HR professionals shouldn't follow U.S. president-elect's screening process
There’s no escaping Barack Obama — even in the pages of a Canadian publication aimed at HR professionals. Make that president-elect Barack Obama. (And, boy, doesn’t that sound good to say?)
It’s impossible to overstate the historical significance of his win. The worldwide reaction has been astonishing to watch unfold, and the optimism surrounding his election is striking in its contrast to the dark reality he is going to face in his first term — a crumbling economy, crippling deficit and unresolved foreign policy nightmares.
Consultants are already tossing his name around at will, whether it’s the article to my right (see page 31) on how to lead like Obama, or the new book that landed on my desk, Say it Like Obama, written by the head of a leadership development firm. It seems that everybody is jumping on the “do it like Obama” bandwagon. With tongue firmly in cheek, I set out to counterbalance all that and find something you absolutely should not do like Obama. It didn’t take me long to find something — whatever you do as an HR professional, don’t ever recruit talent like the incoming American president.
I’m all for due diligence, but you don’t have to look long at the hiring process of the Obama administration to find a few things that would run afoul of Canadian law. Candidates for cabinet and other high-ranking positions are being sent a seven-page, 63-item questionnaire. (There are about 7,000 positions subject to presidential appointment, but it’s not clear how many of them require this in-depth questionnaire.)
Here’s a sampling:
• Provide the address of any websites that feature you in either a personal or professional capacity (such as Facebook or MySpace).
• Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? Please describe how and by whom it is used.
• Please list all aliases or “handles” you have used to communicate on the Internet.
• If you keep, or have ever kept, a diary that contains anything that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family or the president-elect, please describe.
• Hand over a copy of each net worth statement you have prepared and submitted for any purpose in the past 10 years.
• Please list any claims of sexual harassment or other workplace misconduct made against you or any employee directly supervised by you, including the resolution.
• If you (or your spouse or any child over 21) have been investigated by any law enforcement agency, arrested or charged, identify each instance and supply details.
Mind you, the Obama administration isn’t a total stickler on details. You don’t have to reveal traffic offences — so long as the fine was less than $50.
