Explain the difference between equality and diversity
According to Mullin’s (2007), the meaning of equality is being fair to all people. The Adult College (n.d) mentioned that is a structure and culture that come from the mission statement, the work place and procedures. This is to ensure that the working environment is a safe and non discrimination place to work in. Equality refers to the term of Equal Opportunities which protects staff / people from being discriminated, for example, sex, disability and race. Equality is based on the legal obligation that every company needs to follow.
Mullen’s (2007) stated that Diversity involves a wide range of conditions within the workforces, for example, valuing the benefits of its workforce that makes the best of people’s talents whatever their backgrounds is. Diversity covers visible and non-visible individual differences.
Diversity also focuses on the movements in company, for example, the culture and how are they meeting the business aims. Diversity is not just focusing on discrimination but also supporting wide range of people and maximising staff potential and contributing to the company (Hemphil and Haines, 1997).
The different between equality and diversity is that equality focuses on wide range of external areas that the company needs to follow, for example, Anti-discrimination Act. In the other hand diversity focuses on more internal areas that the company needs to take into accounts, for example, how to help its staff to achieve the full potential of their career by providing custom equipment.
Margaret Mountford, who used to be Sir Alan Sugar’s advisor on “The Apprentice” stated that women should only be appointed to senior positions on merit. There should be no positive discrimination. Review the article below and state 3 arguments for and against her views.
To Support Margaret Mountford views
1. When Margaret Mountford is discriminating male at the same time she maybe discriminating female, for example, she said the show has destroyed many management myths and some of these myths discriminate women.
2. According to Sabbatini (n.d) stated that females are scientifically smarter than male, the article also mentioned that the woman brain is 20% bigger.
3. In the question above it is stated that women should only be appointed to senior positions on merit. But this should also apply to men too because all employees need to make profit for the company. For example on the second series of The Apprentice both of the sex was female. This could prove that women can be skilful leaders.
Against Margaret Mountford views
1. According to the UK national statistic 50%of the population is female
2. Due to women nature, when they get married they tend to start a family and this may cause some drawbacks such as less opportunities in their career.
3. Prejudice – stated in the Sex role (2004), that male are better leader or managers then women. Also mentioned that over half top positions are males.
Age legislation came into force in 2006, as an employer what impact might this have - brain storm some ideas. What stereotypes do we tend to hold about younger and older people? Suggest two ideas as to how organisations can attempt to change these attitudes
When the Age Legislation Act came into force the impact that has brought to employers are;
Some employers may think that old people are slow (Brain storm)
Young people may not be reliable
Unmarried young woman may get penalise because they want to start a family in the future
Young people may not be experienced as old people and old people might complain a lot.
Action 1 attempt to change people attitudes
Now managers can deliberately have a mixture of age’s differences in a team. For example, number of leading industries such as retailers, financial sector - Marks and Spencer, B&Q and Tesco employ a different range of age groups. They will work as a team and this practice may change their attitudes towards the age differences
Action 2 attempt to change people attitudes
Organisation can organise training programmes for their staff to go on because training programmes usually change people’s attitudes especially at work. Also the organisation can put up posters, leaflets around their staff rooms and this may change people’s attitudes just by giving out information.
Visit two organisational websites to benchmark practice in relation to equal opportunities, for example British Airways, Sainsbury’s, Asda or B&Q (www.diy.com) and detail the most innovative practices
The two organisations that were chosen are Sainsbury’s and Asda this is because they are in the same sector and aim at the same customers. Stated in both organisations web page, (The Times, 2010) Top 100 graduate employer has been awarded. But Sainsbury’s were awarded the most because according to their web page they received numbers of rewards. For example, the Best Place to work for in 2009.
On both of their web site stated that they are decline the usage of packaging. Also both organisations mentioned what charities they support and which communities’ charity they have funded.
On this occasion both organisations were summon to court for price fixing on tobacco Sainsbury’s did not get fined but due to Sainsbury's inform the Office of Fair Trade (OFT) and they were the first to apply to the OFT for leniency Sainsbury’s received complete immunity from fines. In the other hand Asda got fined for £14 million for price fixing on tobacco (The Guardian, 2010).
They both employ hundreds of thousands of staff, so it is important for both organisations to have rules and procedures to follow. This can reduce the number of unfairness and employees and managers will know what to do, for example, in disciplinary procedures so it will be fair to all staff across both organisations
Write a conclusion about this topic and include it in your blog
To conclude, it is important for any organisation to be fair to all staff especially large organisation because they employ hundreds of staff. Also it is important for any company to understand the contract of employment if not they may breach it without their concern.
It is wrong to judge a person just by the age especially in a working environment and this is a breach of regulations.
Bibliography and Reference
Asda (n.d) All about Asda [online] Available at: http://www.asda.jobs/all-about/index.html [Accessed 7 April 2010]
Hemphil, H and Haines, R (1997) Discrimination, harassment and failure of diversity training [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Uq8mCAvmm2wC&pg=PA61&dq=discrimination+diversity+meaning&ei=lAfYS4bpM4GOywTlyryLCQ&cd=1#v=onepage&q=discrimination%20diversity%20meaning&f=false [Accessed 5 April 2010]
Kelbie, P (2004) The Independent. Inflexibility and prejudice women keep from the top jobs [online] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/inflexibility-and-prejudice-keep-women-from-top-jobs-705002.html [Accessed 5 April 2010]
Sabbatini, R (n.d) Are there differences between the brains of male and female [online] Available at: http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n11/mente/eisntein/cerebro-homens.html [Accessed 6 April 2010]
Sainsbury’s (n.d) About us [online] Available at: http://www2.sainsburys.co.uk/aboutus/about_us_default.htm [Accessed 7 April 2010]
Sex role (2004) Male versus female leaders a comparison of empirical studies [online] Available at: http://
www.springerlink.com/content/q3713k6976126425/ [Accessed 6 April 2010]
The Guardian (2010) OFT levies £225 fine for cigarette price fixing [online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/16/oft-levies-225m-for-cigarette-price-manipulation [Accessed 7 April 2010]
The Times (2009) Hang in there, Margaret Mountford of The Apprentice tells women [online] Available at: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/article6830916.ece [Accessed 5 April 2010]
Tuesday 4 May 2010
Week 24 Reward
Consider your own organisation or one with which you are familiar – how does it reward employees? Does it differ for different groups- how and why? How is ‘fairness’ or ‘equity’ ensured?
