JWMI521 Human Resource Manager Informational Interview Assignment 2 INTRODUCTION To gain a real-world perspective on hiring, onboarding, and performance m

JWMI521 Human Resource Manager Informational Interview Assignment 2 INTRODUCTION

To gain a real-world perspective on hiring, onboarding, and performance management, for this assignment you will do a short interview with an HR professional (or with a manager) at your workplace. You will ask a total of five questions and keep a record of the responses. Then you will write a paper of 2 to 3 pages, in the form of a report, summarizing the answers you received and reflecting on the impact the interview had on you. Use three of the suggested questions below and make up two questions of your own. Your questions should relate to at least TWO of the following HR topic areas: hiring, onboarding, and performance review.

INSTRUCTIONS

Approach your HR department (or manager) to arrange a short informational interview with a mid-level or senior professional in your workplace (half an hour or less). If you cannot make this happen in the timeframe required, you may instead interview a business professional whom you know outside of your current workplace.

Questions for the Interview: Select three (3) of the below questions:

1. What 2 or 3 key competencies do you seek in job candidates? Why are these competencies at the top of your list?

2. When would you hire externally and when would you promote internally to fill gaps in your team?

3. How useful are references to you in assessing job candidates?

4. How do you onboard new members of your team or department?

5. What performance review process does your organization use? How effective is it? Create two (2) questions of your own, for a total of five (5) questions.

Outline for your paper

Your paper will be a 2 to 4 page report on your interview, using the Outline below:

• Introduction o Describe the position and business role of your interviewee o Explain your relationship with him or her

• Questions o For each question, briefly summarize the interviewee’s response NOTE: Do NOT write out the interviewee’s exact words

• Reflection o Comment on any answers that surprised you and explain why o What did you learn from this interview that you can apply in your own work?

• Conclusion o Sum up your learning from the interview on at least two of the following HR topic areas: hiring, onboarding, and performance review

Formatting Requirements

• Use a double-spaced, professional font (Times New Roman or Arial), 10-12 font size, with oneinch margins on all sides

• Include a Cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, professor’s name, and the course title and date

