Mind Mapping
Karenly Guerra-Miclisse

Journal 1

SNHU

11/1/2020

Issue 1: Whose side are they really on?

When employees think about or are asked what they think of their Human Resources (HR) team, answers may vary. Employee answers will be driven by the type of company, whether big or small and has ethical or unethical leadership. Whose side is HR really on? Many argue the HR department is for the business and cannot be trusted while others believe a good HR department should strike the perfect balance between the business and the employee. An HR department should ensure employees feel comfortable raising concerns through them or leadership rather than employees being too scared or feel it is a waste of time, so they circumvent the business and seek counsel from a lawyer, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or push to unionize.

Issue 2: Pay vs. Benefits & Culture. What motivates you?

Motivating factors vary from person to person. While pay may be an important factor for one person, benefits and culture may be for another. Some argue, pay is the most important factor when looking for a new job while others believe benefits & culture is the true cause of long-term employment with a company. Would an employee accept a position for thirty dollars an hour with no benefits vs. twenty dollars an hour with benefits that would give them work-life balance and provide them with health and family benefits?

I am actually torn between the 2 topics because they are both very important topics for 2 different audiences. The first issue, the audience would be to members of the HR team. I would want to persuade them to be more balanced when responding and/or investigating issues. While the business pays them, and they should work to reduce risk to the business, they should do so ethically by always keeping the human factor of the business first and striking the perfect balance between the business and the employee.

With the second issue, the audience would be a job seeker or an employee trying to weigh out their options in terms of, if a company is worth their continued time and investment. I would try to argue that while pay is important, good benefits and culture should be the deciding factor as long as the pay is reasonable enough to pay for their living expenses.