Endgame?

Vivian Mora has a new mission: to serve as a conduit, bringing HR professionals and organizations together. Having joined the Houston Rockets organization in January 2001, Mora was attracted to the role not because she was an avid basketball fan, but because of the opportunity to establish an HR function from the ground up. The team had just gotten the go-ahead from the city of Houston to build a downtown arena, which became the Toyota Center and, over the years, Mora witnessed the HR function grow incredibly. While as VP Human Resources for the Houston Rockets and Toyota Center, Mora continued to build up her already impressive HR expertise. “My experiences have taught me that HR is the key for an organization to achieve its goals,” she says. Her belief is that without a start-to-finish focus on human capital, a company will find itself forever churning talent, ideas and potential contributions right out the door. Now, after fully expanding this focus at the Houston Rockets organization, Mora is moving on.

“I have launched a human resources search firm, Mora&Associates HR Search, with the primary objective of bringing organizations and the right human resources professional together.” In today’s market, the strength of an organization is largely determined by establishing a structure and culture to recruit and retain talent. “Having the right HR leadership in place is an imperative,” explains Mora. “What this means is the matching process in selecting an HR professional or executive deserves careful thought and consideration beyond the standard qualifications.”

In other words, what works for one organization may not be right for another. Mora tells me that personally she has always chosen her assignments based on whether she believes she is the right person for the role being offered, or not. “My belief is that each HR assignment must be approached in the same manner, in order for the organization to be served best.” She notes that while it may be a plus for an HR professional to have all the appropriate qualifications and experience, the final assessment should be whether that person is the right person for the job. Mora thinks companies need to ask ‘Can this person help to achieve our business goals and targets through their approach to the HR strategy?’

Mora is aware that her career has been by-design. “I have benefited greatly from and enjoyed every role I’ve held. My goal is to help others achieve the same sense of fulfilment and achievement in their HR careers.”

What do you want to do?

Mora’s career in HR began as an intern with Entergy Corporation, just as she was finishing her graduate school studies. Within six weeks, the internship became a full-time position as a labor relations analyst. In this role, Mora was exposed to every aspect of employment and spent the next two years in this area. During this time she was mentored by the Director of Labor Relations who had hired her, Frank Wagar.

Wagar challenged Mora to take on assignments and tasks that would help her knowledge and experience grow quickly. As a result he can now be credited with Mora’s own admission that she “gained at least 10 years of instruction in those two years.” Some time later, Mora joined a labor and employee relations role with a Wisconsin-based publications printer. “The goal was to put the knowledge I had gained into practice in a role where I was entirely responsible for the outcomes,” she remembers.

In her role before joining the Houston Rockets organization in 2001, as HR leader for a grocery company, Mora was able to further integrate her approach to HR management with the goals and objectives of the organization. “It also taught me just how important it is for leadership to walk the talk, to exhibit the behaviors of a leader every day,” she tells me. “It meant showing that I cared, being accountable for both my results and my actions and being open to influence, not just influencing.”

Today, Mora’s strongest belief is that employees should find joy in their work. She has been quoted saying that finding joy in human resources is what led to her success in human resources. She quantifies this belief in the mantra ‘Do What You Are.’ When I ask her about this concept she tells me that though she can’t take credit for the phrasing, it is something that she implements through all of her work. “It means that you should seek work that is completely synchronized with who you are as a person. It allows you to use your strengths everyday and leave work with a sense of fulfilment.” It is an achievable goal, which starts with awareness, self-knowledge, and the willingness to be completely honest with yourself once you have that knowledge.

Mora herself had to learn this awareness and honesty. She details how after enrolling at graduate school to pursue an MBA in the early 1990s, three semesters into the program she found herself dreading the majority of her classes. “I was simply not happy and it was obvious that the work wasn’t in synch with who I am,” she tells me. Fortunately, her graduate advisor sat her down and asked her, ‘What is it that you want to do?’

