The human resources department plays a vital role in any social work organization. You may think of the unit as responsible for recruiting and hiring, managing employee benefits, and monitoring employee engagement. But for those in management positions, human resources also becomes a partner in working through personnel issues—such as violations of established conduct, ethical or legal wrongs, and poor performance.
In this Assignment, you explore a scenario in which you must consult with human resources in order to resolve a personnel issue occurring with a staff member under your management.
Optional Resources
To prepare:
· Review the Learning Resources on leadership skills and the role of human resources.
· You may wish to revisit People First San Diego’s websiteLinks to an external site.. For this Assignment, focus on the organization’s mission, vision, and diversity and inclusion statement located on the Who We Are tab.
· Explore the following scenario. Consider how you would address the situation and consult with the human resources department.
You serve as the Director of Clinical Services within the People First San Diego organization. In team meetings, longtime employee Patrice, a woman in her later 50s, is often belittling and condescending toward Bo, another social worker. Patrice rolls her eyes at Bo’s ideas and mutters under her breath. Further, Patrice often needs to be corrected for using the wrong pronoun to describe Bo (who uses “they” and “them”). You are not sure why this dynamic is occurring, but you suspect it has something to do with Bo being young and identifying as nonbinary.
Patrice may see herself as the “old guard” who needs to establish order and police the team. Bo has not voiced any concern about the situation; however, other members of the team have expressed discomfort to you. When you address the comments individually with Patrice, she explains that she doesn’t realize she has been doing it and implies that you are being too “touchy.” The comments and behavior continue, and you are not sure what to do. You decide to consult with the human resources department.
Assignment below
Submit a 2-page paper (not including title page and references) in which you:
· Explain the role of human resources within an organization and how the department supports managers.
· Analyze the personnel situation within the People First San Diego scenario.
· What type of conflict is occurring?
· To what extent does the situation violate the mission, vision, and/or diversity and inclusion statement of the organization or violate the law?
· Describe how you would address the personnel situation through consultation with human resources.
Use the Learning Resources to support your Assignment. Make sure to provide APA citations and a reference list.