Palin as an HR Example

ray a

OK, here is something substantive we could discuss.

One of the accusations against Palin is that she tried to force the firing of her former brother-in-law from his job as a police officer after he divorced her sister. She has been accused of abusing her power as governor. Did she cross the line? Do we have enough details to make a determination? How would you react as the HR Director for the state of Alaska?

Paul in Cannon Beach

Id want some details. Maybe this guy is a terrible person and shouldn't be in law enforcement. Maybe he was abusing his position to intimidate Palin's sister after the divorce.

And if this is ALL they can dig up, its not much.

System

I would try to look at both sides thoroughly before I made a determination. Something most in the media aren't doing. One thing I have found out about Mr. Wooten - he was disciplined for tasering an 11 YEAR OLD! Scary. Again though, I don't know the circumstances, yet...

It is the firing of Mr. Monegan that is being investigated. Did she fire him because he wouldn't fire Wooten or were there other grounds?

joannie

If the only details we have are stated in your post, I don't think we have enough details. As HRD, I would begin a thorough investigation before making any decision.

ray a

Skosh is right, the investigation is into the firing of the man who wouldn't fire her brother-in-law. From what I've read, the boy who was tasered was his own son.

But, part of my point is that there have been bits and pieces reported in the press concerning this charge, but many are already forming opinions on partial truths and missing facts and making decisions based on that.

System

You are correct, sir!
This election has been alot of half truths and innuendo (but aren't they all??) I am reading the transcripts from the Palin investigation right now. He said, she said stuff. No hard evidence of anything.

[url]http://www.adn.com/front/story/469135.html[/url]

Very disturbing that people will jump to whatever conclusion fits their own agenda. Do we do that in our jobs as well? When the pretty young girl comes in and claims harassment do we tend to believe her even before we investigate?

Is it obvious that things are very slow here right now?

ray a

Funny you mention the pretty young girl. I had a female ee in my office this morning accusing a male coworker of telling her that opinion doesn't count because she's a woman. He's not here today, so I get to slap him around.... I mean question him on Monday.

Of course, what kind of a reaction would I get if I said he was right?

System

I'm not taking that one on...
But, depending on what they were discussing he could have a point. If the discussion were about prostate cancer, etc. I can see his point!

cnghr

This story has made a lot of headlines in most Alaska newspapers since it started several months ago. I was surprised at the lack of knowledge the media displayed about it when Gov. Palin was chosen as McCain's running mate, because all anybody would have had to do was to Google pretty much any Alaskan newspaper to find the stories. And so far all the ones I've read have said pretty much the same things, without any sort of spin for or against Palin. Of course, now that she's part of the presidential race, everyone is putting their own biases into every story about her, so it's difficult for people to dig through that to the basics of the story. I've felt like all through this, the governor has remained pretty up-front. She's come out and said she doesn't have anything to hide and is confident enough of that that she welcomes a formal investigation.

NaeNae55

I hate the idea of a government official pushing their weight around. On the other hand, a guy who complains AFTER he has been fired is suspect.

I haven't read much on the story, but what I did read only brought up more questions. One thing I want to know: Judges don't sign restraining orders on police officers without good reason. Why would any law enforcement agency want to keep on an officer who has been charged multiple times with threatening and hurting others and having restraining orders placed on them (based on what the guy who was fired said in an interview)? Are law enforcement officers so hard to find? Wouldn't you be setting yourself up for a massive lawsuit for excessive force if you keep the guy around? Can someone who works for a law enforcement agency explain how it works to me?

CNGHR: Having read so much about it, what is your opinion? You sound like you are not blaming the governor or believing she did wrong. Is that right?

HRinVA

I don't know about Alaska, but having considerable experience working for the federal government and other state governments, I have to believe that if the Governor really tried to have someone fired, he would have been fired.

ray a

Same thing in the business world.

We see posters here questioning us when their bosses demand an ee be fired for whatever reason.

Our CEO loves to walk around on the floor and talk to the ee's directly whenever he visits - he maintains a high profile even with the lowest workers. He often has a few favorites he will go to in order to get the latest gossip on what is going on. He thrives on listening to the complaints then forcing changes, if justifiable. If the complaints are unreasonable, he will tell the ee's so and move on.

He likes to hear that things are getting better, he wants the recognition that management is sensitive and responding to the needs of the ee's and values their input.

Occasionally, an ee just doesn't know when to stop with the complaints and develops a reputation with the CEO as a whiner. When that happens, he will tell us to get rid of the ee since they are a bad apple and they have served their purpose and now it's time to move on. Of course he gets his way, but following proper procedures and in due time.

Good thing he, and other like business execs, aren't scrutinized in the press as Palin has.

