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Table of Contents
Staffing Plan-Activity Summary 3
How to Use this Document 4
Section 1: Activity Outline 5
Section 2: Faculty Guidance 6
Section 3: Supporting Collateral 10
Description
This group activity enlists students as consultants for developing and executing a staffing plan for a start-up company. It provides an opportunity for students to effectively use Reflect general information, Reflect “benchmarked” roles and their own insights from their Reflect results (if they have completed the assessment) to identify the key roles, behavioral attributes, and responsibilities for key company staff members.
Specifically, in groups, students use one of the optional case studies (Attachment II) or make up their own start-up company “case” as the context for identifying and scoping the fictional company’s staffing strategy and its critical positions.
Students also are responsible for coming up with interview questions for each position that would support a “smart,” competency-driven hiring decision. Once they have they completed a staffing plan, they answer a set of questions, in their groups, to assess their end product and their team’s performance.
The culminating activity task is a group presentation.
Type
This is a group activity.
Learning Objective
Through developing a staffing plan (e.g. identifying key roles, developing job descriptions, crafting interview questions) for a start-up company, students, first, build their knowledge and understanding of Reflect competencies and their “real” business world, human resource implications and, second, develop a keener sense for how to position themselves for jobs (e.g. writing a staffing plan equips one with the aptitude to effectively read and respond to job announcements).
Document Roadmap
| |
|Step 1—Introduction (30-45 min.) |
| |
|Faculty member introduces activity as a group project (Supporting Collateral-Item 1). |
|Faculty member provides an example (Faculty Guidance-Activity Example). |
|Faculty member provides overview of activity steps/milestones as outlined below. |
|Faculty member shares general grading rubric (Faculty Guidance-Grading Guidelines). |
| |
|Step 2— Group Assignment/Selection |
|(15 minutes immediately following faculty introduction of activity) |
| |
|Ideally, among group members, all the Reflect competencies, as strengths and areas for development, are represented, assuming the Reflect assessment has already been |
|completed. |
| |
|Step 3—Group Project Work (course of term; faculty-determined deadline) |
| |
|Groups identify “case” to set context for their staffing plan. They either: |
|Select one of the case study examples (Supporting Collateral-Item 4). |
|Draft their own case study, using the case study considerations |
|(Supporting Collateral-Item 3). |
|Groups identify the positions for inclusion/description in their staffing plan. |
|Within each groups student determine who will be responsible for: |
|Drafting each job description and interview questions (Supporting Collateral-Item 5). |
|Timeline for independent work completion. |
|Schedule for re-convening as a group, refining individual work, and meeting deadline for class presentation (Supporting Collateral-Item 6). |
| |
|Step 4— In Class Preparation for Group Presentations (a few hours of class allotted time and possibly after class time within a day or so presentations) |
| |
|(Supporting Collateral-Item 7). |
| |
|Step 5— Final Presentations (15 minutes for each presentation with Q&A) |
| |
|Provide Feedback (Supporting Collateral-Item 8). |
|Step 6— Final Group Discussion |
| |
|(Supporting Collateral-Item 2). |
|HOW TO MIX THINGS UP |
|Ideas to modify the activity, introduce new design and delivery |
|options, and increase the difficulty level for students. |
| |
|Faculty can limit the options available to students regarding the case |
|studies – requiring students use the examples provided OR requiring |
|that student groups make up their own cases. |
|The activity can include a requirement that students detail one |
|position that is currently NOT a benchmarked Reflect role. |
|To reduce the implementation time of the activity, faculty can select |
|one case study and divide students into groups by key positions (HR |
|Manager, Marketing Manager). Each group is subsequently required to |
|scope that particular position as opposed to creating an entire |
|staffing plan. While this option limits some of the activity’s learning|
|opportunities, students still gain appreciation and knowledge for how |
|the competencies impact job descriptions and candidate selection. |
| |
|Faculty members can require students to participate in mock interviews,|
|with other groups thereby actually practicing, in the roles of job |
|candidates, their responses to questions for key positions. |
Implementation Notes
• This activity is designed as a group project.
• Students must complete the Reflect assessment before embarking on this activity. It’s in fact important that they have also had debriefed the results and had time to complete a thorough, independent review of them.
• This activity will likely require 4-8 hours to complete, assuming that each member of a group take primary responsibility for scripting out a role, leaving time for group work to finalize the staffing plan, develop interview questions, and respond to “post mortem” questions in preparation for their class presentations.
