HRM/498T: Strategic Human Resource Management And Emerging Issues

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 Advanced Hero is a major, publicly traded defense contractor to the US government. During the recent annual Leadership Summit, the CEO spoke of his vision for greater innovation, deeper sales pipelines within governmental agencies, and world-class performance in each operating sector. He summed this up as a Talent 2.0 version of the company. He has asked each department to consider the tasks and come back with ways they can achieve this vision. How should the company view this challenge?

· No department understands the nuances of recruiting, motivating, training, and retaining people to impact operational performance better than HR professionals. HR can act as a strategic partner and lead the business to reach the CEO’s objectives.

· Operational performance and success is a shared accountability across a business. Ultimately, every manager has to become a subject matter expert in talent management and is encouraged to do his or her part in reaching the vision outlined by the CEO.

· As these are lofty goals, it is often prudent to hire external consulting firms to help the current leadership team execute key strategic initiatives. They have deep experience working with organizations with similar goals and can put the framework around this request.

· Operations at the end of the day has ultimate accountability to company performance. Support functions are there to support the revenue generating departments. Because of this, Operations should take the lead and seek input from support functions.

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The HR department at Advanced Hero is piloting several new initiatives, one of which is opening up their recruitment process to atypical candidates. The talent acquisition team reached out to Jeremy, who has spent the majority of his adult life on humanitarian missions in third world countries. He comes highly recommended for his deep level of commitment and his ethics of hard work. Despite the positives from this initiative and Jeremy’s background, why will Jeremy have a difficult time socializing to the new organization?

· Jeremy does not have an MBA like most other people in this same job profile, so he may have a difficult time dealing with business topics.

· Jeremy may likely be impossible to lead and manage because he is used to non-profits that do not adhere to standard performance management principles.

· Jeremy’s expectations for total rewards may not align well with the expectations outlined by the company because he is used to the non-profit sector.

· Jeremy has worked for non-profit organizations with missions that align with his personal values and goals, and he may be uncomfortable with the motivators that drive for-profit organizations in the defense space.

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Advanced Hero invites new hires to a dinner and networking event 30 days after hire as part of the socialization and onboarding process. While at dinner, the HR Director overhears two new employees talk about the difficulty they have had being isolated while working night shifts. One employee states, “If I would have known the job was this dreary, I may have gone to a different company.” How can the HR Director avoid situations like this in the future?

· Provide a better mentor who can coach and guide the new employee through the difficult times ahead.

· Provide candidates a realistic job preview so that they are fully educated and aware of the working dynamics, both positive and negative, before they accept an offer.

· Provide the new employee an option to work the day shift as he clearly doesn’t want to work the night shift anymore.

· Provide this information to the employee’s manager and have the manager follow up the next week. It is important to ensure employees feel their voice is heard.

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The HR Director over the Americas wants to understand how to increase retention at a site in Kentucky that has slowly declined the last three years. The most recent HR analytics report highlights an increase in voluntary turnover after the 12-month mark. What should the Kentucky HR Director suggest as the best path forward to fixing the situation?

· Hitting critical milestones during the onboarding process can drastically improve retention efforts and boost engagement. Focus on making onboarding more effective.

· Most people leave their jobs because of a lack of compensation. Conduct a thorough compensation analysis to identify those most likely to leave and provide appropriate increases.

· A good benefits program highlights all the amazing perks the company has to offer and can encourage employees to stay. Work with the benefits broker to restructure the benefits program.

· Creating incentives in the workplace is proven to increase employee engagement. Work with the HR Director over the Americas to expand the HR budget for more giveaways and parties at the site.

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The HR department has collaborated with the plant leadership at Advanced Hero to successfully complete a thorough job analysis for all Quality department roles. They learned that in order to be successful in Quality, you must possess an attention to detail, rely on procedural integrity, and have the courage to stop a process if the quality doesn’t meet standards. A key output of this effort has been identifying key skills. Why did HR recommend this approach?

· Competency modeling helps identify how employees will read and write quality-based assessments to see if they can interpret the information.

· Competency modeling outlines from the senior leadership team what traits they possess, and what everyone else can do to one day make it in their position.

· Competency modeling outlines specific knowledge and skills necessary for a job that, once learned, will enable people to be most effective in their roles.

· Competency modeling will help management move employees into the correct 9-block for performance discussions that need to take place in the Quality department.