The organisation that I was involved in is John Lewis. They use a number of rewards, for example, discounts for hotels, golf resorts and sharing the end of year profit.
Every employee gets the same amount of percentage but they have to be a partner for more than a year to get this reward. But other rewards such as cinema tickets, discount vouchers and each staff will be given a discount card for purchasing within the organisation such as Waitrose. To ensure every employee receives the fair amount of rewards. John Lewis uses a wide range of tools, for example, through their sales targets, customer comments and mystery shoppers.
Do you think that Chief Executives should still receive large bonuses even if the organisation that they have led has underperformed? List the arguments for and against this.
Stated in The Telegraph (2010), chief executive should receive lower bonuses if the organisation is underperforming. As they are leader of the organisation they should be clear that the organisation will need the revenue for project investments.
Stated in The Independent (2008), chief executive should review their performance before handing out any bonuses and this can confirm that the organisation is not underperformed.
Identify 3 financial and 3 non-financial ways of rewarding a teacher at a primary school. Which of these ideas would motivate you the most?
Non financial way
Cinema tickets
A day off work
Reward certificate saying teacher of week or month
Financial
Health schemes
Future professional training programmes
Chauffeur for the week to work and back
Out all the rewards mentioned above the most attracting one is certificate reward because it provides the most motivation. For example, getting praise for the work they have done also tangible and it can be used in the future.
Stated in Mullins (2007), that money may not provide the best motive for employees. As a primary school teacher their wage is about £15K - £20K so money may not attract them that much. Also this reward is meaningful and this might mean a lot more to employees, for example, good comments and recognition is better than financial rewards. But this depends on the employees situation, such as financial statues.
Another attractive motivation method is future professional training programmes stated in Farmer and Yellowley (2009) that this method of motivations provides a clear message to the employee that the organisation wants to invest in their employees.
Conclusion
All organisations use different ways to measure out fairness. Chief executives should not get paid for bonuses if the organisation does not perform well enough in the profit margins. Money may not provide the best motivation but it does provide the basics. To motivate an employee there are lots of ways as mentioned above but something small can mean a lot to someone if they enjoy their job.
Bibliography and References
Dawber, A and Farrell, S (2008) HSBC faces rebellion over £120 million executive bonus plan. The Independent [online] Available At: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/hsbc-faces-rebellion-over-pound120m-executive-bonus-plan-834430.html [Accessed 23 April 2010]
Farmer, M and Yellowley, W (2009) People and organisations.2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited
Mullins, L (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
Neate, R and Monaghan, A (2010) HSBC chief Green attacks big bank bonuses Brown claims global support for bank levy The Telegraphy [online] Available At: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/7075930/HSBC-chief-Green-attacks-big-bank-bonuses-Brown-claims-global-support-for-bank-levy.html [Accessed 23 April 2010]
The organisation that I was involved in is John Lewis. They use a number of rewards, for example, discounts for hotels, golf resorts and sharing the end of year profit.
Every employee gets the same amount of percentage but they have to be a partner for more than a year to get this reward. But other rewards such as cinema tickets, discount vouchers and each staff will be given a discount card for purchasing within the organisation such as Waitrose. To ensure every employee receives the fair amount of rewards. John Lewis uses a wide range of tools, for example, through their sales targets, customer comments and mystery shoppers.
Do you think that Chief Executives should still receive large bonuses even if the organisation that they have led has underperformed? List the arguments for and against this.
Stated in The Telegraph (2010), chief executive should receive lower bonuses if the organisation is underperforming. As they are leader of the organisation they should be clear that the organisation will need the revenue for project investments.
Stated in The Independent (2008), chief executive should review their performance before handing out any bonuses and this can confirm that the organisation is not underperformed.
Identify 3 financial and 3 non-financial ways of rewarding a teacher at a primary school. Which of these ideas would motivate you the most?
Non financial way
Cinema tickets
A day off work
Reward certificate saying teacher of week or month
Financial
Health schemes
Future professional training programmes
Chauffeur for the week to work and back
Out all the rewards mentioned above the most attracting one is certificate reward because it provides the most motivation. For example, getting praise for the work they have done also tangible and it can be used in the future.
Stated in Mullins (2007), that money may not provide the best motive for employees. As a primary school teacher their wage is about £15K - £20K so money may not attract them that much. Also this reward is meaningful and this might mean a lot more to employees, for example, good comments and recognition is better than financial rewards. But this depends on the employees situation, such as financial statues.
Another attractive motivation method is future professional training programmes stated in Farmer and Yellowley (2009) that this method of motivations provides a clear message to the employee that the organisation wants to invest in their employees.
Conclusion
All organisations use different ways to measure out fairness. Chief executives should not get paid for bonuses if the organisation does not perform well enough in the profit margins. Money may not provide the best motivation but it does provide the basics. To motivate an employee there are lots of ways as mentioned above but something small can mean a lot to someone if they enjoy their job.
