OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the human resource frame
2. Apply the human resource frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

I work for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and serve a dual role within the
organization. I’m a principal information systems business analyst and diversity equity
and inclusion (DEI) program manager at the direction of our Strategy Innovation and
Change department. At their core, both roles are outwardly service oriented roles with
vastly different objectives. In my business analyst role, I am tasked with managing a
portfolio of key internal information systems projects that are designed to improve
efficiency in how staff can perform their work. My role in DEI is constantly evolving, but
at a high level the direction is to oversee equity initiatives within my department of
approximately 300 employees.

The situation that I will be analyzing for the remainder of the course is my role in driving
DEI initiatives within my organization. My role is to align these stakeholders (some with
competing interests) and be a leader for change in the organization that improves the
employee culture, enhances pathways for career mobility, and increases equitable
outcomes for employees and public rate payers. A specific situation that I was tasked
with in this leadership role was deciding on method to track the various projects that the
DEI program would oversee. Some examples of these projects include implementing
systems to track disciplinary cases by demographics to gain insights into how disciplinary
actions are administered; identifying methods to prevent water shut offs for communities
disproportionately impacted by the pandemic; and designing a mentorship program to
enhance the culture and mobility within the department. Ultimately, I decided on a
change management, structured approach that included developing a program charter,
project planning forms, with scheduled report out meetings.

2) Describe how the human resources of the organization influenced the situation.

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 Human resources within the organization were an excellent and engaging business
partner throughout the entire process of standing up the diversity equity and inclusion
program. The Chief People Officer (CPO) emphatically supported the concept of “our
most important asset is our people” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p.115) introduced in chapter
six of this module’s readings. Due to staffing and capacity limitations, the CPO was not
able to own the DEI program across the agency but they did not want the initiative to be
sidelined because of this. Strategically, the CPO empowered divisions ranging from 300
to 900 employees in size to develop DEI programs that meets the needs of their staff with
support from the Human Resources department where needed such as developing policies
for employee resource groups that comply with agency standards.

Human resources subscribed to the performance = ability x motivation model outlined in

the text. The CPO understood that there was ability throughout the organization that
could lead DEI initiatives, and that the correct motivations could drive them to deliver on
DEI goals. The motivation for me during the process of constructing my division’s
program was partially driven by the close partnerships within human resources and that
we would deliver impactful outcomes to the agency.

3) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

I would recommend that human resources place more emphasis on promoting from
within to further incentivize performance. Several members of the project team did not
receive promotions that they were qualified for based on demonstrated performance but
did not meet rigid minimum requirements for the positions that they applied for. This led
to some departures by some project leads under my program as they sought higher
compensation elsewhere. In exit conversations, many of them conveyed that they felt
marginalized and betrayed in some cases by human resources’ inability to deliver them
rewards (in the form of compensation) for their efforts to support the agency’s DEI
initiatives.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

In this case, human resources were such a great strategic partner in supporting me
develop an impactful DEI program that I would not do many things differently. However,
as I previously stated, there were members of the project team that could have been
treated with more intention and care when there were opportunities to do so. These staff
departures occurred during a transition in leadership within the human resources
department and I’ve communicated my concerns to leadership Time will tell how the

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 information that I provided to human resources makes meaningful change in their
decision making for promotions, but I am optimistic.

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 Reference
Bolman, L. G. & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.)