Hiring Time

I feel as though I have been through a whirlwind of emotions over the past several months. Most of which have revolved around hiring. In the Federal Government we do a lot of hiring, which in turn should give us the practice necessary to become decent at it. This couldn't be any further from the truth. On average, most supervisors within the fire career path are below average at picking the right person for the job. We as a society of individuals tend to promote people who have done only an average job. Bending the truth as we give references to potential employers over the phone, "Joe did a great job for us" "Yes I would absolutely hire him again". Why didn't we hire them back, because we are hoping that the potential replacement for the position will be better than Joe was. We tell people what they wish to hear, and we talk in cryptic sentences that allow us to live with ourselves. We convince ourselves that we told the truth, even if we left a few of the details out. We fool ourselves by putting together hiring panels. These panels are typically a group of individuals who we hope will impartial in recommending a candidate for hire. I can honestly say I have yet to be a part of such a panel in which I did not feel as though someones opinion was skewed in a maner that altered the selection. We live in a world of hiring where someone is hired due to their skills, and in order to secure them in the position we place their spouse in a position that he/she would normally never get on their own. We deal with a culture in which our performance ratings are directly affected by our decision to hire a diverse candidate. What that has to do with my performance as a program manager, I still don't understand. If I hire the right candidate for the job, than what does it matter the color of their skin?

You are probably asking where this is going... in order to understand we must return to where it began. 2 months ago I was asked to take part in a hiring panel. I gladly accepted the invitation as the position being hired could potentially have an impact on my program. The Type 1 Helicopter Manager for the Forest Service. The person who took this position would occupy a desk in the Zion Helitack ready room. This person could potentially be listed as a part of Zion Helitack in a first ever Interagency effort to combine the helicopter crews, located in Cedar City, into a single program. The position was being advertised as an Assistant Manager at the GS-8 grade level. Furthermore, my crew had been filling this role for the Forest Service for the previous 3 years. All good reasons to be involved in the hiring effort, but all pailed in comparison to the final reason that I was excited to be a part of this panel. My current assistant, whom had been filling the role of the Type 1 Helicopter Manager for the previous 3 years, was in need of a new position that would take her out of the strenuous nature of her current job. She had been through a helicopter accident over 3 years previous, that has left her unable to do the physically demanding job of being my assistant. She needed this job. In the end to make a long story simpler, the panel that I was a part of was split on whom to hire. The competition was tough. The other 3 candidates who were capable of doing the job had great qualifications and presented equally well during the interviewing process. I sat in the commo room of the Air Center discussing with the other members of the panel whom we felt should be recommended for hire. I knew that any one of the applicants could do the job, and they were all equal in qualifications with only minor differences between them. My logical mind, which was also riddled with emotion, explained to the others that my assistant was capable, she had been doing the job with no complaint from management as to her efforts, and she was in need of a position. After all don't we take care of our own, a term I had heard many times in the years leading up to this day. The individual that led the panel took the information, which should have read as a split decision, and delivered it to the Forest Fire Management Officer. The way in which this individual delivered the information, left the FMO with the impression that the group was united in their decision to suggest employment for one of the applicants. The final decision, not my assistant. We had deliberated for several days to have all our time wasted due to one mans opinion. Currently at the time of this writing, my assistant has applied for and taken another job as a Helicopter Program Manager in Alaska. She has filed a grievance with the Forest Service, sticking to her moral obligation to point out fault in hiring practices. I sit in the precarious position of knowing that she will leave and I will be left behind to work closely with the new person whom was hired and the individual who skewed the facts to employ that person.

