Chapter 12   Managing Human Resources

Once an organization’s structure is in place, it’s time to find the people to fill the
jobs that have been created. That’s where human resource management comes in.
It’s an important task that involves getting the right number of the right people in
the right place at the right time. Focus on the following learning outcomes as you
read and study this chapter.

LEARNING OUTCOMES 

11.1 Explain the importance of the human resource management process and the external influences that might affect that process.
12.2 Discuss the tasks associated with identifying and selecting competent employees.
12.3 Explain the different types of orientation and training.
12.4 Describe strategies for retaining competent, high-performing employees.
12.5 Discuss contemporary issues in managing human resources.

A MANAGER’S DILEMMA 

Throughout their careers in the business world, your students will likely hear managers say, “My most important resource is the people who work in this organization.” Indeed, the employees in every company are the lifeblood of the organization. By taking steps to ensure the health, safety, and general well-being of employees, a manager is taking care of not only the employees, but also the customers whom those employees serve.

Today’s business organizations are becoming increasingly cognizant of the im¬portance of having strong human resource man¬agement practices and policies. This chapter’s Manager’s Dilemma describes what recently happened at Ram Tool, a small family-owned manufacturing company in Grafton, Wisconsin.  In a bad economy, layoffs are a common event.  The decision that managers must make is one of organizational survival.  While necessary, layoffs can be emotional for everyone.  In this opening case, students see the stress experienced by Shelly Polum, the company’s vice president of administration, when she had to lay off four employees.  At the end of the case, students are asked if this situation could have been handled differently. Here are some possible suggestions.  First, it seems that the management team made the decision and then immediately notified the employees.  Attrition is a natural event in organizations.  It is possible that Ram could have not replaced empty positions instead of layoff existing employees.  Also, some employees could have been given the option to retire early.  Other organizations have even let employees decide if the entire workforce would rather take a cut in pay in place of employee layoffs.  More suggestions to this dilemma are discussed at the end of the chapter in the My Response break-out box.

In studying Chapter 12, your students will be challenged to consider how managers like Ms. Polum can utilize their most valuable resource to accomplish the goals of their organization in today’s dynamic business environment.

CHAPTER OUTLINE 

INTRODUCTION
 The quality of an organization is, to a large degree, dependent upon the quality of the people it hires and retains. Chapter 12 examines the concepts of human resource management.

121 THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROCESS
 Various studies have concluded that an organization’s human resources can be an important strategic tool and can help establish a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage.
A. Why Is Human Resource Management Important? Whether or not an organization has a human resource department, every manager is involved with human resource management activities.
1. Studies that have explored the link between HRM policies and practices and organizational performance have found that certain HRM policies and practices have a significant impact on performance.
a. These high-performance work practices are human resource policies and practices that lead to both high individual and high organizational performance.
b. Examples of high-performance work practices are shown in Exhibit 12-1
2. The human resource management process consists of eight activities necessary for staffing the organization and sustaining high employee performance.  See Exhibit 12-2.
C. External Factors that affect the HRM Process.  A number of environmental forces constrain human resource management activities. The four factors most directly influencing the HRM process are economic conditions, employee labor unions, governmental laws and regulations, and demographic trends.
1.  Recent economic changes have had a profound impact on the nature of work.  Unemployment (and under employment) are high in most developed countries due to the latest recession felt world-wide.  Economic news, whether good or bad, has effect on employment, attitudes toward work, careers, and retirement.
2. Unionization can affect a company’s human resource management activities.
a. A labor union is an organization that represents workers and seeks to protect their interests through collective bargaining.
b. Good labor-management relations, the formal interactions between unions and an organization’s management, are important.
c. Although only about 12.5 percent of the workforce in the United States is unionized, that percentage is higher in other countries.

