Nicholas Decesare's Online Journal

Would you rehire Tom Mendola?

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 18:03:03 EST

This is a difficult question to answer. It sounds like the family really needs the money, and the father is to ill to hold a job. His mother has to stay at home to care for the other nine children, so you hate for fire someone who has 11 other people depending on him. That being said, Tom needs to be let go. He is a bad employee to have at any company. Not only does he lose interest in his work very quickly, but he keeps co-workers from working to their potential. This is a dangerous kind of employee to have working for you. Even though you want to help Tom out because his situation is so bad, you have to let him go because you are running a business. Even though I feel he should be fired, the company does have a responsibility to the community, so helping Tom could be a benefit to the image of the company.

Jonah Creighton

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 00:11:18 EST

The Jonah Creighton case is an interesting one. Jonah finds an element of discrimination within the companies’ foreign offices. He tires to bring it up to his superiors, but nothing seems to be getting done. The question was asked in class when he should have brought it up initially. I think Jonah should have brought it up the minute he found out about it, which would have been February of 1990. If he did not do it then, he should have done it when he got back from his trip to Australia. When it comes down to what he should have done, I think it was pretty obvious that the company he was working for had some racists working in upper management. Not only were they informed of the injustices that were going on, but they were given a plan on how to research it and still did nothing. I think Jonah needs to realize that working for this company is in conflict with his morals, and that this is not the place for him. He has put in five solid years there, and that should be enough to give him experience and a solid recommendation from the company, but he should definitely leave the company.

Firing Someone

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 23:43:46 EST

Firing someone is probably the hardest part of being in charge. The best advice you can get about this is if you cannot deal with it, do not take a position that would require you to do so. In other words, do not own your own company if you do not want to have to fire someone. The article we read gave us some helpful hints about the correct way to fire someone. The biggest thing they stressed was to be prepared. By being prepared, you can avoid a lot of the potential problems that can happen with someone who is unhappy about being fired. Being prepared includes having written documents regarding the reason for firing, having a final paycheck, and having security ready in case the situation gets bad. The article also said that firing should be the last option, and that you should try to work with the employee to try and make things work. I disagree with this because if someone is not doing what they are hired to do then they should be fired.

Fear of Feedback

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 23:42:58 EST

I do not understand why there is all of this research on the fear of feedback. These studies cover all of the different ways people deal with negative feedback, and how that can be detrimental to their success as an employee. These articles never really go over the root of the problem. The big issue here is why the relationships between managers and employees are so bad that the feedback is taken personally. If managers were properly trained in simple areas like communication skills, and relation building then there would be no reason to worry about this fear of feedback. That being said, I know that the relationships are difficult to build, but I believe it is essential to a successful company. Just a side note, the worst way to deal with negative feedback is by brooding.

Performance Appraisals

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 23:41:57 EST

We had a section on performance appraisals in our HR simulations. As a group, we decided to have our managers appraised by the people they manage. When we got our results back, the managers were angry that we had chosen to let workers appraise their superiors. I am not sure why they were mad because it is the only way to get a comprehensive performance review. If an individual only gets feedback from their superiors they will not really know how effective of a manager they are. There is also the idea of self-appraisals. We chose to do this as well, but I did not want to. I think doing a self-appraisal can be extremely beneficial to you personally, but I do not believe that it should be included in your performance review for the company.

Smart Goals

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 23:40:57 EST

I have a serious issue with the smart goals. I agree that a goal must be specific, measurable, aligned, and reachable. These are all necessary to have a useful goal. I do not feel that ALL goals must have a time constraint. There are some goals that do need to have an element of time because they would not work otherwise, but some do not need this. If there is a goal that I wish to accomplish before I die, and it is specific, measurable, aligned, and reachable then I believe it is a useful goal. In class, this concept of a goal before I die was shot down.

Ethics in the Business Environment

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 20:43:31 EST

It seems that a lot more companies are stressing ethics within their companies. This is not surprising since the general public has been losing faith in large companies since Enron. I see this as a wise investment for companies if they want the public to have a positive image of their company. There are a lot of different methods for this type of training, such as classroom or internet. I think any kind of training of a matter this serious is best done face-to-face. I believe the message is accepted and understood better that way. That being said, I know companies are very large and spread out in some cases, and that internet training is the only way it can be done. I do not think that all this training is necessary. If companies were less focused on fooling the public, and a little more ethicsto begin with, they would not have to waste their money.

Career Interview

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 20:43:01 EST

I found the career interviews to be very interesting. I chose to interview two relatively different people. One of my interviews was with a man who works for the City of Cleveland, Mike Iliano. He is a manager with the building department. The second person I interviewed, Chuck Grimm, is a financial analyst for Merrill Lynch. These two individuals helped me to understand a lot of the problems that occur in their work environments. Mr. Iliano was able to help me understand what is involved with managing 40 employees. He talked to me about different strategies for motivating employees and dealing with conflict. Mr. Grimm helped me understand what is actually involved in being a financial analyst. He told me about the strengths and weakness required for, and about the job. He also talked to me about time management skills. I learned a lot from both of my interviews, but the theme that was prevalent in both was a set of values. Both men believe that a set of values in necessary, and they should never be compromised. This was the most important thing I took from these interviews because it can be applied to any job.