Paul in Cannon Beach

Speaking of scrutinization, how would Obama hold up to the same hiring scenario?

- He would interview well.
- He would say all the right things

But ultimately, as you sat there at your desk with a stack of resumes, wouldnt you feel he was simply too light on experience for the position?

ACU Frank

If I were looking at Palin's resume before interviewing her for an EVP position, I would wonder why she transferred colleges four times, going to four different schools and returning to one for a second tour of duty. There could be a very good reason, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone attend that many different schools in such a short period of time.

ritaanz

I'm getting into this thread a little late. But I have a question for RayHorn. You stated,

"Funny you mention the pretty young girl. I had a female ee in my office this morning accusing a male coworker of telling her that opinion doesn't count because she's a woman. He's not here today, so I get to slap him around.... I mean question him on Monday.

Of course, what kind of a reaction would I get if I said he was right? "

Do you investigate every complaint that comes to you attention? This particular one seems trivial compared to the ones that usually show up. If that male employee is a male chauvenist pig, how are you going to go about changing that? Your answer to that question will help a zillion of us HR people rid the world of those swine.

ACU Frank

Maybe you can't change the employee's attitude... but if it's a problem, you can change the employee.

ray a

Fair question, Rita. No, I don't investigate every little complaint when someone makes an inappropriate comment. But, in this case it is warranted. This has been an ongoing problem with this guy. The female ee thinks, but can't prove, that he is altering her work to make her look bad. He has made comments that she will fail and he'll prove to the company how valuable he is. The guy needs to be taken down a peg or two. He wants more responsibility, but is going about it the wrong way. Imagine him as a group leader making a comment like that.

Because there is a history, I'm not about to wait now for him to say or do something not so trivial that would put us at risk.

Paul in Cannon Beach

Rayhorn?

ritaanz

Aha, there's more to the story. Is that typical of a Hilary admirer???

ray a

Huh? I'm a Palin guy.

Paul in Cannon Beach

Ray, I read on CNN that they are going after Palin for attending a...

GASP

Pentecostal church!!

(dramatic organ music)

A church that practiced....

SPEAKING IN TONGUES!!

(more dramatic organ music)

and believed in..

wait for it

END TIMES!

So clearly she is a wacko. Of course, they better be careful. Last time I checked there was a large African American community in Pentecostalism.

ACU Frank

I think it has more to do with the pastor announcing that anyone who votes for Kerry will go to hell.

ray a

Here's some interesting info on Palin. [url]http://explorations.chasrmartin.com/2008/09/06/palin-rumors/[/url]

System

>Here's some interesting info on Palin.
>[url]http://explorations.chasrmartin.com/2008/09/06/palin-rumors/[/url]

This info would be more interesting if the guy who wrote it provided his sources (for all of his info, not just a minority of it).

Paul in Cannon Beach

Is that what he said?

ray a

Obama in his book, [i]Audacity of Hope[/i], said,

“It’s not just absolute power that the Founders sought to prevent. Implicit in its structure, in the very idea of ordered liberty, was a rejection of absolute truth, the infallibility of any idea or ideology or theology or “ism,”

Clearly, Obama doesn't believe in absolute truth, he accepts the postmodernist thinking of relativism. So, since in his world truth is whatever you want it to be, then it is possible that Palin's pastor made a comment like that, regardless of whether or not he actually did. He is capable of making the statement, therefore he is presumed guilty.

System

In addition to misunderstanding the term “Christian,” Gorski and Zoll make a serious theological mistake. They incorrectly accuse Wasilla Assembly of God senior pastor Ed Kalnins of questioning, “whether people who voted for Democratic Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election would get into heaven.”

Kalnins’s exact words were, “I’m not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I’m sorry.”

[url]http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=239808[/url]

ray a

See Skosh, implicit in this "misunderstanding" is that people of faith, or at least of certain faiths, are not qualified to hold office. Some even take the long view that religious fundamentalists should not be allowed to participate in the democratic process period. The thinking is that anyone who holds to [i]those[/i] beliefs must be a nutcase and therefore should be disqualified from political participation.

Paul in Cannon Beach

Wow.. if that is really what the pastor said, its a ridiculous, divisive, and ignorant statement and he should apologize for it.

System

They went into the whole thing further in the article. And yes, I feel the pastor was wrong.

I don't believe that the mistakes made by your pastor should reflect on you directly. I don't agree with everything my pastor says and have left in the middle of a sermon before (honestly, I don't agree with most people on most things - being contrary can be fun x:D ) . If it were an actual religious tenet being discussed that would be different then just an off the cuff remark made by someone she knows...

ray a

I did read that the Palin's left that church because of differences of opinion with some of the positions being taken. Good for them.