Opening Review..

Never done a blog before, so here I go..

• So the first point is to review the companies we selected and how they practice HR, wherever they are.. I looked at the #1, #55, and #98. The number one is unsurprisingly (to me at least), one of the biggest hospitality names in the industry: Hilton. They have an umbrella of 18 different brands with 7,000 different properties- HQ is located in McLean, VA (I'll make note of that in a little bit), and the employee satisfaction rate is an awesome 97%. Some of the key words I noticed are "attract, develop, and retain talent" in an 'inclusive workplace'. They are a great place to work, and they want others to know why it's such a great place. In the employee comments section are 'team, family, culture, benefits, everyone'- just as an outsider from this little profile I can tell Hilton employees know they are appreciated and all continue to be part of a team. Next, #55- USAA (US Automobiles Association), with their HQ located in San Antonio, TX, even in the middle of the list they are still at an 80% overall rating. So what's special about USAA? They are "leading providers of insurance, banking and investment and retirement solutions to more than 13 million members of the U.S. military, and veterans who have honorably served and their families." They also know about company loyalty- almost half of the employees in this demographic have been here five years or more. They care about the mission of the company, the great benefits, the service members and the opportunity to serve, about helping families. The last company I looked at was near the bottom of the list, but still a great place to work considering it still got certified: #98 is Mars, Inc., located in McLean, VA (so we have at least 2 top 100 companies headquartered in the same city!). Another interesting note is even though Mars is at #98, they have listed an 84% employee satisfaction. Mars owns many famous brand names-from Snickers and Skittles to Pedigree and Veterinary services- but why do employees like them so much? They recognize employees as real people, they place importance on family and being known as a company with good principles.

• What kind of manager I'd like to be: I think it's a mix of a lot of things I've seen.. through working with my current manager, I've picked up on a lot of things to do or use in management skills, and also in jobs before, what not to do. For instance, I've been at my current company almost 4 years (next month), and a big part of that is my manager. So I want to incorporate those skills, whether personal or managerial- make sure the employees know they are appreciated, and help them all to be their best- whatever that may be. When it comes to things like schedule and policy, it helps to be flexible with employees when possible- also understanding that it is not always possible to be flexible in the business. Rewards and good tokens come in all kinds, just like people- train and act accordingly- no one is the same. Things like the feedback programs detailed in "How Google Sold Its Engineers on Management," and the programs and meetings that followed- are very useful tools for showing what managers are doing well and what can be improved upon. I think another thing that's important in the challenges as well, is the "talent" portion. A lot of this was gone over as well in our book, First, Break All the Rules. While it is essentially in the name of our class- "HR-Human Resources" - humans being considered capital, along with the hiring/firing/promoting/coaching... that's what I find challenging. In the introduction "Michael" had a few tips, and one of them being "pick the right people. If you do, it makes everything else you do so much easier" (Buckingham and Coffman, 16); I emphasize this point because if there's anything I've heard my manager say time and time again, it's "I have the best crew in the whole company. This is why we can keep doing what we do." We work in the retail and tourism industry, and she isn't lying when we are continously in the top of the best-performing sites of the company. My challenges come from learning how to make all of what she does better, and also to make it into my own.