3. Federal laws and regulations have greatly expanded the federal government’s influence over HRM (see Exhibit 12-3). Balance of the “should and should-not’s” of many of these laws often fall within the realm of affirmative action—programs that enhance the organizational status of members of protected groups.
4. Demographic trends will continue to play an important role in the Human Resource function as the pool of workers change i.e. increase in older workers ready for retirement and greater ethnic diversity due to an increasing number of Hispanics residing in the US.

LEADERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Lisa Brummel, a Microsoft product development manager, was named HR chief in 2005. What’s unique about this appointment was that she had not previous HR experience.  Her charge as HR chief was to “improve the mood around here.” Using her people skills, she introduced innovative office designs that allowed employees to reconfigure their workspaces for the task they were working on.  Employees were allowed to choose the type of workspace that best fit the need for their type of job. By allowing their creative, quirky, and talented people freedom to design their workspaces, the company was able to give them some control over their chaotic and often hectic environment.

12.2 IDENTIFIYING AND SELECTING COMPETENT EMPLOYEES
A. Human resource planning is ensuring that the organization has the right number and kinds of capable people in the right places and at the right times.
1. Current Assessment. Managers begin HR planning by conducting a current assessment of the organization’s human resource status.
a. This assessment is typically accomplished through a human resource inventory.
b. Another part of the current assessment process is the job analysis, which is an assessment that defines jobs and the behaviors necessary to perform them.
c. From this information, management can draw up a job description, which is a written statement that describes a job.
d. In addition, management must develop a job specification, which is a statement of the minimum qualifications that a person must possess to perform a given job successfully.
B. Meeting Future Human Resource Needs.  Future HR needs are determined by looking at the organization’s mission, goals, and strategies. Developing a future program requires estimates in which the organization will be understaffed or overstaffed. 
C. Recruitment And Decruitment. Recruitment is the process of locating, identifying, and attracting capable applicants. Job candidates can be found using a number of different sources          (see Exhibit 12-4).  Decruitment is reducing an organization’s workforce. Decruitment options include firing, layoffs, attrition, transfers, reduced workweeks, early retirements, and job sharing. (See Exhibit 12-5)
E. Selection.  Selection is screening job applicants to ensure that the most appropriate candidates are hired.  A. Selection is an exercise in prediction.
1. Prediction is important because any selection decision can result in four possible outcomes (see Exhibit 12-6).
2. The major aim of any selection activity should be to reduce the probability of making reject errors or accept errors, while increasing the probability of making correct decisions.
F. Validity and Reliability
1. Validity is the proven relationship that exists between a selection device and some relevant job criterion.
2. Reliability is the ability of a selection device to measure the same thing consistently.
G. Types of Selection Devices
 Managers can select employees using numerous and varied selection devices. Exhibit 12-7 list the strengths and weaknesses of each of these devices.
1. The application form is used for job candidates by almost all organizations.
2. Written tests can include tests of intelligence, aptitude, ability, and interest.
3. Performance-simulation tests involve having job applicants simulate job activities. Two well-known examples of performance-simulation tests are described below:
a. Work sampling is a type of job tryout in which applicants perform a task or set of tasks that are central to that job.
b. Assessment centers are used to evaluate managerial potential through job simulation activities.
4. Interviews are a widely used selection device, although many concerns have been voiced about their reliability and validity.
5. Background investigations can be done through the verification of application data and/or reference checks.
6. Physical examinations are useful for jobs that have particular physical requirements, but are most often used by the company for insurance purposes to ensure that new hires will not submit claims for conditions that existed before the date of hire.
7. A realistic job preview is a preview of a job that provides both positive and negative information about the job and the company. Including an RJP can increase job satisfaction among employees and reduce turnover.

12.3 PROVIDING EMPLOYEES WITH THE NEEDED SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE
A. Orientation is introducing a new employee to his or her job and the organization.
1. Work unit orientation familiarizes the employee with the goals of the work unit, clarifies how his/her job contributes to the unit’s goals, and includes an introduction to his or her coworkers.
2. Organization orientation informs the new employee about the organization’s objectives, history, philosophy, procedures, and rules.
3. Major objectives of orientation include the following:
a. To reduce initial anxiety.
b. To familiarize new employees with the job, the work unit, and the organization.
c. To facilitate the outsider-insider transition.
4. Formal orientation programs are prevalent in many organizations, particularly in large ones. Managers have an obligation to new employees to ensure that their integration into the organization is as smooth and as comfortable as possible.