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Henry has approached the HR Generalist and is seeking advice over some of his concerns. In the discussion, Henry outlines that up to this point, his career has been sporadic. He has worked in manufacturing, food services, oil and gas, and hospitality. Each role has included very unique and different skill sets. While he appreciates to some degree the breadth of exposure, he feels he will never land anything long-term because his resume shows no consistent trend and no real progress. How should the HR Generalist best approach this discussion?

· Career ladders are common, and many people jump up and down from different roles and still show progress. Henry needs to focus on the positives, and everything will work out.

· Mid-life crises are common with Henry’s background. HR professionals are well equipped to coach and provide guidance to employees in situations like this.

· Disorganized career paths are becoming more and more acceptable these days as organizations don’t assume people will work with them their entire career. One can still be successful even without the traditional approach.

· Structural plateaus are a common issue, especially within large organizations like Advanced Hero. A detailed individual development plan (IDP) is the best way for Henry to overcome this issue and work his way out of it.

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You are an HR Manager at a company. You have some concerns over a line supervisor’s inability to connect with and lead team members. He also recently came to your office and commented on his struggles to inspire and push younger colleagues at work and mentioned how he feels stuck on a plateau in his career. HR Managers often coach and counsel individuals on career and life events. As you understand this employee's struggles and needs, what specific stage of Erik Erickson’s model would you assign?

· Adulthood - Being able to coach, guide, and sponsor younger colleagues and generations

· Young Adulthood - Learning how to work and achieve balance with others in the workplace

· Maturity - Acceptance and satisfaction with work that has been completed in one’s life

· Adolescence - Establishing oneself and finding an accurate self-concept in occupational situations

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The Area Manager that oversees EMEA is reviewing engagement reports and has found some comments highlighting how one of the managers who has expatriated from the US is very cynical in her approach with others. What could have been done to prevent the phase of disillusionment?

· The company could have hired interpreters earlier on so that the expat could communicate clearly earlier on in her role.

· The company could have brought her out to the country two or three more times before the assignment started so she had more time to prepare and avoid the effect of culture shock.

· The company could have presented cross-cultural training to her and her family before she relocated for the role so that they were better prepared for new cultural norms.

· The company could have had her speak with the previous director in this role so she could get a better grasp at what was going to happen.

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The new materials management supervisor who came from a competitor is pushing back on the proposed onboarding training schedule. She claims that because she has been in her role for 15 years, much of the proposed schedule is a waste of her time as she knows in-depth materials and corresponding regulation. Which do you think is the next best course of action?

· While you encourage her to go through the training, you document which training is not relevant given her expertise. You can delegate the task of removing irrelevant material to the EHS Manager.

· As the majority of the OSHA training is actually handled by the EHS Manager, you direct the new supervisor to speak with EHS.

· As she was hired for her deep expertise, you adjust the training schedule for her onboarding to enable her to get into her role faster.

· While acknowledging her concerns, you know that the majority of workplace incidents typically occur during the first year of employment and encourage her to stay complete the proposed training.

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You are the HR Manager at Advance Hero. Advance Hero has an established Ombuds office for dealing with particularly sensitive legal and ethics claims or violations. A case has been forwarded to you regarding a supervisor at your plant allegedly to have engaged in dialogue involving racist comments. This takes you by surprise because Advance Hero employees recently completed a harassment training. In assessing the risk profile, you know that which of the following things are important to consider?

· Courts look at whether and to what extent a company has provided training and education to prevent harassment as an indicator of a good faith effort.

· Repeated claims without sufficient evidence present an even lower risk to the company as there has to be documented instances to form a case.

· Courts look at local nuances such as culture and media. You know this area has a deep history of racial injustice and this claim could seriously injure the plant.

· Any single claim of harassment has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt which makes validating claims very difficult.

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After a recent employee relations investigation, the HR Manager spoke with all front-line supervisors to gain additional context. While the relationships between managers and employees was not the main focus of the investigation, she has learned that employees are unaware of the way these leaders perceive their work. The employees also behave in very inconsistent ways with their teams. She noted situations of managers’ extreme objectivity towards policies without any care of understanding the situation of the employee. What should she recommend to the leadership team?

· Double-loop learning will train the managers to change their assumptions and perspectives and find ways to be more open to communication and feedback.

· Emotional intelligence (EQ) training will enable managers to connect better with people and learn subtle nuances of processing interactive data.

· Competency based training will help them learn how to have better soft skills.

