| Course | HRMG 3001 Human Resource Management |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion post |
| Length | About 520 words, 3 pages |
| Format | Discussion post, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HRMG 3001 Week 1
Week 1 Discussion: What You Believed About HR Before This Course
The Day a Coworker Never Came Back to Register Four: Where My Belief That HR Means Firing Came From, What the Reading Calls HR Instead, and One Practice From the Same Store
Before this course, I believed HR was the department that ends jobs. The belief has a clear source. When I was seventeen and working the registers at a grocery store, a coworker named Dana was called to the back office for a meeting with "someone from regional HR." She never came back to register four. Her apron was on the hook the next morning. For years after that, "HR" meant a stranger who showed up when something had gone wrong.
This week's reading describes something much larger. Mathis et al. (2017) present human resource management as a set of practices that shape how people are hired, trained, scheduled, paid, evaluated and kept: recruiting and selection, onboarding, compensation, training, performance appraisal and employee relations. Reading that list, I noticed that at the grocery store almost all of those practices happened, but not in an office. Our store manager, Mr. Okafor, interviewed us, set the schedule, handled raises, did our reviews and talked to us when we were late. He was doing HR every day. The regional HR person was only the part of it I could see, because she appeared at the hardest moment.
One practice from that store stands out now. Every new cashier was paired with a veteran for the first three shifts and did not run a register alone until the veteran signed a card. At the time I thought it was just how things were done. Now I think it existed to prevent two specific problems: register errors in the first weeks, which cost the store money, and new hires quitting in the first month because they felt thrown in. Dessler (2020) notes that early turnover is expensive because the costs of recruiting and training are lost, and Bauer (2010) describes structured early support as one of the main ways employers reduce it.
What is one HR practice from a job you have held, and what problem do you think it was there to solve?
Reply to Keisha
Keisha, your restaurant's rule that servers could not swap shifts without a manager's approval is a good example of a scheduling practice. What problem do you think it solved? My guess is coverage: making sure each shift kept enough experienced servers, not just enough bodies. If that is right, the rule is really a staffing practice wearing a scheduling label, and it might be worth asking whether managers ever explained it that way to the servers.
Reply to Tomas
Tomas, I liked that you described the annual safety refresher at your warehouse as an HR practice rather than just a rule from the safety office. You said everyone found it boring. I wonder whether the problem it solves, forklift injuries among workers who have grown comfortable on the job, is exactly the kind that people stop noticing. Did the warehouse track injuries before and after it started? That would tell you whether the boring hour was earning its place.
References
Bauer, T. N. (2010). Onboarding new employees: Maximizing success. SHRM Foundation.
Dessler, G. (2020). Human resource management (16th ed.). Pearson.
Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H., Valentine, S. R., & Meglich, P. A. (2017). Human resource management (15th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Reading the HRMG 3001 Week 1 instructions
In Week 1 you write a first-person post about what you believed HR was before this course and where that belief came from. Describe the belief and a specific memory or experience behind it. Then compare it with the week's reading on what human resource management covers, and say what the comparison shows. Pick one HR practice from a workplace you know and explain the problem it was there to solve. Close with a question for classmates. Keep the post to about three hundred words with one citation to the course text. In replies, ask classmates what problem their example practice was meant to fix.
Inside the HRMG 3001 Week 1 example
The post opens with the belief and the memory of a coworker who never returned to register four. Paragraph two cites Mathis and colleagues for the range of HR practices and notes that the store manager handled most of them, so HR was happening daily, out of sight. Paragraph three describes the three-shift veteran pairing and links it to register errors and early quits, citing Dessler on the cost of early turnover and Bauer on structured early support. A question asks classmates for a practice from their jobs. The reply to Keisha suggests her restaurant's shift-swap rule protects coverage; the reply to Tomas asks whether his warehouse tracked injuries before and after its safety refresher.
HRMG 3001 Week 1 rubric: what earns full marks
Opening posts are judged on honest reflection and a first connection to the course. A strong post names a specific belief and its source rather than a general opinion about HR. The comparison with the reading should show what the student noticed, not simply summarize the chapter. Naming one practice and the problem it addresses demonstrates the habit the course builds from the first week. Citing the course text accurately is expected. Strong replies put a real question about purpose to the classmate, such as what a practice prevents, rather than offering praise. Posts that stay near three hundred words and stay on one story read best.
Common HRMG 3001 Week 1 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Think back to your first jobs and the moment you first noticed HR. What did you assume HR did, and why? Write that down as one sentence, then the memory behind it. Read the chapter's list of HR practices and ask which of them happened at that workplace, and who did them. Often the answer is a manager, not an HR department. Choose one practice and ask what would have gone wrong without it; that is the problem it solves. Common weaknesses are describing HR in general terms and skipping the problem. If you need help shaping your own memory into a post, tell us about the job and we can sketch one with you. Keep your memory specific: a name, a place, a moment.
Get a HRMG 3001 Week 1 example written to your instructions
Send the week's discussion prompt with its rubric, and mention the belief about HR you would rather write from; a first-person post built on it is prepared. Your first custom sample is free, delivered within 24 to 48 hours. The grocery store and the memory attached to it are both invented, and no real workplace is named.
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HRMG 3001 Week 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HRMG 3001 Week 1 sample paper?
The register-four post and the replies to Keisha and Tomas are printed below, free.
What belief does the HRMG 3001 Week 1 post start from?
That HR is the department that ends jobs, formed after a coworker was called to a meeting with regional HR and never returned.
What does the reading show instead?
That HR is a set of practices, hiring, training, scheduling, pay and appraisal, which the store manager was performing every day.
Which practice does the post name?
Pairing each new cashier with a veteran for the first three shifts before running a register alone.
What problem did that practice solve?
Register errors in the first weeks and new hires quitting in the first month because they felt thrown in.