Discussion Topic

Concept and Brief Description:

Job Experiences
As the book says, “Most employee development occurs through job experiences.” It is a combination of tasks, demands, problems, working with other people, and getting the job done. It is important to a person to have experiences because if they don’t have any experiences that stretch a person’s ability, they will not be able to grow and become successful. There has to be challenges that push a person out of their comfort zone. There is value in the experiences that we all go through, good and bad. We all learn better from situations that we have been through. Having a positive attitude and outlook on everything we do is also an essential part of job experiences.

Emotional Hook:

Has there been a time where the only way you could have learned something was by doing it yourself? We are not able to learn everything by reading a book. There is only one way to improve you and that is by taking action and doing something positive.

Key Points to Elicit in Discussion:

There are key events that a person needs to go through to have the experiences to become a good manager. They need to accomplish challenging job assignments and create relationships with fellow workers and supervisors. Going through situations that are tough; they may not be right for them at the time, but they will learn to develop the skills to accomplish the task.

Facilitative Questions:

Do you grow more when you are challenged or when you are doing routine things? Will certain job experiences give you the skills you need to become a successful manager?