The past three weeks I have spent my time with the Small Agency
Field Operations division. As I’m sure you can guess this division is
responsible for many small agencies with the State of Indiana ranging from one
single employee to about 300 employees per agency. I had the pleasure of
working with the HR Generalists for the Department of Education and the
Adjutant Generals Office. Both of these were very different experiences, but
both extremely educational.
The HR generalist for the Department of Education (DOE) just
recently promoted into this position from another HR Generalist position within
the State Personnel Department. In her new role, she is also responsible for a
few other agencies but DOE is her biggest. While she was getting settled in and
getting familiar with her new agencies, I helped her with numerous things to
get started. The first thing I did was update all of her offer letters so that
they would be specific to DOE. Then I put together a letter for her to send out
to supervisors when they have a new employee starting with them. The letter included
information such as a start date, starting salary, where the employee will be
their first two days on the job, what equipment they will be receiving, and
what badge access they will have. This, to me, was a great letter for the
supervisors to have so that they are not in the dark about what is happening
with their new employee.
The big project that we tackled was the DOE OnBoarding
packet. When an employee starts, they have a full day of OnBoarding with the
state. In addition, they also have OnBoarding their second day for DOE specific
information. There was information in the packet that had not been revised in
quite some time, so we went through all of the documents and updated them.
There were policies that had changed, new employees that needed to be added to
the contact list, and information that didn’t need to be in there at all. This
was a great way for me to learn about reading and updating policies, as well as
knowing more about DOE’s OnBoarding process.
I learned so much about day to day activities that happen in
HR, as well as how to deal with employee relations matters. I had some
experience with employee relations when I was with the Department of Health,
but it was nice to see how different people handle different situations. It
really gives you an idea of the steps that you need to take for discipline, and
how to gauge if the discipline fits the situation. Everything I learned will be
nice to take with me in my future with HR.
After I was done with DOE, I spent a week at Camp Atterbury
working with the Adjutant Generals Office (AGO). I met with the AGO’s HR
Generalist to discuss what I would be doing during this rotation. She told me
that I would be job shadowing the gun range target technicians so that I could
fill out a Job Analysis Questionnaire (JAQ) for them in order to get their job
reclassified. The JAQ consists of questions such as what duties you perform,
what responsibilities you have, and what kind of working conditions you have to
endure. They are looking to get this position reclassified because there is so
much technology and new work that has been assigned to this position over the
past ten plus years since it was last reclassified. 
I had a wonderful experience while working with the target
tech crew. Their job has so many aspects to it that I don’t know how they
manage to get everything done. They maintain thousands of electronic remote
targets on 62 gun ranges. These ranges vary in size from less than an acre to 3
miles long. Not only do they have to make sure all of the targets and all
electrical work is running properly, they also have to mow and upkeep the
ground maintenance for all 62 ranges and the roads and trails that lead to the
ranges. The sheer volume of maintenance that they have to do is astounding, but
they manage to keep everything in perfect working condition so that military
units, law enforcement, and civilians can get all of the proper training they
need for real life combat or hostile situations.
The target tech’s main goal is safety. They are responsible
for the safety of themselves and their coworkers while they are working on the
ranges. They also supervise a crew of offenders from the Edinburgh Correctional
Facility whose safety they are responsible. They have to ensure the offenders
are using equipment properly as well as wearing the correct protective gear
while they are running the equipment. Their job also requires them to run
scenarios through a software program to ensure that everyone is getting the
proper training they need on the ranges. Without the proper training, the
military units or law enforcement teams could be put into real life situations
that they may not know how to handle. These workers are dedicated to the safety
of others and will do whatever is required of them if it means saving a life.
Aside from all of the insects and rodents I encountered, I
had a fantastic experience at Camp Atterbury. I saw a total of 13 deer, 4 of
which were babies, learned a vast amount about the military and how they train,
and met some really wonderful people. I also want to say that I got to drive an
old Army fire tank. The target techs use it if they have a brush fire or need
to put a fire out on one of the ranges. That tank was huge and driving it was
probably one of the coolest things that I have ever done. I had a great week
full of excitement that I will never forget.
My internship is winding down and I will be spending my last
week back with the Talent Acquisition Division!
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