ABSTRACT
Don, a human resources student who faced workforce management challenges and developed his own professional competence through experience, talked to the recruiter about the association job and student Annette asked Sharon to put her in touch with the management of her employer. When the three met the discussion centered around careers, they wondered if they had wasted some of their time in their graduate education, focusing on human resource management. Rob would be doing research on what organizations can do to increase the viability and effectiveness of their workforce and teaching students the conceptual foundation of people management as well as transmitting the research lessons to them. Don could attest to the fact that many utilities underemphasize the impact of their workforce management practices. In fact, one of the top three issues, as identified in an industry research study, was dealing with a mature workforce that would have to be replaced in order for them to fulfill their missions.