Bibliography and References
Dawber, A and Farrell, S (2008) HSBC faces rebellion over £120 million executive bonus plan. The Independent [online] Available At: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/hsbc-faces-rebellion-over-pound120m-executive-bonus-plan-834430.html [Accessed 23 April 2010]
Farmer, M and Yellowley, W (2009) People and organisations.2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited
Mullins, L (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
Neate, R and Monaghan, A (2010) HSBC chief Green attacks big bank bonuses Brown claims global support for bank levy The Telegraphy [online] Available At: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/7075930/HSBC-chief-Green-attacks-big-bank-bonuses-Brown-claims-global-support-for-bank-levy.html [Accessed 23 April 2010]
Week 22 & 23 Training and Development
Imagine you are the HR Manager for a retail chain with a training programme for new graduate entrants. It is anticipated that these graduates will be store managers at the end of their 2 year training programme. You have been asked to plan and design a one week induction programme for the graduates. What would you include? Where should the training take place? How will you evaluate its effectiveness?
Mullin (2008) stated that the meaning of training is to improve knowledge and skills and to change attitudes of staff.
First day
The first stage of training programme is induction. Where all the new graduates shown their posts, where things are placed, what procedures need to be followed due emergency events, for example, bomb scare, fire drill and theft procedures.
This type of training should be held at the shop floor because graduates can visualise where to go and where things are. Also graduates can be introduced to their new colleagues.
According to Meighan, (2000), that induction training is one of the most important training programmes because this would help the new graduates to feel like a part of a family.
At the end of the day there will be a short pop quiz this can indicates how much they have taken in, for example, how many fire exits there are, what procedure needed to be follow during an emergency evacuation.
Second day
According to Hughes and Ferrett (2009) equipment training is one of the major elements of a training programme especially for new staff. The training will include tills training because in each different retail store their till is different. During their employment with John Lewis, each member of staff has to go through a programme training called main frame which is one of the most essential training because it holds the stock list, customers information and order list. Also all the graduates will be given their own passwords and access key. The reason of this training is to improve their confidence and skills.
This type of training should be done with the tills that they are using on the shop floor but away from live tills. It can be held in a training room usually located within the store, for example, in John Lewis most of the internal training is located on the third floor where the offices is. Health and Safety Act stated that all staff should have received training for their use of equipment.
Third day
Company policy and laws and regulations training
Harrison (2009) stated that all staff, no matter what level they are at, should understand the company policy and have a basic knowledge of employment laws and regulations, for example, the minimum wage, anti-discrimination act and health and safety laws. It also mentioned that managers should have a keen knowledge of the company contract of employment because it will easier to deal with conflict if they know the contract from front to back.
Fourth day
Kamin (2006) stated that customer service training is one of the most essential parts of the training programme because based on managers past experience customers can be very impolite to staff, especially section managers.
When there is a problem with the product graduates need to be prepared to solve customer’s queries and calm them down to solve the problems that the customer has.
One of the best ways for this type of training is use it in real life practices because graduates they can learn from their mistakes and it will teach them what to expect from angry customers. But before the above training is carried out the graduates will be provided basic training in a role play from previous customers complains. Also this training will contain communication training to customers and to staff.
Fifth day
Product training as the store will be selling number of products. The graduates will need to have the basic knowledge of the products and this will improve their selling skills. When John Lewis was selling the Wii for the first time, John Lewis got a representative from Nintendo to do a presentation about the products, for example, features, how it works, the reason of this type of training is that the staff can answer the customer questions also there will be manuals available for staff to read.
The training will be held in-house because their will not be any special equipment needed and the presentation can be held in the training / conference room.
Sixth day
Mullins (2007) stated that staff and store management training is essential because graduates will have a long list of responsibilities to carry out. At the same time, especially during conflict, managers need to be fair to the parties that are involved.
As they are soon to be store managers they will a need fair amount of training and experiences because when times comes they will be managing the store by them self. So it is important for them to have a firsthand experience of how to manage a store, during this training they will be supervised.
This exercise will include working in teams but the supervisor will advise some staff to be difficult to manage without the trainee (graduates) knowing. Farmer and Yellowley (2009) stated that improving their teamwork building skills and problems solving skills.
This type of training can take place in-house as it does not need any special equipment or speaker. But HR personnel will be needed to go through the contracts and laws and regulations of employment such as Health and Safety Act.
Seventh day
How to deal with confidential information
John Lewis (n.d) stated that all personnel must keep all confidential information on the premises. If not disciplinary procedures will be carried out.
As they soon to be store managers, they will train on how to open confidential information because the data will be password protected. The training will include how to deal with the receipts of the day, for example, the procedure and protocols they need follow when dealing with money and cheques.
Near the end of the training programme there will be questionnaires handed out and there will be a one to one interview with supervisor based on the training they have received.
This can advise the trainer on where to improve the programme, shows how much the trainee has taken in and areas that they need more training in during their 6 months probation period.
The reason why most training is usually held within the organisation premises is because it is one of the cheapest ways to provide training to all staff.
Recommend by John Lewis section manager, as they are soon to be store managers, they will side move to different department within the store because this will provide firsthand experience for them. Graduates will have a better knowledge of different department on how they are run and their job roles.
Conclusion
It is important for graduates to be fully trained because soon they will be managing a store. Fully trained staff affects the company performance especially, on the financial side. Also it is important for the trainer to plan the programme efficiently because it will affect the graduate’s performance.
Bibliography and reference
Harrison, R (2009) Learning and development 5th ed. London: the chartered institution of personnel and development
Hughes, P and Ferrett (2009) Introduction to health and safety at work 4th ed. [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YhlKT43FNRAC&pg=PA208&dq=introduction+equipment+training&ei=WM7QS4aTM4LCyATes4GvCQ&cd=2#v=onepage&q=introduction%20equipment%20training&f=false [Accessed 28th March 2010]
John Lewis employee hand book
Kamin, M (2006) Customer service training [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XlHhQ2TOjm4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=retail+training+on+customer+service&cd=1#v=onepage&q=retail%20training%20on%20customer%20service&f=false [Assess 29th March 2010]
Meighan, M (2000) Induction training effective steps for investing in people. [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oURuDplGl-UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=induction+training&hl=en&ei=R6HQS42uFM3Z-QbPqp0r&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 28th March 2010]
Mullins, J (2007) Management and organisational behaviour 8th ed. Essex: Pear education limited.
