In: Operations Management
1. You are the HR manager for an automobile manufacturing plant. The assembly technicians in this plant are scheduled to take part in a one-day training seminar in safety awareness and expectations. The CEO has asked you to come up with a plan in advance for how you will evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Identify and name the four basic categories of training outcomes or effects that a manager can measure when evaluating the training effort. For each of the four categories, 1) describe at least one concrete way you could approach the measurement of effectiveness and 2) why you are recommending that approach. Be sure to relate your ideas to the specific nature of this training, e.g. safety awareness and expectations.
2. Megan has been a Human Resources recruiter for a mid-sized company for the past five years. She aspires to be promoted to an HR Manager or HR Director position when such an opportunity becomes available. Megan is accustomed to working about 45 hours per week, but this is taking into account that she prefers to work at a fairly relaxed pace. Megan's job has always been classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but she has just been informed that it is being reclassified as non-exempt based on recent job evaluation. Identify two differences between exempt versus nonexempt status under FLSA. For Megan's situation, explain what the impact will be on her job as a result of being reclassified as nonexempt, and identify one potential advantage and one potential disadvantage she might perceive from her point of view. Explain how this change could have an impact on her morale and motivation for the better or the worse.
3. Define the term "situational interview" and the term "behavioral interview." Explain how the two approaches to interviewing are different from one another in terms of the types of questions that are asked. Describe the "STAR" technique used in behavioral interviewing and explain why this concept is important. Finally, reflecting back on the round of practice behavioral interviews you took part in during class or in our WebEx sessions, identify two specific things you learned that might be helpful to you in the future if you are ever interviewing job candidates on behalf of your employer.
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You are the HR manager for an automobile manufacturing plant. The assembly technicians in this plant are scheduled to take part in a one-day training seminar in safety awareness and expectations. The CEO has asked you to come up with a plan in advance for how you will evaluate the effectiveness of the training. Identify and name the four basic categories of training outcomes or effects that a manager can measure when evaluating the training effort. For each of the four categories, 1) describe at least one concrete way you could approach the measurement of effectiveness and 2) why you are recommending that approach. Be sure to relate your ideas to the specific nature of this training, e.g. safety awareness and expectations.
The four basic categories of training outcome or effect are
1. Reaction- how do the employees feel about the training and do they like it. For this one I would ask the employees questions like, do you think the information provided gave you a good idea of how to be safe while doing your job? Was this training engaging for you and if not, how would you improve it? This will give me a better understanding of how effective the training is and if there could be improvement in the future.
2. Learning- this one is where you look at what they learned from the training, are the training goals being met. For this one I would have the trainees fill out a paper on what they learned so I could see if the training is meeting their needs. The way it will show me not only what they learned but what they didn’t so I could improve the training for the future.
3. Behavior- the way the person behaves before and after the training. I would measure how safe the person is before the training and then see if they improve after. I will look for them to apply the training to their jobs. This one can be tricky do to the fact that some people are just reluctant to change it doesn’t mean they didn’t learn anything.
4. Results- this is where you look to see if the training had tangible results like reduced accidents, more awareness, better performance that leads to higher productivity, lower costs, and better understanding of what is expected of them.
Megan has been a Human Resources recruiter for a mid-sized company for the past five years. She aspires to be promoted to an HR Manager or HR Director position when such an opportunity becomes available. Megan is accustomed to working about 45 hours per week, but this is taking into account that she prefers to work at a fairly relaxed pace. Megan's job has always been classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), but she has just been informed that it is being reclassified as non-exempt based on recent job evaluation. Identify two differences between exempt versus nonexempt status under FLSA. For Megan's situation, explain what the impact will be on her job as a result of being reclassified as nonexempt, and identify one potential advantage and one potential disadvantage she might perceive from her point of view. Explain how this change could have an impact on her morale and motivation for the better or the worse.
If someone’s job is governed by the FLSA they are either exempt which means they are not entitled to overtime pay, while the nonexempt are. Non-exempt employees are paid by either hourly or salary but the exempt is only paid salary. Exempt have to be paid more than $450 a week while the non-exempt can be paid anything. If Megan stays in the job she has now she will start to receive overtime pay for working over 40 hours a week, could go to hourly pay that is less than what she makes now. Non-exempt employees tend to make less than exempt employees because there are less requirements for non-exempt employees. Megan could loss status with in her company and just another bottom worker. I would look at this as a disadvantage if she stayed in this position. If she moves up the job could be classified as exempt because it falls under the intellectual job type where she would be required to have a high education and would be over others. This could be a benefit financially but comes with more responsibilities which is why there are more rules for these types of jobs that are exempt.
The classification change may give Megan a boost she needs to really go for the new position or to at least put herself out there for any future promotions. While Megan waits for an opening in to the new job I feel she would have a boost in morale seeing as she now may get paid overtime for working over 40 hours a week which she is already accustomed to. The only down part I see that may discourage her is if they decide that she gets paid too much and cuts her pay by making taking has salary away and giving her a lower per hour rate. I believe that for Megan either way is will work for her in this type of job.
Define the term "situational interview" and the term "behavioral interview." Explain how the two approaches to interviewing are different from one another in terms of the types of questions that are asked. Describe the "STAR" technique used in behavioral interviewing and explain why this concept is important. Finally, reflecting back on the round of practice behavioral interviews you took part in during class or in our WebEx sessions, identify two specific things you learned that might be helpful to you in the future if you are ever interviewing job candidates on behalf of your employer.
A situational interview is when the person is asked about situations and how they would solve them, for example, how would you handle a customer that was upset and demanding something for free when you know they are wrong? The person would walk me through what they would say and do to solve the problem. The behavioral interview process focuses on what the person did in situations in the past, for example, I worked at a department store and there was a customer that was upset because we were out of a product that was on sale. I offered the customer a rain check for the product so they could get it at a later date for the sale price or I could substitute the product for one that is similar for the sale price. The main difference is past experience for behavioral and what- if scenarios for situation.
The STAR process stands for Situation, Task, Action, Results. First the interviewer wants you to tell them a situation that you experienced. Then the interviewer will look for the task in the situation that you wanted to focus on. The action is what you did in the situation and then the results of the situation is how did this situation work out for you, did it work, and what may you learn out of this situation. This is an important process where you get to see all aspects of what the candidate can do.
While doing the practice interview with my peers and the professor I learned that speaking well and clear helps the person understand the question and allowing them time to answer the question is important, don’t just fire questions at them. The second thing I learned is to make them comfortable, thank them for coming, let them know you are a person to and you can understand they are nervous and always look for STAR in the interview.
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