Just a few moments ago I passed the Objective Assessment for C202 Managing Human Capital. Despite my previous intentions to cram for the exam, I studied less than two hours total over the last two days. I did hit all the areas from the Coaching Report where I missed questions and I reviewed labor laws and some other less familiar terms I encountered on the pre-assessment. With that focused study I scored a 91% on the exam tonight which constitutes my first verifiable A. Since I did not receive percentage scores on my performance assessments for the first course I completed, it is hard to determine what my grade would have been. That’s the interesting part that keeps coming up for me in this program. The competency based approach is entirely unconcerned with grades. The entire point is to demonstrate competency in the curriculum. My time tracker indicates 15.8 hours of total time spent on C202 with 13.3 hours dedicated to study. Those hours are spread across the last twelve days to earn three more Competency Units (the WGU equivalent of credits). I did encounter terminology and various concepts that were not familiar to me, but none of the material was difficult for me to understand. Given my years of experience in the corporate world I’ve been exposed to most of the concepts in this course from the perspective of the employee. I’m sure I encountered some of the concepts in my undergraduate work as well. The test had some definition type questions. A number of the questions required application of concepts to choose the correct answer. These were probably the most difficult questions and arguably best demonstrate competency in a concept. Choosing between similar responses that can only be distinguished by specific interpretation of a concept might be as challenging as multiple choice can be. Questions asking what specific laws or concepts address are basically memory tests which represents the fundamental core of the current American educational system. Whether you go to Harvard or elementary school, rote learning persists. In some cases, you just have to remember something. Sometimes if you can’t remember a detail, you can’t perform a task. The objective assessment was on par with the pre-assessment. I thought a few of the questions were more challenging and required a deeper understanding of the concept. Perhaps this is reflected in the 40 minutes I spent on the OA versus the 29 minutes spent on the pre-assessment.
Managing Human Capital was of lesser interest to me personally than previous courses and I found parts of the text boring and/or frustrating. For me much of the tedium of Human Resources concepts stems from the political correctness that is woven throughout. If I were to base my opinion of humans and particularly Americans on several of the chapters I would be led to believe people who run enterprises hate and exploit anyone that they would have work for them. Therefore only numerous laws with vague names could possibly protect the poor, helpless filth that would dare take a job. I know this is a slightly dramatic interpretation on the subject, but my own personal views can’t be completely ignored when analyzing the material. In fact, not comparing my beliefs and ideas against the subject materials would be a rather superficial approach. Given this is a master’s degree it would seem deficient to not spend time comparing and contrasting my views and those presented in the course. While I won’t discount historical events that led to the reactions and laws mentioned in this course, I dislike theories that would portray individuals as victims instead of agents unto themselves, capable of navigating their own course. One benefit of modern technology is the ability of the individual to argue their position on a larger stage. This brings greater communication parity between large groups and the individual. In some cases the individual actually has a stronger voice than an organization today.
I’m pleased with my results in the course. Any thoughts I may have entertained previously about pursuing a career path through HR have been tempered. Spending that much time analyzing jobs and applicants, discussing staffing strategies, and performing many of the other day to day functions does not sound engaging to me. The text Human Resource Management made it clear that employee engagement is a powerful and desirable concept. I’ll take what I have from this course and look to another subject to find my personal career engagement.
The last two days I listened to an interview with Scott Adams. Adams told a funny and interesting story about using affirmations to raise his GMAT score from a 77 to a 94. I spent time throughout the day today focusing on receiving a 90% on my exam. I visualized what a 90% on the test results page would look like. After scoring an 84% on the pre-test two nights ago I was a bit incredulous to see the 91% tonight after only studying an additional 100 minutes. Does an additional 100 minutes of reviewing flashcards and key concepts equal a 7% increase in a test? Does a personal affirmation repeated all day have a greater impact? I won’t sit staring at the score as long as Adams stared at his GMAT results but the experience won’t be soon forgotten. [I just used this paragraph to send an email to Scott Adams thanking him for sharing his story on the podcast.] It’s now almost midnight and way past my bedtime.