HR Project Week 1 _ Grace Herman

May 1st, 2020,

For this remote project, I got to actively engage with the HR business content and apply it to a real project that I will carry out. Personally, by doing this I had to push myself further than I would in a normal classroom setting, where I mainly take notes to understand the content. It required an extra push to put the content into practice. I think this will make the content stick and I now better understand the process of applying for a job. I will remember struggling to write a cover letter, if that ever comes up on a test or whenever I have to write one in the future.

Through this process, I learned that a company uses tools such as cover letters and interviews to identify the correct candidates for their business. From these tools, they can tell if the candidates fit their culture, understand their culture, and if they would add to their culture. They can tell if the candidates are enthusiastic about working at there company, if they are qualified and if they are professional. This information derived from these tools is what helps HR managers identify the correct candidates for a job.

I also learned that human resource managers can successfully plan for increases or decreases in hiring by understanding the factors that affect job security. Willing planning for these different outcomes the HR manager must collect historical data on trends in the business, record sales of the company, find the income levels of surrounding areas, calculate labor turnover rates, observe the flexibility of staff and understand the demographic changes that might affect their business. With this information, the HR manager can be prepared for either outcome with an informed plan which understands the capability of the staff and the company as well as the probability of an increase or decrease in labor turnover.

This process has been a little overwhelming. There is a lot to do and since it is a real project I’m carrying out with stakeholders outside of my business class there is added pressure. I am nervous about how I will stay organized throughout this process and how I will communicate clearly and effectively with all my stakeholders. Right now the project isn’t fully developed so it feels vague and I’m worried about confusing my audience. I’m also nervous about staying organized and on top of my work. This is a very self-driven and motivated project and I have to continue to push myself to stay on top of things. However, considering those nerves I’m excited about this project. I think it’s cool how the curriculum is embedded in the project and I’m excited cause I am gaining a deeper understanding of the content. I’m also excited to work with Ms. Amy Snodgrass because I really enjoy talking to her and working with her. Also, I enjoyed her class when I was in it, so this project will be a little step back down memory lane.

Through this process, my eyes are being opened to the importance of innovation. In business, we take a lot about the importance of innovation and creativity but we don’t always have a ton of time to put it into practice. This is a cool opportunity to do that and to understand the importance of innovating and adapting. Especially with what’s going on in the world around us. I feel like I’m getting a chance to play a little part in making our online learning experience a little better.

This project has also allowed me to connect deeper with the business content and understand how it is used in the “real world” and how it will be apart of my future when I’m applying to real jobs.

I hope that this project will help the community create positive outlets during this time and create things that we can look back on to remember what we went through and how we got through it.

Lastly, this project is challenging me to push myself to think out of the box and to more deeply understand the business content. Additionally, I was challenged when writing the cover letter because it is really hard to “sell” yourself and it took me a while to figure out how to do that without sounding fake, which reminds me that I have to do that soon with college applications and that is going to be a challenge for sure.

Thanks for reading,
Grace

*Challenges were undertaken showing that new skills are learned, Plan and initiate an activity, Show perseverance and commitment to your project