B. Employee training is a critical component of the human resource management program.
1.  Types of training include general and specific.  See Figure 12-8.
2.  Exhibit 12-9 describes the major types of training that organizations provide.
a. Traditional Training methods.  On-the-job training is very common, and it may involve job rotation. Job rotation is on-the-job training that involves lateral transfers to enable employees who work on the same level of the organization to work in different jobs. On-the-job training can also involve mentoring, coaching, experiential exercises, and classroom training.
b. Technology-driven training methods. Today’s organizations are increasingly relying on technology-based training, including e-learning applications to communicate important information and to train employees.
12.4 RETAINING COMPETENT, HIGH-PERFORMING EMPLOYEES
A. Employee Performance Management.  Managers need to know whether their employees are performing their jobs efficiently and effectively or when improvement is needed.  A performance management system establishes performance standards that are used to evaluate employee performance.
1. Performance Appraisal Methods (Exhibit 12-10 summarize the advantages and disadvantages of each of these methods.)
a. A written essay appraises performance through a written description of an employee’s strengths and weaknesses, past performance, and potential.
b. Critical incidents are used to appraise performance by focusing on the critical job behaviors. In this technique the appraiser writes anecdotes to describe what the employee did that was especially effective or ineffective. Only specific behaviors, rather than vaguely defined personality traits, are cited.
c. The use of graphic rating scales is one of the oldest and most popular performance appraisal methods. This method appraises performance using a rating scale on a set of performance factors. Graphic rating scales list a set of performance factors; the evaluator goes down the list and rates the employee on each factor, using an incremental scale.
d. Using behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) is an appraisal approach that appraises performance using a rating scale on examples of actual job behavior. BARS combines major elements from the critical incident and graphic rating scale approaches. The appraiser rates an employee according to items along a scale, but the items are examples of actual behavior on the job rather than general descriptions or traits.
e. Multiperson comparison appraises performance by comparing it with others’ performance.
f. Management by objectives (MBO) is another mechanism for appraising performance.  It is often used to assess the performance of managers and professional employees.
g. 360 degree feedback appraises performance by using feedback from supervisors, employees, and coworkers.
 B. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
How do organizations determine the compensation levels and benefits that employees will receive?
1. The purpose of having an effective reward system is to attract and retain competent and talented individuals who can help the organization achieve its mission and goals.
2. A compensation system can include base wages and salaries, wage and salary add-ons, incentive payments, and benefits and services.
3. What factors determine the compensation and benefits packages for different employees? A number of factors influence these differences (see Exhibit 12-11):
a. Under a skill-based pay system, employees are compensated for the job skills they can demonstrate. Research shows that skill-based pay systems tend to be more successful in manufacturing organizations than in service organizations.
b. Under a variable pay system, an individual’s compensation is contingent on performance.
c. Flexibility is becoming a key consideration in the design of an organization’s compensation system.
11.5 CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES
A. Managing downsizing
 Downsizing is the planned elimination of jobs in an organization, is a challenge for management in a tight economy.  Downsizing can occur when management faces (1) a poor management past, (2) declining market share, and/or (3) overly aggressive organizational growth.
B. Managing Workforce Diversity
 In a business environment where the composition of the workforce is changing, these changes affect recruitment, selection, orientation, and training.
C. Managing Sexual Harassment
 Sexual harassment is any unwanted action or activity of a sexual nature that explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, performance, or work environment.
D. Managing Work-Life Balance
 Family concerns, especially work-life balance, are another issue of current importance in human resource management.
1. Organizations increasingly realize that employees cannot completely leave their family needs and problems behind when they walk into the workplace each day. Businesses are responding to these needs by developing programs to help employees deal with family issues that may arise.
2. Many progressive organizations provide a variety of scheduling options and benefits that provide more flexibility at work in order to allow employees to better balance or integrate their work and personal lives.
3. Many progressive organizations provide a variety of scheduling options and benefits that provide more flexibility at work in order to allow employees to better balance or integrate their work and personal lives.
 E. Controlling HR Costs
1. With health care costs rising an average of 15 percent per year it is important for employers to keep their portion of what they pay for health insurance low.  Two factors that affect what employers pay for their premiums are smoking and obesity.  To keep costs low, employers are responding by offering wellness programs, reimbursing employees for health club costs (or providing fitness equipment and classes on site) and offering healthy food choices in their cafeterias.
2. Employee pension plans are other increasing costs.  The choice for employers is whether to suspend offering pension plans or to continue to offer new retirement choices to attract employees.

