Entries in the Category "MGMT250"
What Should Be Done About Mendola?
I think the Tom Mendola case was too brief to really figure out who was to blame. It was clear cut: he was a kid, he had A.D.D., and he wasn’t paying attention to the duties his job required. I don’t see a way for any manager to sympathize with the guy. It is quite simple: he didn’t do his job, as was stated when he received the job. Maybe the manager expected a certain level of maturity and focus that he didn’t have. If that was the case, then the manager should figure out a new way to test employees before he hires them, e.g. see if the prospect can do his job in an environment of constant distractions. If the prospective employee leaves every time he hears the ice cream truck roll around, then the manager knows he’s no good. Focus is a really important aspect of any job. If a worker does not have discipline and focus, then that worker needs outside training, most likely by his parents. Tom, if ever he is to raise a family and make a decent income, needed more discipline instilled in him. As sad as it may be, that is not the job of the employer. Their job is to hire him and, if he doesn’t perform well, fire him. There is no room for a manager to level with the employee in terms of sympathizing with his situation. That would not work out for the good of the company. If every manager got involved in their employees’ personal lives than the company would eventually be overrun my competitors.
Learning From your HR team
This semester I really did enjoy working with my HR group. We had some good discussions, but more importantly, I learned some necessary skills that are needed when working in a group. The only groups I have ever worker in were sports teams. I had never really worked in a group for a long- term project before. There were other aspects of my group that went beyond the stated goals. Over the weeks we developed a sense of trust with the other members. No one worried about whether or not someone will get their job done because we recognized that everyone had an equally important role to the success of the group. I think this sense of trust becomes important when you are a leader in a workplace. Once you can trust the people you work with, they gain respect for you, and in turn produce better work. Basically, I feel as though the HR project had more meaning beyond the standard level of input and results (given the fact that I thought our results were random at times). It developed a true sense of what it is like to work with other people for a given period of time, and even if people feel as though they didn’t learn much from it, maybe they can find meaning in that.
Effective feedback
I think that the only effective feedback is the truth. It takes no more than good, honest remarks or suggestions to let a person know how he/ she can improve. In any workplace, whatever the boss has to say must be said, and I disagree when people say, “well… I think the boss should be nice and respect the emotions of the employee.” The manager should say exactly what needs to be said to motivate the employee. That’s not to say he should scream his head off, but he should be firm and commanding when conveying his point. I also think that it is partly the manager’s fault if the employee reaches a point where he is completely slacking off. The manager should constantly keep tabs on the employees under him. This would ensure that every small problem in the level of efficiency or quality of work is taken care of in a timely manner.
Staying True To Goals
As I was sitting down, thinking of my Learning Plan, I realized that I do not have too many long term goals. Most of my goals are attainable in the near future, such as getting good grades, going on trips to different areas of the country/ world. I know that this winter break I am going to Israel and during this trip I hope to gain a cultural experience as well as form new relationships with Jewish students across America. This is definitely a goal that I would like to attain by mid- January. For me, especially in this time of growth and confusion (as to what I want to do or who I want to become), goals keep changing. For a while I wanted to study music and become a professional musician, but I realized that that does not always guarantee a financially secure career. As long term goals keep changing, I realize that it is important to stay true to my short term goals, because those will slowly pave the way towards my future.
ABC's... as easy as 123?
I thought that the ABC’s was not a good representation of a real appraisal situation. The ABC’s measured the quality of teaching, but it did not measure true effectiveness. The point of the exercise was to have three people teach a lesson, without any specific instruction, and get critiqued based on how well they taught the lesson or how effective they were. The only problem with this idea is that effectiveness is only measured by how well a certain goal is met. The goal of this exercise was to teach people the alphabet, yet they already knew their ABC’s. How is possible to measure effectiveness if the original goal has already been met (hopefully in kindergarten, or earlier since these are Case students). I think it would have been better to teach a new lesson, something that no one has ever heard of, even a completely fabricated idea. This would have been a good measure of effectiveness because the ultimate goal, knowledge, would have truly been met.
To Reward or Not to Reward
I find it interesting how some people believe it is important to reward employees, while others believe it isn't necessary. I feel as though rewarding employees can have many undeterminable outcomes. On hand, employees will feel more of a connection with the company by receiving rewards and special bonuses. On the other hand, if employees begin to expect continual rewards, then they will start to expect them. This can affect the company negatively because if employees can’t be rewarded due to a decrease in the company’s budget, then employees will start to slack off and do their job poorly. I think the best rewards should be given out in a random fashion, so the employee does not know when he/ she will receive one, but will understand that good work is contributes to receiving bonuses and rewards.
