Portfolio Assignment Unit 3
BUS 5511
University of the People
April 2023
Interview Report - The Key Human Resource Management Functions
Name of Interviewee: Oluwasegun Seagal Adeyemi
Job Title: Haulage Manager
Organization: Sifax Logistics Services
Address: 4 Dada Street Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos. Nigeria.
Date: 23rd March 2023
Type Of Interview: Face to Face
Introduction
In conducting the interview, I learned a lot from the management-level perspective of
someone with over 20 years of experience working with and managing people across
different industries. Human beings are social beings who seldom live and work in
isolation. Most times, our work life gets intertwined with our personal lives and vice
versa. We are complex creatures, and that makes managing people one of the most
difficult tasks to do (Senyucel, 2009).
The interview solidified my management view which is, it takes training and an
intentionality to build the skill of effective management to be able to successfully
manage people. I was able to draw on his experience and practical application of how
he improved his management skills over the years to become a better manager.
We both agreed that be an effective manager, you have to be genuinely interested in the
people whom you are responsible for.
The most memorable part of the interview was when he shared the story of his
onboarding process at his workplace when he first joined. His company operates at the
proactive onboarding strategy level where compliance, clarification, connection, and
culture is fully addressed and planned for. He attributed his perception and success at
the place to how well he was able to integrate fully into the job role and culture quickly
and that made me reflect on my onboarding experience at my workplace which was at
the passive level. I didn't have a good onboarding experience and that still affects my
work till date as I've not been able to blend into the culture of the organization even
after five months of employment.
Comparing his views on some topics such as leadership, onboarding, and people as a
competitive advantage, I could see the linkage with the class readings and what I have
learnt so far in the course. His responses were similar to the class teachings, thereby
reinforcing my knowledge.
The interviewee’s thoughts on “competitive advantage through people" reflected the
thought that people are very important to the success of any organization hence
attracting, selecting, engaging, and retaining the best talent
is critical to the company ’ s business success (Bauer, 2004). He believes that for an
organization to compete favorably, it has to have the best people contributing to its
growth.
Conclusion and Reflections
The interview was quite engaging. It reinforced my beliefs about the importance of
attracting the right people, training them as they would never leave, and cultivating a
culture that values people and promotes oneness in the organization. I was able to learn
practical steps on how to manage people that would otherwise be termed as difficult.
Before conducting the interview, I had beliefs that human resource management is as
important aspect of any organization whether big or small and the interview reinforced
those beliefs.
List of pre-interview questions
1. How do you source the right candidates when trying to fill a position in your team or
company as a whole?
2. How do you supervise your subordinates? Do they have autonomy over their work
or need constant supervision from you?
3. What do you think is the most important motivation people have for working?
4. What kind of leadership style do you operate? Is it autocratic leadership, democratic,
or a laissez-faire leadership style?
5. How do you motivate an employee whom you know can do the job but is letting
their personal life struggles affect their work life?
6. How can you rate the onboarding process at your organization? Can you share your
experience when you first joined the organization?
7. Do you believe an organization ’ s people can be a competitive advantage or
disadvantage for an organization?
8. How often are employees in your organization trained? Is there a policy on training
and development?
9. When recruiting for a new hire in your department, what are the top three qualities
you look out for?
10. How often are you appraised and what metrics do you watch out for when
appraising subordinates?
References
Bauer, T.N. (2004). On-Boarding New Employees: Maximizing Success.SHRM
Foundation. Retrieved
from: http://www.shrm.org/about/foundation/products/documents/onboarding%20epg
-%20final.pdf
Senyucel, Z. (2009). Managing Human Resources in the 21st Century. Bookboon.
Available to download here.
THANK YOU NOTE