LET’S GET REAL: MY RESPONSE
Jose Quirarte
HR Manager
D&W Fine Pack, LLC
Fort Calhoun, NE

Layoffs can be traumatic experiences for everyone.  Emotions run high for both employees and managers.  To make this process less stressful, Mr. Quirarte suggests some leg work before the layoff conversation takes place. The following recommendations could have helped Shelly avoid some of the stress: see what assistance can be given to laid off employees during the job transitioning process; if Ram Tool has a program to provide counseling they should have been contacted; emphasize that the decision to lay off employees is not personal; and try not to get emotional.

It should be emphasized to students that decisions like this are common and everyone will have to face them in their career.  The key is to reduce the stress on employees and make the transition go as smoothly as possible.

Answers to Review and Discussion Questions 

1. How does HRM affect all managers?
Since a manager’s most valuable resource are the people who work in the organization, obtaining the right employees at the right time and placing them in the right places is essential for managerial success.  To motivate, retain, and equip these employees for optimal performance, a manager must have knowledge and skill in human resource management.

2. Discuss the external environmental factors that most directly affect the HRM process.
The external environmental factors that affect HR include economic conditions, unionization, the legal environment and demographic trends.

3. Should an employer have the right to choose employees without governmental interference?  Support your conclusion.
Student responses to this question will vary. This question provides an excellent vehicle for class debate.  You might let half of the class take the perspective of supporting government legislation and regulations and the other half assume the position of opposing government legislation and regulations in this area.

4. Some critics claim that corporate HR departments have outlived their usefulness and are not there to help employees, but to keep the organization from legal problems. What do you think? What benefits are there to having a formal HRM process? What drawbacks?
Every organization must recognize the importance of legal and social responsibility as a corporate citizen in the community.  As students learn in the study of this chapter, HRM is concerned with a wide spectrum of functions, and legal considerations are a part of each of these HR functions.  A formal process helps to provide objective compliance with the law and promotes an attitude of fairness and respect for the rights and welfare of all employees.

5. Describe the different selection devices and which work best for different jobs.
The different selection devices include application forms (best used for gathering employee information), written tests (must be job-related), work sampling (appropriate for complex nonmanagerial and routine work), assessment centers (most appropriate for top-level managers), interviews (widely used, but most appropriate for managerial positions, especially top-level managers), background investigations (useful for verifying application data, but reference checks are essentially worthless), and physical exams (useful for work that involves certain physical requirements and for insurance purposes).

6. What are the benefits and drawbacks of realistic job previews? (Consider this question from the perspective of both the organization and the employee.)
This question would be a good springboard for debate as well, with half of the class looking at RJPs from the organization’s viewpoint and the other half of the class looking at RJPs from the employee’s viewpoint. In addition, students should be encouraged to describe occasions when they have received an RJP in an interview setting. Students could also be encouraged to share aspects or characteristics of jobs they currently hold that should be communicated by an interviewer to prospective employees as part of an RJP in an employment interview.

