Human Resources Interview and Strategic Alignment. Management Essay
Portfolio Project #2: Human Resources Interview and Strategic Alignment
Portfolio Project #2 will be a “mirror image” of Portfolio Project #1. You will select and interview a human resources (HR) professional in a leadership position within his/her company.
The individual you select must be in a generalist leadership position (Manager, Director or VP). Please note: selecting a specialist (Training Manager or Benefits Specialist) will limit your ability to gain a clear understanding of the HR department as a whole. (With your instructor’s approval, you may use a specialist.)
You will conduct a one-on-one interview to secure the information needed to write a paper analyzing and evaluating the “strategic alignment” of the HR department to the organization’s vision, mission and goals.
Unlike in Portfolio Project #1, you will not create a strategic plan. You will secure the needed information through your one-on-one interview.
Milestone Deliverables due Weeks 2, 4 and 5
Week 2: Portfolio Milestone: Interviewee Selection and Question Preparation (25 points of the final Portfolio grade)
Submit the name and a brief biography of the individual you are going to interview to your instructor for approval. Also include a minimum of 15 questions you will ask in your interview to your instructor for review/approval. The questions need to be able to elicit answers from the HR professional that will ultimately uncover the current alignment of the HR department with the organizational goals,
Although you will not earn points in Week 2 for this deliverable, it is a required component of the Portfolio Project, and you will lose points on your final project grade if you fail to submit this assignment as required by the end of Week 2. See the Portfolio Project grading rubric on the Course Information page for details.
Week 4: Portfolio Milestone: Interview (75 points of the final Portfolio grade)
Using the 15 questions you developed in prior modules, conduct your interview with your selected HR professional. Submit the questions and answers to your instructor for review. Make sure you gained all of the information you will need to complete your final analysis and evaluation paper.
Week 5: Portfolio Milestone: Purpose Statement (50 points of the final Portfolio grade)
Most of us are aware of the term “purpose statement” but are unsure of its real meaning within an organization. It is a statement describing the organization’s purpose, or the reason for its existence. The purpose of an organization reflects a desired position in the marketplace. It should accurately answer to the questions below. The purpose statement is the written summary of those answers.
Who are we?
What do we do?
For whom do we do this?
How do we know when we are getting it done?
The purpose statement is the written summary of those answers. The most effective purpose statements are short, concise, and direct. A good purpose statement is between 2–3 sentences.
Review the purpose statement given to you by the interviewee and analyze the strength of the statement based on your findings from the interview. Submit your analysis to your instructor for review. Recommended length of analysis is 250-300 words.
For all Portfolio Milestone assignments: Although you will not earn points the weeks you submit these deliverables, they are required components of the Portfolio Project and you will lose points on your final project grade if you fail to submit these assignments as required by the end of the weeks they are due. See the Portfolio Project grading rubric on the Course Information page for details.
Final Deliverable due Week 8
Required Topics - Be sure to cover the following:
Strategic Contribution,
Personal Credibility,
HR Delivery Metrics,
Key Performance Measurements (KPM),
Action Plan for each functional area,
HR mission statement,
HR vision statement and objectives.
Your analysis and evaluation paper should include:
Title Page
Executive Summary
Analysis and evaluation of alignment
Conclusion
Reference Page
Appendix (optional)
Submission requirements:
Ten pages minimum (not including the title page, table of contents, reference page or appendix) will be needed to complete the project.
Support your analysis and recommendations with 5 credible sources documented in accordance with the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA Requirements (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
Note: Any documentation resulting from personal interviews by CSU-Global students are for the sole purposes of fulfilling a course assignment and will not be used as part of a larger study, published, or distributed outside of the course environment.
Table of Contents
Executive SummaryHuman Resource Management (HRM) is the backbone of any institution that seeks to excel in the competitive business world as well as providing effective service to the client and the public at large. The role of the HRM department in any institution ranges from meeting the staff needs, organizing training, strategic planning, and channeling human resources to align with the organizational mission and goals. In the healthcare sector, the HRM department is labor-intensive. According to Iveta (2009), the extended responsibilities of the HR director include solving disputes among employees, supervising and implementing HR policies, and making sufficient planning mechanisms so that the organization runs smoothly. At the top of all these responsibilities is the management of labor. Labor is a continuous process and it involves finding employees that are fit for the job they are applying for. Unless the manager in the HR departments understands how to streamline the employee’s expectations with the organizational mission and goals, the success of the firm hangs in the balance.
