Locate an HR professional who is willing to be interviewed for about 15 minutes. You can do this by visiting an organization, attending a meeting or conference where there are likely to be HR professionals present, or speaking to a friend or relative who works in the HR field. Ask the HR professional the questions listed below. Take notes and be prepared to report what you learn to your classmates.  

a. Questions to ask an HR professional during your individual interview: 

 

 What are your most important roles and responsibilities? 

 

 Describe the most difficult challenges that you face as an HR professional. 

 

 In your current job, how important are issues of managing with teams, managing with diversity and inclusion, managing with ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR), managing with metrics and analytics, and managing with new technologies? 

 

 What are the most difficult ethical issues that you have faced as an HR professional? b. Questions to discuss with your classmates: After the interview, meet with several classmates and discuss the following questions: 

 

 What similarities do you see in the comments of the several HR professionals you interviewed? 

 

 How did the answers given by the HR professionals seem to differ? What accounts for the differences in the answers? 

 

 What do you feel is the single biggest challenge in managing human resources effectively?