Strategic management in one of America’s best jobs
Last year, Money magazine and Salary.com published a list of the 50 best jobs in America. Human resource manager came in at number four, behind software engineer, college professor, and financial planner. The article says that “HR is no longer about benefits administration and the employee newsletter. Those tasks are increasingly outsourced, and directors and v.p.s are considered strategic planners. Even lower-level managers are expected to design employee programs that also benefit the bottom line.” Is it any wonder that beginning with the May-June 2007 test period “strategic management” will account for 29% of the SPHR exam? That means that 58 of the scored questions on the SPHR exam relate to strategic management. If I were preparing to take the SPHR exam this spring, I would study strategic management first And I would study strategic management last. Fifty-eight questions warrant a double dose of this functional area.