Bureacracy

Those who have been following the details of my hiring a team lead process, I have to announce that I've made a decision. Unfortunately, due to paperwork, waiting for approval from those on vacation, and scheduling, I cannot announce WHO I have decided upon until sometime next week.

My first week as a supervisor (actually doing the job) has been a busy one. There have been rewards and happy moments and those are what I am holding on to. I do have to admit, honestly, there were a couple of trying moments, but nothing that patience and getting used to the job cannot solve.

In the past week, I've learned that having another person of authority there with me to help coach is a blessing. I've learned that making a decision about who to work with closely for a long time is no light decision, but sometimes the candidates shine and show you quickly who is the right choice. And I have also learned that telling someone that they didn't get the job is something I do not enjoy. No matter how well some of the turn downs have gone, it is still hard to talk to someone and tell them the answer is no.

This past week was also a discovery of myself. I found that I can stand my ground to employees who are trying to push boundaries to see how far they can go. I can celebrate success and still be firm when those are not performing as they should. And I watched a banker make a complete turn around in one night and become a top performing banker. And her smile and pride in her success made me love this new job.

But, I want my new lead to start. The process has gone like this:

• Have 30 applicants turn in resumes
• Grant 10 interviews
• Spend two weeks sitting in the hottest room inside our call center, hammering questions at people and getting their ideas
• Narrow the 10 down to two outstanding candidates
• Spend two days pulling my hair out trying to decide between the two candidates, knowing each were fantastic candidates and that I would love to hire them both
• Make my decision between the two, based on experience, personality, and performance
• Sell my new boss on my decision
• Talk with Human Resources about how to make an offer
• Write up a justification on my decision and email it to my boss for approval
• Start declining applicants

At this point, there is still a bit of work left to do.

• Wait for approval from my boss, her boss, his boss, and the head of HR (the person on vacation)
• Make the offer (hopefully on Tuesday or Wednesday)
• Finish turning down applicants
• Announce the position (if the applicant accepts)

Hopefully, this explains why I've been a bit lacking on posting lately. Not only have I been working more hours and harder this past week, but I've been working various shifts and my sleep schedule has been a bit off. I may be a bit scarce for a few weeks, but I'm going to try and keep up on reading and writing in the blogosphere.