After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer these questions:
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer these questions:
What is the human resource management process, and how are human resource needs determined?
How do firms recruit applicants?
How do firms select qualified applicants?
What types of training and development do organizations offer their employees?
How are performance appraisals used to evaluate employee performance?
What are the types of compensation and methods for paying workers?
What is a labor union and how is it organized, what is collective bargaining, and what are some of the key negotiation issues?
How are grievances between management and labor resolved, and what tactics are used to force a contract settlement?
What are the key laws and federal agencies affecting human resource management and labor relations?
What trends and issues are affecting human resource management and labor relations?
Exploring Business Careers
Andrea Herran, Human Resources Consultant
In college, Andrea Herran studied business administration and minored in psychology. Always interested in a business career, she initially took psychology simply because it was interesting. Little did she know how applicable that minor would become. As a human resources (HR) consultant, she often benefits from her psychology background. “Studying human behavior really gave me the background necessary to put myself in the position of others, to see things from their point of view, which has definitely been helpful in my career in human resources.”
Herran started out as an administrative assistant in the HR department of a hotel, and her career has run the gamut of human resources over the 25 years since she graduated from college. She has been an employment coordinator, focusing on employee recruitment and selection, and a personnel manager, where she learned the skills necessary to maintain and evaluate employees. As a training manager, she sharpened her talent for developing, coordinating, and even administering staff training. Eventually, she became the director of human resources for companies both in the United States and abroad. Indeed, beyond the United States, she has worked in Mexico, Argentina, and South Africa.
Andrea worked her way up in the corporate world, but entrepreneurship was more consistent with her desire for a fast-paced, changing environment, both in terms of what she does and who she works with, so she made the move to consulting. “Consulting allows me to draw upon all my human resources skills. I have opened five HR departments in my career, so I bring my full experience to bear on the challenges each company has.”
Today, Andrea’s passion is working with small businesses, entrepreneurs, managers, and owners as an advisor to “uncomplicate the people side of your business.” As the principal of Focus HR Consulting, she advises firms how to set up human resource programs and ensure legal compliance. She also provides leadership coaching and training and mentors employees. She has worked in se