Career Interviews: Intimidating and Rewarding
The career interview was probably the most difficult aspect of the Learning Plan assignment. On one hand I was comfortable with the process because I was familiar with one of my interviewees. On the other hand, I had to interview someone I had never met before. This idea was somewhat terrifying to me, because this person was not only a prestigious corporate lawyer, but I had no idea what to ask him. During my senior year of high school I participated on a mock interview team, yet I could not relate that to his job because he didn’t do litigation. I was afraid to interview him, because if he didn’t do a lot of talking, I would have to ask more questions. Before I interviewed him I quickly did a google search for “corporate lawyers.” I didn’t really find anything too helpful.
Luckily the man I interviewed, John Leehuimus, was very interested in discussing the aspects of his job. He was interested in talking about the positive side of his job, just as much as the negative side. I learned that he values the control he had in his job because he is own boss. He also discussed how he balances work with life, considering how he governs his work schedule. This conversation made me feel more comfortable about interviewing people, because I realized that although jobs can be highly stressful, people are usually able to find a level of fascination and satisfaction with the work they do.
Lowering Harrah's Turnover
While reading the Harrah’s case, there was one section that stuck out in my mind. One of the goals of HR was to decrease turnover significantly, because Harrah’s entertainment had turnover as high as 70% in some areas. One of the incentive plans was directed towards rewarding managers with a bonus. This bonus would be 25% based on market share, 25% based on customer satisfaction, and 50% based on operating income. if turnover was a primary goal of Harrah’s, why wouldn’t they focus on the people who could direct turnover the most: the managers. The managers’ bonus says nothing about employee satisfaction or lowering turnover. It is solely based on profit and customer satisfaction. Harrah’s corporate headquarters has little control over turnover. The most they can do is implement a company- wide policy about meeting a certain goal, yet even that might not be effective. What Harrah’s should have done was directed about 30% of the managers’ bonuses towards lowering turnover. This would be effective because managers have a lot to do with the overall morale of their location. The managers would also know more about what makes their employees happy, because they work with them on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, in conjunction with Harrah’s headquarters, the managers of each location could devise a plan to improve turnover, and in effect produce a better job environment.
Self- Assessment
I think that the Learning Plan was a difficult assignment to carry out successfully. In order to do the assignment I had to do careful reflection on my life, yet I was only able to reflect in a broad sense. It was difficult to narrow down aspects of my life into what was meaningful, or what made me who I am today or who I would like to be in the future. Personal assessment is a difficult task, because it is based on recognizing one’s strengths and weaknesses. Many people are unaware of their strengths and weaknesses or where they need improvement. Self- assessment is a good skill to have, only if you use it to improve in the future. People who understand where they need improvement, rather than solely focus on their better skills can get a lot of an assignment such as this. It is a way to help them become well rounded, understanding their flaws as equally recognizable as their skills.
Creigton's Decision...Why it Affected His Job
The Jonah Creighton Case presented a very important concept that most people don’t consider in their job. If you were presented with a life/ job- altering decision to make, would you make the decision that is better for you, or better for what you believe in? Most people believe that it’s easy to make a decision, that all you have to do is make the right decision according to your principles. In the job world, a decision, such as the one Creighton had to make, is thought of more in terms of consequences. What will happen to me? Will I get fired? These are the guiding questions that Jonah faced. When facing these questions, I believe that losing his job should have been Jonah’s greatest fear. He should have been guided by what he believed in, yet in this process he should have had a keen idea of the consequences of his actions. This would have helped him handle the situation much better. Instead of Jonah saying, “That’s not right... I can’t let that happen!” He should have been saying, “That should not be acceptable in this company, especially since we value diversity.” The rationale of the second statement could have affected his job/ life- altering situation more positively. In reacting how he did, he completely deteriorated the prospects of a job as prestigious and financially secure as the one he had.
Avoiding or Solving Conflict?
After completing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I realized that my primary mode of living is focused internally. The results considered me to be an idealist. I agreed with most of the comments made on this type of person. They are good listeners, they care about others, and they want to apply their energy towards the greater good of the people around them. One thing that struck me was the fact that this type of person prefers to avoid conflict. I understood this to be a more negative comment. Anyone who avoids conflict does not like to focus on solving problems. They prefer to let issues blow over.
Avoiding conflict can not only hurt the person directly involved, but it can affect everyone around you in a job setting. As a manager, you are responsible for the actions of the people who work for you, and in a way, they rely on your decision making. If a conflict arises, I think it is important to discover the solution before it turns into a bigger problem.
