I generally do it a little differently depending on if the Reference is Single or Multiple..
So.... in the situation above, INSERT Department IN Person.ob_Department, ob_Department is Singular so I would ALWAYS use..
Person.ob_Department = Department
However, if the Departments Reference is multiple... ie... a Person can belong to many Departments....
Person.pm_Departments for example... then I would use
INSERT Department IN Person.pm_Departments