance, and strategic HR projects. Early in her career, she managed a call center, which presented an opportunity to build skills in recruitment, timekeeping, training development, and even some coding and web design. Her diverse business experience in various industries helped her understand how HR-related federal, state, and local laws can affect people at all levels of an organization.
Her work background demonstrates how individuals from different industries can transition into the HR field, especially in healthcare. During a career transition, a mentor noticed her HR potential and encouraged Frances to pursue formal certification in HR.
Frances holds certification from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), which is valid for three years. Frances and her colleagues in Georgia regularly attend training sessions, conferences, and online courses to maintain and renew their certifications. SHRM and other HR organizations also offer subspecialty certificates in other areas, such as compensation, benefits administration, employee relations, and HRIS management.
Five Tips for Someone Interested in a Career in Healthcare
- Don’t be afraid to apply – a new journey starts with that first step. The bottom line is a desire to want to help people. Skills developed over multiple industries are translatable to healthcare.
- Define the area of healthcare that interests you. Explore the areas that you have enjoyed most and search for opportunities in those areas. What kind of work have you done that touches on healthcare?
- Be a student. Once you find an area of interest, ask for opportunities to shadow or if an internship is available. While there is no immediate fiscal gain, the contacts you will make can potentially be life changing.
- Go straight to the source. Explore opportunities on websites of healthcare companies in the news section. Friends and family can also recommend organizations where they have had positive experiences.
- Network. Go to job fairs. Ask people you know in healthcare how they got started.
HR Facts. Did you know?
HR is more than hiring and firing people. We serve as consultants to leaders and colleagues at all levels in problem solving, idea generation, impacts of business processes and decisions.
Anything that affects people, touches upon HR principles.
Resumes and cover letters are still important. Check for typos, readability, and make sure its Applicant Tracking System-friendly (ATS). Remember, your resume is an introduction to potential new colleagues. Make a good impression!
You can earn special certifications for Human Resources Management. I earned my SHRM-CP (Society for Human Resources Management Certified Professional) while under the mentorship of a leader who saw qualities in my work that helped me to realize my true passion was in HR. There are also sub-specialties where one can engender significant wage qualifications.
HR connects to all areas of a business or organization. The success of each team member directly contributes to HCO’s success. In HR, we get to help team members overcome barriers to their success.
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Last edited on April 23, 2025