December 12, 2006
Termination
On November 22nd, our management class discussed termination. When the employee and the company have no contracts or unions, companies have the right to terminate whenever they want. If there is a contract involved companies have to be very careful when terminating employees, because the employee can file a wrongful discharge. The company has to have clear evidence of certain conditions. The employee can be discharged without legal problems if there is misconduct, lack of qualifications, or elimination of the position. The contracts are there not to only protect the company, but the employee as well. If the company doesn’t have any evidence, it is most likely that the employee will win the wrongful discharge case. As a future employer this is good to know so that I can make smart decisions and not get the company I am working for into any trouble.
Final HR Simulation Report
On December 5th, our team finished our HR simulation annual report. We seemed to cooperate very well and efficiently. With our excellent team work came excellent company results. After listening to other team’s problems and downfalls, I believe our team was probably one of the best companies in the entire simulation. I think a lot of credit has to go to our team leader though. He really pulled us together in the beginning and kept us on track. He did everything a good leader would and we did everything good members would. When we had to evaluate our team members, I gave them all great scores knowing that they would do the same. I had fun during the course of the HR simulation and I hope there is another opportunity in the future to work with such a successful group.
Final Learning Plan
When I first started the learning plan I thought it was just going to be a long paper that I was required to write. I just finished writing my final copy of the learning plan and I have found that it has been more insightful than I thought it would be. To think about it I really never had any goals until I wrote them down. Now I have two goals and action plans to help see them through. The personal reflection has also shown me what I need to do for not only future classes, but for future choices. I have a lot more potential than I show and the learning plan has helped me see what I can really achieve.
Tom Mendola Case
On November 27th, our class discussed the Tom Mendola Case. Tom was an employee that would work well for awhile then lose interest in his work very quickly. His productivity and quality of his work would decrease as well. The company decided to give Tom a chance and not fire him, but to move him to another department so he could start over. Tom did very well until he started to lose interest again. The company now has two choices to either fire Tom or move him back to his old job that he has requested. I personally thought he should be fired and that his actions were not acceptable. He was given two chances and the company has spent too much time and money trying to accommodate Tom’s needs.
Last Class
In the last Management 250 class, we wrapped up the semester with what we liked about the class and the expectations for Management 251. Everyone had their own opinion on what they thought was valuable. Some people thought the networking session was fun or that the learning plan was constructive, but what I thought was very helpful was the mock interview. It really explained to me what my positive and negative attributes are, which will definitely help me in the future. I absolutely underestimated the value that this course had to offer, but I still enjoyed it. All I can hope for is that Management 251 will be as beneficial.
November 10, 2006
HR Simulation Progress
Team Puma is looking really good up to now. We started off decent, but it seems our group has figured out how to improve all aspects of the company. Our company is doing really well with quality, productivity, and morale above industry average. The annual report came out to be pretty much what we expected. The goals we set are being reached at a respectable rate. Our team work has also improved to the point where our team meetings have become very efficient. Up too now I am enjoying the simulation process. I hope to see how our company in the next four quarters.
Job Search Ethics
On October 30th our class discussed ethics in business. The most interesting ethical questions were asked about resumes. Should someone make up information on their resume to get a job? It is obvious that it is unethical to lie on your resume, but I bet you would be surprised how many people cushion their resume and add things to their experiences that never happened. At first when I first started to use a resume I didn’t think there was problem in slightly making my self sound better, but I later discovered that being honest and having good ethics means more to an employer.