W1 = Problem Solving and Decision Making
1. How does an ethical approach encourage problem solving skills in the workforce? What role does HR play in fostering this type of culture?
2. How can the HR department partner with managers in their effort to improve the decision making performance of a department’s team? What roles do problem solving and decision making play in strategy formulation?
Critical Analysis – Discussion postings display an excellent understanding of the required readings and underlying concepts including correct use of terminology. Postings integrate an outside resource, or relevant research, to support important points. Well-edited quotes are cited appropriately. No more than 10% of the posting is a direct quotation. ( It is important that you integrate the weekly readings in your response. One way to do that is to make position statements, then add citations to support and validate your position. A key focus is your ability to present your position in your own words, which is why no more than 10% of the post should be a direct quote. Paraphrasing is the best alternative )
W2 – HR ROLES
It is often stated that HR deals with the problem not the cause of the problem – please explain why this may or may not be true.
1. What is the difference between a person doing the daily operations of a human resource function versus the role of a strategic human resource partner? At what level in the organization do you become strategic?
2. Compare and contrast the role of a strategic Human Resource Partner in a national and global organization.
1. What types of strategic choices do managers have when deciding on recruiting and selection efforts?
2. How can the HR department and line manager collaborate to develop an authentic environment built on trust for a virtual and global workforce? How do they make it work?
W4: Job redesign
What is the appropriate manner for a HR professional to transition to the strategic role as executive partner on HR related issues?
Should a job redesign be undertaken if it will improve efficiency even if the employees do not want it?
W5: Orientation and Training
1. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Defend your answer: “Money is the most important tool that a manager has for motivating employees.
2. When is it to an organization’s advantage to hire employees who need training, and when is it advantageous to hire employees who are already trained?
W6: Change Management
1. How do you get employees engaged in a change management initiative? What role does HR, managers, and the C-Suite play?
2. What is the best way to roll out a change management initiative?
W7: Employee Rights
1. Why should HR and managers be concerned about whether or not employees are engaged and are satisfied with their jobs? What does one do if employees are concerned about certain organizational policies? What’s the impact?
2. In your opinion, should management resist the formation of a union? Why or why not? What are the advantages for the company? Are there any disadvantages to having a union?
W8: Neuroleadership
Neuroleadership is an emerging trend in the field of management. As we look at the importance of global leadership in our ever-changing business environment, we find a connection between our way of thinking and our leadership and decision-making style. Below are several articles related to this topic. Please choose 2-3 articles from below to read on the subject and then evaluate and discuss the rise of neuroleadership in the human resource and organizational development disciplines.
Articles:David Rock. (2013). T + D, 67(10), 84-85. Dr. David Rock presented on the brain science behind performance at PeopleFluent global user conference WISDOM 2015. (2015, Mar 10). Business Wire.Dr. David Rock presents ‘the brain science behind performance’ at PeopleFluent WISDOM 2015. (2015). Professional Services Close – Up. Fox, A. (2011). Leading with the brain. HRMagazine, 56(6), 52-53. In an interview, David Rock, founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute, talked about how scientists’ growing understanding of the brain illuminates techniques for leadership and decision-making. Rock said mindfulness is the ability to be meta-cognitive or to think about your thinking. Labeling is the ability to put words on your mental state — for instance, to articulate when you are feeling anxious. All involve an area of the brain that is central for self-regulation — the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Researchers are discovering that self-regulation — regulating emotion, regulating your thoughts, regulating your attention — is essential in leadership. The optimal leader is adaptive. Leaders have to know when to be dogmatic in their beliefs and when to be collaborative, when to get granular and when to be big-picture-focused. To be adaptive, you must have an integrated brain. A big part of the creative process is using your non-conscious brain, because the problems being tackled are simply too big for conscious processing resources.Hogan, T. (2010). Neuroscience provides tools to navigate the new business reality. People and Strategy, 33(4), 8-9. The four domains of NeuroLeadership; problem solving, emotion regulation, collaborating and facilitating change provide an interesting lens through which to examine the field of global leadership development. Leaders today face greater challenges than ever before as they work across multiple geographies, functions, product lines and national cultures. Neuorscience provides a useful framework for