Midterm Exam
This exam includes four sections featuring open-ended written questions. These questions ask you to apply your knowledge of human resource management systems in practical, realistic contexts. Your goal in this exam should be to demonstrate your ability to take an informed and thoughtful approach to human resource decisions. Please separate your answers to each assignment question by using headers.
1. Strategic HRM and Job Design
You are providing human resource management consulting to a client in Albany. Your client is Julia, owner of a dry cleaning business in downtown Albany, Julia’s Dry Cleaning. The company does dry cleaning, pressing and tailoring for walk-in customers and processes all uniforms for several security firms in the area. The company currently has 14 employees and is beginning to plan for expansion. Julia knows her sales have grown 15% over the last year. She hopes to continue at this rate. She has asked for your help with planning. She thinks she needs an assistant to help with office tasks, but she might also need someone to handle overflow at the walk-in counter.
1. What questions should you ask her to help determine the kind of human resources she really needs?
2. Assuming she’s sure she wants an administrative assistant, how would you go about determining what this person’s job would consist of? How should you identify the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics needed for this position?
3. What steps could be taken to ensure this job is appealing and engaging for the employee?
2. Recruitment
Julia is ready to hire that administrative assistant and needs help with a recruitment plan.
1 Where would you suggest she go to do her recruiting? Identify five appropriate sources and describe the advantages and disadvantages of each for this client.
2 How should Julia construct an advertisement for the job? How can she ensure that the ad attracts well-qualified candidates? What principles should she be mindful of?
3. Selection
Julia needs help with preparing a process for selection and interviewing.
1 Assuming that Julia has a large number of applications, how should Julia narrow the list of candidates and decide who to interview? What do you think she should focus on?
2 Create an interview procedure for Julia. Assume that she will be the one doing the interview. What process should she use? What kind of questions should she ask?
3 What steps should Julia take to minimize bias during selection? What advice would you give her in order to avoid legal liability and ensure an ethical selection process?
4. Training & Onboarding
Julia would like your help to create an orientation procedure for this new employee.
1 What types of things might the employee need to learn about this company and this job?
2 Using what you’ve learned about onboarding, put together a sample orientation program for Julia. Pay attention to how people learn. We want this to be a productive experience both for the new employee and for the organization as a whole, so think strategically…(is it sufficient to offer coffee and donuts along with required forms to fill out? What should orientation really accomplish?)