My story of hiring does not end there. In my own organization there is an individual who is currently a Station Manager (GS-7). When the Fire Management Officer (FMO) for Zion National Park, my supervisor, took the position this last year he struggled with how he should restructure the fire program. He felt that the Station Manager should really be a Fire Operations Supervisor, and he also felt that an Assistant FMO should be filled. However, there was not the funding for both. This left him with a dilema, if he filled the AFMO then he would not have the money to support the Fire Operations Supervisor position. So he did what most other people in this industry seem to be willing to do (just not so openly). He flew a position for the AFMO, and taylored the job announcement to match only one individual. He announced the position within agency walls and did not allow for any outside individuals to apply for it. He allowed only one week for applications to be submitted, a practice which is within policy but highly suspicious. All of this was done in order for him to turn a GS-7 station manager into a GS-11 AFMO without competition. In our industry this has a term often attached to it, "fast-tracking". Many people would argue that the FMO had options, but it wouldn't have mattered as he was set on his desire to promote a guy that he gets along with.

An interesting side note to this story of hiring... The FMO has placed my supervision under the newly appointed AFMO position. This means that a GS-7 station manager with minimal experience in supervising a large program and budget has just become the new supervisor of a GS-9 Helicopter Program Manager with millions of dollars in budget obligations yearly. I must say that this person has a very steep learning curve ahead of him, which normally would not be insermountable. However, this individual has a very entreanched type A personality, which means he is ready to tell me how it should be done even without the experience to understand his decision. So as I am prepairing to hire a new assistant manager this newly appointed supervisor of mine gave me a lecture about hiring. He cautioned me about going into the hiring process with blinders on. Despite an outreach that I had put together and forwarded to every agency throughout the country, advising them of the open announcement. Despite my intentions to put together a panel of impartial judges that will hopefully succeed in being able to deliver an objective candidate suggestion. Despite these obvious efforts on my part, I was counciled to make certain not to get my mind set on only one person for the job. I was not to look at the individuals on my crew that may not be the most qualified candidates simply because I get along with them. How ironic that this GS-7 station manager whom was just hand picked by the FMO would council me on doing the same thing that allowed him to obtain a GS-11 AFMO position.

This brings me to the events of today. The occurance which caused me to post this message regarding hiring. Today as I sat in my office trying to wade through nearly 300 applications for the 3 seasonal position's which would be available on the crew this season, I was struck by the simple fact that it isn't about the best person for the job. I had been made aware earlier in the year that my performance appraisal this year would be affected by the diversity that existed on the crew. Hiring diversity is simple in concept, if you are a white male you are not diverse. If you are Latino, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, African American, or had ancestory in any other nationality other than European or American than you are diverse. It used to be that Females were also considered diverse, however that is no longer the interpretation of someone within the National Park Service. So I am left with this problem. If I hire the individual whom is most qualified for the job according to my standards, and that individual happens to be a white male, then I will be punished by receiving a less than fully successful performance appraisal. To add to this mess in hiring we have what is know as "veterans preference". This is a law which further ties our hands. It states that a person with honorable military service in their work history, must be considered over anyone that does not have military service. It is an old law which was enacted during a time when soldiers returning from war were looked upon as less than deserving. It has remained in effect even though the conditions economically and politically have changed. So now I am looking at 300 applications and though many young white males have great qualifications and would be wonderful additions to the crew, I must consider my own career and the implecations of hiring these young men. I must look at the veterans who have the right last name that would lead me to believe that they are diverse candidates... oh yes, did I fail to mention that although it is part of my performance that I must hire diverse candidates, according to hiring laws I am not allowed to ask a potential candidate for a picture, for his or her nationality, or any other question that would clarify whether the person is diverse or not. Did I mention that the Federal Government likes to work against itself.

It may sound as though I dislike the Federal Government. This is not the case. I do however dislike many of the people within the positions of authority whom make up the Federal Government. I dislike the attitudes of control = power, as this often leads to people making decisions or laws which impede progress and productivity. It is often seen in our society that the Federal Government is not efficient. There is truth to this, as for those of us that would like to do our jobs and take pride in being efficient, are typically dragged down by the rules and procedures designed to make everything equal. In case you didn't catch this, we create hiring rules and practices that will ensure that government workers do not discriminate against minorities or women, and in the end the rules and practices discriminate against the majority. Which is the white male 18 to 37 years of age. Interesting!

Until next time.... I will toil with the thought of doing the right thing at the potential of hurting my own career.