Respond to the following:
1. Leading and Lagging Indicators
a. Answer the question: Which is more useful, explaining what happened yesterday or predicting what is likely to happen tomorrow? Explain.
b. Lagging Indicators: Provide at least two examples of lagging indicators that are or could be used by your current organization, or an organization with which you are familiar.
i. Identify each lagging indicator and provide the calculation for each.
ii. Explain how each lagging indicator is being used or could be used in the organization.
c. Leading Indicators: Give at least two examples of leading indicators that are or could be used by your current organization, or an organization with which you are familiar.
i. Identify each leading indicator and provide the calculation for each.
ii. Explain how each leading indicator is being used or could be used in the organization.
2. Indexing the Problem:
a. Writes "there is plenty of data available, some inside and some outside that the human resources departments should be monitoring and placing on a futures board" (p. 205). He then goes on to list four potential areas for identifying indices that may be placed on a futures board: Talent Availability Trends (Acquisition Function), Salary and Benefit Surveys (Support Function), Investments in Training and Education (Development Function), and Workforce Values and Need (Retention Function).
b. Use that example to complete the following:
i. Develop an Index: Develop an HR index that is relevant to your selected organization. The index should consist of both internally and externally obtainable measures that could be tracked individually and then presented as an index on a futures board.
1. Select one of the four potential areas for identifying indices as presented by Fitz-enz (2009): Talent Availability Trends (Acquisition Function), Salary and Benefit Surveys (Support Function), Investments in Training and Education (Development Function), and Workforce Values and Need (Retention Function). Optionally, you may select a different area that is particularly relevant to your selected organization.
2. Based on the above selection, construct an index of your own devising for your organization or an organization with which you are familiar. Include the name of the index and the composite of specific individual measures that the index tracks.
3. Identify the internal and external sources for obtaining the specific data used as the measures comprising your index.
4. For example, let's assume that the company is Home Health Care Advantage which has various locations around the state of Indiana. The company employs mostly CNAs (which the company can certify through a 6-week training and development program delivered in-house). The starting pay is just above minimum wage; however, there is some esteem with the healthcare job and great job significance because of the meaningfulness of helping others in need. In addition to the low pay, the workload can be quite demanding, both physically (such as lifting patients) as well as emotionally (the passing of patients). Qualified applicants must be at least 21 years of age due to state and industry regulations. The unemployment rate and economic conditions of each of the various locations around the state of Indiana can impact the potential for talent availability. This is compounded by the fact that many of the new hires are not CNAs and so they must go through six weeks of training, in addition to the time it takes to recruit and select them and to also provide orientation and on boarding. Therefore, it is important for Home Health Care Advantage to continually monitor any changes in the internal and external environments that might have impact on the availability of locally available talent pools for hire at their various facilities throughout the state of Indiana.