Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies, Carlson School of Management

Time marches on, spring may be coming and we see more of the sun each day as it shines on the Mississippi River. I encourage you walk to Carlson, and get some fresh air before your exciting day of classes. Classes are in full swing and students have finally adjusted to Term A schedule.

In Compensation and Benefits, taught by Professor Fossum, students learn about new laws that enforce different compensation strategies that are used to attract and retain top talent. An interesting topic that was brought up in recent lectures included the discussion of retirement and 401(k) plans.

SHRM.com published an article that elaborates on the 401(k) plans and the increase in plan participation (Miller, 2013). A SHRM investment firm's report indicates that the largest plan service providers have seen an increase of 12 percent from 2011 to 2012. Retirement plans are a hot topic - specifically because of the 78 million baby boomers who are now or close to retiring within a couple of years.

Another crucial situation that could directly impact the HR professionals of today is the seating of the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board). In a SHRM article written by Allen Smith, President Obama's proposal to fill the three vacant seats of NLRB was rejected. The NLRB traditionally consists of five board members-at this time there are only two, with a need for three more individuals. Appeal seems likely, based on the White House's reaction to the opinion. The NLRB's purpose is to serve as prosecution of unfair labor practice cases (Smith, 2013). With three missing members, the ability to obtain effective board review is unlikely.

HR professionals often mediate discretions between employees, unions, and top management. NLRB plays a huge deciding factor among these HR professional's work and the consequences or protection of most union employees. Professor Sojourner has emphasized how important NRLB is in Labor Relations course; it will be interesting to watch how this unfolds.

Signing off,
Pao Kue

Winds are blowing hard across the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities and all of the MA-HRIR students have returned from Winter break for their second semester. Students are geared up for another full semester of academics and self-growth.

Our second semester core classes consist of Organizational Theory, Organizational Behavior, Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining, and Compensation and Benefits. Outside these core classes, many have decided to take electives as well!

As students look toward finding information important to our core classes, SHRM.org is a great website to check to keep up-to-date with HR information. Recent SHRM studies found on the website claim:

• 2013 Graduate students' salaries jump 3.4% from previous years
• Diversity and inclusion outsourced advice will only be effective if inside leaders of firm greatly supports
• Salary is the number one variable that matters most to job seekers (data by Survey)
• Promotion policies can attract and retain talent

One of the main objectives in Organizational Behavior is to learn how firms will manage rapidly changing environments that have no geographic boundaries. Rising diversity in the workplace and society will have an affect on all firms. An article from SHRM was clear to state that diversity and inclusion is only effective and productive for a firm when inside leaders give great support and consistency to inclusions initiatives.

All in all, SHRM.org is a great website that gives refreshing updates on the HR news. Many of the articles updates correlate with the courses we are taking as 1st year MA-HRIR students. It gives an emphasis on the importance of the courses we are taking and how we will someday apply them to our very own daily work. Become a member and take advantage of tons of information at your fingertips!

This semester will be a fun and challenging one, no doubt!
Signing off- Pao Kue

My name is Pao Kue, I'm a first year MA-HRIR student at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. There are approximately 70 of us first year and 70 second year students in the full time program. There are also about 100 part time students in the program. The cohorts are very friendly, everyone tries to leverage each other; from giving interview tips, sharing information in class projects, or even providing emotional support. Everyone tries to enjoy their two years together knowing that we will all be colleagues for years to come.  The diversity of the program is amazing, many of us are from out of state or born in another country (me included)!

Coming straight from my undergraduate with no corporate experience, I was a bit worried about finding an internship. An internship during the summer gives us valuable work experience and can lead to a full time offer at end of the program. This year, about half the student population will have an internship offer before the Thanksgiving break, just 4 months into the 2 year program.

Companies that have recruited fellow cohort members include Chevron, Yum Brands, Microsoft, and Exxon Mobil to name a few. Knowing the high skill set that many of my cohort members have because of their work experience, I decided to enhance my internship possibilities by recruiting by searching online and outside the Graduate Business Career Center (GBCC) as well as taking advantage of the GBCC programs and assistance. I had a number of 1st round interviews and some 2nd round interviews, 2nd round interviews included flying out-of-state to company headquarters. Luckily, everything was paid for by the recruiting companies when I traveled. My offers were disclosed 2 weeks ago. Many fellow cohort members received their offers and the news was celebrated.

