Published on: Tue Mar 31 2009
Struggling with Writing a term paper for Human Resources Management class. The first step is to define my goal. The goal of a term paper is to set off on a journey to gain a through knowledge of the class subjects at hand. I have already written an introduction, although I am not completely pleased with it:For much of the past fifty years an employee could hope to find lifetime employment within a single firm. This is no longer the case, as companies have shown; there is no longer a sense of a lifetime relationship within employee/employer relations’. The power of unions is declining and the majority of workers are not unionized. There are no longer lifetime commitments made by either employees or employers. The responsibility of career development now lies with the employee. I will explore the changing standards of the labor market and how an open approach to employees regarding their long term employment at the firm will benefit both the firm and the employee. The approach to career responsibility belonging to an employee changes the compensation structure and the benefits of training and development. The question of ownership is an issue, with concerns over who owns contacts, relationships and ideas. Establishing policies to deal with issues which may arise in advance resolves many of these dilemmas and allows the employee to feel comfortable with short term employment.What I like about this so far is the focus on employment length. For both the employer and employee does expecting uncertainty improve the work environment? Our newspapers are currently full of stories about the unexpectedly unemployed. I wonder if it is better to expect unemployment, or at least to expect uncertainty. Should a company have a ‘global financial meltdown’ backup plan? Should an employee? As my focus is on uncertainty in employment a title I am considering is: “An unstable Careerpath; how expecting uncertainty provides increased security.” What are some questions this subject brings to mind? What is the standard length of employment at a career related position? According to the employer? The employee? What is responsible for creating the expected length of employment? Who determines the expected length of employment? Who is the owner of the employee’s skills, and connections? What role does non-monetary compensation play in the length of employment? When should an employee leave a firm? And some subjects I am unfamiliar with but which are central to the course: Do unions lead to employment expectations? Should unions be employer specific? Just thought of another prospective title: “An unstable Careerpath; exploring uncertainty and security” And a brief introduction: We examine the effects of uncertainty on employee/employer relations and consider the consequences of uncertainty on compensation, ownership, education and career development. Is my introduction to short? Do I cover everything I want to talk about in it? Checking it against my already written summary what is missing? … I am satisfied with the introduction. So based on my introduction and the questions I want to answer, what are the general areas I want to cover? Length of Employment Compensation Non-monetary Monetary Ownership Connections/Relationships Patents/Original Research Education Relation between education & Length of Employment Continuing Education On the job training Career Development Maybe I am doing this wrong? Maybe I should review interesting Research and take notes on it, then pull my ideas on the subject together into an outline. I’ll do that with my next post.