ABSTRACT
At the end of this chapter you will learn to:
Understand how the function of management influences human behavior.
Define the three components of management influence.
Describe best practices for managers in a communication process.
Explain how managers can influence attitudes and motivate within internal communications systems.
In The Real WorldLoren is a friend of yours who graduated college last year. Because she always worked part-time in the industry throughout her school years, she landed an assistant outlet manager job immediately upon graduation. You run into her at the local Starbucks and the two of you decide to catch up on old times.
You say to Loren, ‘Wow, you have a great job with a great company, I’m so proud of you.’ ‘Yeah,’ Loren replies, ‘But you know my real love is human resource management.’ She continues, ‘But it seems there are very few jobs out there and when I do apply for one of them, it seems they already know who they are going to hire.’ You tell her, ‘Yeah, I have heard that from other people. The HR offices use the excuse that applicants don’t have actual experience, yet no one will hire them to get some experience. It sounds like a real catch 22 situation.’
It has been six months since you last talked with your friend, Loren. One day you run into her at the mall. After the usual social exchanges, you ask her if she is still in the same job. Loren says to you, ‘I have a great story to tell you. Let’s get a latte and talk.’
You are sitting at the coffee shop when Loren starts her story. ‘You know,’ she said, ‘I ran into Katie a few months ago, and she has an HR job with her company.’ She continued, ‘So, I asked her how she got the job. Katie told me that she was in the same predicament as me about not getting hired for HR jobs, so she volunteered to work one day per week at her property’s HR office for free just to get some experience.’ Loren went on to say, ‘Well, they really liked her, and someone got promoted and she got their job!’ ‘Wow,’ you reply, ‘Great strategy.’
‘Well,’ Loren chimed in, ‘I went down to my HR office and offered the same type of volunteer work. The HR director was shocked that I was willing to work for free, but he said okay.’ Finally she says, ‘I have been doing this for four months and it looks like a new position is going to open up soon. I’m not going to jinx myself, but the director asked me if I might be interested in applying for that full-time position.’ You reply, ‘Wow! That’s great.’ ‘Yup,’ Loren says, ‘I should know if I get the job in about a month.’ She concludes by saying, ‘You know? I’m sure glad I was able to get advice from Katie.’