Along with the grueling interview process, most full time first year students are managing 12 graduate credits in Staffing, Training and Development, Business Principles for the HR Professional, and Using Data Metrics and HR. The average is 12 credits, but students can take as many as 17 credits per semester. Because of opportunities to study abroad in the spring of 2014, number of students, myself included, are taking 16 credits this semester. The extra two courses include International HR Management and Personnel Economics.

My courses in Staffing, Business Principles, Data Metrics (statistics), International HR, and Personnel Economics have all helped me in during my interviews when I was asked to review case studies. It's amazing how one can learn so much in a short amount of time and apply it to real HR scenarios during interview case studies!

All in all, my experience at the Carlson School has been most interesting. Working 10 hours a week (others work as many as 30), balancing 16 credits, maintaining a social life, I'm also proud to say that my extracurricular activities with bible study, University of Minnesota student fee committee, and acting has not dwindled!

Being a part of this program has given me the internal and external support to learn how to manage my time, build skills and prioritize. It's been truly a challenge thus far but a challenge that has already and will continue to develop me in the long run. Without the University of Minnesota MA-HRIR program, faculty, and current cohort members, I wouldn't have grown as much as I already have in the past 4 months. 

This is my personal experience at the U so far as a 1st year MA-HRIR graduate student. I look forward to more opportunities and courses MA-HRIR will provide!

As 2nd round interviews for summer internships continue in full swing, 1st year MA-HRIR students are learning more about their abilities to function within a team of diverse personalities. As discussed in the SHRM article, Understand Personality Diversity to Maximize Productivity, there are 6 different basic types of personalities- Thinkers, believers, harmonizers, fosters, promoters, imaginers (Hastings, 2012). Nate Regier, Ph.D., collaborator of this article, claims that, "Personality doesn't matter unless two or more people are trying to get stuff done." Essentially, understanding various core personalities is a necessity to be a successful team player.

Hastings identified 6 different personality types:

• Thinkers tend to be logical, responsible and organized. "They are not group people," Regier noted, and considers time their "most precious commodity." (Hastings, 2012)
• Believers are dedicated, conscientious and observant and want to be respected for their convictions. According to Regier, they believe, "if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well." (Hastings, 2012)
• Harmonizers are compassionate, sensitive and warm--and are often found in the HR profession, Regier noted. They prize family and friendship and work best in groups. (Hastings, 2012)
• Funsters are spontaneous, creative and playful. They want the workplace to be lively and upbeat, according to Regier, and tend to react quickly to whatever is happening around them at the time. (Hastings, 2012)
• Promoters are action-oriented. "They sell everything," Regier noted, and are seen as adaptable, persuasive and charming. (Hastings, 2012)
• Imaginers--the category most closely aligned with introversion--is imaginative, reflective and calm and prize privacy and their own space. "Tell them what to do and leave them alone," Regier said, but tell them when to come back. (Hastings, 2012)

One more side note before signing off-

Hastings states that men have a higher probability to be associated with being personality types "thinkers, believers & promoters, " while women have a higher probability to be associated with being personality type "harmonizers, funsters, or imaginers." When a woman is identified as the personality type "thinker" in a team setting, she could be labeled as being too aggressive, a man labeled "harmonizer" could be perceived as being too emotional. That is how society works whether one agrees or disagrees. Just a thought for future 2nd round interviews and team studies!
Signing off now - Pao Kue

First-year students are about a month and a half away from finishing up their initial semester in pursuit of the M-HRIR degree. Currently they're all enrolled in three classes: Business Principles for the HR Professional (professor Avner Ben-Ner), Staffing, Training and Development (professor Theresa Glomb), and Using Data and Metrics in Human Resources and Industrial Relations (professor Colleen Manchester). First-years just finished up two midterms this week, so here's a snapshot of what's going on in each class.

