Interview #1 – District Human Resource Official

Shihong Xu

I was so excited to have an opportunity to interview Barb Santo, the executive director of

Human Resources at Dexter Community Schools on September 26, 2019. I asked five questions

related to HR profession, which are the most important practices of HR department, greatest

challenges in her role, some creative ways to motive employees non-monetarily, the methods to

make decisions and advice for non-HR people.

What impressed me most during the interview is that Barb thinks highly of strong

relationships with the employees in her role. She said as an HR, she should be available to

address employees’ problems and take time to know their lives because it’s a job that deals with

human beings. Besides, Barb mentioned even though she reviewed laws and consulted district

attorney, sometimes there were still not clear answers or guidelines to handle many complicated

situations. There shouldn’t be a black-and-white answer to everything—when in fact there is a

lot of gray in the workplace, so she always takes time to make decisions instead of rushing to

judge because the decision would impact somebody’s life. As to the advice for non-HR people,

it is very impressive that Barb stated people that assume leadership role in schools should

manage emotions in a positive way.

HR director handles a number of areas and tasks simultaneously. After the interview, I

get to know more about this position and I should admit HR is a stressful, complicated but also

worthy and high-minded profession. In the future, if I have a chance to work as an HR at a

school district, what Barb said today will remind me of what I should do tomorrow:

1. Remember my employees are humans.

 I should never forget what the “H” in HR stands for. Just like Barb said HR is a job that

deals with human beings, so it’s worthy and necessary to dig deeper to understand my

employees, their interests, their ambitions, their hopes, and their struggles. I believe getting to

know about their other life will have a direct effect on how I manage and how I respond. I can be

objective while still knowing my people and should never miss the human aspect of what I am

doing. Therefore, it is very important to embrace an open-door policy and be available to support

my people.

2. Don’t rush to make decisions.

As a human resources professional, I am confronted with all different decisions: some are

easy to make while others are difficult, complicated and even risky to make. For example, if an

employee comes and complains, I should remember there’re always three sides to the story: the

accuser, the accused and the truth. I cannot make a decision just by listening to the complaint. In

many situations, issues require careful consideration and investigation because they are

correlated with each other and it takes time to figure out what really happened. If I rush to

conclusion, I may not be looking at the problem holistically. Instead, I am supposed to step back,

pop in and out, and collect all the facts to treat the root cause of the problem.

3. Increase emotional intelligence.

Barb said it was very important to have a positive start each day. I totally agree with that

because it will help HR and the people who assume leadership to effectively respond to their

own emotions and the emotions of others. According to my observation, people who are good at

managing their own emotions are more respected, trusted by others and rise to leadership

positions. There’re some strategies that we could use to increase emotional intelligence, such as

walk away. For example, when someone attacks me in the email at work, I won’t take it
personally. Instead, I can choose to walk away, read it again calmly the next day and respond

professionally. When I am in the better control of my emotions and that control will bring me

more peace to my hectic role in HR.