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MHR523 Introduction to Human Resources Management
Individual Assignment: Current Events in Human Resource Management
DUE: February 18th at 11:59pm (Submit on D2L)
The purpose of this assignment is to explore how Human
Resource Management (HRM) issues may exist in real life scenarios outside the
classroom. Your task has two components:
(1) find a newspaper article related to HRM, and (2) write an essay about the
article using your textbook and at
least 4 additional, credible sources to support your analysis.
Your newspaper
article should be from a reputable newspaper (online source). Examples include, but are not limited to, the
Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail and the National Post. The article must be from the past 12 months,
at least 4 paragraphs long, and related to HRM concepts that we discuss in
class.
The
article can be about local, provincial, national, or international topics,
however, original articles must be written in English. As part of the citation, please also be sure to include an active link
to the original article used for your analysis.
Your essay
(maximum 5 pages, double-spaced. The 5
page limit does not include the cover page and works cited page)
about the article should have the following format:
·
Cover page with your name, student number,
your seminar leader’s name, and date of submission.
·
Identification of the main HR issue(s)
raised in the primary news article. One sentence per main issue.
·
A brief summary of the article
(approximately 100-200 words).
·
A detailed explanation of the main HR
issue(s) supported by references.
·
A detailed discussion of the implications
for businesses, employees, and/or society that arise from the article. (In other words, how does the subject of your
news article affect any or all stakeholders: business, employees, and/or the
general public?).
·
A conclusion emphasizing
what HR can learn from the issues raised in your news article.
·
A works cited (or bibliography) that includes the
main article used for your analysis with an active link to the article’s
source; appropriate reference to the chapters used from the course textbook;
and references to all additional sources.
To submit your assignment to D2L, it should be in a MS word
document. For instructions on submitting
your assignment see: https://www.ryerson.ca/courses/students/tutorials/assignments/
MHR 523 Individual Assignment 1 – FAQs
and Helpful Tips
What is the purpose of the assignment?
·
To
apply various HR concepts to current events in the broader business, local,
national or international spheres that may have a foreseeable impact on HR
functions and/or employees.
How do I choose an appropriate news
article?
·
Your
article should come from a reputable news source (i.e. Globe and Mail, New York
Times, Forbes, etc.) and be dated within the past 12 months (the incident/event
described in the article may refer to an earlier time period as long as the
article itself is not more than 12 months old).
·
Your
article should be about an HR-issue (i.e. downsizing), or an issue that is
closely related to HR. Primary news
articles should NOT be from an HR (or closely related) magazine or news feed,
since the article would have already described the HR implications, there would
be little room for your own analysis.
However, HR industry magazines may be used as part of your supporting
references (i.e. you can use these sources to support your analysis of the news
article).
·
The
subject of the article may be an event or issue within Canada or something
taking place internationally. TIP: for articles dealing with legal issues, try
to avoid getting into the legal technicalities, especially of jurisdictions
outside of Ontario, as the legal systems may differ dramatically. If there are legal implications arising from
your article that are important to HR, then you can state that if this
event/issue were to take place in Ontario, the legal implications would be . .
.
How do I go from choosing a news
article to explaining the main HR issue(s)?
·
Provided
that you have chosen an appropriate news article (i.e. one that is sufficiently
related to HR), you should then be able to identify the main HR issue(s) in
that article. Depending on your article,
there may be one major HR issue, or several related HR issues. For example, if you find an article about an
employer closing a business, the main HR issue would be layoffs/downsizing.
Related issues may include employee severance packages, reemployment of
displaced workers, effect on the local economy, effect on the employer’s brand,
etc.
·
This
is the section of the assignment where you will want to use the references (the
course textbook as well as 4 additional, reliable sources). In other words, once you have identified the
main HR issue(s), you will need to do some research on that topic and provide
the reader with a detailed discussion of the topic and related HR issues.
What do you mean by implications for
stakeholders?
·
The
implications could focus on how the event/topic/theme in your article might
impact different groups of people (e.g., employees, the management of employees
in organizations and/or society as a whole).
If we continue with the downsizing topic as an example, you might
discuss the challenges laid-off employees may experience finding work, the
difficult choices the management of the organization has to make when deciding
which employees loose their jobs, and the effect of large-scale layoffs on the
local economy.
