Human Resources Management Skills
Significant learning points:
In this seminar, Dr. Patti DePlasco
and Maribeth Dockety explained the functions of the Human Resources office, the
challenges faced, and how they intend to meet workforce needs. They described their greatest challenges as
retaining and rewarding the best employees, developing the next generation of
leaders, and creating a culture that attracts employees. The tactics to meet future workforce needs
include implementing flexible work arrangements, creating a culture of trust,
openness, and fairness, and having good compensation packages. The seminar concluded with a discussion of
various scenarios and how we would handle them.
One of the significant learning points was the importance of documentation with HR issues and the ten commandments of confrontation. Some nuggets of wisdom included: present criticisms as suggestions or questions, only speak to one issue at a time, and behavior not confronted is continued.
One of the significant learning points was the importance of documentation with HR issues and the ten commandments of confrontation. Some nuggets of wisdom included: present criticisms as suggestions or questions, only speak to one issue at a time, and behavior not confronted is continued.
Relevance to ideas about leadership:
Leaders
have to be open, honest, and exhibit the highest standards of integrity. They also have to have excellent
communication skills. In order to create
an environment that attracts and retains quality employees, we have to treat
them with respect, dignity, and fairness.
Ways to apply learning to current role:
One
of the hardest parts of my job as a department chair is providing feedback to
faculty after they have done something wrong or after I have observed a
less-than-stellar lesson. Because the
conversations are difficult, I have had a tendency in the past to delay them or
wait until there were multiple issues. I
now realize the importance of addressing issues immediately, documenting the
conversation, and providing feedback in a way that is positive and supportive.