| Course | HRM 595 Human Resource Capstone Course (HRM/595) |
|---|---|
| Week | 3 |
| Paper type | HR gap analysis |
| Length | about 1,196 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | MBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HRM 595 Week 3
From 74 Days to Fill to No Blade Skills at All: A Gap Analysis of Prairie Crest Wind Services' HR Capabilities
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
HRM/595: Human Resource Capstone Course
Week 3 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Prairie Crest Wind Services and all data are composites written for a model paper.
In Week 2, the composite turbine servicer Prairie Crest completed a workforce forecast showing that its growth strategy means bringing on close to 1,350 technicians by 2030, roughly 340 a year, plus about 80 new supervisors and a blade repair team of 45 technicians and 4 engineers. The Week 1 alignment analysis found that HR practices were not built for growth. A forecast says what the organization will need; a gap analysis says how far it is from being able to supply it, and where the distance is greatest. This paper measures those distances and ranks them.
The Diagnostic Framework
Burke and Litwin (1992) proposed a model of organizational performance and change that separates deep, transformational forces (the outside environment, the firm's purpose and direction, its leaders and its culture) from day-to-day transactional ones, structure, management practices, systems, work unit climate, tasks and skills, motivation and individual needs. Transformational factors require deeper change but shape everything else. Using the model ensures that the analysis covers leadership and culture as well as HR processes.
Evidence Gathered
The analysis drew on HR and operations data, a skills inventory of all 780 technicians, interviews with 18 supervisors and 6 managers, a survey of 210 technicians from Week 1 and a review of HR processes. Rousseau and Barends (2011) urged HR practitioners to combine organizational data, research evidence, professional judgment and stakeholder perspectives when making decisions, and this analysis uses all four.
Gap One: Hiring Capacity
The future state requires about 340 technician hires a year with time to fill under 45 days. The current state is about 190 hires a year with time to fill of 74 days, two recruiters and no pipeline programs. The gap is about 150 hires a year and 29 days. The cause is a reactive process built for replacement, not growth.
Gap Two: Technician Skills
The skills inventory rated technicians on electrical troubleshooting, hydraulics, controls software, rope access and composite repair. Only 22 percent rated advanced in electrical troubleshooting, against an operations target of 35 percent to support older turbines. None rated proficient in composite repair, against a need of 45. Rope access certification is held by 14 percent, against a need of about 20 percent for blade and repowering work.
Gap Three: Lead Technicians
Lead technicians, identified in Week 2 as key roles, number 90, and operations wants one per eight technicians, or about 140 by 2030. The skills inventory identifies about 60 technicians with the potential to become leads within two years, leaving a gap of about 40 that requires accelerated development or external hiring.
Gap Four: Supervisor Readiness
The future state requires about 80 new supervisors able to develop crews, manage safety and handle employee relations. Interviews found that current supervisors were promoted for technical skill and received no leadership training. Supervisors spend most of their time covering vacancies. Only 9 of 95 have completed any formal leadership development.
Gap Five: Rewards and Career Paths
The future state requires pay that rewards certifications and skills, competitive travel per diems and a visible path from technician to lead to supervisor. Currently, pay is based on tenure, per diems trail competitors by about $15 a day and no career ladder exists. Almost a third of technicians in their first three years, 31 percent, leave each year. Pooling many firm studies, Jiang et al. (2012) reported that practices building ability, motivation and opportunity improve outcomes through employees' human capital and motivation, which suggests rewards and career paths must be addressed together.
Gap Six: HR Data and Technology
Leaders need monthly data on headcount, hiring, turnover by group, skills and safety. Currently, HR data sit in a payroll system and spreadsheets, skills are tracked on paper certificates and turnover is reported annually. The gap is a basic HR information system and analytics capability.
Gap Seven: Leadership and Culture
Burke and Litwin's transformational factors show strengths and gaps. The safety culture is strong, and crews are loyal to supervisors. But senior leaders view HR as administrative, and the HR director is not part of strategy discussions. Managers expect hiring to happen when they request it, without planning. These assumptions will limit any HR plan unless they change.
Gap Eight: Structure and Climate
Field operations are organized by state, with little sharing of crews or practices across regions. Work unit climate surveys show high pride in safety but frustration with long travel rotations and short-staffed crews. Structure and climate gaps affect retention and the ability to staff repowering projects across regions.
Gap Nine: Safety Capacity During Growth
Safety is a strength, but growth creates a gap. The future state requires that new technicians reach safe independent work without raising the incident rate, even as hiring nearly doubles. Currently, two safety trainers deliver certification courses to 24 trainees at a time, and new hires shadow experienced technicians for two weeks. At 340 hires a year, training seats fall short by about a third, and the pool of experienced technicians available to mentor shrinks as a share of the workforce. Without added capacity, the company would face pressure to shorten onboarding, the change most likely to raise incidents.
Ranking the Gaps
Each gap was rated on impact on strategic goals and urgency, considering lead times. Hiring capacity and supervisor readiness rate high on both, because growth depends on them and development takes time. Blade skills rate high in impact and medium in urgency, since the service launches in 2027. Rewards and career paths rate high in impact and high in urgency, because turnover drives the hiring burden. HR data rates medium in impact but high in urgency, since other fixes need measurement. Lead technician development, leadership perceptions of HR and structure follow.