·
The
implications may be written as a separate section, or integrated into your
explanation of the issue. This may be an
opportunity to make use of your references to support your arguments for how
the HR issue(s) in the article will affect various stakeholders.
What do you mean by HR lessons?
·
This
section should serve as the conclusion for your assignment, wherein you briefly
summarize the main HR issue(s) raised in the news article and then describe
what HR departments can learn from this event in the future.
·
To
ensure that this section contains sufficient detail, it would be a good idea to
aim for at least 3 different lessons.
What format should I use when writing
this assignment?
·
The
style or format is up to you (i.e. it does not have to be written as a formal
essay).
·
You
may write in first person (i.e. I think
. . .) or more formally in third person (i.e. the article suggests . .
.).
·
As
noted in the rubric, there is a substantial amount of marks allocated to your
writing in terms of grammar, spelling, sentence structure, flow, etc. - Be sure to proof
read your assignment carefully.
·
You
are asked to include a brief summary of your article. The summary should only
be about 200 words, i.e. you do not need to paraphrase the entire article, the
emphasis of the assignment in on your analysis.
·
You
are asked to use APA format for your citations (this means the article itself
as well as the textbook and any other sources you may include). TIP: for a good resource for APA, I use Purdue
University Owl website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
What do I hand in and where?
·
Please
submit a soft copy of the assignment to dropbox on D2L by the due date and time
How do I reference lectures?
Reference page:
Last name, first initial.
(year). Title of presentation slides [format of presentation slides
- PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from URL
e.g. Halinski, M. (2020). MHR 523: Promoting Employee
Health and Safety. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://courses.ryerson.ca/d2l/le/content/397838/viewContent/3055260/View
In-text citation:
(Last name, year, slides page
#)
e.g. (Halinski, 2020, p. 5)
Remote Working
Student's Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course
Professor’s
Name
Date
Introduction
The article "Can
Workers Climb the Career Ladder from Outside the Office? Translating
opportunities for networking, mentoring, and advancement to the virtual world
isn't easy.” is an article in New York Times presenting the issue of
working remotely. Main Human Resource issues arising from the article include
employee mentorship, social employee networking, remote work, and employee
skills development. Mentoring in the workplace or career mentoring refers to an
establishment of a partnership between colleagues in the workplace for the
purpose of growth and learning new things and skills. Employee networking is
the formation of employees' voluntary groups coming together on the basis of
shared identity and experiences. Employee networks give essential support and
ensure career development as well as personal development in a work environment
setting. Employees development involves the improvement of employees' existing
skills competencies and the development of new skills to promote the goals of
the organization.
Article
Summary
The article brings
the issue of working remotely and working in the office. Working remotely is
compared to working in the office, which in most people could prefer working in
the office, but the onset of Covid-19 and growing acceptance of working
remotely given the improvement of technology. The article talks of Mr.
Kosmidis, an aspiring office employee who would not trade working in the office
for remote work. Full-time offices come with opportunities like mentorship,
visibility, and networking. The concept of remote work is gaining acceptance
with people with a thought of what long-term remote work or hybrid work as
lately referred to would mean in their future. A study done by Mr. Choudhury
and colleagues assigned some bank interns to take part in one-on-one meetings
with senior offices of the bank, while others were not New York Times. (2022). Those assigned to meet the senior officials
registered better performance reviews compared to those who did not take the
video meetings; this showed that working remotely can make employees have an
in-depth conversation. The perception that one sees the senior officials in a video
call is not the same weight that is n a physical meeting. In a physical
meeting, there is the tendency to avoid long communication with the senior
officials. The article stresses the growing need and the push by the training managers
to help remote workers develop their career paths. Software developer trains
managers to work with distributed teams with cohesion and build personal
relationships. The developer also stresses that remote work is essential in
breaking the monopoly of managers having favoritism of the office employees. The
articles identify that women and people of color are the most comfortable group
of employees who love working remotely even prior to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
The article further establishes that working remotely can negatively create a
feeling of alienation. The article also acknowledges that there are some roles
that can only be done in the office.
Issues
Arising from the Article
Employee
Networking
Human resources need to have connections within themselves; they need...
