U03a2 Interview Plan

Rationale for Interview

Organizations and individuals need to be involved in a continuous learning process, or they risk becoming obsolete. Learning is the fundamental principle that any organization that looks to excel in its business area needs to pay attention to. According to Hess (2104), three components must be aligned for organizations to speed up their learning and better themselves than the competition. These three components necessary for building a high-performance learning organization are having the right staff working in the right environment and with the right resources.

The right people imply hiring staff who are motivated to learn, have humility and self-efficacy, and who are admittedly not good at knowing. Intrinsically motivated staff will have a higher likelihood of resilience and will recover faster from learning mistakes. Such employees desire to learn to become masters of their specialty areas or for the joy of acquiring new skills and information. Self-efficacious persons believe that they are ready and able to learn. Human Resource managers can identify such persons through behavioral and situational interviewing techniques and different tests. Humility is also important as it displays the open-mindedness of an employee, the ability to think critically, practice empathy, and be a good listener, all of which are essential in customer interaction. A person who is not good at knowing is also a good learner and strives to figure out what one does not know (Hess, 2014).

The right environment is important despite technology and robotics taking over most business functionalities (Hess, 2014). However, what cannot be replaced by technology are high emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and innovative thinking. The right people should work in the right environment and not one that instills fear and lack of confidence. An environment such as a hierarchal top-down and command-and-control culture inhibits learning. Small teams, on the other hand, encourage innovative and critical thinking (Katzenbach & Smith, 2015).

The right processes include experimental processes (how to conduct cheap, fast, and small experiments), innovative thinking, collaboration, and critical thinking processes. Rigorous processes ought to be used daily to discourage lazy, reflexive, and fast thinkers while encouraging collaboration, which builds trust, authenticity, and humility in team members (Hess, 2014).

The right leaders are critical in ensuring that the right people, resources, and processes are working in tandem to ensure the learning culture in the organization is continuous (Huczynski, Buchanan & Huczynsiki, 2013). The right leaders also ensure that the right flow of information is maintained to enhance learning. The leaders also focus on ensuring the skills and capabilities of employees are continuously upgraded, and employees are motivated through rewarding structures put in place.

Based on the three core components mentioned above and the role of the right leadership in ensuring that such components are in place, the interview will be conducted at Group 1 Automotive located in Houston. I will seek to get an appointment with a department manager at Group 1 Automotive in Houston, preferably an HR Manager. If a physical appointment is not possible, the next option will be to conduct a phone or Skype interview. The interview will focus on the three core components to determine how the organization implements the same through the HR department. The purposes and goals of the HR strategy will be discussed in the interview to determine their alignment with the overall organization’s growth and learning strategy.

The interview questions are founded on the Galbraith star model that comprises Strategy, Structure, Process, Rewards, and People. These will be intertwined with the organization’s culture for learning in determining the organization’s commitment to continuous learning for its employees and whether or not the organization takes measures to ensure that the right resources are available for learning. The interview will also focus on employee appraisal. This is necessary to determine whether the organization is keen on improving employee learning. The appraisal conducted by the organization should result in increased responsibility by the employees in their jobs. It should also ensure that the employees are placed in the right working teams for increased productivity and effectiveness. The next section of the interview will highlight organizational development to determine the role of HRD practices in ensuring the overall organizational goals are reached. This will be followed by a section on executive development and, finally, on the role of HR in the strategy, structure, and process of an organization. As stated earlier in this paper, the right leaders are necessary for an organization to implement the three components of a high-performing learning organization. Executives also need to be learners and develop their skills in people management within conducive working environments.

Interview Questionnaire

• How long have you worked with Group 1 Automotive?
• How has your experience been?
• What type of work do you do?
• Does your organization determine your work schedule, or do you make that yourself?
• Does your organization have departments? If yes, how are they connected?
• How many leaders are currently in your organization?
• Do you interact with them?
• How would you describe your interaction with these leaders?
• How would you describe your interaction with your subordinates?
• Do you have superiors to report to?
• Do you consider yourself a decision-maker at the organization?
• Would you consider your work flexible?
• Do your subordinates make decisions on their work?
• Aside from the Houston branch, does Group 1 Automotive have other branches?
• What is the leadership structure between these organizations and yours?

References

Hess, E. D. (2014). Learn or die: using science to build a leading-edge learning organization. Columbia University Press.

Huczynski, A., Buchanan, D. A., & Huczynski, A. A. (2013). Organizational behaviour (p. 82). London: Pearson.

Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2015). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press.

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U03a2 Interview Plan

Overview

This interview is the primary resource for your course project. The quality of the questions and your preparation for conducting the interview will have a critical impact on the success of your project. That means you should prepare the questions based on your knowledge of the company, the interviewee, and what you are learning about high-performing learning organizations through your coursework.

Instructions

U03a2 Interview Plan

Develop an interview plan. Remember to explain your rationale for choosing this interviewee. Use the resource Information Interviewing (given in the resources) to help you plan your interview approach.
Based on your readings thus far, create a list of interview questions that explore the issues of structure, learning, and performance. Note: Be careful not to stray into leadership or career management as interview topics. Remember to focus on the topics assigned. The questions could include those about strategy, market environment, organization history, restructuring efforts, learning practices, executive behavior, competitive pressures, performance success criteria, information flow to enhance learning, reward structures that encourage motivation, and methods for enhancing people skill and capabilities. To aid in this process, you are encouraged to use Galbraith’s star model as a framework for both your interview and subsequent final course project.

Submission Requirements

Your plan should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA format: Resources and citations should be in current APA format. Be sure to include title and reference pages.
• Length: 3 typed pages, double-spaced pages, not including the title and reference pages.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Resources

• Interview Plan Scoring Guide

Due Date: End of Unit 3.

Percentage of Course Grade: 3%.

CRITERIA NON-PERFORMANCE BASIC PROFICIENT DISTINGUISHED

Create a list of interview questions that explore the issues of structure, learning, and performance.
50% Does not create a list of interview questions that explore the issues of structure, learning, and performance. Creates a list of interview questions but omits significant exploration of structure, learning, and performance. Creates a list of interview questions that explore the issues of structure, learning, and performance. Creates a list of interview questions that explore the issues of structure, learning, and performance, and reflects research or acquired background knowledge of organization.
Explain the rationale for choosing an interviewee.
50% Does not describe the chosen interviewee or the rationale. Describes the chosen interviewee without an explanation of the rationale. Explains the rationale for choosing an interviewee. Explains the rationale for choosing an interviewee, citing examples of the interviewee’s knowledge of organizational structure.