7. Describe the different types of orientation and training and how each of the types of training might be provided.
Orientation is important because it results in an outsider-insider transition that makes the new employee feel comfortable and fairly well-adjusted, lowers the likelihood of poor work performance, and reduces the probability of an early surprise resignation. The two types of training are general (includes communication skills, computer skills, customer service, personal growth, etc.) and specific (includes basic life/work skills, customer education, diversity/cultural awareness, managing change, etc.). This training can be provided using traditional training methods (on-the-job, job rotation, mentoring and coaching, experiential exercises, workbooks/manuals, and classroom lectures) or by technology-based methods CD/DVD/videotapes/audiotapes, videoconferencing or teleconferencing, or e-learning).

8. List the factors that influence employee compensation and benefits.
The factors are: employee’s tenure and performance, kind of job performed, kind of business, unionization, labor or capital intensive business, management philosophy, geographic location, company profitability, and size of company.

9. Describe the different performance appraisal methods.
A written essay appraises performance through a written description of an employee’s strengths and weaknesses, past performance, and potential.  Critical incidents are used to appraise performance by focusing on the critical job behaviors. In this technique the appraiser writes anecdotes to describe what the employee did that was especially effective or ineffective. The use of graphic rating scales is one of the oldest and most popular performance appraisal methods. This method appraises performance using a rating scale on a set of performance factors. Graphic rating scales list a set of performance factors; the evaluator goes down the list and rates the employee on each factor, using an incremental scale. Using behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) is an appraisal approach that appraises performance using a rating scale on examples of actual job behavior. BARS combines major elements from the critical incident and graphic rating scale approaches. The appraiser rates an employee according to items along a scale, but the items are examples of actual behavior on the job rather than general descriptions or traits. Multiperson comparison appraises performance by comparing it with others’ performance. Management by objectives (MBO) is another mechanism for appraising performance.  It is often used to assess the performance of managers and professional employees. 360 degree feedback appraises performance by using feedback from supervisors, employees, and coworkers.

10. What, in your view, constitutes sexual harassment? Describe how companies can minimize sexual harassment in the workplace.
You might provide an opportunity for small group discussion of this question and encourage students to research (perhaps on the Web outside of class) strategies currently used by large and small companies to minimize sexual harassment in the workplace.  In the class session immediately following the small group discussions, ask students to share their answers and opinions regarding issues raised by this question.

Your Turn to be a Manager 

• Use the Internet to research five different companies that interest you and check out what they say about careers or their employees. Put this information in a bulleted-format report. Be prepared to make a presentation to the class about your findings.

• Work on your résumé. If you don’t have one already, research what a good résumé should include. If you have one already, make sure it provides specific information that explicitly describes your work skills and experience rather than meaningless phrases such as results-oriented.

• If you’re working, note what types of HRM activities your managers do (such as interview and appraise performance). Ask them what they’ve found to be effective in getting and keeping good employees. What hasn’t been effective? What can you learn from this? If you’re not working, interview three different managers about what HRM activities they do and which they’ve found to be effective and not effective.

• Research your chosen career by finding out what it’s going to take to be successful in that career in terms of education, skills, experience, and so forth. Write a personal career guide that details this information.

• Complete the skill building modules Interviewing and Valuing Diversity found on mymanagementlab. Your professor will tell you what you need to do with this information.

• Steve’s and Mary’s suggested readings: Thomas W. Malone, The Future of Work (Harvard Business School Press, 2004); Charles A. O’Reilly III and Jeffrey Pfeffer, Hidden Value (Harvard Business School Press, 2000); Jeffrey Pfeffer, The Human Equation (Harvard Business School Press, 1998); Richard W. Judy and Carol D’Amico, Workforce 2020 (Hudson Institute, 1997); and Robert Johansen and Rob Swigart, Upsizing the Individual in the Downsized Organization (Addison-Wesley, 1996).

• Pick one of the five topics in the section “Contemporary Issues in Managing Human Resources.” Research this topic and write a paper about it. Focus on finding current information and current examples of companies dealing with these issues.

