Tuesday, April 26, 2005
When The Revolution Comes, You'll Be The First...
I have a brother in higher education. He's a professor at a state university and shared a tale of an ongoing encounter with HR. He is on the review committee conducting a national search for another professor. Their institution has open positions for which there is competition from other universities. The review committee recognizes the need to evaluate and extend offers efficiently. Given the highly technical nature of these positions, the academics need to review resumes themselves in order to determine the best candidates. In accordance with University policy, they contacted HR to run a series of ads. This is where the fun began.
The review committee wanted to ascertain whether an adequate pool had responded or if more ads were needed. So, they called HR to request the resumes be forwarded to the committee. But HR would only tell them how many applications had been submitted. The committee chair explained that quantity wasn't the issue, quality was. The committee needed to review the resumes in order to determine whether enough qualified applicants had responded. The HR response was that their policy didn't allow them to forward resumes for review. Instead, HR would review and forward 'qualified applicants' to the committee. Frustrated, the chairman replied that, lacking a PhD in mollecular genetics, HR was not qualified to make such recommendations. This was the reason a review committee had been formed. HR stood fast - they would not forward the resume pool. Since the review committee was meeting the next day, the chairman offered to stop by the HR office, go over the resumes himself, then on to the meeting. Grudgingly, HR obliged.
While this real-life saga continues, I'm stunned at how the university's core mission can be harpooned by bureaucratic morons. Supported by my tax dollars, no less. Apparently this is the norm. It hadn't occured to me that working in HR at government institution could double the uselessness, but maybe it can.
Next time we need cut the education budget, why don't we minimize the bad investments (instead of teachers) starting with the HR staff...
The review committee wanted to ascertain whether an adequate pool had responded or if more ads were needed. So, they called HR to request the resumes be forwarded to the committee. But HR would only tell them how many applications had been submitted. The committee chair explained that quantity wasn't the issue, quality was. The committee needed to review the resumes in order to determine whether enough qualified applicants had responded. The HR response was that their policy didn't allow them to forward resumes for review. Instead, HR would review and forward 'qualified applicants' to the committee. Frustrated, the chairman replied that, lacking a PhD in mollecular genetics, HR was not qualified to make such recommendations. This was the reason a review committee had been formed. HR stood fast - they would not forward the resume pool. Since the review committee was meeting the next day, the chairman offered to stop by the HR office, go over the resumes himself, then on to the meeting. Grudgingly, HR obliged.
While this real-life saga continues, I'm stunned at how the university's core mission can be harpooned by bureaucratic morons. Supported by my tax dollars, no less. Apparently this is the norm. It hadn't occured to me that working in HR at government institution could double the uselessness, but maybe it can.
Next time we need cut the education budget, why don't we minimize the bad investments (instead of teachers) starting with the HR staff...