• Faculty members ultimately determine the activity’s scope. Any activity process details (e.g. steps, timelines, timing, materials) as reflected in the outline below are strictly suggestions and are dependent on faculty-determined course structure and requirements. As one example and depending on academic needs, faculty can modify the number of job descriptions “required” for activity completion.
Opportunities to Apply Reflect Competencies
Through its implementation, the activity offers the student opportunities to build insight and skill on:
✓ Operational thinking: The activity’s successful execution depends on student’s effectiveness at project planning.
✓ Decision Making: The activity requires students to make
decisions regarding roles and responsibilities and activity scope. While broad, this level of decision-making contributes to the activity’s successful execution.
✓ Innovation: The activity provides students with opportunities to think creatively and approach the assignment in innovative ways.
✓ Collaboration & Valuing Others: Group members’ ability to collaborate and place value on individual member’s ideas and contributions plays an important role in project success.
Through its content focus, the activity offers the student an opportunity to align specific competencies with specific roles within an organization and, in so doing, gain a stronger appreciation for the importance of each competency. Students’ experiences will vary depending on the competencies on which they focus in their individual work.
Activity Example
Chris is one member of a four-person group assigned to develop a staffing plan for a start-up company. The case study for this company goes something like this…
“Chris” and his/her team have received an angel investment to make their dream a reality – the launch of a “design your own” cupcake application and bakery. They have tested and refined both products (the app and the cupcake recipe), secured storefront property, and, with their investors, established revenue goals for Year 1 of “CakeArt.” The next order of business is for them to hire a staff of five, excluding “retail staff” and bakers, to lead the effort. The owners have identified the five key roles that they need:
✓ HR Manager
✓ Logistics Consultant
✓ Marketing Manager
✓ Operations Manager
✓ Financial Manager
In order to find the right people for these roles, the next order of business is for the team to develop job descriptions for each role and conduct a search. When they have identified a few candidates for each position, they’ll also need to be prepared with interview questions.
The team hopes that within a relatively short period of time, they’ll be ready to launch CakeArt.
With their fictional marching orders clear, Chris and his/her team work create their staffing plan.
Grading Guidelines
It is recommended that teams receive a letter grade for this activity based on:
✓ Each group’s quality completion of the staffing plan/position scoping as evidenced by job descriptions and interview questions.
✓ Each group’s class presentations.
✓ Participation and engagement during class discussions.
✓
Materials, as referenced in the activity outline, appear on the subsequent pages. When applicable, instructions are provided to the user (faculty member, student). Faculty members are encouraged to edit the materials to suit their needs and to align with their preferences for activity implementation. This section is divided into two primary categories, collateral for teachers and collateral for students.
ITEM 1 FOR TEACHERS:
Script for Introducing Activity
Use the following script and/or enhance it as necessary to meet your needs. The accompanying slides for this activity also support its introduction.
This “staffing plan” case study-driven activity will help cement your understanding of the Reflect competencies and how they impact staffing/hiring decisions. Because it is a group activity, it also provides you with opportunities to collaborate on project activities and outcomes, leveraging Reflect competencies in the process.
Your goal is to use case study information as a foundation for “inspiring” and developing a staffing plan and collateral materials for a core staff of five for a start-up company. You can either use one of the case studies we’ve provided or create one on your own, potentially based on a start-up idea you have.
Your specific activities will involve:
✓ Reviewing or conceptualizing your case.
✓ Determining the five roles that are critical for the start-ups success and outlining their knowledge, skills, and behavior.
✓ Identifying interview questions as part of the screening process for candidates for each role.
The culminating task involves preparing responses to activity “debrief” questions in your small group and presenting your staffing plan to the class.
This activity will require you and your group members to work together in meeting activity milestones and delegating roles and responsibilities. See PowerPoint below:
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ITEM 2 FOR TEACHERS:
Final Discussion Points
The following questions may help to frame a final class discussion about this activity. The goal is three-fold:
✓ To leverage student ideas about the competencies relative to the activity.
✓ To solicit student insights about the competencies relative to the process.
✓ To invite student perspectives on the implications of this activity on their professional career knowledge and choices.
1) What did you learn about the competencies as a result of this activity?
a) Competencies that are most important in “leadership” positions?
b) Competencies that are less important?
c) “Tension” between competencies (e.g. How does an HR manager in the middle of a downsizing reconcile the possible tension between critical “valuing others” and “resilience” competencies. How does an operations manager in a highly innovative work environment position him/herself? How does a marketing manager separate the necessary “interpersonal intuition” that he/she must have with his/her external clients with his/her peers internally?).
d) Strategic self-awareness is a competency that is not considered “job” critical but it is critical to one’s development and growth professionally. How do leaders in organizations ensure that they are maintaining the “edge” on this competency?
e) When positions vary in the relative importance of competencies and leadership teams are supposed to work collaboratively, what do individual team members need to do (e.g. operations and HR, sales and marketing and innovation)?
