Ask Tamara Hargrove about “Home” growing up, and you’ll get a long answer.

Growing up as a Navy brat, she started her life at the southern tip of Southern California. At age 7, the family moved to an extremely remote island out in the Bering Sea – they were in fact closer to Russia than the United States. How remote was this island?

“If the plane couldn’t make it with food on any given week, it was powdered milk and powdered eggs, and whatever we could catch in a day, King Crab or Halibut if we were lucky,” Tamara said.

From there, she moved to Mississippi and finally Arkansas, where her grandparents lived, and where she calls home today.

American author Pierce Brown said that “Home isn’t where you’re from, it’s where you find light when all grows dark.” It’s a place (or places) full of trust, security, possibilities, and fulfillment. It’s not always easy to find – it wasn’t for Tamara as she moved from place to place.

“As the introvert part of myself, it was very difficult. You start making friends, and the military says we’re going to move you somewhere else, so you start over,” Tamara said. “That was a good and a bad thing. The extrovert part of me forced myself to push forward and make new friends, create new connections.”
Creating an environment that feels like home isn’t always easy, but it’s necessary. Not just wherever Tamara’s lived, but where she’s worked.

"Datamax is where I belong. It feels like home,” Tamara said. “This is my family, and this is where I need to be.”

As a Human Resources Manager, it’s Tamara’s job to make sure that every new employee feels the same way. That once they’re handed off to their manager and beginning their Datamax journey, they’re firmly in the saddle.

An inability to sit still.

In 2016, Tamara was hired at Datamax as a sales coordinator and worked closely with VP of Sales David Holzhauer, but a year later felt the calling to return to healthcare. In 2019, when the Human Resources position became available, “my phone blew up. I got a lot of text messages from employees that this position had opened up.”

She says there was no hesitation in coming back – at least not on her end.

“There was some concern that I might get bored with this position. But I’m not one to sit still very often,” Tamara said. “If I have downtime, I’m going to find something to do.”

That she did. Tamara dug in deep on (at the time) current onboarding processes. She took a lot of the procedural roles off the backs of managers. She in many ways streamlined and enhanced the way that new employees are welcomed to the Datamax family.

Today, she travels regularly between Tyler, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Arkansas to personally walk employees through the paperwork, answer questions and explain available benefits, and serve as a face-to-face resource for any concerns, uncertainties, or inquiries on the first day of one’s job.

And then, she physically hands the new employee off to his or her manager.

A reassurance that we’re family.

Once the formal paperwork has been completed, Tamara stops to ask if there are any questions. And then she turns the conversation completely over to the new hire.

“It’s almost like a Key Contact Interview. I let them lead it. I very much enjoy the conversation that usually ensues. I think it’s very important for these individuals to know they’ve made the right decision in coming to work for us. I feel like it’s my role to welcome them to the family, and we’re ecstatic that they’re here.”

A knack for helping.

Tamara knew early on what it meant to be a loner. To arrive at a new school, somewhere far away from her previous home, and be a total stranger. Her natural instincts kicked in at an early age to try to prevent others from suffering similarly.

“I was very much motivated to help. If I saw a loner child on the playground, I was going to approach them, ask them about themselves, and try to make that connection. I knew what that felt like. I guess I had a natural knack to try and help,” Tamara said.

It’s not all that different at Datamax.

“Making them feel more comfortable is a major objective, not letting them think for one minute that they’re a stranger or the new kid on the block. I want new employees to come in, to feel like they’ve been here for months.”

To make them feel like they’ve made it home.