Chapter 1

DISCUSSION TOPIC

1. Concept and Brief Description
2. Emotional Hook (provocative question/claim/real-life problem)
3. Key Points to Elicit in Discussion
4. Facilitative Questions

1. Behind the Scenes of HR
All the factors brought up in the first chapter relating to HR were factors that I always just kind of assumed "took care of themselves" in a business. Things like pay compensation, performance management, employee relations, and complying with labor laws. Also recruiting. It makes sense that someone would be employed full time to recruit quality employees to a company. I like how the chapter broke down the broad field of "HR" into specific chronological chunks. It's frequently stated that a company's most valuable resource is it's people. So it completely makes sense that an entire department would be devoted to building and maintaining an effective work force.

2. Imagine that you own a company. How would you structure your HR strategy to address each of the major hr management areas? What would be your strategy for recruiting?

3. The work force today is highly competitive. New companies are constantly scraping for new recruits with higher and higher compensations. It seems that innovation and a solid value proposition are the most important tools for a human resource recruiting strategy. Think of efforts local companies have made to recruit us. We've seen billboards on the freeway and throughout town, we've gotten fliers on our cars, we've been approached by recruiters in the halls in school, we've walk past tables and booths during on campus career events, and we've heard and seen numerous commercials on the radio and television. Behind every one of these contacts is a human resources department planning and striving to recruit a quality work force.

4. What are some other innovative recruiting techniques?

LEARNING REFLECTIONS

This class period was just a lot of new information about course content and requirements. The end had some human resource principles. The most value for me was in the two analogies at the end. In my mind, the story of the frog in the well was comparable to Plato's Allegory of the Cave. I think it's important to not only recognize when other people are "in the well" but to recognize when I am as well. I don't think of "being in the well" as a personality trait or ongoing attribute (although with some people it seems to be,) I think of it more as applying to specific situations or perspectives. In some situations we may see things through a narrow, constrained hole. We need to recognize this so that we can pull ourselves out and see the world how it really is.