2) As part of the activity, you identified candidate interview questions for each position. What motivated the selection of the particular questions? Why did they rise to the top?
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3) What did the group experience “teach” you about the competencies?
a) Were any competencies more critical than others?
b) Did you Reflect results align with your capabilities on the project team?
c) Did your experience as a team member heighten areas of development for you or areas where you can better leverage your strengths?
4) What new insights do you have about professional future/career based on this activity?
a) Are there types of positions that intrigue you more?
b) Are there ones that you believe are ill fitted for you?
c) What do you need to do to position yourself for comparable positions? To what extent are you prepared and how will you further prepare to respond effectively to interview questions like the ones you developed?
ITEM 3 FOR STUDENTS:
Case Study Considerations
If your team elects to create its own case study, following are some criteria to consider.
• A “startup” company concept that someone in your group would like to investigate further for his/her own personal/professional goals.
• A “startup” company in which a group member has been involved directly or has intimate knowledge but that needs a staffing plan.
• A “startup” company that requires a number of multiple roles/positions to operate effectively even in its launch stage.
• A “startup” company that responds to critical business/consumer need.
• A “startup” company that responds to a business that recently failed.
ITEM 4 FOR STUDENTS:
Case Study Examples
Following are examples of case studies on business start-ups. You can use and/or enhance one of the examples below and/or use Item 3 criteria to create your own “case.”
CAKE-ART
“Chris” has received an angel investment to make his/her dream a reality – the launch of a “design your own” cupcake app and bakery. He/she has tested both products (app and cupcake), secured storefront property, and with his/her investors, revenue goals for Year 1 of “CakeArt” have been established. The next order of business is for him/her to hire a staff of five, excluding “retail staff” and bakers, to lead the effort. Chris has identified the five key roles that he/she needs:
✓ HR Manager
✓ Logistics Consultant
✓ Marketing Manager
✓ Operations Manager
✓ Financial Manager
“At Your Office” Concierge Service
“Sam,” a self-described burned-out corporate executive, is launching a new business that provides “nuts and bolts” concierge services to corporate executives, but with a real personal touch. His/her value add is that his/her company gets to know each of his/her individual clients extremely well so that services are tailor made to meet each clients’ lifestyle needs. Sam’s independent wealth will enable him/her to invest the resources necessary to secure six corporate clients in the first year of operations but he/she needs a staff of individuals to establish and run the show.
Who does Sam need on his/her five-person team? What will they need to be able to do?
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Summer Fun
“Pat” recognizes that things change in the summer. Schedules are uprooted as the school year ends, vacations needs to be planned, down time is more permissible and expected. Pat’s job is to help busy families plan their worlds from June to August, based on their summer goals and budgets. Pat involves the whole family in the intake process to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard. Pat sees his/her business as primarily virtual to support families nationwide. Beyond her operational staff that works at ground level, Pat needs a leadership team of who can help envision and launch his/her business in a number of different cities.
Beyond a Sales Manager and a Marketing Manager, who else does Pat need on his/her team? What additional position, not reflected in Reflect’s benchmarked positions, would be a requisite addition to Pat’s leadership team?
Closet in a Crate
Something for everyone, the Closet in a Crate company is the brainchild of “Kelly.” Kelly has developed a product line of “crates of clothing” that share a common color palette and style. As an example, the “little girl in green” crate includes three shirts, a baseball cap, two pairs of shorts, one pair of pants, a skort, a dress, a belt, baseball cap, and sweater. All items are interchangeable. There are crates for every member of the family, in five different colors. Kelly has the seed money available to launch the business but she now needs to hire temp-to-perm contractors to support her launch and expansion of the crate line.
Who should Kelly hire? Identify five benchmarked Reflect positions and one new one on your own? Develop job descriptions for these positions.
ITEM 5 FOR STUDENTS:
Job Description and Interview Question Template
After assigning positions to each team member, each individual should complete the following for their assigned position.
