What Should We Look for in Candidates for HFES Offices?

By Paul A. Green, Immediate Past President

     In a few months, Full Members and Fellows will receive a request for nominations for HFES officers. As I noted in my presidential address at the 53rd Annual Meeting in San Antonio, involvement in all professional and social organizations has declined over time, especially in the United States. This phenomenon is well documented in Robert D. Putnam's Bowling Alone (Simon & Schuster, 2001); however, these societal trends described are modifiable. The next year or so will be particularly challenging as economic pressures force us to concentrate on what we are paid to do. Nonetheless, overemphasis on the short term may lead to long-term professional compromises.

     There are a few ways that we can shape our profession. One of them is deciding whom we elect for leaders, the first step of which is nominating them for office. For HFES, the primary leadership is the Executive Council, which consists of six at-large members; the incoming, current, and past secretary-treasurer; and the incoming, current, and past president. Of those twelve people, four new members (two at-large, secretary-treasurer-elect, president-elect) are elected by HFES Full Members each year.

     What are the qualities of someone who should be on the Executive Council or, for that matter, in any leadership role in HFES, such as a domain leader who oversees several committees or a committee chair? What follows are my personal thoughts on the desired qualities for candidates for HFES offices, based on experience over the last three decades on HFES committees, on the Executive Council, and as president of HFES.

     Have prior experience. People who have (a) served on or led committees, especially at the national level but also at the chapter or local level (and know how HFES functions), and (b) through their activities are in contact with a broad range of members, are well prepared to serve on Council. Such service is also beneficial for committee chairs and domain leaders. For example, the HFES Institute chair (the group of HFES committees that deal with standards) should have prior involvement with ANSI or ISO activities.

     There has been some discussion of how much financial acumen the secretary-treasurer should have; some say an MBA is desired and others that there are no special qualifications. The role of the secretary-treasurer is primarily one of oversight, as Lynn Strother, HFES executive director, handles operations.

     For the office of president, it is extremely valuable to have served as an Executive Council member or domain leader, or to have experienced how Council functions. Speaking personally, I had the opportunity to observe six presidents run Council meetings before my term started, and it helped me find a harmonious and productive style that fit the Council. It also gave me a sense of what the major issues were and their history. The most successful presidents pick up where their predecessors left off, make improvements, and create processes and activities that successors and successive Councils want to follow.

     Have the time. Being involved in HFES activities does take time, though not always a great deal. Council members need to be able to complete tasks and respond to e-mail or phone calls in a timely manner, not to mention attend two Council meetings each year.

     Being president is a particularly significant commitment. My experience was that it took about 20% of my time, and more time immediately before Council meetings. Previous presidents have offered similar estimates. I did not accept the nomination to run for president until after my managers had approved my devoting this much time.

     Have the interest. When people are asked to serve on Council, it is a compliment; however, they should have the passion to contribute to the Society. A very good indicator of interest is attendance at prior meetings, especially the Annual Meeting. Showing up year after year and interacting with other members is meaningful. Energy and enthusiasm matter as well.

     Have a collaborative work style. Council works best when it develops a consensus, and some of the best members are good listeners. Personality matters.

     Be able to broadly represent members. Look for candidate Council members who can represent everyone, not a particular technical group, chapter, or employer. Casting a vote for someone just because he or she shares your background is not necessarily conducive to electing leaders who will serve the diversity of members. (This is one of the reasons HFES policies prohibit the use of HFES list servers - for example, for a TG - to ask people to vote for particular candidates.)

     About 25% of all HFES members are academic, and about 20% are outside the United States. However, among the current HFES leadership, academic members predominate, and there is no one from outside the United States in any Society-wide leadership role, even committees. We tend to nominate academic members because they publish, which makes them visible. They also tend to volunteer more often for Society roles because those roles more positively contribute to their retention, promotion, and salary than is the case for practitioners. If we want HFES to better represent practitioners and to be global, then those folks need to be on committees and elected to office.

     Finding candidates outside the United States is particularly difficult, but members who come to the Annual Meeting when Council meets could be considered as candidates. Most routine HFES activities are done by phone and e-mail. In the future, an increasing percentage of our members will be from outside the United States as HFES becomes more widely perceived as a society run not just by Americans (and therefore, by implication, for Americans).

     Thus, we need to realign our leadership to better reflect our membership, but we should do so in a way that does not devalue the important contributions of academic and U.S. members.

     Have a strategic vision. This is a characteristic that someone who has not been on Council may not appreciate, and may be a very difficult quality for nominators to assess. In the past, Council has been too tactical, focusing on small problems and, given the engineering mindset, how to solve them. Solving those problems is what committees do. We need leaders to think broadly about the future of human factors/ergonomics and the future of HFES, and to determine where our efforts should be focused in the future. How should HFES disseminate information about science and practice from conferences and standards? Where should we concentrate our efforts to make the world more aware of what HF/E is? What is the most cost-effective manner to attract more good people to our profession? How should HFES personnel and resources be allocated to address the myriad issues we face?

     Be known among members. In addition to possessing the previously listed qualities, the candidate must be sufficiently well-known to garner votes.

     But what if a person wants to run for office and is not nominated by someone else? The rules allow any Full Member to self-nominate and to ask that others support his or her nomination. Some people tend to be wary of nominating themselves because of concern that others may perceive them as seeking office for reasons other than genuine interest in advancing the Society.

     Involvement in Council activities includes financial support for travel and accommodations to attend the required midyear and annual Council meetings. The annual Council meeting occurs on the weekend before the HFES Annual Meeting, and the three-day midyear meeting is held in the spring. In addition, HFES has recently established a practice of monthly Friday conference calls, in which Council members participate.

     So, I would like to encourage you to think hard about who can really make our Society better and nominate them for office - even if it is yourself.

     If you prefer not to run for office but want to help the Society, there are many options. Volunteer to help with your local chapter's events or publish the newsletter, or help with the chapter Web site. Attend your technical group's business meetings and volunteer to assist with the Annual Meeting proposal reviews or the TG newsletter or Web site. If you do a few things and do them well, on time, and in a manner that encourages others to work with you, there will be more opportunities for you to serve.

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