• In your own words, write down three things you learned in this chapter about being a good manager.

• Self-knowledge can be a powerful learning tool. Go to mymanagementlab and complete these self-assessment exercises: How Good Am I at Giving Feedback? How Satisfied Am I with My Job? Am I Experiencing Work–Family Conflict? And What Are My Attitudes Toward Workplace Diversity? Using the results of your assessments, identify personal strengths and weaknesses. What will you do to reinforce your strengths and improve your weaknesses?

ETHICS DILEMMA 

With some organizations now requiring workers to get a flu shot, questions are raised whether this is a violation of employee rights. Should employees be required to get a flu shot? What are the positives and negatives to each side? What are the ethical implications? Are there other professions where such a requirement should be imposed?
Students may find support for either side.  One side may take the view that a flu shot is a safety measure to protect employees and others, like a hard hat or safety harness.  On the other hand, some have the perspective that vaccines can cause harm to the person taking it.  For example, the polio vaccines have been suspected of causing a variety of problems for a small percentage of children. Some employees may also see this as too intrusive.
For the question of what positions should receive a vaccine, it is best to keep the conversation on job-related determinants.  It is not feasible that every employee would need a flu vaccine to effectively function in their job.

SKILLS EXERCISE:  DEVELOPING YOUR  INTERVIEWING SKILLS 

This exercise should help students develop their interviewing skills.  After giving seven tips for interviewing, students are asked to review and update your résumé. It would be helpful if students were to have several friends who have experience in management critique it. Next, students are asked to create an inventory of their interpersonal and technical skills and any practical experiences that do not show up in their résumé. Finally, students should draft a set of leading questions they would like to be asked in an interview that would give them a chance to discuss the unique qualities and attributes they could bring to the job.

WORKING TOGETHER:  TEAM EXERCISE 

Form small groups of three to four individuals. The team’s task is to come up with a dress code and grooming policy that clearly spells out guidelines as far as body art and what is permitted. This can be done as a bulleted list. Students should be prepared to share the proposed policy with the class. Among traditional students, tattoos are becoming more popular and this exercise should elicit strong opinions. It may be interesting to ask what should be done if the tattoo is part of the person’s cultural heritage, i.e. Pacific Islanders.  While some students may believe that it is ‘illegal’ to discriminate against students with tattoos, there is currently no law that protects a person’s right to display a tattoo.  The only attempts to do so involve links to a potential freedom of religious expression – there is a church called the Church of Body Modification which argues that tattoo and body art are part of church practices. 

Answers to Case Application Questions 

Thinking Outside the Box

1. What external factors were affecting UPS’s HR practices? How did UPS respond to these trends?
The main challenge facing UPS has to do with a large number of projected retirements for delivery drivers.  With many of the baby boomers nearing retirement age, UPS has taken steps to insure that they will have drivers ready to meet demand.  Based upon the premise that younger drivers learn best by technology and hands on training, UPS has created several simulations and a videogames designed to aid in driver training

2. Why is efficiency and safety so important to UPS? What role do the company’s industrial engineers play in how employees do their work?
For UPS, it’s all about speed, accuracy, and safety. Because competition is fierce (i.e. the U.S. Postal Service, DHL, and Federal Express), UPS must keep cost low and customer satisfaction high. To increase the productivity of drivers, UPS has used their industrial engineers to design more efficient routes, loading & unloading procedures, and employee policies to help get the most from their employees in the field.

3. What changes did the company make to its driver training program? What do you think of these changes?
In addition to learning the company’s ‘340 Methods,’ applicants play a videogame where they’re in the driver’s seat and must identify obstacles. From computer simulations, they move to “Clarksville,” a mock village with miniature houses and faux businesses. There, they drive a real truck and “must successfully execute five deliveries in 19 minutes.” And, in the interest of safety and efficiency, trainees learn to carefully walk on ice with the slip and fall simulator.

