First Question

Week 8 DQ 1: What would you do?

You supervise a group of 10 people in a manufacturing environment. One of your direct reports, Mitch, has confided in you that his wife has left him and has filed for divorce. He has seemed depressed, often a few minutes late for work, low-energy. One of Mitch’s coworkers mentioned to you that Mitch told him he “just wanted to blast everybody”, and at another time he “just wanted to close the door and turn off the lights.” The coworker is concerned about Mitch. What should you do?

Second Question

Week 8 DQ 2: Facebook and other social media at work

HR professionals are discovering the value of using Facebook, Linked In, and other social media for recruiting. Other areas in organizations such as sales have started including social media in their public relations, marketing, and sales activities. Organizations can also have Facebook or Facebook-like social media behind their firewall so it’s only accessible for company employees. What role do you believe social media should have for employees’ internal communications?

Is the use of social media at work an employee’s right?

Is the use of social media when off work an employee’s right? Refer to the rights described in Chapter 15.

Paper

Read this description of Paul’s previous job.

Then write an analysis based on the instructions at the end.

Paul, the HR Director at Bumpbie, had previously worked as Director of HR for Kelecton, a small company with 240 employees that makes software for utility companies. The majority of employees were programmers and engineers who designed and installed proprietary software for regulating and tracking electricity and gas. Since the company had been experiencing a 15-20% rate of growth, recruiting experienced employees was a continuing challenge due to the specialized skill sets required. Paul left the company when he found out from a friend about the opportunity at Bumpbie. Just before he left, he conducted an employee survey which revealed the following:

78% of the employees were satisfied with their working conditions and they enjoyed freedom and flexibility to perform their jobs without strict supervision

70% felt their workloads were adequate – not too heavy, not too light

55% felt safe, with little danger of occupational hazards associated with their physical environment. There were comments, presumably from the 45% who did not feel safe, that some of the utility plants where they worked on installations were not as safe as they should be

89% felt there were few if any opportunities to improve their skills

87% responded there were no promotion opportunities

74% felt there was little relationship between their performance and their pay. There were numerous comments that performance reviews hadn’t been done on time or hadn’t been done at all. Other comments indicated arbitrary treatment and favoritism of some employees.

56% felt their benefits were below average or poor. Note: since many employees had previously worked for large utilities, Kelecton’s benefits probably did not compare favorably with those offered by the larger organizations.

Paul informally shared the survey results with the CEO, CFO, and VP of Operations. They indicated concern for many items, but also pointed out that finances were stretched to the limit in order to fund their continuing growth. They asked Paul to draw up a conceptual plan that would address the majority of the employees’ concerns “without breaking the bank.” The next step was to meet and discuss the conceptual plan and give Paul direction as to next steps and priorities.

Develop a draft, 950-1200 words, of the plan Paul would have done if he had stayed. The plan is a means to identify, on a general level, the options for management to consider and for Paul to pursue further. Assume there is not sufficient time to assemble specific costs for the various options, but take into consideration what you have learned from the text about general costs and savings. The plan should include:

– Changes to be made to current systems, processes, policies, and activities based on survey results, with your rationale for these changes

– Prioritize the changes in order of least to most expensive

– It is acceptable to make assumptions and/or add details that have not been provided

Length: 950-1200 words