Another leader is out in the world as Allison Tillman graduated today. Although a distance education student, Tillman still found a way to make an impact on her hometown of Joplin from her current home in Johnson City, Tenn.
“When I became an exclusively distance-learning student, I assumed that I would feel disconnected from my professors and my academic career would falter,” Tillman explains. “I was so pleasantly surprised to find that my professors often reached out, provided study sessions to be watched on my own time, and spent their time filming pre-recorded lectures. With the support of the faculty at MSSU, I found myself enjoying my coursework, even when I wasn’t on campus.”
The distance didn’t prevent the human resource management major from serving as the president of MSSU’s chapter of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management. She spearheaded the advertising for the Christmas Angel Tree, food drive, and guest speakers. Tillman would contribute to volunteer efforts by shipping goods directly to MSSU. She even collaborated with fellow human resource management classmates to create marketing materials announcing the inaugural MO-SHRM Conference Scholarship.
"SHRM club opens many doors for students and professionals alike, and I have benefitted greatly from its presence in my life. It gave me the opportunity to network and communicate with others interested in the field.”
Tillman has also participated in work-based learning projects for La-Z-Boy in Neosho and the City of Joplin. For these projects, Tillman’s group were directed to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help provide insights and recommendations for the companies. Through these opportunities, Tillman gained a love for creative problem solving and realized how much she enjoyed fostering organizational commitment within a company’s workforce.
“I was thrilled and surprised when my projects were chosen by these companies. I’d like to think that my enthusiasm for the project showed in my ideas and presentations.”
Tillman’s accomplishments or her innovation with AI don’t end there. Last year, she connected with the plant manager of Ruskin after her presentation at an advisory board meeting at the Plaster School of Business on campus. He sought an intern to help with a project that would better measure person-organization fit in new hires. As someone who’s always been interested in recruiting and talent management, Tillman jumped at the opportunity.
“To start the process, I began analyzing job descriptions provided by the company to get a better understanding of the qualities and values needed to be successful in the positions. After developing a list of values, I interviewed close to 40 employees and supervisors. I asked them to describe their own job duties in detail and to provide an opinion on whether these values were truly relevant in their jobs. Interviewees also had the ability to add or subtract values as they saw necessary.”
Once the value list was finalized, she worked with Chat GPT to draft a questionnaire to measure these values. Deciding that a self-scoring assessment would be most helpful for Ruskin to use, Tillman took online coding classes and used AI to fill in her knowledge gaps. She soon deployed a website that hosted the questionnaire. This way, when candidates submit their responses, their scores are uploaded directly to a Google sheet and scores for each individual value, as well as the “points earned” for each question. The sheet provides a weekly summary report and sends an update on average scores, the week’s top scores, and a graph for the data. Tillman’s work may make the hiring process for the company that much more successful.
“I am very proud of the work that I have done on this project, and I hope that Ruskin finds a use for it for many years to come.”
Tillman plans to have her own consulting firm and provide recommendations to companies just as she’s done in her learning projects. In the meantime, she is learning as much as she can through school, AI, and hands-on experience.
“I have many aspirations for my future. There is not an aspect of HR that I’ve encountered and haven’t enjoyed yet, so I feel confident that I will enjoy anything I do.”
Dr. Sarah Holtzen, assistant professor of management at MSSU, holds Tillman in high regard.
“I have yet to meet another student who knew, with such passion, that she absolutely wanted to join the field of human resource management from the moment she first stepped onto campus,” she said. “I look forward to seeing what she accomplishes after graduation. I know she is going to continue to change the HR world for the better.”
Tillman credits much to Holtzen, who has made a significant impact on her life.
“Dr. Holtzen has been the biggest influence in my academic career,” said Tillman. “She has served as an advisor, mentor, and friend. She told me once that I was too humble, but I don’t think that’s true. I am just cognizant of the fact that I would not be where I am without the amazing support system I’ve had.”