Mullin (2008) stated that the meaning of training is to improve knowledge and skills and to change attitudes of staff.
First day
The first stage of training programme is induction. Where all the new graduates shown their posts, where things are placed, what procedures need to be followed due emergency events, for example, bomb scare, fire drill and theft procedures.
This type of training should be held at the shop floor because graduates can visualise where to go and where things are. Also graduates can be introduced to their new colleagues.
According to Meighan, (2000), that induction training is one of the most important training programmes because this would help the new graduates to feel like a part of a family.
At the end of the day there will be a short pop quiz this can indicates how much they have taken in, for example, how many fire exits there are, what procedure needed to be follow during an emergency evacuation.
Second day
According to Hughes and Ferrett (2009) equipment training is one of the major elements of a training programme especially for new staff. The training will include tills training because in each different retail store their till is different. During their employment with John Lewis, each member of staff has to go through a programme training called main frame which is one of the most essential training because it holds the stock list, customers information and order list. Also all the graduates will be given their own passwords and access key. The reason of this training is to improve their confidence and skills.
This type of training should be done with the tills that they are using on the shop floor but away from live tills. It can be held in a training room usually located within the store, for example, in John Lewis most of the internal training is located on the third floor where the offices is. Health and Safety Act stated that all staff should have received training for their use of equipment.
Third day
Company policy and laws and regulations training
Harrison (2009) stated that all staff, no matter what level they are at, should understand the company policy and have a basic knowledge of employment laws and regulations, for example, the minimum wage, anti-discrimination act and health and safety laws. It also mentioned that managers should have a keen knowledge of the company contract of employment because it will easier to deal with conflict if they know the contract from front to back.
Fourth day
Kamin (2006) stated that customer service training is one of the most essential parts of the training programme because based on managers past experience customers can be very impolite to staff, especially section managers.
When there is a problem with the product graduates need to be prepared to solve customer’s queries and calm them down to solve the problems that the customer has.
One of the best ways for this type of training is use it in real life practices because graduates they can learn from their mistakes and it will teach them what to expect from angry customers. But before the above training is carried out the graduates will be provided basic training in a role play from previous customers complains. Also this training will contain communication training to customers and to staff.
Fifth day
Product training as the store will be selling number of products. The graduates will need to have the basic knowledge of the products and this will improve their selling skills. When John Lewis was selling the Wii for the first time, John Lewis got a representative from Nintendo to do a presentation about the products, for example, features, how it works, the reason of this type of training is that the staff can answer the customer questions also there will be manuals available for staff to read.
The training will be held in-house because their will not be any special equipment needed and the presentation can be held in the training / conference room.
Sixth day
Mullins (2007) stated that staff and store management training is essential because graduates will have a long list of responsibilities to carry out. At the same time, especially during conflict, managers need to be fair to the parties that are involved.
As they are soon to be store managers they will a need fair amount of training and experiences because when times comes they will be managing the store by them self. So it is important for them to have a firsthand experience of how to manage a store, during this training they will be supervised.
This exercise will include working in teams but the supervisor will advise some staff to be difficult to manage without the trainee (graduates) knowing. Farmer and Yellowley (2009) stated that improving their teamwork building skills and problems solving skills.
This type of training can take place in-house as it does not need any special equipment or speaker. But HR personnel will be needed to go through the contracts and laws and regulations of employment such as Health and Safety Act.
Seventh day
How to deal with confidential information
John Lewis (n.d) stated that all personnel must keep all confidential information on the premises. If not disciplinary procedures will be carried out.
As they soon to be store managers, they will train on how to open confidential information because the data will be password protected. The training will include how to deal with the receipts of the day, for example, the procedure and protocols they need follow when dealing with money and cheques.
Near the end of the training programme there will be questionnaires handed out and there will be a one to one interview with supervisor based on the training they have received.
This can advise the trainer on where to improve the programme, shows how much the trainee has taken in and areas that they need more training in during their 6 months probation period.
The reason why most training is usually held within the organisation premises is because it is one of the cheapest ways to provide training to all staff.
Recommend by John Lewis section manager, as they are soon to be store managers, they will side move to different department within the store because this will provide firsthand experience for them. Graduates will have a better knowledge of different department on how they are run and their job roles.
Conclusion
It is important for graduates to be fully trained because soon they will be managing a store. Fully trained staff affects the company performance especially, on the financial side. Also it is important for the trainer to plan the programme efficiently because it will affect the graduate’s performance.
Bibliography and reference
Harrison, R (2009) Learning and development 5th ed. London: the chartered institution of personnel and development
Hughes, P and Ferrett (2009) Introduction to health and safety at work 4th ed. [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YhlKT43FNRAC&pg=PA208&dq=introduction+equipment+training&ei=WM7QS4aTM4LCyATes4GvCQ&cd=2#v=onepage&q=introduction%20equipment%20training&f=false [Accessed 28th March 2010]
John Lewis employee hand book
Kamin, M (2006) Customer service training [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XlHhQ2TOjm4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=retail+training+on+customer+service&cd=1#v=onepage&q=retail%20training%20on%20customer%20service&f=false [Assess 29th March 2010]
Meighan, M (2000) Induction training effective steps for investing in people. [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oURuDplGl-UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=induction+training&hl=en&ei=R6HQS42uFM3Z-QbPqp0r&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 28th March 2010]
Mullins, J (2007) Management and organisational behaviour 8th ed. Essex: Pear education limited.
Week 25 Communication and Involvement
Explain the difference between employee participation and employee involvement. How can organisations involve employees in decision - making? Think of three examples to illustrate practice.
