Entries in the Category "MGMT"
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.
Networking
I thought the networking class was actually a pretty good experience. I met some people I had never met and got to know more about people I already knew. The experience I had was a little different than others, because I was basically the only one not prepared to network. I came to class dressed in shorts and a hoody with out any business cards. Being in the environment I felt unprofessional and less confident in meeting people. My conversations didn’t last very long and it seemed as if I was listening a lot more than talking. I believe if I came prepared I would have had a better experience and probably met a lot more people in my class. I learned that being prepared and confidence is very important to making good and useful networks.
HR Simulation
When I was first assigned the HR Simulation project, I didn’t enjoy it or thought it was very useful. Now after three meetings with my group and two quarters, our group started to understand what tasks were required. All our group members are willing to contribute to the team, so things are starting to move more smoothly during the meetings. I am starting to have some fun seeing how good our group does compared to other groups. I am learning that teamwork really helps when making tough decisions that a company might actually have to face. I think the HR simulation will be a good experience and I am looking forward to seeing our company end up being the best out of all the groups.
MBTI
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is test that identifies a personality that describes you best. The MBTI answers four important questions: where you focus your attention? The way you take in the information? The way you make decisions? How you deal with the outer world? I was very skeptical at first thinking how can a test tell something as complex as a personality. Even while taking the test I thought to myself that the questions seemed repetitive and impractical. After receiving the results I was very surprised to see how accurate the indicator actually was. Out of sixteen different personalities I was considered an ESTP. ESTP stands for extraversion, sensing, thinking, and perceiving. Extraversion means I focus my attention more on the outer world of people and things and not as much on the inner world of ideas and impressions. Sensing indicates that I take in information through the five senses and focus on the here and now and less on the future possibilities. Thinking implies that I make decisions based on logic and on objective analysis of cause and effect. Perceiving individuals tend to like a flexible and spontaneous approach to life and prefer to keep their options open. I liked taking the MBTI and I thought it was very accurate.
Learning Style Inventory
According to the Learning Style Inventory (LSI), there are four different learning styles. The styles are diverger, assimilator, converger, and accommodator. A diverger is someone that has strengths in imaginative ability, understanding people, recognizing problems, and brainstorming. Assimilators are strong in planning, creating models, defining problems, and developing theories. A converger’s strengths are problem solving, decision making, deductive reasoning, and defining problems. Finally accommodators are strong in getting things done, leadership, and risk taking. After filling out the LSI test I found out that my learning style was a diverger. Divergers focus mostly on concrete experience and reflective observation when trying to learn something. I learned that to develop my diverger learning skills I need to practice being more sensitive and gathering information with an open mind.
Mock Interview
My mock interview was with Rockwell Automation on September 22. I felt that I actually didn’t perform well, but she obvious saw different and I scored quite well. I liked that I got to have my mistakes and flaws pointed out so I wouldn’t do it on my next interview. I learned that all focus should be on the interviewer at all times with continuous eye contact. In general I thought the mock interview was a good experience not only for self reflection, but for great practice. Now I can feel confident, when applying for jobs knowing what to do on my next interview.