Understanding your Values
When I chose my values from a list of forty- nine values and beliefs, I realized how difficult it is to discern what is important to me. It is hard to cross a value off a list and move on to the next because every value on that list is important to me. After choosing fifteen values, I realized that not even half the battle was over. I had to choose ten of the fifteen, and then five out of the ten values. I had trouble relating this exercise to Management class, after figuring out my five most important values, I realized how useful this exercise could be.
No matter what job position I hold in life, it is necessary that I have a clear idea of what is important to me. Once I realize what values and characteristics I rank above others, I will know more about who I am and why I make the decisions I make. The ability to assess your own personality and motives gives you a broad, more open- minded view on other people’s ideas. This is true because once you realize what is important to you, you can understand that your values are different from the values of others. This is why people make different decisions. They care about the outcome of the decision, but their decision is affected by their conflicting values.
An Approach to Discipline
When I think of discipline, one thing that comes to my mind is the ancient way of the Samurai. Another idea that comes to mind is an effective tool used by managers and supervisors in order to get employees to do a job efficiently. It is difficult to state the right “method of action” in order to get people to be more productive in their jobs, yet discipline is definitely a necessary tool in order for a company to see results.
It is important for managers to keep in mind that discipline is not only the use of verbal force, and, without saying, it certainly is not the use of physical force on a worker. Discipline should be more “self- taught.” By that, I mean it should be established by the manager in a job atmosphere, but instilled in the worker. One may ask, “How is it possible to get a worker to discipline himself?” Although it is hard to find a clear answer to that, this question can be broken down to fit the best interest of the employee. In America, a free country, Americans can pretty much go from job to job without feeling pressured to stay in one job in one industry. Therefore, it is hard to say that discipline will get a worker to work because it could just get them to quit their job and move on. Yet, in order to properly discipline a worker, I think it is important for a manager to establish goals and rewards for their employees. Higher pay, promotions, any benefits at all can make a job more valuable to a worker, thus giving them clearer direction in their work. Once this is established, a manager can set certain guidelines for a getting a job done correctly with more ease. In other words, when going through a dark tunnel, a person wants to know that there is light at the end. With clear statements and guidelines as to how a worker can benefit, a job (the dark tunnel) can be a means to propel the worker towards the company’s goals, which in turn will allow the worker to gain company benefits (the light).
In order to effectively use discipline a manager should understand what’s best for the employee. This in turn will encourage the worker to become more disciplined and “the good of the worker” will eventually become interchangeable with “the good of the company.”
Diversity...Why is it Important?
These days people argue that diversity is vital to a balanced job environment. It seems to me as though diversity, in the modern job world, is exploited in order to uphold a company’s image; to make the company feel as though they are doing the right thing by fulfilling a quota. The Oxford English Dictionary defines diversity as the condition or quality of being diverse, different, or varied; difference, unlikeness. According to this definition, diversity is not only racial diversity, but it is cultural, religious, and behavioral diversity as well. People coming from different backgrounds have a lot to offer to a company. Not only do they bring different ideas to the table, but their opinions on company strategies as well as direction are based on a more worldly view. Diversity is not just allowing the Jewish guy to work with the Indian guy, but it is expanding a company’s objectives, and helping them think outside of the box. A company’s main objective, aside from making money, is reaching out to as many people (customers) as possible. In a diverse world, it is important to maintain a diverse job environment that is conducive to meeting this objective of world-wide networking.
Effective Interviewing
If my sister were to walk in my room and ask me for last minute interviewing techniques for her job interview I would say, "Sorry Maggie, I've never been to a job interview." This doesn't necessarily mean that I have no clue as to what an interviewer would expect to hear. When it comes down to it, whether it is a job interview for a top-notch law firm, an interview with a grad-school admissions officer, or an interview for a job at the ice-cream parlor down the street, all people who interview want to see one quality: Dedication. Once an interviewer sees clear dedication in the interviewee for whatever he/she is being interviewed for, the biggest part of the "interviewing battle" is over. Proving honest dedication to one's work is like proving reliability, and being reliable is key in any atmosphere where you work with others as a team to get a job done.
After you prove honest dedication to your work, the person interviewing you for the job will have to try hard to find a reason not to hire you. That is why interviewers base their judgments on your personality as well. Are you outgoing? Are you shy and soft-spoken? All of these matter to an interviewer who is trying to assess your qualities for a job. It is up to you to prove that these qualities exist.