Interesting Thoughts from Class

Occasionally during my classes, either because of something said during the lectures or my day dreaming, I will have thoughts that impress me. During this week I seemed to have more than I usually do.

The first thought that really has me worked up is, "How long do you want your managers and employees working for you?... A year? Five years? And what is the company doing right now to achieve this?" The reason that I ask this is because I feel that often times companies will forget about employee retention and focus on goals and some new "very important" objective. Some companies do a great job at retention. They have business structures that allow for employee growth, development, improved pay, and so forth. Many others do not.

Another thought that I had was, "How can a company boost employee moral? What do companies do to negatively impact this?" This question is somewhat related to my first thought, but I feel that it brings up a different issue. Instead of the focus being on how long should we expect our people to work for us, it points to employees being happy while they are with the company. For example, I think that often times some companies will ask their employees to work more hours for longer periods of time than necessary. Or how about setting unrealistic goals and having confusing directives?

Perhaps I am just venting a little... but I do find some of my thoughts intriguing. Hopefully my HR class, among other classes, will continue to help me have "thought provoking" moments. :-)