• The Cover page is not included in the required page length

• Headings are used to identify main topics and subtopics

• Paragraphs are separated by a single space

• Include a References slide with your sources Informational Interview
Chief Public Civil Rights
Jane Q. Student
JWMI 521
John DiBenedetto
November 4, 2018
Informational Interview with the Chief of Public Civil Rights
Introduction
On October 30, 2018, I Tyvonia Ward, conducted an interview with the Chief
Public Civil Rights Division within the Office of Human Capital Management (HCM),
Department of Interior (DOI). The selected individual is an attorney advisor and a
senior official within the Department of Interior. He leads a team of four and oversees
the department-wide program to ensure that all individuals regardless of their race,
color, sex (sexual orientation or gender identity), age, disability, etc. have full,
uninhibited access to America’s public lands, programs, and services funded by the
DOI. Where there is an allegation of impropriety on behalf of a DOI employee or its
partners, the Chief of Public Civil Rights and his team work to investigate, address and
or correct the identified problem.
I chose this individual to interview because his line of work and mine are similar
in that we both have a vested interest in ensuring all parties have equal access to the
rights and privileges the DOI has to offer. His position has visibility on access to and
from the public whereas my job focuses on the DOI employees and applicants for
employment.
Questions
The questions chosen for the interview were 1. What two or three key
competencies do you seek in job candidates? Why are these competencies at the top of
your list? 2. When would you hire externally and when would you promote internally to
fill gaps in your team? 3. How useful are references to you in assessing job candidates?
4. When onboarding a new employee, what is your expectation as it relates to the
selectee’s ability to “hit the ground running?” Based on your experience, how
successful has this approach been for you as a senior leader in the agency? 4. As you
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Informational Interview with the Chief of Public Civil Rights
are aware, some Federal Agencies utilize the four to five-tier approach to rating
employee performance, and that the rating occurs on an annual basis with at least one
mid-term review. Based on your experience, do you believe the current performance
management process is effective in sustaining quality talent? Below is a summarization
of the responses from the Chief of Public Civil Rights to each of the questions.
Question one sought to understand the competencies the Chief thought were
pertinent when selecting candidates to fill his vacant positions. It was a question
provided by JWMI as an option to consider. The Chief provided three competencies he
believed were essential for a candidate to possess; humility, integrity, and excellent
communication (both written and oral communication).
Humility was his first response as he believed, an individual who is teachable, flexible,
adaptable, and capable of learning must first be humble. He also stated that every
candidate in consideration has some capability and or abilities that the individual can
pride themselves and articulate how they’re the right person for the job. It’s the
candidate who shows humility that demonstrates to him that they can grow, help the
organization, be empathetic and receive feedback in the appropriate context.
The second competency was integrity. The Chief expressed that it is difficult to believe
that an untruthful person is someone who can be relied upon or considered a valued
member of the team, and therefore seeks candidates who have a high degree of
integrity. The third and final competency is communication, both verbal and written
communication. The Chief conveyed the ability to communicate tactfully, and having an
understanding of knowing when and how to guard their words and actions is essential to
building creditability in the organization.
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Informational Interview with the Chief of Public Civil Rights
Question two sought to ascertain when the leader thought was the best time to
hire external or to promote from within the organization. Essentially, he responded that
he preferred to hire externally versus internally as someone new to the organization can
add considerable value to the organization versus someone who was already on board.
He thought an external candidate could add to the dynamic of the organization better
than an existing employee who was up for consideration for the same vacant position.
Question three asked how useful the leader thought checking references were
when considering a candidate. He did not see much value in it as he believed one good
reference could tell the good and bad about the candidate and if you found a manager
that wanted to get rid of an employee (for whatever reason), he or she may give a good
reference as not to impede the selection of the person under consideration.
Question four sought to determine how important the Chief of Public Civil Rights
thought possessing the skills necessary to “hit the ground running” was when
considering a candidate to fill his vacant position. Surprisingly, he was flexible and
thought every candidate, even the most talented, needed a period of adjustment. He felt
it was important for the individual to take his or her time to learn the environment and
culture so he or she could know where to begin to add the most value to the
organization.
Lastly, question five inquired as to how effective he believed the tiered
performance rating process was in sustaining quality talent. His response was a
pleasant surprise and somewhat in line with our reading for week five. He too believed
that regardless of the system used, every employee needed a committed leader who
will continually assess the employee’s capabilities year-round, coach, mentor, and
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Informational Interview with the Chief of Public Civil Rights
develop where necessary to obtain the quality products or services required for mission
success. He also conveyed that having the right performance measures is critical to
incentivizing the employee to excel.
Reflection
The element of the interview that was most surprising to me was the Chief’s
response to external hiring versus internal promoting. He believed that hiring externally
was better for an organization than growing and promoting from within. Although the
process of continually hiring from within without ever considering external candidates
tends to perpetuate the “like me” syndrome, his belief that external hiring was better
caught me off guard. I believe that it’s our job as leaders to develop our employees for
career advancement opportunities and into critical roles within the organization. We go
through great strides to improve and reward high performers and having an external
only mindset is counter-productive or adversely impacting the organization’s retention
efforts to retain top performers.
In the same vein, his practice of giving new employees time to learn and grow in
the organization before expecting them to take on the assignment with gusto is
something that I have to practice within my areas of responsibility. Too many times
than I can count, I have hired employees with the mindset of onboarding them in a “hit
the ground running” perspective. It has worked to some extent because we were able to
achieve impossible goals, yet in some cases, it caused employee burnout or
unexpected turnover more times than desired. I’ve learned from our interview that it is
possible to be flexible and allow the employee time to learn and grow which I will
implement during my future new hires.
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Informational Interview with the Chief of Public Civil Rights
Conclusion
Performance reviews are more than a rating assigned to an employee; it’s a tool
to develop the quality resource needed to fulfill our mission objectives. When used as
an instrument for development we can achieve insurmountable goals and objectives.
When used as an end of year rating, we miss the opportunity to impact change in real
time. The Chief of Public Civil Rights understood and utilized the performance
management structure to get the performance he needed out of his employees. He
used it as Jennifer Carpenter suggested in our week five expert practice videos, early
and often to recognize people for the job they’re doing well and correct less than
desirable performance as its occurring versus after it has occurred.
Lastly, onboarding is as communicated in our reading this week, an opportunity
to build engagement and capitalize on a good hire. The Chief of Public Civil Rights
understood and conveyed that allowing the new hire time to understand their new role,
interact with managers, their team, and employees within the organization, and learn
the culture, was an excellent tool to help the employee assimilate and to contribute
value to the organizations’ overall success.
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Informational Interview with the Chief of Public Civil Rights
References
JWMI Week 2 Lecture “Onboarding and Development”
JWMI Week 5 Expert Practice Videos. Jennifer Carpenter “Performance Management.”
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