HRM textbook

342 PART 3 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTIVITIES
1. Many rightfully offer IBM as an example of an employer
that works hard to improve employee retention and
engagement. Browse through the employment pages
of IBM.com s Web site (such as www-03.ibm.com/
employment/build_your_career.html). In this chapter, we
discussed actions employers can take to improve employee
retention and engagement. From the information on
IBM s Web pages, what is IBM doing to support retention
and engagement?
2. In groups of four or five students, meet with one or two
administrators and faculty members in your college or
university and, based on this, write a 2-page paper on
the topic the faculty promotion process at our college.
What do you think of the process? Based on our discussion
in this chapter, could you make any suggestions for
improving it?
3. Working individually or in groups, choose two occupations
(such as management consultant, HR manager, or
salesperson) and use sources such as O*Net to size up
the future demand for this occupation in the next
10 years or so. Does this seem like a good occupation
to pursue? Why or why not?
4. In groups of four or five students, interview a small
business owner or an HR manager with the aim of
writing a 2-page paper addressing the topic steps our
company is taking to reduce voluntary employee
turnover. What is this employer s turnover rate now?
How would you suggest it improve its turnover rate?
5. The HRCI Test Specifications Appendix at the end of
this book (pages 633 640) lists the knowledge someone
studying for the HRCI certification exam needs to have
in each area of human resource management (such as in
Strategic Management, Workforce Planning, and
Human Resource Development). In groups of four to
five students, do four things: (1) review that appendix
now; (2) identify the material in this chapter that relates
to the required knowledge the appendix lists; (3) write
four multiple-choice exam questions on this material
that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in the
HRCI exam; and (4) if time permits, have someone
from your team post your team s questions in front of
the class, so the students in other teams can take each
others exam questions
7. Several years ago, a survey of college graduates in the
United Kingdom found that although many hadn t
found their first jobs, most were already planning
career breaks and to keep up their hobbies and interests
outside work. As one report of the findings put it,
the next generation of workers is determined not to
wind up on the hamster wheel of long hours with no
play. 80 Part of the problem seems to be that many
already see their friends putting in more than 48 hours
a week at work. Career experts reviewing the results
concluded that many of these recent college grads are
not looking for high-pay, high-profile jobs anymore. 81
Instead, they seem to be looking to compartmentalize
their lives. They want to keep the number of hours they
spend at work down, so they can maintain their hobbies
and outside interests. If you were mentoring one of
these people at work, what three bits of career advice
would you give him or her? Why? What (if anything)
would you suggest their employers do to accommodate
these graduates stated career wishes?
8. Sporting News (http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaabasketball/story/2009-07-29/sporting-news-50-greatestcoaches-all-time)
ran a story listing what they called the
50 greatest basketball coaches. Look at this list, and pick
out two of the names. Then research these people online
to determine what behaviors they exhibited that seem to
account for why they were great coaches. How do these
behaviors compare with what this chapter had to say
about effective coaching?
EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE
Where Am I Going . . . and Why?
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to provide you with
experience in analyzing your career preferences.
Required Understanding: Students should be thoroughly
familiar with the Employee s Role in Career Management
section in this chapter, as well as using O*Net (which we
discussed in Chapter 4).
How to Set Up the Exercise/Instructions:
Using O*Net and the Employee s Role in Career Management
section in this chapter, analyze your career-related
inclinations (you can take the self-directed search for
about $10 at www.self-directed-search.com). Based on
this analysis, answer the following questions (if you wish,
you may do this analysis in teams of three or four
students).
1. What does your research suggest to you about what
would be your preferable occupational options?
2. What are the prospects for these occupations?
3. Given these prospects and your own occupational
inclinations, outline a brief, 1-page career plan for
yourself, including current occupational inclinations,
career goals, and an action plan listing four or five
development steps you will need to take in order to
get from where you are now career-wise to where you
want to be, based on your career goals.