Causes Across Gaps
Several gaps share causes. Reactive hiring, missing career paths and unprepared supervisors all reflect an HR function built for administration in a company that has grown quickly. High turnover inflates the hiring gap and drains future leads. Addressing turnover therefore reduces several gaps at once.
Quick Wins and Long-Term Work
Quick wins include raising per diems to market, adding two recruiters and starting a community college partnership. Long-term work includes a skills-based pay structure, a leadership development program and an HR information system. Sequencing quick wins first builds credibility for longer efforts.
Objectives for the Plan
The plan sets objectives: reach 340 technician hires a year with time to fill under 45 days by 2027; reduce early-career technician turnover from 31 to 20 percent by 2028; certify 45 blade technicians by mid-2027; prepare 80 supervisors through formal development by 2030; implement an HR information system with monthly workforce reporting by 2027; and add the HR director to the executive strategy team.
Conclusion
Prairie Crest's largest gaps are in hiring capacity, supervisor readiness, rewards and career paths, blade skills and HR data, with leadership perceptions of HR underlying several of them. The Burke-Litwin model ensured that culture and leadership were examined alongside practices. Weeks 4 through 6 will address change management, HR technology and data and training and development to close the priority gaps.
References
Burke, W. W., & Litwin, G. H. (1992). A causal model of organizational performance and change. Journal of Management, 18(3), 523-545. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639201800306
Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Hu, J., & Baer, J. C. (2012). How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of Management Journal, 55(6), 1264-1294. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.0088
Rousseau, D. M., & Barends, E. G. R. (2011). Becoming an evidence-based HR practitioner. Human Resource Management Journal, 21(3), 221-235. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-8583.2011.00173.x
What the HRM 595 Week 3 instructions ask
For Week 3, the HRM 595 capstone usually requires a gap analysis of the chosen organization. Students are expected to define the desired future state using the strategy and forecast, describe the current state with evidence, measure the gaps in workforce quantity, skills, HR processes and organizational factors such as leadership and culture, analyze causes and rank gaps by their effect on strategy and the urgency of closing them. Many prompts ask for a gap table. Use a diagnostic framework to make sure nothing important is missed, rely on data rather than impressions, write measurable objectives for closing each priority gap and cite sources in APA format.
How this HRM 595 Week 3 example is built
Any wind service company that must nearly double its hiring rate, build a blade repair team from nothing and prepare 80 supervisors has gaps at many levels, and the paper organizes them with the Burke-Litwin model. Workforce gaps are measured against the forecast. Skill gaps are measured with a technician skills inventory. Process gaps include a 74-day time to fill and no career path. Leadership gaps appear in supervisors' readiness to develop crews. HR data gaps leave leaders without workforce metrics. Each gap is rated for impact and urgency in a table, shared causes are traced, quick wins are separated from long-term work and the paper sets objectives for the change, technology and development work in Weeks 4 through 6.
HRM 595 Week 3 grading rubric: where the points go
The best gap analyses define the future state precisely, measure the current state with evidence and express each gap in terms that can be closed and tracked. Faculty credit the use of a diagnostic framework to cover both transformational factors such as strategy, leadership and culture and transactional factors such as systems and practices. Ranking gaps by impact and urgency shows judgment, since no organization can fix everything at once. Measurable objectives for priority gaps connect the analysis to the plan. Using organizational data and research, presented in clear tables, with APA citations completes a strong paper. Faculty also look for an explanation of shared causes, since several gaps often trace back to one root problem, and fixing that root can close more than one gap at a time.
HRM 595 Week 3 help: mistakes to avoid
Students often list problems without describing the desired state, which makes gaps impossible to measure. Define the target first. Another gap is relying on opinions; gather data such as skills inventories, hiring metrics and survey results. Students also ignore culture and leadership, which can block every other fix. Use a framework that includes them. Avoid ranking every gap as high priority. Explain causes, not just symptoms. Write objectives that are specific and dated. Distinguish quick wins from long-term work. Finally, make sure the objectives feed directly into the remaining capstone sections, so the plan stays connected. Each objective should name a measure, a target and a date.
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HRM 595 Week 3 questions, answered
What does HRM 595 Week 3 usually cover?
It usually covers a gap analysis for the capstone organization: defining the future state, measuring the current state, identifying gaps in workforce, skills, processes, leadership and culture, ranking them and setting objectives.
Where can I find a free HRM 595 Week 3 sample paper?
The full gap analysis for a wind service company, with a ranked gap table and notes in the margin, appears on this page. Share your organization's details and a free draft of your gap analysis can be written.
What is the Burke-Litwin model?
A model of organizational performance and change that distinguishes transformational factors, such as the external environment, mission, leadership and culture, from transactional factors, such as structure, systems, management practices and climate.
How do you rank gaps in a gap analysis?
Rate each gap by its effect on strategic goals and by urgency, considering lead times and risks, then focus first on gaps that are both high impact and urgent.
What is a skills inventory?
A record of employees' skills, certifications and experience, used to compare current capabilities with those the organization will need and to identify internal candidates for development.
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