4. What advantages and drawbacks do you see to this training approach for (a) the trainee and (b) the company?
It appears that the use of simulations and the other new programs implemented by UPS would have good transfer to work the drivers would be doing in the field.  This is an advantage for the trainee and the company.  A potential disadvantage would be if the applicant was not familiar with new technology, such as computer games, or other forms of electronic learning.  These applicants may be successful in the job, but may not show proficiency in training due to the technological nature of the training.  For the company, such programs are expensive but that can be balanced by the benefit of having a better trained workforce.

Social Connections
1. What are advantages and drawbacks of using social media in the recruiting process for (a) an applicant and (b) a company?
From the applicant’s standpoint, Facebook is easy to use if they already have an account.  From Facebook, the applicant could get current information on company programs such as internships.  There is also the possibility to ask questions and respond to recruiters.  On the other hand, there is the fear that E&Y would look at their information on Facebook – some of which might not put the applicant in a good light.  While E&Y promises not to look at applicant’s information on Facebook, the possibility still exists.   From the company’s point of view, Facebook is an easy way to communicate to potential job applicants.  A disadvantage could be that students would not want companies looking at their personal information.

2. Is the use of social media in recruiting applicants a way to hire smarter or a lawsuit waiting to happen? Explain your position.
There are several advantages to using Facebook as a recruiting tool.  First, it’s free. Second, it allows applicants an opportunity to communicate directly with E&Y recruiters. While the lawyer in the case argues, “We’ll see lawsuits,” there is little difference between putting information on a website geared toward young adults and recruiting at a college campus.  Both of which would, according the to the lawyer’s arguments, be grounds for potential litigation. It can also be argued that many different types of people use Facebook and that it is not limited to only generation Y.

3. Go to Facebook and check out Ernst & Young’s page. What’s your impression? Is it an attractive recruiting tool? Why or why not?
For the most part, college students will have been exposed to a lot of information on Facebook pages and students may have varying responses to what they see on E&Y’s page.  I was surprised by the number of international posts and the request for internship information.

ADDITIONAL CHAPTER INFORMATION 
The article “People and Plans: Training’s Role in Homeland and Workplace Security” focuses on the role of training in the homeland and in the workplace. In the United States, news of homeland security appears daily in newspapers, on television, in metro stations and airports, and in workplaces. Security in private industry is one of the major areas of concern. Although experts point out that U.S. business interests were targeted in the attack on the World Trade Center and in distribution of anthrax through the U.S. Postal Service a year after September 11, 2001, only half of organizations surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management had implemented tighter security measures. The article is published in T+D (Training and Development), Sep 2003, Vol. 57 Issue 9, p. 66.
You can read an informative article1 from the Department of Homeland Security about HRM practices relating to another aspect of safety and security in the workplace.  This article describes the efforts of U.S. companies and federal agencies to provide emergency preparedness tools and training for businesses in the year following the tragic devastation suffered as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
1 Department of Homeland Security (2006). U.S. Department of Homeland Security Launches ‘Ready Business’ Mentoring Initiative in Time for Hurricane Season. Federal Information and News Dispatch, Inc. Retrieved August 3, 2006, from http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=012fb68aaa520558be5e0e9c89092fc1&_docnum=1&wchp=dGLzVzz-zSkVA&_md5=b9ea5dfdcbf917cdd094174dad3b2837

Managing Your Career

From the opening example, students should realize that a person’s career is always under construction.  It is also important to remember who is ultimately responsible for the direction of a person’s career – it’s not their mom, or their dad, or their employer.  It’s You! In this module, the authors give several important guidelines for helping students manage their careers.

Career Opportunities
in Management 

While the job market doesn’t look good now, the future looks bright! Business administration
and management continues to be one of the top 10 most popular college majors, and jobs are likely to be waiting for those graduates!  The demand for managers will be stronger in small and medium-sized organizations in the services field, particularly information and health care services, than larger Fortune 500 firms.

