Solon Field Office Interview Report

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I. Interview We had the pleasure of interviewing Mickey Harshinger, Supervisory Consumer Safety Offices and First Line Supervisor for the Office of Regulatory Affairs at the FDA Solon Field Office. The FDA’s Solon Field Office is located at 3820 Center Road, Solon, Ohio 44212. II. Overview Of Agency The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was unofficially founded in 1906 when it began regulatory functions under the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. The Solon office is a part of the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs (also known as ORA) which is the lead office for all FDA Field activities as well as providing FDA leadership on imports, inspections, and enforcement policy. ORA supports the six FDA Product Centers by inspecting regulated…show more content…
Agency Head Biography Mickey explained that when she entered college, she did not know what she wanted to do and subsequently dropped out. She ended up going into the restaurant business and eventually restaurant management. Mickey had fond memories of her many years working in restaurant management; however, her aspirations were to secure a job with OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Impact Assessment, however, she felt that the “GS positions were too high.” She decided to return to Youngstown State and pursue studies in Environmental Science, with a focus on Occupational Health and Safety. After college, Mickey took a job as a Quality Safety Manager for a Youngstown scrap yard. Aside from managing employees, some of which she expressed included many prison release individuals; her duties included seizing documents regarding hazardous materials. It was an ethical issue that led her to look for employment elsewhere. Mickey explained that she was asked to sign reports that she felt had been falsified. Finally, Mickey saw the FDA field investigator position posting, applied and was hired. She believes it was her experience in quality management and her degree that helped her obtain her current…show more content…
Agency Head Leadership Style and Philosophy Mickey feels her leadership approach is more of a coaching style where she leads by example, builds strengths and is very adaptable. Leading by example is something she values greatly, as she wants her employees to see that hard work should be equally distributed within the team, starting with management. She is adaptable and realizes that all employees are different. She helps them succeed by turning their weaknesses into skills. She understands that her employees have science backgrounds and will interpret everything accordingly. Mickey reports she has not faced any real opposition from any of her employees. She has had disagreements, however, her goal is to listen to all of her employees and then provide feedback in order to coach each person individually or as a team. She strives at getting along with her staff by following the rules, having an open door policy, and being flexible. Again, understanding her employees is the key to relationship building. She feels by understanding her staff, she will have better morale and more productivity. She also knows what assignments her employees are working on without micromanaging them. This helps alleviate any additional stresses by the manager, fosters productivity and builds manager-employee
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