Evans (2004) stated that the meaning of employee participation is involving employees in decision making or that ideas are heard by the managers. Also this provided lots of advantages, for example, as the employees voices are being heard. This will lead to cutting down on conflicts and every staff is up to date with the company proceeds. Usually employees involvement is represented by an appointed by employee. For example, in university, or schools they have Student Reps which represent students and they carried the voices of students and present them to the principles. But the employees are restricted on the levels of control.
Mathis and Jackson (2008) stated that the meaning of employee involvement is encouraging employees to be involved in decision making as individuals and sharing information with each other.
According to Mathis and Jackson (2008) to get staff more involve in decision making and having more suggestions from them, the companies could use numbers of tools such suggestions box, more general meeting and these can encourage employees to say their views and may improve their relationships between staff.
The three examples that company use to encourage staff involvement or participation.
Consultation usually refers to staff suggestion schemes, for example, John Lewis use a suggestion box which is near the exit for staff. Also companies can gather staffs opinion by carrying out surveys, for example; River Island send out questionnaires every 6 months to every staff and to encourage them to fill them out the questionnaire there will be surprise prise given out.
According to The institute for Employment Studies (2001) (ise), financial participation usually refers to profit related to pay, for example, group and individual bonuses. Another meaning is share schemes for employees and this usually leads to a right to vote in an organisation. The advantages of is retaining staff from competitors and employees feel they have more power.
Taloy and Hall (2005) stated that individual involvement means empowering employees, for example, training and development opportunities. According to the Business dictionary (n.d) employee involvement is usually refers to decision making as individual or workgroup level. As employees gets to make their own decisions they are more likely to improve the commitments towards the company.
Many organisations are now using social networking sites as a means of involving their staff, both for existing staff and potential recruits. Go online and find examples of how this works. What sort of information is provided? Which social networks are being used?
As technology improves, social web becomes more potential and organisation has identified news way of recruiting new potential staff. For example; a survey that was carried by Top Ten Reviews (2010) stated that Facebook, Myspace and Twitter were in the top ten. The ratings are based on their profile settings, security and net working features. All organisation are mostly concern with the security of the sites because there will be confidential data such as personal information. If this is not deal with properly it will be breaching the Data Protection Act.
If companies are recruiting online and is using social web site as a tool such as Facebook then companies need to take precaution because not many companies has taken this on board. There are some advantages such as can reach global targets but there are some disadvantages, for example, the accuracy of the profiles.
Another advantage of using social web site is that it can improve communication between staff (CIPD, 2010). Also works and ideas can be more creative and efficient especially creative jobs such as marketing / advertising, product developments as they may need inspiration.
In business views social web site can provides lots of opportunities, for example, to attract customers, investors or other stakeholders. Another major advantage is that it provides an easier way to communicate to everyone and it improves trust between each other because usually these social networking sits contains lots of personal data that is not related to work.
Social web sites can provide a lot of information that will be considered important to companies, such as marital status, their ages, rough idea of their location and companies can uses this information to attract new candidates.
Conclusion
It is important for staff to have their opinion and ideas to be heard within organisation. Also staff need to be empower because it will motivate them.
It is important for any organisation to adapt new ways of communication, for example, social websites because it provides convinces for the organisation.
Bibliography and Reference
B net (n.d) Business dictionary [online] Available at: http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/employee+involvement.html [Accessed 4 May 2010]
Bevan, S and Reilly, P (2001) Employee financial participation. Ise [online] Available at: http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/summary.php?id=373 [Accessed 4 May 2010]
CIPD (2010) Employee communication [online] Available at: www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/comconslt/empcomm.htm [Accessed 2 March 2010]
Evans, D (2004) Supervisory management principle and practice [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=b6Of2LsJV0kC&pg=PA520&dq=employee+participation+management&cd=2#v=onepage&q=employee%20participation%20management&f=false [Accessed 30 April 2010]
Mathis, R and Jackson, J (2008) Human resource management [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_yCe7fiQbokC&pg=PA545&dq=employee+involvement++management&cd=4#v=onepage&q=employee%20involvement%20%20management&f=false [Accessed 30 April 2010]
Taloy, S and Hall, L (2005) Human resource management [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CIcmwkH_C8wC&pg=PA462&dq=individual+involvement&cd=1#v=onepage&q=individual%20involvement&f=false [Accessed 4 May 2010]
Top Ten Review (2010) Social networking websits review [online] Available at: http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/ [Accessed 2 March 2010]
Evans (2004) stated that the meaning of employee participation is involving employees in decision making or that ideas are heard by the managers. Also this provided lots of advantages, for example, as the employees voices are being heard. This will lead to cutting down on conflicts and every staff is up to date with the company proceeds. Usually employees involvement is represented by an appointed by employee. For example, in university, or schools they have Student Reps which represent students and they carried the voices of students and present them to the principles. But the employees are restricted on the levels of control.
Mathis and Jackson (2008) stated that the meaning of employee involvement is encouraging employees to be involved in decision making as individuals and sharing information with each other.
According to Mathis and Jackson (2008) to get staff more involve in decision making and having more suggestions from them, the companies could use numbers of tools such suggestions box, more general meeting and these can encourage employees to say their views and may improve their relationships between staff.
The three examples that company use to encourage staff involvement or participation.
Consultation usually refers to staff suggestion schemes, for example, John Lewis use a suggestion box which is near the exit for staff. Also companies can gather staffs opinion by carrying out surveys, for example; River Island send out questionnaires every 6 months to every staff and to encourage them to fill them out the questionnaire there will be surprise prise given out.
According to The institute for Employment Studies (2001) (ise), financial participation usually refers to profit related to pay, for example, group and individual bonuses. Another meaning is share schemes for employees and this usually leads to a right to vote in an organisation. The advantages of is retaining staff from competitors and employees feel they have more power.