understanding how leaders gain insights while learning to work in new ways across traditional boundaries in a borderless world. Leaders, therefore, need to be able to see and process information in new ways, making connections between phenomena that have never been linked before in their minds. This is systems thinking, and it is the hallmark of resourceful and innovative leaders throughout history.Kiefer, T. (2010). Neuroleadership-more than another leadership framework. People and Strategy, 33(4), 10-11. The author is in the process of designing a new leadership program. He experiences the frustration of more than 60,000 leadership books. He decides to go a different route: Design a change program with the “learner’s brain in mind” — by combining deep emotional moments that require peak attention from participants and finally bring participants to generate their own insights and takeaways. Neuroscience has started to impact leadership development and it will further shape it. NeuroLeadership is more than a framework. It influences entire training designs and approaches — on multiple levels: 1. value of leadership programs, 2. training design and investment, and 3. understanding fundamentals of how the brain works.Lafferty, C. L., & Alford, K. L. (2010). NeuroLeadership: Sustaining research relevance into the 21st century. S.A.M.Advanced Management Journal, 75(3), 32-37,39-40,2. Moving beyond the voluminous research on management leadership that focuses on psychology and behaviorism, the newest field of investigation, NeuroLeadership, looks inside the brain to analyze what might affect leadership abilities. MRI technology has provided the breakthrough, because it maps brain functions in real time reacting to real stimuli. This paper discusses how neuroscience may affect four domains of leadership: decision-making and problem-solving, emotion regulation, collaboration and influence, and facilitating change. Of particular interest is the role of stress and its influence on change, collaboration, and memory.
Rock, D. (2010). Impacting leadership with neuroscience. People and Strategy, 33(4), 6-7.A 2008 study showed that ‘improving leadership’ was the second most urgent human capital imperative for most companies’ business strategies. Up until now, most of the leadership theories evolved out of behavioral observations, or through social psychology research. It appears that this approach has not delivered what it was supposed to do. Recent developments within neuroscience have given people the ability to shed some new light on how the brain functions in real time. This new brain research may provide the missing link between leadership behavior and leadership development. Since 2007, there has been an effort to gather relevant neuroscience findings into a new field called ‘NeuroLeadership.’ NeuroLeadership explores the neuroscience underpinning four key leadership skills, called the four domains of NeuroLeadership. Using neuroscience to explain leadership issues now is happening across major corporate, government and non-profit organizations, including NASA, the National Defense University, Citibank, Microsoft and other firms around the globe.Rock, D. (2011).
NeuroLeadership. Leadership Excellence, 28(8), 11-12. People in leadership positions are often logical, analytical thinkers. But the human brain is a social organ. Its reactions are directly shaped by social interaction. Although work is often seen as economic transaction, in which people exchange labor for financial compensation, the brain experiences the workplace first and foremost as a social system. Indeed, the ability to intentionally address the social brain in the service of optimal performance will become a distinguishing leadership capability. Five social qualities enable leaders to minimize the threat response and enable the reward response: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness (SCARF). The SCARF model helps alert you to people’s core concerns and shows you how to calibrate your words and actions. The more practiced you are at reading yourself the more effective you will be.
Discussion Participation Guidelines
Instructions: The goal of the discussions is to have a robust, informative, and reflective interaction about course topics. Learning is directly related to effort put forth toward discussion engagement and participation. In order to encourage active and quality participation that adds value and increases learning, the grade you earn will be higher as your participation and quality of content increases. Please post at least two substantive replies to classmates or your instructor for full credit consideration. Refer to the grading rubric for specific guidelines.
You are expected to participate during the current week’s discussion. Contact your instructor in cases of emergency or uncontrollable circumstances.
What is Substantive?
For this class, substantive means that your replies have substance, that it helps further the discussion of course content and move the discussion forward. Substantive posts will often include contributions of additional ideas and sources, insights or questions about classmates’ comments, connections to the course readings, ways of applying the lessons from the course, etc. Short comments, such as “Good idea” or “I agree,” do not constitute substantive posts on their own. Neither do comments that are unrelated to the topics at hand (for example, “I saw that movie too!”) If you say you agree about something, please explain why you agree, and add an additional insight or question.