IntroductionOperational and strategic responsibilities of HR managers are the driving forces in successful institutions. Operational responsibilities help the organization remain competitive and operational throughout the daily activities. Strategic responsibilities involve planning and streamlining human labor towards achieving the mission and goals of the organization. These responsibilities cannot be realized without competent managers in the organization that have understood their responsibilities for the welfare of the institution. Competent HR managers are also in a position of commanding the attention of employees while at the same time seeking to win the support and collaboration of subordinates for the common good of the organization and the general public that the organization serves. Due to the intensive duties and responsibilities attributed to the position of HR position, most organizations seek to interview potential managers to identify their strengths and weaknesses before assigning them this position. Some organizations go about recruiting HR managers from the market while others start by evaluating the available managers in the firm that have an understanding of the operational strategies and missions of the institution. For this interview assignment, I decided to interview Mrs. Linda McHugh, the current HR Director at the Cleveland Clinic. The purpose of the interview was to establish how the HR director at the Cleveland Clinic works and how the recruitment criteria that the institution uses.Cleveland ClinicCleveland Clinic is one of the leading health and academic institutions in the United States. The hospital is a not-for-profit organization that provides medical care for the sick and is also interested in researching and developing cure for different diseases. The institution provides medical care for patients and prepares a generation of medical practitioners through research and development and equipping them with relevant skills in the treatment and management of different maladies. The HR department at Cleveland Clinic is headed by Mrs. Linda McHugh, a position that she assumed in 2016 and has held to date. I decided to Interview McHugh due to her history at the hospital and I also wanted to understand how she has grown through ranks to reach the point where the hospital considered giving her the position of the HR director. Mrs. Hugh is one of those employees that have a history at the hospital, and section contains the information I received from my interview with her. McHugh was named the HR director as from May 2016, after she had served in the hospital from 2005. According to the information from the clinic’s website, Mrs. Hugh has grown through ranks to her current position of the HR director. She started her career at the hospital as a technologist in the microbiology department before she ascended through ranks to the position of administrative director for Cleveland Clinic since 2005. She has also served at the hospital as the assistant secretary to the board of trustees and directors. As a result, she has a history at the institution and her contribution to this health institution cannot be underestimated. One of the things that attracted my attention in Mrs. Hugh is that there are other people that have served at the organization but they did not qualify to this position. My first question to Mrs. Hugh was, “Do you believe that you were the most suitable candidate for this position?”Her response gave me an insight into her professional career as well as the values at the hospital. She also seemed to have developed an interest into the organization; especially in the manner she provided an accurate overview of the history of the clinic. In her response, Mrs. Hugh states that all other people may have had academic qualifications, but perhaps missed out on one or two things that the organization considers as its operational and strategic HR framework. She described how during the interview for the job she was asked to describe the recruitment criteria she had used in her previous posts. She stated that she had based her recruitment on the interest in a job position that an applicant was seeking. Her philosophy is that it is possible to train an employee to fit in the job and do what the organization wants than employing a qualified person that does not have an interest in the job. Academic qualifications also played a role in her qualification for the job. Additionally, all employees seeking to work at Cleveland Clinic must prove the possession and enhance of six key values. They have to show compassion, integrity, teamwork, quality, service, and quality. Unless employees excel in these values, it becomes impossible for them to thrive in the organization. My other question to Mrs. Hugh was why she chose to apply for the position, considering that it is challenging and comes with responsibilities. I also asked her about her strategic contribution to the hospital since the time she joined. Mrs. Hugh responded that she wanted a position that will challenge her leadership competencies and lead to professional and personal growth. She has grown up with a lot of confidence in herself and the people around her, especially because she believes that every person has unique capabilities that can be exploited for the best service of humanity. I was interested in the HR strategic contribution to the hospital’s management, so I asked Mrs. Hugh what she has done so far to help the hospital. She responded that she has played an active role in creating a connection between the organization’s mission, vision, and values and the employees in the institution. She has also played an active role in channeling the interests of employees towards meeting the goals of the organization with the goal of meeting individual goals as well as those of the hospital. Her focus has been on focusing on competency and individual abilities of all employees with the goal of maximizing output from all people within the hospital and its facilities. Recently, she introduced a training program for all employees so that they are enrolled in education program that increase their awareness of the organizational goals when they are away from the institution. When I asked Mrs. Hugh about the HR delivery metrics she has put in place, she listed six metrics that she has put in place at the institution. She said that before she assumed office, there were only three metrics which include cost of HR per employee, absenteeism, and HR turnover. Within the two years she has been in place, she has overseen addition of three other HR delivery metrics which include return on human capital, HR cost of training, and the ratio of HR professionals to employees. The goal of these delivery metrics is to maximize service delivery and help the institution remain competitive in acquisition and retention of competent employees in the market. To understand how the institution is planning to reduce the cost of operation while at the same time maximizing service delivery, Mrs. Hugh explained that they have initiated KPI that direct the department in making decisions. The two KPIs that she mentioned include increasing employee innovation while at the same time cutting on costs of training programs and re...