Address the following questions in a well-integrated case assignment. Bring in information from readings and research to help strengthen and
validate your response.
• As an HR consultant, design a process you would follow to analyze what changes are needed in HRD procedures, policies, and practices to
improve the development of employees. Discuss the process you would follow and why you selected those process steps.
• Be sure to bring in what you have learned from your change management, internal consulting, and organizational development readings.
Provide private-sector employer examples of HRM programs, systems, processes, and/or procedures as you address the assignment requirements.
Provide names of the employers. Use different employer examples in this course than what have been used previously in your other papers and
courses.
Bring in information from at least 4 sources to help strengthen and validate your discussion.
Paper length: 4-5 pages (not counting the cover and reference pages).
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
The HRD division at The King Company is managed by training director Karmen Scholl, who supervises two other employees: a trainer and an
administrative assistant, who coordinate the logistics of King’s training programs. Recognizing the continuous dynamics of the high-tech
industry, King has been a strong supporter of employee development.
With approval of the immediate supervisor, King encourages employees to attend training seminars, and tuition reimbursement is available for
college-level courses that are related to the employee’s job. In-house training is conducted regularly to ensure all employees are up-to-date on
sexual harassment and safety procedures. Other training is made available as the need arises. Whenever possible, training programs are developed
and facilitated by in-house staff members. When that is not practicable, a request for proposal is generated and King hires outside
facilitators.
Since the labor problem a few years back, Scholl aggressively trained management employees with particular emphasis on skills for first-line
supervisors. She wants to see improvement in people skills and consistent implementation of King’s policies across department lines.
Unfortunately, her efforts are not universally well received. Some managers grumble that HR just gets in the way and ties their hands when
dealing with difficult employees. All too often Smith hears managers say that there is the “classroom way” and the “shop floor way.” She sees
training for King managers as an ongoing process.
Last year’s strategic planning process identified knowledge management as an area for organization-wide improvement. King has a history of
employees working in silos, with little communication across functions. Hoping to bridge the gap and encourage collaborative exchange, Scholl
established “communities of practice,” where individuals could meet to problem solve and exchange ideas. Her first community-of-practice group
consisted of individuals from research and development, engineering, and production. A number of other communities have since been established.
More informally, Scholl encourages “snack and chat” meetings on Friday afternoons, where employees can drop by for a snack and talk about their
work.
To increase information exchange with employees working off-site, an idea blog was added to the company’s intranet, where staff could share
information about their successes and failures on various projects. At first, people were reluctant to comment, and it took some time before
they were willing to share their knowledge and ideas. Scholl had not anticipated how proprietary some individuals would be about their work
methods. Progress has been made; with increasing postings, the blog is becoming a source of ideas and information sharing. To manage the volume
of information generated by the blog and to make it easier for more employees to use the system, Scholl submitted a budget request to add
enhanced knowledge software to the intranet.
To capture knowledge that might be leaving the organization, Scholl worked with Employee Relations Manager Shaun White to improve the exit
interview process. Departing employees are encouraged to talk informally about their career at King and to pass on information other employees
need to know. There has been some success here, but as expected, not all exit interviews generate a positive exchange.
As part of the recent directives to “tighten up” for increased results, HRD was asked to update and improve the company’s performance management
system. In addition, the organization is looking closely at all training expenses, and Scholl was asked to identify the return on investment for
all programs. She is worried about her management training program and feels certain that tuition reimbursement will fall under the ax.
Source: This King Case scenario is adapted from SHRM 2014 education documents.
