Week 6 Discussion Topic: Creating a Human Resources Web Page

Week 6 Discussion Topic: Creating a Human Resources Web Page

Task:

As firms attempt to help employees balance work and family life (and as employees become aware that personal and family life stresses affect performance at work), Human Resources departments sponsor and array of programs and provide information on myriad subjects.

However, some people might be uncomfortable asking for help, either because the problem is embarrassing (who wants to admit needing help to deal with drug abuse, domestic violence, or addiction to gambling?) or because focusing on nonwork issues (for example, child care) might lead others to think they aren’t serious about their jobs. The Web allows organizations to post information that employees can access privately from anywhere, at any time.

For this discussion topic, create the written content for a Web page that could be posted by Human Resources to help employees with any one of the challenges they might face at work, whether in a large or small organization, government (including military) or civilian, home or abroad.

Possible topics include:

    Appreciating an ethnic or other heritage
    Buying (and financing) a home or car
    Caring for dependents: child care; helping a child learn to read; living with teenagers, elder care, among others
    Staying healthy and fit: exercise opportunities, yoga, massage, diet
    Reducing stress
    Meditation
    Interest groups: reading, professional topics, etc.
    Dressing for success
    Financial management
    Retirement planning
    Vacation and getaway planning

Assume that this page can be accessed from one or more of the organization’s web pages.

Provide at least five links to resources on the Web in addition to the information you provide on the page. Also, be sure to include in your response your purpose and goals for the Web page, as well as a description of your intended audience.

As you conduct research in preparing your response for this discussion, you'll likely want to go to specific corporations' websites to investigate their HR pages. Doing so will give you a good idea of the types of issues typical HR departments deal with/prepare for. I found a fairly good example of such a page on the Columbia University HR website, although most sections aren't very developed in content.  You'll want your page to contain more substantive information.  You'll find it at the following link:

http://hr.columbia.edu/benefits

While the following web page describes how to create HR web pages in order to attract new employees, the tips and information included are actually appropriate for your task this week, too. Who's to say that potential employees wouldn't be impressed by an HR department and company that provided such resources for employees? :-)

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/create-human-resources-website-2597.html

(Current) Example Assignment Submission:
The purpose of this web page is to help employees from any work environment deal with non-work related issues so they aren't as stressed with work and life. This page will help answer any of the questions they might have and make things easier for them. The web page would have three sections that would give tips and information on How to stay healthy, Financial management-Financing a home/car and Vacation/Getaway Planning. This would be followed by 5 links that will help them get started on eliminating some of these stresses in their lives. Some of these topics could be sensitive or embarrassing to publicly talk about so this website will help eliminate that embarrassment and still answer any questions.  

How to Stay Healthy: Becoming and staying healthy could completely change someone's life. Being healthy takes away from the list of things that there is to worry about, and makes you feel better about yourself, which will help relieve stress. Yoga, healthy eating, and exercise in general is a great way to relieve stress, and gives you a release at the end of a long day or can start your day off on the right path.

Financial Management- Financing a home/car: Being responsible with your finances and knowing how to properly manage your finances is another way to relieve stress in your life. Everyone has to deal with their finances at some point, which can be embarrassing and difficult so being able to understand them and to know how to properly budget will make things a lot easier for yourself and/or family. Being able to purchase your own car or home is a huge accomplishment, this can also bring a lot of stress and be a really hard decision to make alone. Getting some help along the way so you know what you can and can not afford will be a big help to make this process easier.

 Vacation/Getaway Planning: Planning a vacation can be very stressful and expensive. Having somewhere to look to answer some questions will be a big help. Vacations should be a fun time and planning them should not be any different. The key is to know the best places to vacation and make sure not to over spend.