Archives for the Month of December 2006 on MGMT 250 Blog
MGMT 250 Entry #15
I strongly dislike judging/ evaluating my peers because I don’t believe that I’m in the right position to do so. When bosses evaluate their employees, they use their trained skills and superior knowledge to deliver constructive criticism and fair judgment. How can I evaluate a person on the same level as me? Our skills are obviously comparable because we’re on the same level, but who’s to say who is better? I try not to be partial when I evaluate my peers, but sometimes I give very generous scores because I don’t know enough to judge them more seriously. Other times, I grade too harshly because I’m afraid of being too lenient. Either way, evaluating my peers is something that I need to work on and become more comfortable with.
MGMT 250 Entry #14
Recently, in class, we’ve been talking a lot about the best way to fire someone. When firing an employee, I think that it’s best done in a one-on-one manner. It’s best for the closest superior, perhaps a direct supervisor, to fire the person in a short but polite manner. I think that this is the best situation because if there are too many people in the room, the person being fired can feel threatened or attacked. The one-on-one set up is intimate and as comfortable as the situation can be. A direct supervisor should be the one to do the deed because only the closest superior can offer proper constructive criticism and can pinpoint reasons why the employment is being terminated. The firing should be done quickly and without emotion because emotions can make the situation go out of control. It’s very important to be polite, but maintain professionalism.
MGMT 250 Entry #13
Through the HR Simulation I’ve learned that it takes more than money to motivate employees. Every company offers money, so you have to bring more to the table than a slightly larger paycheck. To keep morale high, you must instate different benefits (health plans, cafeteria service, daycare, etc.), and you should offer more safety training. These things will help increase and maintain motivation, but I believe that, in the end, motivation is internal. An employee can be motivated only so much. The rest is up to them.
MGMT 250 Entry #12
In class we talked about a young man who worked in a factory in order to support his family. He was constantly tardy and when he actually came into work, he would mess around and disrupt other workers. Management gave him several warnings that his behavior was inappropriate and they transferred him to other departments, which he requested. In the end, his behavior didn’t change and he was fired. Prof. Johnson posed the question whether we would fire him or keep him.
He should, of course, be fired because his actions were simply inexcusable. The young man was seventeen-years-old. I’ve had a job since I was fourteen-years-old and I never experienced the difficulties in the work place that this boy had. Seventeen-years-old is old enough to be responsible for one’s actions.
I think that management was very accommodating because they placed him in the department that he desired. Still, nothing improved. Management can’t offer this young man too many chances because they must be fair to all the employees. If they are overly lenient with him then they must be equally lenient with any and every worker who chooses to be difficult. I feel bad for the boy because his father is sick and his family is needy, but if this job was really important to him, he’d find a way to focus on his work.