· Diversity training in this context is appropriate because the managers need to be more aware of their assumptions towards sexual harassment.

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Heather is an HR Manager for Advanced Hero located at a remote manufacturing site in Arkansas. As a local professional, she has been invited by the school district to come speak to graduating high school seniors about preparation to enter the workforce. She knows transitioning out of high school and into the workforce can be difficult, especially when people move to larger, more populous areas. Which of the following recommendations seems most tailored to the audience?

· Many high school graduates deal with reality shock as they transition into the workforce. Internships, additional schooling, and mentors help make this transition smoother.

· Life plateaus are common, especially for those entering the workforce. Students making the transition need to focus on one career path and execute that idea for the best chance of success.

· Research indicates that the more transitioning students worry and stress about their future the more likely they are to fail. It is important to take a gap year before entering the workforce.

· Students moving from rural areas to larger metropolitans need greater diversity training. This is one of the most effective ways for people to adapt to new colleagues and work environments.

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A new wave of immersive, personality expeditions (outdoor seminars) have received much praise within the business community, and anecdotal stories are surfacing on websites like LinkedIn. The Learning and Development function has received a few requests for this training to be provided internally as the new form of innovative training platforms. As the Head of Training and Development reviews these requests, what is the most appropriate consideration?

· As a global contractor, Advanced Hero has to utilize all federal training programs as the primary method of development, and therefore any options have to be available through government liaisons.

· Taking employees away from work and into the wilderness is the least effective method for fostering cross-functional collaboration, which is crucial for every organization.

· Research proves that immersive personality training programs actually lead to higher levels of performance and engagement within small sample sizes.

· Historically, requiring corporate-wide training programs that try to change fundamental personality through extreme measures has not been very effective.

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Mark is the Senior Director of Logistics for Advanced Hero and has been in his role for six months. While he oversees the entire logistics department and is very talented at doing so, he finds he is struggling to make the necessary impact and influence on employees within the function while he focuses on his own output. As the HR Director listens to Mark describe his situation, the HR Director appropriately identifies which of the following psychological issues?

· Mark perceives his work as a sponsor. Mark is a newer executive with strategic influence over the entire organization, and he realizes early on that his responsibility to the organization weighs him down too much.

· Mark perceives his work as a director. Mark is a newer executive with strategic influence over the entire organization, and he needs to find an appropriate mentor to help him navigate through the difficult and politically charged experience of adjusting to his new role.

· Mark perceives his work as a leader. Mark is a newer executive with strategic influence over the entire organization, and this phase of mentorship requires that he spend less time on logistics and more time mentoring and developing subordinates.

· Mark perceives his work as an individual contributor. Mark is a newer executive with strategic influence over the entire organization, but his current psychological approach centers on finding success only through his own efforts. This approach is misaligned to his position.

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Advanced Hero has recently revamped the performance management process with a new 9-box matrix. After the various meetings and countless hours spent identifying and correctly placing employees in the appropriate boxes, the HR department describes the next steps for ultimate effectiveness to the business leaders. The HR department outlines its plans for development activities. Why is an effective development activity so critical after assessing performance and potential from the 9-box activity?

· High potential employees are primed to take action. Development activities allow employees to get to work immediately and stay engaged and productive so that they can secure their place and receive a promotion.

· 9-box systems are known to have common errors of placing people too high on the grid. Timely development activities allow upper management to see who is actually going to be top talent and who is not.

· A major pitfall of the 9-box system is that most companies stop the process after the employees are placed in the boxes. The development activities allow employees to get actual development experiences after the 9-box assessment.

· Within large organizations like Advanced Hero, it is easy for employees to be overlooked. Development activities give top performers the chance to beat out the internal competition and to finally be noticed.

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The HR department at Advanced Hero collects one-, three-, and six-month surveys from new hires to better understand their progress and their perspective of the company. During the most recent review, some early administrative concerns surfaced regarding benefits setup, payroll confusion, and questions of locating the employee handbook. How can the HR department find a solution to the issues presented in this feedback?

· Select better culture ambassadors that are assigned to new hires. These ambassadors provide the guidance and the answers that new hires need.

· Provide a more thorough orientation overview that covers basic employment-related details to help the new hires get a better start.

· Offer more self-learning modules so that new hires learn things on their own, as opposed to instructor-led courses.

· Provide a more thorough onboarding experience that covers systematic processes and issues over a longer period of three to 18 months.