The Importance of Training

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 20:42:30 EST

There are many different methods for training new employees, such as on-the-job training, simulated training, and computer-based training. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and should be used based on the line of work. Training is something that should be looked at very carefully for each company. Depending on what the job description is, the amount and type of training required should vary. People in an entry level position need some basic information about what job entails, and about how the company works. New hires in management, or upper-management, need some more extensive training. They need to know some basic information about their position, but they also need to know a lot about how the company works. They need to know how the company wants to handle conflict ranging from everyday issues to handling a sexual harassment case.

Motivating Employees

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 20:41:42 EST

I do not like the idea of giving employees monetary bonuses for good work. I think that employees do need to receive some kind of recognition for above average work. There are two ways that I think employees should be compensated. If I were working, I would want to be rewarded for good work with the ability to move up within the company. I think the idea of promoting from within is one of the easiest ways to improve the morale of the workers, and also increase productivity. The second way to reward employees is to give them gifts that are not just a cash bonus. Giving employees awards can be a more personal form of incentive. If an employee performs above the norm, he should be recognized by the whole company. This gives other employees something to strive for. I also think things like lunch with the boss can be a good reward.

Instituting Direct Deposit Systems

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 20:41:01 EST

We read a couple of articles for class about the new craze about direct deposit systems. One of them was called plastic paychecks, and was about the city of Dallas changing their payment system. They went to a system which deposits the money either into the workers bank account, or into an account set up by the employer and accessed by a debit card. If you look at it from the companies’ point of view, direct deposit is a great way to save money. You can reduce the costs from writing out all of the checks, and save employees the time of going to the bank to deposit their paychecks. The only thing that is required from this system is that employees receive a monthly statement. Companies do have a sense of responsibility when it comes to their younger employees. Children who do not have a bank account can get the debit card, and be able to spend their money however they want. This is why companies need to implement a plan to teach their younger workers about money management. Companies also need to be aware of the costs that happen when employees withdraw money from their debit accounts. They must also have system set up that allows a number of “fee-free” withdraws so that employees do not have to withdraw more money than they need.

HR Simulation

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 20:40:11 EST

I do not know if everyone else feels the same way, but I like the way we are doing the HR Simulation. Most of the classes I have taken at Case Western Reserve University have taught me how to do something, then I get to try and do it. The HR Simulation has allowed me to learn on the fly, which is similar to a lot of business environments. I am getting the chance to try different things, and learn from trial and error. It has been interesting. That being said, I never realized how many decisions go into running a HR department. Every choice we make, small or big, seems to have a huge affect on some part of our company. It seems when we get a negative quarterly report, and try to fix what was wrong, we end up screwing something else up. I have learned a lot in this simulation, and hopefully it will help me for the second half of the simulation, and when I get a real job. I have also learned a lot about diversity within teams and groups. Being in a group as diverse as mine, I have seen different points about issues that I would have never even thought of.

Older workers and where they fit well

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 16:54:37 EST

I wanted to discuss what I thought about the article we read about older workers, and whether or not they are a good hire. I believe that if you can find an older individual who still wants to work in your field you should seriously look into hiring that person. An older worker can bring a lot of experience into your workplace, and they are very dependable. Problems can occur in three main areas: age, productivity, and job description. Some older people want to work for more years than they are able to. It is hard to say no, but you must. Also, if someone is not being as productive as you thought, and is not adding anything else to your company, they need to be fired. Last, if you work in an industry where an elderly individual would not be suited, you must not hire them. There are some industries where old people are perfectly able to do the job, but there are also some industries where they should not be working.

The Value Chain and HR

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 16:33:39 EST

This is something that I picked up in another class, but since our class deals a lot with human relations I figured it would be pertinent. I read an article about the value chain of a company and the different ways to gain a competitive advantage. The chain can include your distributors, your marketing team, your production, and a number of other things. The human resource department can add an advantage to your company by motivating your current employees, as well as the effective hiring and training of new employees. It is easy to see how an effective HR department can benefit your company by looking at any large company that is known as being cohesive, that is the HR department.

Communication In Teams

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 16:29:54 EST

I want to go over the importance of communication within a team or group. If you have a problem with another team member about whether or not they are "pulling their weight" then you need to bring that up in a group meeting. This is something that everyone's input should be heard to see if your complaint is warranted. It can only be beneficial to the group because it will bring you closer together. If you have a problem with a team member on a more personal level, then you need to talk about that in a private matter. This is not something that the whole group needs to hear about because very little can come from it.