“I was directed to the Myers-Briggs Temperment Indicator. Once I had gained more clarity, organizational behavior became my focus and I was energized about my studies,” explains Mora. “This translated into a passion for my career.” By helping employees to ‘do what they are,’ HR departments can ensure that employees find fulfilment in their work. “It is a large part of the HR department’s responsibility to find people who fit the roles for which they were hired in terms of their background, their strengths and their potential.” Once that is achieved, it becomes a shared responsibility with operations management to help employees to grow and develop in ways that will keep them engaged with the organization. “Creating a means for employees to put their passions to work is a win-win for the employee and the organization,” says Mora. “Smart, strategic HR professionals know this and build strategies for getting the highest level of contribution for the organization’s investment.”

Of course, investment isn’t just about money, especially where HR is concerned. So often in this industry, a sense of community comes hand-in-hand with HR philosophy. “I think many of us enter the field of human resources possessing a strong sense of community and social responsibility,” says Mora. “We already have a mission to make a difference in lives through our work.” For HR professionals, finding an organization that allows them to exercise that penchant through active community involvement is ideal. Mora considers herself particularly fortunate that each organization she has worked for has allowed her to bring this part of herself to the job in a way that also serves the organization. “An organization must be aware that the employees who are investing their time and talents are as much a part of the community as they are stakeholders in the organization,” adds Mora.

Given this theory, it is clear those employees who care about the community are going to care more about the organization that is doing something for the community. Furthermore, getting employees involved in corporate community efforts helps increase employee engagement, creating a greater sense of pride in the company. In return, the company reaps the benefits both internally and externally.

Changing times

“As well as this, the market is evolving,” says Mora. “The fact that it is evolving is a good thing. Evolution is something an organization can plan for.” HR markets today have a considerable focus on the war for talent and retention, which Mora has already touched on. “To effectively compete for talent organizations will need to look at a few things,” says Mora. Firstly, current talent must be identified and future talent needs must be determined. Both of these must tie in with the organization’s overall goals so that the question becomes, who can help us achieve our goals versus who has the most experience? Secondly, the organization must be creating opportunities for talent to flourish and contribute at the highest levels. And lastly, Mora notes that the current structure and culture of an organization should support the long-term engagement of talent.

Further to this sense of evolution, the methods in which jobs are filled are also changing. Networking website are becoming a more and more common tool in the recruitment process and during her time the Houston Rockets organization, Mora saw a great emphasis on internships. I ask her if she thinks these are legitimate methods for recruiting in today’s market? “I think both provide good opportunities to find talent,” she says. “I don’t think any organization can depend solely on traditional means of recruiting anymore.” Mora also believes that the strategy for filling positions varies depending upon the characteristics of the position itself. “A networking site may provide a great way of reaching potential hires in the sales area, since sales professionals tend to make better use of networking.” She jokes that by recruiting through this method, the one thing you will always know about the hire is that he or she networks effectively.

With regard to internships, Mora believes that they provide the means for an individual to get their foot in the door. “The internship should be looked on as an audition so the intern should definitely bring his or her ‘A’ game,” she points out. “The Rockets organization is peppered with individuals who started out as interns.” Of course, the true advantage to hiring from the intern ranks is that you’ve seen the hire in action and should have a good indication of their potential to perform on the job. Now, in her new venture with Mora&Associates, she is implementing even more different strategies to fill positions with the right candidate. By applying both behavioral and competency-based interview techniques along with a ‘strengths assessment,’ Mora&Associates is working to appropriately match people and organizations for a long-term and mutually beneficial working relationship. Hiring this way could well change the working lives of many HR professionals as the market continues to evolve around them.

“So in terms of the future for me,” says Mora, “I think Mora&Associates and the potential it holds will keep my attention for some time to come.” However, she does admit that she doesn’t think it will be the end game and will sometime again be asking herself, ‘What’s next?’