Week $8$ discussion! We made it$!$ I have learned so many interesting things in this course. I really didn't know what to expect, and day $1$ is always intimidating, but this course went by pretty quickly, at least for me$.$ Currently I don't have my future job fully mapped out. In my mind I will be on the board or a CEO of a hospital, but I may have just watched too much Greys Anatomy, and that may take many, many years. My degree being in healthcare administration, I will definitely land somewhere in the managerial$/$business side of a healthcare facility, most likely performing HR duties of some sort at times, so this class has given me some perspective on things I may run across and deal with as far as the duties of HRM$.$ Such as how to attract and manage employees, and different tools needed to promote culture within a company or organization, and really how to keep things running smoothly and successfully. I now know that I knew very little about HRM$.$ Sad to say, but I didn't know much more than you go to them with problems with pay, or conflict with other employees, but this class really gave me a lot of insight on what all HR professionals do within an organization and how important it is to have a well$-$run HR department. Being that I have never worked in HR before and didn't know what the job entails I found several things we studied very interesting. The employee life cycle was something I had never heard of before so that was a fun to learn about, and also how HR plays a role in each part of that for an employee. One thing that gave me a good laugh in the text was when it was discussing an aging workforce and the different generations and work habits and values they held. That was pretty spot on but funny to read the characterizations. Though I do think it is important to recognize that we have an aging workforce and there may soon be a shift or gap in the knowledge and expertise that those who have been doing the same job for years have. It is important for employees and even HR professionals to take advantage of training and mentorships from the more knowledgeable while they can. Back to the topic, more and more people teleworking and working remote is the current or future trend in the field of HR that I think will be the most challenging for me$.$ I think it takes extra effort to keep people collaborating and working in cohesive teams when they most likely have never met. In the office you interact on a daily basis and get to know someone differently than you do when you have never actually been in the same room. Seeing someone's face and getting to know their mannerisms and sense of humor can translate differently in person that it does through the keyboard. Working in the same office also allows for team building situations like eating lunch together or going out for happy hours but if you don't even live in the same state those things cannot happen. I do know that there are ways around this. We have discussed in this course things such as virtual "fun" meetings where you discuss things other than work and people could even have lunch virtually, but those things can be embarrassing even for the most extraverted person. Moving forward I think it will be key for HR to continue to keep employees engaged and satisfied with their employment, as this course has taught me that employee retention is a very vital part of an organization's success.$$