Taloy and Hall (2005) stated that individual involvement means empowering employees, for example, training and development opportunities. According to the Business dictionary (n.d) employee involvement is usually refers to decision making as individual or workgroup level. As employees gets to make their own decisions they are more likely to improve the commitments towards the company.
Many organisations are now using social networking sites as a means of involving their staff, both for existing staff and potential recruits. Go online and find examples of how this works. What sort of information is provided? Which social networks are being used?
As technology improves, social web becomes more potential and organisation has identified news way of recruiting new potential staff. For example; a survey that was carried by Top Ten Reviews (2010) stated that Facebook, Myspace and Twitter were in the top ten. The ratings are based on their profile settings, security and net working features. All organisation are mostly concern with the security of the sites because there will be confidential data such as personal information. If this is not deal with properly it will be breaching the Data Protection Act.
If companies are recruiting online and is using social web site as a tool such as Facebook then companies need to take precaution because not many companies has taken this on board. There are some advantages such as can reach global targets but there are some disadvantages, for example, the accuracy of the profiles.
Another advantage of using social web site is that it can improve communication between staff (CIPD, 2010). Also works and ideas can be more creative and efficient especially creative jobs such as marketing / advertising, product developments as they may need inspiration.
In business views social web site can provides lots of opportunities, for example, to attract customers, investors or other stakeholders. Another major advantage is that it provides an easier way to communicate to everyone and it improves trust between each other because usually these social networking sits contains lots of personal data that is not related to work.
Social web sites can provide a lot of information that will be considered important to companies, such as marital status, their ages, rough idea of their location and companies can uses this information to attract new candidates.
Conclusion
It is important for staff to have their opinion and ideas to be heard within organisation. Also staff need to be empower because it will motivate them.
It is important for any organisation to adapt new ways of communication, for example, social websites because it provides convinces for the organisation.
Bibliography and Reference
B net (n.d) Business dictionary [online] Available at: http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/employee+involvement.html [Accessed 4 May 2010]
Bevan, S and Reilly, P (2001) Employee financial participation. Ise [online] Available at: http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/summary.php?id=373 [Accessed 4 May 2010]
CIPD (2010) Employee communication [online] Available at: www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/comconslt/empcomm.htm [Accessed 2 March 2010]
Evans, D (2004) Supervisory management principle and practice [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=b6Of2LsJV0kC&pg=PA520&dq=employee+participation+management&cd=2#v=onepage&q=employee%20participation%20management&f=false [Accessed 30 April 2010]
Mathis, R and Jackson, J (2008) Human resource management [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_yCe7fiQbokC&pg=PA545&dq=employee+involvement++management&cd=4#v=onepage&q=employee%20involvement%20%20management&f=false [Accessed 30 April 2010]
Taloy, S and Hall, L (2005) Human resource management [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CIcmwkH_C8wC&pg=PA462&dq=individual+involvement&cd=1#v=onepage&q=individual%20involvement&f=false [Accessed 4 May 2010]
Top Ten Review (2010) Social networking websits review [online] Available at: http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/ [Accessed 2 March 2010]
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Week 21 Performance Management
Describe an appraisal you have had at work. Was it effective? What were the outputs of the meeting?
Mullins (2007) stated that an appraisal is a method of providing feedback to staff from different groups such as colleagues, managers and maybe external customers. The reason why companies use a 360 degree appraisal is because it provide a more complete picture of an individual performance.
During the employment with John Lewis Plc, I received 360 degree style appraisal after 1 month of my employment. In the interview my supervisor and I discussed setting sales targets and training programmes that I received, for example, till training, product training and customer service training. Also I gave my opinions on the training programmes. Another point that we discussed is how I could improve my skills and knowledge for upcoming events. My appraisal was very effective because it outlined the areas where I could improve and my supervisor would have a better knowledge of me. 2 months afterward I received another appraisal interview this was due to that I am a new employee to the organisation. This time we discussed my sales targets which I achieved and my performance during that period of time. Also the manager outlining the areas that I have improves on, for example, product knowledge. The meeting was usually held at the back office where the stock room was or on the third floor behind the HR office.
• Read the article from The Times on mentoring. What skills do you think are required to be an effective mentor?
According to The Times (2008) the skills that is needed is to have wise knowledge of different sectors. Also mentors need to be patient because different apprentices may take longer or shorter time to pick up the ideas.
It was stated in The Times (2008) that mentors may need to use more than one example so it may make it easier for the apprentice to relate to or understand. So the advice can be effective when being used.
One of the most important skills of being a mentor is to identify and set targets because by achieving targets could improve their ability, for example, to solve problems, interact better with other people and to cope with challenges,
Another essential skill is communication as it stated in The Times (2008) that provides a better understanding for both parties and improves their relationship. This leads to improving the apprentice contacts. One of the most important points of having a mentor is to provide directions to look at the challenges and different way to solve them.
Mullins (2007) stated that mentors should be supportive throughout the activities and the Times (2008) stated in the articles good mentors should have some grey hairs.
• Identify someone from your college/uni, school, work, social life who has been a mentor to you. How have they affected your life?
Joanna Tang
Joanna has influenced me by giving advice and examples that I can relate too. Also she gave up her time to go over my course work throughout my education, for example, spelling and grammar checks.
Also she keeps me motivated by threats, for example, telling my parents that I am not doing my work and this will lead to my parent cutting my allowance.
Another area that I admire her for is that she can balance work and family because she has three children to look after and they are all under the age of 10. Also she works for HSBC as an Assistant Manager of a branch. In her spare time she does voluntary work at the Berkhamsted Hospice.
As a mentor she has taught me a number of skills and improved my knowledge. For example, she taught me when to buy and sell at the right time on the FTS 100. This has led to one of my success.
Conclusion
In this conclusion it is important to have mentors to learn from as they provide different an angle to solve the challenges. Also it indicates the importance of mentors as they can provides influence to the apprentices and motivates them.
