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Essay Instructions: HR Roles and Responsibilities. Interview a Human Resource Manager at your organization and document what responsibilities the HR department in your organization has, briefly describing each.

Essay Instructions: Each Question is taken from the text of Human Resource Management, 10th edition, Author: John M. Ivancevich. please have one outside source per question.

1. It is said that the HR department is playing a more significant role in organizational strategic planning process today than it did 20 years ago, how do you explain this? In a company, what difficulties would an HRM executive face in assessing and then communicating to other department heads, the contribution of his or her area to the company profit margin?


2. The productivity of the workforce is essential for the success of an organization. What HRM activities and programs can impact productivity? And why must external enviromental forces be considered in the design of an HRM program?

3. Historically, HRM activities and tools were developed and implemented by a department or functional unit. Today, however, operating managers are in the forefront in applying and modifying HRM tools and activities. Why has this shift in application occurred? How is the work of operating managers similar to that of physicians who must conduct diagnosis before treating a patient?

4. Sexual harassment is often found in our society. How does EEOC explain sexual harassment? What can managers do to minimize their chance of litigation and being found negligent with regard to sexual harassment?

5. Suppose you are an expatriate, what skills should you have in order to be successful in an international assignment? In your pre-departure training, what types of information should you get? Should your spouse and family members participate in the training, Why? Please explain each answer fully.

6. Where would you place yourself on each of the five work related cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede (eg, high on individualism)? Why? Explain the Sullivan Priciples? How have these priciples helped organizations understand the ethical issues they face when conducting business in foreign cultures?

7. Considering the huge number of pending retirements in the US, what should your organization do to prepare for this phenomenon? How will you ensure that your organization has the necessary human resources it needs for the next 20 years?

8. As a current (or future) manager, how will you communicate the requirements of an entry level customer service representative to a candidate who just arrived at your office for an interview? Will you describe the job in terms of competencies? Knowledge, skills or abilities? Explain your answer.

9. Recently some companies began to use temporary employees? Do you know why? Assume your company wants you to make a recruitment advertising for hiring temporary employees, what guidelines will you follow to make sure that recruitment advertising does not violate equal employment laws?

10. What is the current status of drug testing in US businesses? Do you think drug testing is justifiable? Please discuss.

Essay Instructions: hi, I am interviewing an Human Resource Manager from Washington Mutual...he also has lots of other interesting background and hear are the questions and ANS from the HRM that i had to ask...

1.What is your job title with Washington Mutual?

I am the Sr. Human Resources Business Partner for the Great Lakes Group.

2.Can you please describe the size and structure of the HR Department?

I have 13 peers nationally. We are split into two teams North (my team) and South. Each team reports to a Sr. Manager. The two Sr. Managers report to our First Vice President.

3.Did you have to get any special education for your job?

Not necessarily. My undergraduate degree is in Economics however my graduate degree is an MBA with a concentration on change management and leadership. I also have a Professional Human Resource accreditation from SHRM, the Society of Human Resource Management.

4.Years with organization?

1 year effective Oct. 13, 2003

5.Years of HR experience?

Approximately 12 to 13 years

6.Did you have any other work experience before joining with Washington Mutual?

Yes. I started my career in 1989 as a benefits analyst with the GATX Corporation and was with them for about 7yrs where I left the company as a Sr. Human Resources Rep finishing up a management training program. I then spent about six months in sales for Robert Half International/Office Team. I learned that I did not like sales at Robert Half. I then spent 3 years (1997 ? 2000) with Unilever Home and Personal Care as an HR Generalist. It was there I received my manufacturing/production experience. I took a chance and went to work for a .com company called Homegrocer.com as a HR Manager. The company struggled and eventually was bought out. I was severed and for the first time unemployed. That only lasted about 2 months and before the end of 2000 I went to work for AT&T Wireless as an HR Manager for the Chicago District for almost 3 years. I finally ended up at Washington Mutual as a Sr. HRBP Oct. 2003.

7.How would you Rate the HR activities?

I would classify the HR activities as predominantly qualitative. It is really hard to measure.

8.What is the role of HR Department in your organization?

The HR department is primarily responsible for performance management and workforce planning. We also are stewards of our company brand and are change agents.

9.To what extent is the HR staff/Department involved in strategic business planning? Please explain.

Good question. We are involved strategically from a workforce planning perspective. Whenever there is a hiring need, departmental change or a position that needs to be created it starts with us and we have to look at various factors internally and externally as well as being cognizant of our budget.

10.In your opinion, what are some of the most pressing human resource issues faced by organizations today? Why?

Technology, Some companies are better than others with keeping up but typically the back office HR functions payroll, compensation and benefits are all run on systems that need to be kept up. If your company doesn?t want to spend to keep current it could have damaging effects on a company. You could have slow systems, manual as opposed to automated systems creating a higher headcounts and low employee morale if the systems are causing medical benefit issues or pay period problems. Technology will also allow your company a more efficient way to keep records to track performance and to reward good performance.

11.What was the most difficult organizational problem faced by the HR Department in the last 5 years? How was it resolved? Why?

Specifically with Washington Mutual the most difficult problem in the last five years has got to be our growth. It takes a lot of resources to launch a market and for the last four to five years Washington Mutual has launched at least six markets with Chicago being one of them. We learned a great deal from the first couple of market launches with trying to build branches and hire personnel at the same time. Washington Mutual developed a new market team of some dedicated internal employees whose main responsibility was to travel to the new markets and utilize their expertise and experience with Washington Mutual get a jump start on the recruiting, staffing and training efforts. This staff of people would eventually hire their replacements and would either go back to their home market or move on to the next new market. This blue print has enabled Chicago to launch approximately 150 branches is about 18 months. This is unprecedented.


ALSO HEAR IS THE OUT LINE TO FOLLOW FOR THE ESSAY

- Organization Information
- Type of Business
- General description of company's product.
- Number of Employees
- size and structure of the HR Department
- Back ground of HR Manager
- Title
- Academic preparation
- Years with organization
- Years of HR experience
- Other work experience
- How would you Rate the HR activities
- Role of HR Department
- What is the role of HR Department in your
organization?
- To what extent is the HR staff/Department involved
in strategic business planning? please explain
- In your opinion, what are some of the most pressing
human resource issues faced by organizations today?
why?
- What was the most difficult organizational problem
faced by the HR Department in the last 5 years?
How was is resolved? Why?

Essay Instructions: First Application Paper: HR Roles and Responsibilities.

Interview a Human Resource Manager at your organization and document what responsibilities the HR department in your organization has, briefly describing each. I live in los angeles so use an example from los angeles. make something up and pretend you interviewed a hr person in a los angeles based company.