HR Leader Profile

Meet: Bob Bender

Position Title: Director of Human Resources
Agency: DOAS
Agency Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Number of Employees in Agency:140 (270 with attached agencies)
Hire Date:January 16, 2008
Educational Background: MBA Georgia State University, BBA Ohio University
Certifications: SPHR

What drew you to a career in HR?

Some people are career planners or learn to be one. I was never that clear in my direction. After graduating from Ohio University I went to work for my father at his Chevrolet/Oldsmobile new car dealership. Three years later a neighbor, who was the Personnel Manager for a local NCR manufacturing plant, asked if I would be interested in a career change. I accepted a position as a safety analyst for the 3,000-employee facility and the rest is history.

What skills are critical to having a successful HR career?

Willingness to learn and know that you will not always be right. Most of the time HR lives in a world of gray, we do have some legal/not legal situations but most issues have more than one acceptable solution. A good HR person in my opinion has to be open to listening to a variety of inputs and find the picture in all the noise. Deductive reasoning, critical thinking, empathy, ability to laugh at yourself and do what you say you’ll do all come to mind as important to success in HR.

What attracted you to the opportunities at the State?

When I applied for a position with the State, I was a consultant working with a friend’s boutique HR Consulting firm and decided to look for a more traditional “inside” HR role. I’m sorry to say that the draw was not the “State or public service” per se, but the position sounded interesting and I applied. After meeting with the agency’s leadership and the members of the existing HR team I was sold. Both groups were so informative and responsive that it felt like we had a match right away and that is the type of people I want to work with. After four years I wonder why I never considered state government as an employment possibility before. The only answer is that it never came to mind. This, nor any role I’ve ever had, is “just a job” because I don’t treat it that way. I’m here to help my organization, the managers and employees’ work life be a good experience.

What career path did you take to get to your current position?

As I said before, I was never much of a career planner (bad for being in the field I guess), but I grew up in HR working for NCR Corporation. Over the 22 years I spent at NCR, I worked in safety, government relations, employment, compensation, union relations and had an exposure to benefits. From entry level to director, I was able to grow in a fairly progressive HR environment working in both manufacturing and marketing environments. Being able to work in all of the HR disciplines prepares you to work in almost any environment. My current role is a good fit as the requirement was for a generalist to work with the leadership team, build relationships and reduce the “policing” role that HR can assume at times. One big shortcoming for someone like me coming into state employment later in their career is to figure out how pick up the institutional knowledge that is usually gained by growing up in the environment.

What do you enjoy most about your job as a human resource professional?

I think our success should be measured by the ability to find ways to help managers accomplish their goals by more effectively using available resources. They have to know everything they can about the functional side of their job and we tend to place an additional burden on how they need to perform the “manager” side of their job. We need to make the managing side as easy and clear as we can.

You have both a public and private sector HR background. What are some of the similarities between the two?

The biggest similarity is that both have people that need to do work to accomplish the goals of the entity. Both environments have very dedicated people to doing a great job as well as those that aren’t as interested in doing that. Very shortly after I started working with the State a long-tenured director told me that in private industry you can do anything that doesn’t “break the law”; in Government you can only do what is “in the law”. My biggest frustration is really a pretty simple thing. In private industry employers are allowed, if not expected, to do more things for employees like lunches, holiday gatherings (mostly funded by the company), etc. Within state government, this is not an acceptable thing to do because the taxpayers don’t want to see their money wasted. Staff who feel they are “worthy” will most likely treat their customers better and more efficiently. Who wouldn’t want that as a taxpayer or customer of the state?

From your perspective, what do you consider the top three human resources trends? What are some of the challenges you face?

1. The need to develop the management team in applying coaching and performance management techniques. If done properly this will lead to more engaged staff and higher retention rates. 2. Within the government sector, the lack of funding to have the resources required to do the work. We have to be careful to not fall into the stereotype of “government work” to just “get by work.” 3. Retention of staff with critical skills is a growing concern in all environments. As the market turns around, jobs will become more available and employers need to be able to demonstrate that staff should remain where they are. Organizations will need to address these three trends and many more in order to have the right people, in the right jobs, at the right time!

Describe your most professionally satisfying project or experience at the State.

DOAS has transformed every division within the agency, some were minor but most were dramatic. Working with the division heads to understand the business drives of the need to change, discussing the options, selecting a path to take, and implementing the plan has been exciting. Our goal was to communicate as often and effectively as we could so everyone knew what was going to happen and when.

How do you feel you are making a difference at the State?

Our HR team has a great working relationship with each other as well as with the leadership and management of the agency. We view both manages and employees as our customers and make every effort to be responsive, clear and offer alternatives whenever possible. This philosophy works with our agency but may not with all of them; leadership sets the tone for how HR can effectively support the needs of the unit.

How do the State values contribute to your work experience?

Most of the members of the HR community share a strong willingness to do what is right for the employees and the organization. Oftentimes this is a hard line to walk. I share this desire with them and the need to be open with staff. I’I have always been willing to share good news as well as bad and in my experience, most people respond favorably to that honesty. Bottom line, I see the same values that I have as being appropriate and expected in my State experience.

What are some personal and/or professional goals you have set for yourself?
How does the State support your career aspirations?

Over the years my one constant personal goal has been to work in roles where I can continue to learn about myself, the HR profession and ways to creatively solve workplace problems. The State offers opportunities for me to work on all of those items and feel that I’am making a contribution to the groups I support. HR is a field where most of the time you don’t see a tangible result, but when you turn around a person who is performing below expectations and they become productive it lets you enjoy a great sense of accomplishment.

Do you have any words of wisdom for someone in the early stages of their career or thinking about transitioning to a career in human resources?

Most would probably call me “old school,” but once you’ve been in HR as long as I have there is very little new that comes up. The hot item of today may be called something different but it is very similar to something that was a hot item a few years ago. This will be replaced by something else with a new name that is also similar to a philosophy or practice from the past. My father told me once “do the best at what you are doing today and tomorrow will take care of itself.” I guess you know why I’ve never been much of a career planner. I’ve told new HR professionals not to rush to grow too quickly, take time to learn the aspects of the HR function; how they relate to each other, and listen to the people. Sure we have laws that we need to follow, but most of what we do is apply logic, reason and calmness to most situations to get a favorable outcome. It is a given that you need to understand the HR discipline but to be successful you must be able to build rapport with all kinds of people that you will support. They all have something to teach you if you let them.