Business Principles: The core tenets of this class -- which overlaps microeconomics with business theory -- are presently revolving around different models of economic competition (perfect vs. monopoly, etc.) The main group project taking place is a series of corporate profiles; there are 14 companies being researched in all, ranging from bar/restaurant chains (Buffalo Wild Wings) to Twin Cities companies (EcoLab) to major e-commerce players (Amazon) to global giants such as Sony and NIKE. So far, the three projects have been (a) a basic study of the history of the organization, (b) a SWOT/value chain analysis, and (c) a breakdown of the corporate governance in place. Students work in teams of four-six to gather the information and organize it effectively, while also underlying and explaining all the essential business concepts. The next assignment actually focuses on the marketing and finance (two core MBA tracks) of the company; this process is a decided advantage of the HRIR program being housed within the Carlson School of Management.

Staffing, Training and Development: Students just finished the staffing/recruiting/legal implications section of the course, and are transitioning to the training and development section. Currently, they're involved in a major two-part staffing simulation project -- the goal is to hire three front desk managers for a luxury hotel chain, and teams of five to six students must make decisions about selection budget, processes, tests and evaluations used, and much more. The simulation (designed by a third party retailer) is effective enough that it can adjust the program on the fly and present business challenges (unexpected ones) to the participants. It's an interesting parallel to the on-campus recruiting processes that are also going on right now -- students are seeing the limitations of reviewing 60+ resumes in a short amount of time, and how decisions end up being made.

Data and Metrics: In this class, students just transitioned from descriptive statistics to inferential statistics; their next large project involves computing z-scores and p-scores to determine statistical significant of certain business data. On November 14, groups from Staffing and Data and Metrics will be combined to work on a live business case from Microsoft; the details of the case aren't 100 percent yet, but it will be taking four hours on the day of and two weeks to create a final report from the results, so it should be an excellent test of business acumen and thinking creatively about a problem in a short amount of time.

Ted Bauer, 1st Year MA-HRIR Student

by Pao Kue
The opportunities keep arriving!
Don't miss out, applications to the GVC (Graduate Volunteer Consultants) are due Octiber 22. GVC is a great way to gain consulting experience in working on real world projects with a diverse team. Graduate Volunteer Consultants is an organization comprised of UofMN MBA and MA-HRIR students who are dedicated to providing free-of-charge business consulting services to non-profit organizations in the Twin Cities.

Past projects included working on new scheduling options for paramedics to improve work life balance in Hennepin EMS Company and developing new growth strategies for The A List Company. You may also gain valuable leadership experience by applying to be a a lead consultant of a project.

This is a great opportunity to give back to your community through these non-profit organizations. Don't forget applications are due October 22nd. Celebrate with GVC and become part of the 20th annual legacy.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact gvc@umn.edu.
Don't miss out and GOOD LUCK on the rest of recruiting season and midterms!

https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/graduate-volunteer-consultants-gvc/prospective-consultants/application Click here to apply!

Assistant Professor Colleen Manchester understands how hard it is to sit through a three hour lecture. So instead of using traditional methods of teaching, she is experimenting with a technique that teaches students before class.

In the midst of the early morning this past week, many HRIR students were caught quoting "Tis the Season for Interviews" in the Herman Library. Ultimately, the students will have 45-60 minutes to leave an impeccable impression for the recruiters! Landing your dream internship is definitely possible but for some, it can be the nerves or doubt in one self that stops that dream from becoming reality! The more self confidence you have, the more likely it is you'll succeed! See the link for an excellent article on building confidence:

As silly as it is to confront our internal self-esteem, if you do have any doubts what so ever, use these tips to surely retrieve confidence : ) Studies have shown that it has great results!
• SMILE
• DRESS SHARP (FEEL SHARP)
• GOOD POSTURE
• PERSONAL COMMERICAL
• GRATITUDE
• COMPLIMENT OTHERS
• SPEAK UP
• WORK OUT
• FOCUS ON CONTRIBUTIONS OTHER THAN SCHOOL.

GOOD LUCK INTERVIEWEES!!!
by Pao Kue

Professor John Budd presented a session on his research on the conceptualization of work as part of the Carlson School's "Faculty Discoveries" series in early December.

The Call for Proposals for the 2012 HR Tomorrow Conference is now open!