The Human Side of Human Resources: A Profile
By Chelsea Wootten
“That’s a big question,” Director of Human Resources Maribeth Dockety says when asked about explaining her job .
“Before I answer what I do on a daily basis,” Dockety says, “let me just explain a little bit about human resources,” Dockety says.
“Human Resources covers all the aspects of working with employees in organizations,” Dockety says.
“ Large, small, medium size, and you’re lucky to have a Human Resources department in any organization that you work for because you need a place to go if you are having difficulties with any aspect of your employment,” Dockety says.
Therefore, one of her first and foremost responsibilities is employee relations. If there’s a dispute between co-workers, or between employee and supervisor, that can’t be solved on that level, they come to Human Resources to get their problem resolved, Dockety said.
Along with that, Dockety leads a staff of five in duties that include doing payroll, benefits, training and development, compensation, recruitment, selection, and retainment of employees, Dockety says.
“Those ladies are really tied up,” Dockety says. “So I try to handle the rest of the pieces. I sit on every interview committee, I screen the applicants, I help to select who we are going to interview, and schedule the interview.”
Duties of the director also include attending meetings, measuring objectives for the campus, and proposing new initiatives and plans, Dockety says. She smiles and adds, “No day is ever the same in HR.”
Some Background Knowledge
It takes a certain kind of person to handle the trials and challenges that might occur on any given day, so the right background and education for a job as Director are extremely important.
“The background, normally, for someone in my field is a degree in Business or a degree in Human Resources,” Dockety says. She has masters in Human Resources Development from Marymount University. But that wasn’t her first degree.
“My first degree was in Music Therapy,” Dockety says. “I think that’s helped me a lot with my people skills. I learned to work with a lot of people in diverse populations.” She beams, proudly, then adds, “And then we have something called the certification.”
She points out the P.H.R. behind her name on the plaques. Dockety pursued her professional certification through the Society of Human Resources Management, or S.H.R.M. in 2000.
“You have to have 60 credits every three years to maintain your certification,” Dockety says. She’s kept hers active for almost 15 years.
Some ways members earn credits for this nationally and internationally recognized certification are to take and teach courses and seminars.
Early Career and Tips for Future HR Staff
Before coming to Delaware Tech, Dockety worked for Marymount University in Arlington, VA, as Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students, which Dockety says gave her a lot of experience in working with faculty.
“When I came to Delaware Tech, I was originally the Educational Training Specialist, which meant I went out and developed training materials, taught and facilitated for our corporate community programs, and then in 2003, this position opened up.”
Dockety says what interested her in the position was the training and development aspect of the field.
“I really think that without good training and development, people don’t feel that they can move in an organization, and they don’t feel as rewarded,” Dockety says.
To provide that quality of training, HR staff should also be equipped with several skills and abilities to make their jobs go as smooth as possible.
“Good analytical skills and definitely good interpersonal skills,” Dockety says, “because a lot of it is dealing with people. Decision making is important, and certainly the ability to read complex documents,” Dockety says.
Communication and math skills are also important aspects to a career in Human Resources, Dockety says.
Dockety recommends that aspiring HR workers consider the varied situations that can arise on the job.
Helping Employees Help Students
“Human Resources is not black and white. It is gray,” Dockety says. “If you can see both sides and remain flexible and adaptable, you could be very successful in this field.”
Dockety says although the policies HR staff have to follow are pretty standard and straight-forward, situations they come across are rarely so simple.
“You need to figure out how to maintain the policies and practices of the organization you work for, but you walk a fine line between administration and their policies and the employees and their needs,” Dockety says.
Human Resources is a fulfilling career for Dockety, rewarding in the fact that she gets to work with the employees who then in turn work with the students.
“To make the organization, the community college, especially Owens Campus successful, we need to meet student needs. There are a variety of ways to meet student needs, but one way is to have good employees. Our faculty and staff interacting with students is the most important part of why I exist. I’ve got to make sure we have the right people in the right jobs to meet student needs.”
Dockety says it’s also great to help people through their employment issues.
“Seeing [employees] grow and develop and move in the organization, that really feels very rewarding to me,” Dockety says. “To see someone get promoted, or to see someone get to do something a little different based on their skillset and their abilities and their enthusiasm. I like working with people.”
Along with her twenty-year career in Human Resources, 11 of those at Delaware Tech, Dockerty is a member of the DelMarVa SHRM and serves on the Delaware State Council as Workforce Readiness Director.