All mentors should have wide range of experiences and skills.
Reference and bibliography
Joanna Tang, Mentor
Louise Gordon Section manager of haberdashery and travel of John Lewis (2006)
Mullins, L (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
The Times (2008) Entrepreneurs: a mentor can tune your skills. [online] Available at: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3778514.ece [Accessed 22 March 2010]
Mullins (2007) stated that an appraisal is a method of providing feedback to staff from different groups such as colleagues, managers and maybe external customers. The reason why companies use a 360 degree appraisal is because it provide a more complete picture of an individual performance.
During the employment with John Lewis Plc, I received 360 degree style appraisal after 1 month of my employment. In the interview my supervisor and I discussed setting sales targets and training programmes that I received, for example, till training, product training and customer service training. Also I gave my opinions on the training programmes. Another point that we discussed is how I could improve my skills and knowledge for upcoming events. My appraisal was very effective because it outlined the areas where I could improve and my supervisor would have a better knowledge of me. 2 months afterward I received another appraisal interview this was due to that I am a new employee to the organisation. This time we discussed my sales targets which I achieved and my performance during that period of time. Also the manager outlining the areas that I have improves on, for example, product knowledge. The meeting was usually held at the back office where the stock room was or on the third floor behind the HR office.
• Read the article from The Times on mentoring. What skills do you think are required to be an effective mentor?
According to The Times (2008) the skills that is needed is to have wise knowledge of different sectors. Also mentors need to be patient because different apprentices may take longer or shorter time to pick up the ideas.
It was stated in The Times (2008) that mentors may need to use more than one example so it may make it easier for the apprentice to relate to or understand. So the advice can be effective when being used.
One of the most important skills of being a mentor is to identify and set targets because by achieving targets could improve their ability, for example, to solve problems, interact better with other people and to cope with challenges,
Another essential skill is communication as it stated in The Times (2008) that provides a better understanding for both parties and improves their relationship. This leads to improving the apprentice contacts. One of the most important points of having a mentor is to provide directions to look at the challenges and different way to solve them.
Mullins (2007) stated that mentors should be supportive throughout the activities and the Times (2008) stated in the articles good mentors should have some grey hairs.
• Identify someone from your college/uni, school, work, social life who has been a mentor to you. How have they affected your life?
Joanna Tang
Joanna has influenced me by giving advice and examples that I can relate too. Also she gave up her time to go over my course work throughout my education, for example, spelling and grammar checks.
Also she keeps me motivated by threats, for example, telling my parents that I am not doing my work and this will lead to my parent cutting my allowance.
Another area that I admire her for is that she can balance work and family because she has three children to look after and they are all under the age of 10. Also she works for HSBC as an Assistant Manager of a branch. In her spare time she does voluntary work at the Berkhamsted Hospice.
As a mentor she has taught me a number of skills and improved my knowledge. For example, she taught me when to buy and sell at the right time on the FTS 100. This has led to one of my success.
Conclusion
In this conclusion it is important to have mentors to learn from as they provide different an angle to solve the challenges. Also it indicates the importance of mentors as they can provides influence to the apprentices and motivates them.
All mentors should have wide range of experiences and skills.
Reference and bibliography
Joanna Tang, Mentor
Louise Gordon Section manager of haberdashery and travel of John Lewis (2006)
Mullins, L (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
The Times (2008) Entrepreneurs: a mentor can tune your skills. [online] Available at: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3778514.ece [Accessed 22 March 2010]
Wednesday 21 April 2010
week 17 & 18 Selection
Find examples of three different selection methods used in an organisation with which you are familiar and identify when they are used and why, along with the pros and cons of each.
Short listing
Mullin (2007) stated that short listing information on CVs and application forms is one of the fastest way to process the information. The advantages of using short listing from CVs are that the HR department can identify the skills and knowledge they want straight away, outline the candidates qualifications and previous jobs. The disadvantages of short listing is that HR department will skim read the CVs and may miss out some important points of the candidates (Mullin, 2007).
Role play – demonstration
The advantages of using this type of method is that it can see how the candidate reacts in the working environment and show their skills and knowledge of the role they have applied for. Another advantage is that the interviewer can assess more than one interviewee at a time(Cox and Dufault, 1992).
The disadvantages of using this type of method are that it’s too expensive to carry out and time consuming. For example, the personnel that are involve.
Another disadvantage that was stated by (Cox and Dufault, 1992) is that if the company demonstrates through live customers on the shop floor it can affect the company image due to inappropriate manner or customer services.
For example, during an interview with John Lewis, the interviewee was told to go on the shop floor and assess how the organisation is run. During that activity I was lucky enough to serve some customers but we had to pass the sales to a member of staff because at that moment my status was an interviewees also all of the interviewee was giving a badge so customer can identify interviewee straight away.
Assessment centres
Armstrong (2006) stated point out the advantages of assessment centre is that the company can carry out more than one interview at the same time, for example, everyone will be doing the same activity and the candidates can show their abilities and skills.
But the down side of this method is that it is time consuming. One of the major drawbacks of the method is that the candidate may have done that version before and this will affect the result.
Another disadvantage that was explained in the lecture was the number of staff that is needed to carry out the tasks, for example, an assessment centres needs a panel of judges(Week 17 lecture notes).
Describe an interview that you have taken part in. It may have been for a job, but could also have been within your school or university. Was the interview effective? If so, why.
According to the Business dictionary, that an interview is a formal meeting where two parties exchange information. For example, the interviewer will interview the potential candidates and this will improve their understanding of each other background, skills and experiences.