Application
Organizational Overview
Describe the hiring organization:
Position General Overview
Provide a general overview of the position for which you’re hiring:
Key Position Responsibilities
Outline below the position’s key responsibilities. This will most likely be fictional based on your start up case study but you can certainly research comparable roles to further understand baseline requirements for similar roles:
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Required Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviors
This area requires you to sufficiently understand the role so you can detail the “technical” requirements of the position. It also requires your significant understanding of Reflect competencies so that you can effectively outline the critical skills and behaviors for the role. If you have already completed and received your individual Reflect report, you can also use its results to inform the content of this section:
Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviors
This section complements the above one and also leverages the “important” and “helpful” categories for benchmarked positions:
Miscellaneous Considerations
This final section allows you to be creative (based on the case study) but also invites you to consider special Reflect -inspired information to support your position detailing:
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Interview Questions
In the following section, identify at least five questions the responses to which would support you making an informed hiring decision for this ideal candidate for this position Also, provide the rationale for including that question over other possible ones (e.g. how does each question facilitate candidate selection, what information does the question leverage and how is it critical). Questions should leverage the candidate characteristics that are important based on the job description. Imagine questions that, if considered for the position yourself, you would find challenging but critical to answer effectively. Questions should be “open,” soliciting from respondents more than “yes” and “no” responses:
1.
2.
3.
4.
ITEM 6 FOR STUDENTS:
Staffing Plan Presentation Outline
The following outline may be helpful to you as you prepare your 15-minute presentation on your staffing plan. While you are not required to follow the outline exactly, it reveals important discussion points that student groups should address. “Discussion Prep Questions” are also available to help you prepare for the presentation.
I. Introduction of Case Study
II. Overview of Staffing Plan
a. Number positions
b. Titles of positions
c. Rationale for each position (e.g. why does your start-up need this position, what’s its value-add over other possible “first” positions to fill)
III. Review of Each Position (each group member should present on the role that he/she was assigned)
a. Title
b. Primary roles and responsibilities
c. Critical competencies
i. Descriptions
ii. Relationship to job position and role requirements
ITEM 7 FOR STUDENTS:
Group Presentation Preparation Questions
You are responsible for presenting your staffing plan to your classmates as a culminating task for this activity. After your presentation, audience members (e.g. peer, faculty) will have an opportunity to pose questions to your group from the following ones that appear below. Selection of questions will be random. Your group has a few hours of class time to discuss responses to these questions.
Staffing Plan Product
1. What inspired your group’s selection of its job roles?
2. Which role was the hardest to detail? The easiest?
3. Which positions are most vulnerable to “failure” based on its requirements? Which positions have the most likelihood of success?
4. If you were to staff the positions with current members of your team, who would be the ideal candidate for each role? Why?
5. If you had to downsize and cut one role, what would it be? If you could add an additional member of your leadership team, what role would you add? Would it replicate a current role?
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6. At the on-boarding/staffing launch celebration, what would be the number one message that you would want to convey to all hired staff about your needs for their competency/behavior? In other words, if you had to identify one or two Reflect competencies that you think are critical for every staff person to demonstrate, what would they be?
7. Imagine a six months into the start-up’s launch, you need terminate one of your employees. Pick one of your positions and imagine the scenario that might contribute to his/her firing, if failure to demonstrate critical competency was the “infraction.”
Your Team’s Process
1. For this activity, which of the Reflect competencies were most critical to your team’s work and implementation?
2. Which competencies were least important?
3. If you were to give your team a grade on its competency demonstration, where did it shine? Where not?
4. What have you learned individually about yourself in the execution of the project? What are the implication for your own learning and development?
ITEM 8 FOR STUDENTS:
Peer Evaluation Form
Use the following form to identify and articulate your 30-day experiment idea. Faculty will be using your responses to the questions below to approve or reject the proposed focus of your experiment.
It’s important to note that at this stage experiment focus can be relatively broad, recognizing that refinement of your activities/process will occur over 30 days.
It’s also important to note that your behavioral focus does not need to be for a competency on which you received low results.
Group/Group Members:
Case:
Your Name:
Assess the group’s success at identifying critical positions to staff its company?
Assess the group’s success at scoping each position and leveraging appropriate competencies as part of the process.
What is one thing this group did really well?
What is one thing you would recommend they change for a comparable project in the future?
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Staffing Plan Activity
Staffing Plan-Activity Summary
How to Use this Document
Section 1-Activity Outline
a. Step-by-Step Process
b. Supplies Needed
Section 2-Faculty Guidance
a. Implementation Notes
b. Mixing it Up
c. Competency Applications
d. Activity Examples
e. Grading Guidelines
Section 3-Supporting Materials
a. For Teachers—Presentations, Probing Questions, Scripts
b. For Students—Handouts
Section 1: Activity Outline
Section 2: Faculty Guidance
Section 3: Supporting Collateral
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