Nearing 15 years of work at the MSU Innovation Center, Janelle’ Flores serves as the Human Resources administrator — handling the management and oversight of university systems and practices while helping the team stay informed.
Originally, Flores was hired in 2007 as a temporary employee in the receptionist position for MSU Technologies — the tech transfer and commercialization arm of the Innovation Center, receiving her certification as Human Resources Specialist from MSU in 2013.
“I have appreciated learning about our staff, and myself in the process of learning the ins and outs of my position,” Flores said.
In her role, Flores creates and manages job postings, seeking incoming talent for the Innovation Center. She also oversees the operational accounts for MSU Technologies (MSUT) while managing various financial transactions.
“I am constantly striving to improve how I do my job, and I most enjoy the support that I have to improve the position of Human Resources administrator,” Flores added.
While performing daily tasks such as reviewing incoming absence requests for staff and managing the MSUT email accounts, Flores also spends her time working on projects, reconciling tasks in EBS, or working through her action list.
Back in September of 2018, Flores began one of her favorite individual projects, the HR record retention and destruction project. “This allows for me to work in tandem with another project I started years ago cataloging our past and present personnel, to keep the Innovation Center HR records in compliance with university record retention rules according to their schedules based on the record type and destroy our electronic files according to schedule,” Flores explained.
Being with the Innovation Center for so long, Flores is appreciative of the work culture and feels comfortable being herself, allowing her to grow both personally and professionally.
“I have a small group of accountability partners. These are colleagues that I can exchange ideas and be creative with, who will talk openly and honestly me,” Flores said. “I am grateful to work in an environment where I have that, as I know that is a rare gift.”
Flores is an avid outdoors person. Outside of the office, she spends time in nature with her fiancé and dog. She also enjoys a variety of hobbies such as camping, hiking, kayaking, golfing, and writing poetry.