Interview an Hrd Professional

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Her leaders have made decisions concerning her department without even consulting with her to see if it would be in the best interest of her department or in the best interest of her instructors and the students they teach. She doesn’t feel that her leaders fully understand the importance of the HRD program and what it offers the students overall. She states that her leaders “would rather listen to the views of outside/external sources rather that listening to internal sources of the organization – those who know the ins and outs of the program and what may be best for it”. Lewis, K. (personal communication, October 27, 2017). Her voice not being heard is a major problem or challenge she faces in her position because she feels her leaders are not listening to her concerns or valuing her input regarding her department.

- What skills would you say someone needs to be successful in a position such as yours? Ms. Lewis states that “you have to be resilient and be open to criticism and change. You must be open to dealing with a population that is culturally diverse. You must be persistent and like people. You must understand the value of partnerships with external resources and you can’t allow past reactions to affect those partnerships”. Lewis, K. (personal communication, October 27, 2017).

- If you were given the opportunity to start your career over, would you choose the same path, or would you change something? Why or why not?

Ms. Lewis feels that she is where she is supposed to be. She started out teaching adult classes and over time was presented with opportunities from her leaders to move up into other positions over the years. So, her prior experiences set her up perfectly for her current position. She completely understands her job from ground level to upper leadership which is a major plus factor when hiring instructors and staff for her department.

The only thing that she would change has nothing to do with her job, specifically. She took Spanish as her second language and excelled in it at the time she took it years ago. However, she didn’t consistently practice the language to develop it over time, speaking or writing it regularly. So, the one thing she would change is “being bilingual because it would help when dealing with the Hispanic student population without having the need for an interpreter”. Lewis, K. (personal communication, October 27, 2017).

As of now she must rely heavily on her HRD recruiter, who is Hispanic but only in the office once a week, to do most of the interpreting for her when dealing with Hispanic students. Outside of this issue, everything else she has done in career has led her to her current position.

Conclusion

All of the parts of an organization must work together as a whole to reach the goals of that organization (Werner, 2017, p. 13) and should operate in the three primary functions of HRD (1) training and development, (2) career development, and (3) organizational development (Werner, 2017 p. 10). Supervisors play a critical role in implementing HRD programs and processes such as orientation, training, coaching, and career development. Ms. Kim Lewis embodies this concept and fully understands what HRD is all about. My interview with her confirms that she has the necessary skills to perform her duties and fully understands the value and importance of HRD.

My take away and lesson from the interview with Ms. Kim Lewis is that you must be open to change, willing to take correction and understand that things are not always going to be structured in HRD. You must have a good team to help you be successful and complete the mission and goals of the organization. Although you may be faced with challenges and problems in HRD, you must stay resilient, persistent, and focused to overcome them with the help of other leaders within the organization.

References

Werner, J. M. (2017). Human resource development: Talent Development (7th ed.). Boston, MA:

Cengage Learning.