Assignment 8: Instruction 1 Assignment 8: Final Assignment (100 points) *

No assignments will be accepted late without written documentation of an unavoidable or unforeseeable event.

Why this assignment? This assignment is intended to make students review the learning contents of this course.

Instruction Your friend Harry is to open a car repair shop in Killeen, TX. Knowing that you are taking the course Personnel and Human Resource Management this semester, Harry has written a letter seeking your advice on HRM (see Appendix 1). Reply to this letter. Make sure that you clearly answer all the questions that Harry is asking you. Please also carefully read the grading rubric. 2).

The rubric outlines the course contents that you need to utilize in writing the letter. Important Notes 1. Incorporate the learning contents outlined in the grading rubric (see Appendix 2). If the outlined learning contents in the grading rubric are not utilized, you will receive 0 points for that question.

2. In writing your answers, NEVER copy and paste any part of the textbook or any other sources. Write the answers in your own words. If more than seven consecutive words are identical to a writing from another source (including the textbook, your past works, and any other sources), it will be considered plagiarism, and you will receive 0 points for this assignment. You will also be referred to Students Affairs.

3. In submitting your answers, please use the answer sheet format (word file) that is provided with this instruction file. If the provided format is not utilized, the assignment will be sent back. You'll also need to answer "yes" to the question confirming the originality of your submission for your assignment to be graded. Assignment 8: Grading Rubric 2 Appendix 1.

The Letter from Harry

Hi your name, I hope you are doing well. We haven't talked in a while. We definitely need to hang out and catch up soon! I have good news. Jimmy and I are finally opening our own car repair shop here in Killeen, TX. We are done working for other people. We will be running our own business from now on. We are so excited about this! My wife Sophia and Jimmy's wife Kelly will also be running the shop together. They will mainly manage the front desk (customers) and financials, and Jimmy and I will mainly do the repair work. You know that Jimmy and I are both ASE-certified mechanics and with more than 15 years of experience, we are confident that we can take care of most of the repair cases. But we will be hiring about two to four assistant mechanics who are just out of vocational school or are early in their careers. We will have them do simple work like changing the tires and engine oils. Jimmy and I will take care of more serious repairs. I'm reaching out to you today not just to deliver this good news but to ask you a few things related to people management. The last time we met, I remember you talking about the HRM class that you are taking at your university. So, I was hoping for you to give me some advice on the questions that I have below.

Question 1 The four of us (Jimmy, Kelly, Sophia, and me) were discussing the pay for the baby (or assistant) mechanics that we plan to hire. I know how much the assistant mechanics were paid in the car repair shop that I used to work for, but I think they were paid very well compared to other shops. But we plan to compete with other shops by offering the service to our customers at a lower price. So, I think we should keep the pay level of these baby mechanics at the minimum level in the market. I know that this will make our assistant mechanics leave us frequently, but we don't really care that much. The tasks that these baby mechanics will be doing are pretty simple, and we believe a new hire can pretty easily pick up the required skills (or most of them will probably have the skills already). So, we need to figure out the minimum pay level of the mechanics in the Killeen, TX area. Do you know of any data source that we can refer to research the number? Actually, can you research for us and let us know how much you think is adequate to pay our baby mechanics, considering our strategy to compete with other shops? Why do you think it is an adequate level? Can you also briefly explain how you have accessed the data?

What is the title of the occupation that you have looked up on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) webpage for the Killeen, TX area?

Based on your research of the BLS data, what is your suggested pay amount for the assistant mechanics (or baby mechanics) that Harry is referring to?

Why is the above-suggested amount adequate?

How can Harry access the data?

Question 2 In the process of hiring, we'll also need to interview the job applicants for our assistant mechanics. Through the interview process, we really want to see if the candidates have a good business manner. These guys may need to communicate with our customers from time to time, explaining how the repairs are done, and I want these guys to be really polite and considerate. The reputation of our shop may depend on this. But when thinking about the interview questions, I don't think I can just ask the candidate, "Are you polite and considerate to customers?" I'm pretty sure that all applicants will say yes to this question. But I cannot really think of a better question. Can you provide me with a set of questions that I can ask to determine whether the applicant will be polite and considerate to customers? Related to this, I remember reading about behavioral interviews and the STAR framework on the internet, but I couldn't really understand any of the things that were written. And can you also explain why your questions are better than the question I have come up with in measuring business manners?

Fill in the blank boxes below.

Criterion: Business Manners
Main Question
Follow-up Question for Situation
Follow-up Question for Task
Follow-up Question for Action
Follow-up Question for Result

Why is the above set of questions better than the one that Harry has come up with?

Question 3 I also want to make a clear job description for what our assistant mechanics do and what is required of them. But I have no idea where to start. Of course, I can make our own job description from scratch, but this will take a lot of time. Is there a source or documentation that I can reference in the knowledge, skills, and abilities that are required and the activities that these mechanics do? Can you find the actual webpage with the list of the things that I mentioned for mechanics or automotive technicians and send me the link? One of my friends told me that I should check out the "Oh Met" website, but I couldn't find anything googling "Oh Met." The name sounds more like a dating website to me.

What is the title of the webpage that Harry is looking for? (It is not Oh Met...)

Provide a link to the page within the above webpage that liststhe required knowledge, skills, and abilities and the activities that a similar occupation to the assistant mechanics (or baby mechanics) does.

Question 4 Is there any other advice that you want to give me in terms of the things that I should consider if I want to do better in people management based on the things that you have learned in the course Personnel and Human Resource Management? Any advice will be appreciated. I know the things that I'm asking can be a lot, but I promise to buy you a big drink the next time we meet. Thank you so much your name! I look forward to hearing your advice.

What are some other advice you can give to Harry?

To the learning content in which Module within this course is the above advice related?

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Best,

Harry