Dan Taggart, Senior Human Resources Manager

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to a managerial role?

Know yourself: What motivates you to do a good job? What are your strengths, and how do you use them in your current role? In what areas do you still want/need to grow? And remember that being a supervisor isn’t about your success – it is being the best leader you can be to help your team succeed.

How do you measure success in your position?

From my perspective, Human Resources is about building relationships and helping people accomplish things they didn’t think were possible. Whether it is helping someone prepare for a difficult conversation or changing a process to make our hiring more efficient, it’s that continuous movement forward in a productive way that defines our success.

How do you build and maintain relationships with stakeholders and partners?

I try to be as transparent as possible and provide options instead of directives. I don’t have all of the answers, but if we talk about why you want something instead of just what you want, we might be able to identify alternative ways of getting what you want.

How do you maintain a work-life balance?

While my role at Virginia Tech is a huge part of my identity, I also make commitments outside of work to build a sense of purpose. Whether it's playing trivia with friends or leading a hiking group along a trail, those commitments are just as much a part of my identity and remind me that my life is made up of so much more than my career.