Estimated Vacancies
Our HR Simulation went over budget this quarter and we "lost points for the game." We prepared our fourth quarter to use up all of our budget, but for the first time our estimated vacancies differed drastically from the actual resignations. Thus, our wage increase (as recommended by Professor Poonamallee) for our Level 1 employees was applied to too many employees and we went over budget.
I suppose I should take responsibility for this mistake; I should have considered that the numbers we had to go upon were mere estimations. Still, I am a little angered by this mistake. The HR simulation may be similar to actual HR practices, but I think random computer calculations like this undermine the effectiveness of the simulation.
As for "losing points," if we are not graded on the success of the simulation, I see little benefit to taking away points from our simulation. Rather, the punishment should be something that affects our goals or something we are striving for, like a blow to our morale rating.
Comments
Posted by: Jordan Schoenfeld
Posted on: October 31, 2006 01:01 PM
I have to say that I felt the same way when I saw our budget numbers come back too. Fortunately, this was addressed and we were told that this won't have much effect at all on our grades. However, it is still frustrating.
Posted by: Svetlana Tkachenko
Posted on: November 10, 2006 08:06 PM
Hi Ben,
I am sorry to hear that you are having these problems with the HR simulation. I realize that the simulation is fairly dynamic and attempts to be accurate to a real life situation, yet I have to agree with you that it is frustrating to work with numbers that go through the computer and be graded on them.
I think that numbers are not as important as the reasons behind your decisions and the things that you learn from working with the simulation. I believe that it is inevitable that mistakes will be made at first, but it is imperative that we learn why they were made before they turn into serious problems.
I guess as long as you know why things went wrong and take steps to fix them, you should be alright.
-Svetlana Tkachenko