Chief Culture Officer for the Atlanta Braves Carves Her Own Path

This is the first in the International Women’s Day series of interviews that honor outstanding women in Human Resources.

DeRetta Cole Rhodes, Executive Vice President, Chief Culture Officer, at the Atlanta Braves, has had a career that has included working at private and public companies, nonprofits, and now a professional sports team. She says that these experiences at different kinds of companies with different cultures has broadened her horizons.
As a leader in Human Resources, she encourages others to take advantage of opportunities that come their way and learn from successes and failures. Recently, she talked to HR Exchange Network about her career during this transformative time for HR.

HREN: You’ve worked for some of the biggest brands in the United States, and now you’re working with a Major League Baseball team. How did you arrive at this job?

DCR: I have an undergraduate degree in hotel and restaurant management, and I started with Pepsi Co. on the restaurant side. I went into this management training program with Taco Bell. And I ended up doing a rotational assignment in recruiting. When I finished, I realized that I wanted to be in HR. I left Taco Bell, went back to earn my MBA in marketing from Clark Atlanta University and then came back to work for Pizza Hut and went into an HR manager generalist role. That catapulted me into my career in HR.

I’ve been fortunate. The things you learn and the foundations of HR that I gained from Pepsi were absolutely amazing. From there, I had the opportunity to work at ADP and Ernst & Young (EY). I have taken different roads because I did do diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at EY. From EY, I went to Turner Broadcasting. I had an amazing career with Turner Broadcasting. I started as a director and went onto become Vice President. I left there and went to First Data as a VP of HR. I left there and went to the YMCA of metro Atlanta as a CHRO and then came to the Atlanta Braves.

HREN: How did these experiences help your career?

DCR: When you get to work in different industries in the same function, it gives you a breadth of understanding. I have met and connected with amazing people. I have had some amazing mentors and leaders along the way. I have had some bad ones, too. I think what it has afforded me is the opportunity to have a broader world view, which I bring it to the things that I do, decisions I make, conversations I have.

REPORT: State of HR

HREN: You’ve been with the Braves since 2019, so you were with the team through the pandemic. It’s a time for transformation in HR. What do you think has been the biggest change in HR since March 2020?

DCR: Before, in a lot of cases, HR wasn’t considered a strategic partner. So, that shift has taken place. We’re a strategic partner. And we brought to bear things you need when you go through a pandemic. So, I think about things I probably never would have discussed before. We’re talking about mental health. We’re talking about people wanting to be involved in community activity and what does that look like and how do we support individuals to do that? Now, there’s a strategic spotlight on HR and what we do.

READ: What CEOs Want from CHROs

HREN: You’ve held positions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. How are you viewing what is happening in DEI now?

DCR: DEI has been out there. For some leaders it was a check box. We must be intentional and specific about initiatives, activities, programming, and about people feeling welcome in an organization. That’s where you find your opportunity, your biggest challenge. If you were doing it well as an organization, you didn’t have to pivot a lot. Other organizations may have to pivot.

This has given us a great opportunity around making sure we are looking at all staff within our organization and creating an environment that is welcoming for all. How do we do that? There are various ways you can do that through ERGs (employee resource groups), programming, leadership and development, promotions, mobility. We have a great opportunity to do it and do it well.

READ: Interview: How to Make DEI Integral to Your Work Culture

HREN: What’s the best advice you have ever gotten?

DCR: When you’re amid something going on, and you know you’re not at your best in decision making, just go home for the day. Retreat for that day, so you can come back to fight for another day. You should retreat, recharge, and come back.

HREN: What advice do you have for women who might want to follow in your footsteps and move up in the ranks in HR?

DCR: I think everybody should have her own journey and make her own footsteps. In every situation and circumstance, I looked at it as an opportunity for growth for me. Even if there was something I needed from my leader, and he or she could not give it to me, what could I learn? In order for me to get better at what I do every single day – and I’m a constant work in progress – I need to glean from all those experiences. We can get shortsighted.

I always want people to broaden their thinking and realize that this experience helped me to get here. I think about the opportunity I had to be on assignment in Hong Kong. That opened my perspective and views so widely. I applied that new perspective when I came back to the States and worked on different projects, teams, and boards. I always want people to guide their own journeys. Everyone’s success is her own success. It’s funny. I don’t necessarily feel like I’m successful. I feel as though these great opportunities have been afforded to me, and I have taken advantage of them, and I hope to do that as I move forward.

Don’t miss the other interviews in the International Women’s Day series.

Photo courtesy of Rhodes