Finding a Culture That Fits 

Finding a culture that fits will help with job satisfaction.  To find the right culture for you, follow these tips:
• First, figure out what suits you.
• Try to uncover the values that drive the organization.
• Pay particular attention to the specific department or unit where you’d work.

Taking Risks 
If you want to improve your career, then you will need to take chances. Here are some suggestions for being a responsible, effective risk taker in career decisions.
• Evaluate the risk. Before committing to a career risk, consider what you could lose or who might be hurt.
• Explore whether you can reach your goal in another way, thus making the risk unnecessary.
• Find out everything you can about what’s involved with taking this career risk—the timing; the people involved; the changes it will entail; and the potential gains and losses, both in the short run and the long run.
• Examine closely your feelings about taking this risk.
• Finally, ensure your employability. The most important thing you can do is ensuring that you have choices by keeping your skills current and continually learning new skills.
Reinventing Yourself 
Sometimes it is necessary to reinvent yourself to deal with the demands of a constantly changing workplace. Being prepared should be your motto for dealing with a workplace that is constantly changing. Being prepared means taking the initiative and being responsible for your own personal career development. Take advantage of continuing education or graduate courses at local colleges. Sign up for workshops and seminars that can help you enhance your skills. Upgrading your skills to keep them current is one of the most important things you can do to reinvent yourself. It’s also important for you to be a positive force when faced with workplace changes.  When facing difficult times, a positive attitude can be the most important survival tool.

Learning to Get Along with
Difficult People 

Getting along with difficult people takes a little bit of patience, planning, and preparation. In your career, it is important to develop multiple approaches that help you diffuse a lot of the negative aspects of dealing with difficult individuals. Here are some of the most common types of difficult people you’ll meet and some strategies for dealing with them.
• THE HOSTILE, AGGRESSIVE TYPES. With this type, you need to stand up for yourself; give them time to run down; don’t worry about being polite, just jump in if you need to; get their attention carefully; get them to sit down; speak from your own point of view; avoid a head-on fight; and be ready to be friendly.
• THE COMPLAINERS. With the complainers you need to listen attentively; acknowledge their concerns; be prepared to interrupt their litany of complaints; don’t agree, but do acknowledge what they’re saying; state facts without comment or apology; and switch them to problem solving.
• THE SILENT OR NONRESPONSIVE TYPES. With this type, you need to ask open-ended questions; use the friendly, silent stare; don’t fill the silent pauses for them in conversations; comment on what’s happening; and help break the tension by making them feel more at ease.
• THE KNOW-IT-ALL EXPERTS. The keys to dealing with this type are to be on top of things; listen and acknowledge their comments; question firmly, but don’t confront; avoid being a counterexpert; and work with them to channel their energy in positive directions.

What Do I Want from My Job? 
While the answer to this question may seem obvious, students who think about this question in some detail will go beyond the standard answer – money. Whether its’ flexibility, training opportunities, or a good work culture, once students have answered this question for themselves, then when it’s time to do that all-important job search, they should look for situations that will provide what they’re looking for.

How Can I Have a Successful Career? 

So, here are some suggestions that will help students on the path to a successful career:
• Understand yourself—your abilities and disabilities; your strengths and weaknesses
• Protect your personal brand—watch what you share online and in interactions with others, and watch your e-mails
• Be a team player—focus on knowing your peer group and your organization and on the best ways to work within them
• Dress appropriately—first impressions count, but so do other impressions that you make every day
• Network—develop and keep your links to other professionals open and active by participating in
• professional organizations, staying in touch with classmates and friends, using online networking sites, and so forth
• Ask for help—if you find yourself facing an issue you’re not sure how to handle, ask someone for advice or guidance; seek out a mentor
• Keep your skills updated—although you might think you know it all, you don’t; keep learning about your profession and your industry
• Set goals and then work hard to achieve them—showing your boss that you’re able to set goals and reach them is always impressive
• Do good work—above all, having a successful career means doing your job well, whatever that job might be