Staffing organizations: A comprehensive applied exercise

Applied approaches to learning have long been recognized as teaching methods that foster a deeper understanding of the subject matter than do the more traditional methods [Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.]. When used in conjunction with other pedagogical methods such as lecture, applied approaches meet the needs of students with diverse learning styles. In the context of staffing, applied exercises give students an opportunity to refine their knowledge and skills in a setting where the costs of an error are lower than in the “real world”. This article presents a comprehensive experiential exercise for use in the staffing course as an illustrative example. The exercise consists of five units in which the students write a human resource philosophy, conduct a job analysis, develop a recruiting plan and a selection system for two positions, and review applicants and select a finalist for both positions. An instructor's overview and student materials are provided.