One of the most effective interviews that I was involved in was hosted by Tie Rack for a sales assistant post. The interview was a one to one situation. Firstly the interviewer gave me a brief history of the company, for example, how it started and this improved my knowledge of the company. Then she briefly explained how they operate. Also during the interview she asked me series of questions and one of them was why do you want this job? I answered was that it links to the course that I am studying at Milton Keynes College which was BTEC national diploma in business. Also it can improve my knowledge and skills of this type of industry. Another question was what is your understanding of the job role and the sector. I answered; apart from serving customers and providing advice to them. For example, giving customers fashion advice and teaching customers on how to do a tie up. I also mentioned that just by adding on little accessories, such as; tie, scarf and cufflinks it can change the entire look of the person. One of the main reasons why this interview was effective was that I got the job at the end.
Interview a member of your family, or a friend not at university, to ask them whether they feel personality tests used within a selection procedure are advantageous. Describe and explain their views.
I interview my sister and she said it will be appropriate to use a personality test because it provides more information about the candidate, and they can see do they fit in with other employees personality. In a working environment people usually get along with people that have similar interest or character and it is one of the main reasons why employees stay with their organisations. Also she mentioned it covers some of the information that is needed which is not in the CVs (Tsim, A, 2010).
In your own organisation or one with which you are familiar what recommendations would you make to improve selection processes?
The organisation I have chosen is my parents’ Chinese takeaway called China Garden. The recommendation that I would suggest is improve on recruitment structure because in one month they have two staff leaving and they were only there for 2 weeks each.
To solve this matter I would recommend them to ask more questions about the candidates during the interview, for example, ask for pervious job reference and their backgrounds(Tsim, C and Tsim, L).
Remember to write a brief conclusion about this topic
It is very important for organisations to plan everything to the smallest detail, for example, job description, contract of employment and during their recruitment process because different selection method can affect the result of candidates that they hire. Also each type of method has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Bibliography and References
Armstrong, M (2006) A handbook of human resource management practice. 10th ed. [online] available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=D78K7QIdR3UC&pg=PA430&dq=assessment+centre+in+human+section&ei=0JqXS-P_OpCwMpiR2bIH&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false [Accessed 18 March 2010]
Business Dictionary [n.d] Interview definition. [online] available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/interview.html [Accessed 17 March 2010]
Cox, G and Dufault, C (1992) Twenty five role plays for interview training. [online] available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JTZ_H1hAaucC&printsec=frontcover&dq=role+play+interview&cd=1#v=onepage&q=role%20play%20interview&f=false [Accessed 18 March 2010]
Lecture notes (week 17) Jane Godson
Mullins, L (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
Sam Cotter (2007) Store manager of Tie Rack
Tsim, A The interviewee
Tsim, C and Tsim, L owner of China Garden
Short listing
Mullin (2007) stated that short listing information on CVs and application forms is one of the fastest way to process the information. The advantages of using short listing from CVs are that the HR department can identify the skills and knowledge they want straight away, outline the candidates qualifications and previous jobs. The disadvantages of short listing is that HR department will skim read the CVs and may miss out some important points of the candidates (Mullin, 2007).
Role play – demonstration
The advantages of using this type of method is that it can see how the candidate reacts in the working environment and show their skills and knowledge of the role they have applied for. Another advantage is that the interviewer can assess more than one interviewee at a time(Cox and Dufault, 1992).
The disadvantages of using this type of method are that it’s too expensive to carry out and time consuming. For example, the personnel that are involve.
Another disadvantage that was stated by (Cox and Dufault, 1992) is that if the company demonstrates through live customers on the shop floor it can affect the company image due to inappropriate manner or customer services.
For example, during an interview with John Lewis, the interviewee was told to go on the shop floor and assess how the organisation is run. During that activity I was lucky enough to serve some customers but we had to pass the sales to a member of staff because at that moment my status was an interviewees also all of the interviewee was giving a badge so customer can identify interviewee straight away.
Assessment centres
Armstrong (2006) stated point out the advantages of assessment centre is that the company can carry out more than one interview at the same time, for example, everyone will be doing the same activity and the candidates can show their abilities and skills.
But the down side of this method is that it is time consuming. One of the major drawbacks of the method is that the candidate may have done that version before and this will affect the result.
Another disadvantage that was explained in the lecture was the number of staff that is needed to carry out the tasks, for example, an assessment centres needs a panel of judges(Week 17 lecture notes).
Describe an interview that you have taken part in. It may have been for a job, but could also have been within your school or university. Was the interview effective? If so, why.
According to the Business dictionary, that an interview is a formal meeting where two parties exchange information. For example, the interviewer will interview the potential candidates and this will improve their understanding of each other background, skills and experiences.
One of the most effective interviews that I was involved in was hosted by Tie Rack for a sales assistant post. The interview was a one to one situation. Firstly the interviewer gave me a brief history of the company, for example, how it started and this improved my knowledge of the company. Then she briefly explained how they operate. Also during the interview she asked me series of questions and one of them was why do you want this job? I answered was that it links to the course that I am studying at Milton Keynes College which was BTEC national diploma in business. Also it can improve my knowledge and skills of this type of industry. Another question was what is your understanding of the job role and the sector. I answered; apart from serving customers and providing advice to them. For example, giving customers fashion advice and teaching customers on how to do a tie up. I also mentioned that just by adding on little accessories, such as; tie, scarf and cufflinks it can change the entire look of the person. One of the main reasons why this interview was effective was that I got the job at the end.
Interview a member of your family, or a friend not at university, to ask them whether they feel personality tests used within a selection procedure are advantageous. Describe and explain their views.
I interview my sister and she said it will be appropriate to use a personality test because it provides more information about the candidate, and they can see do they fit in with other employees personality. In a working environment people usually get along with people that have similar interest or character and it is one of the main reasons why employees stay with their organisations. Also she mentioned it covers some of the information that is needed which is not in the CVs (Tsim, A, 2010).
In your own organisation or one with which you are familiar what recommendations would you make to improve selection processes?
The organisation I have chosen is my parents’ Chinese takeaway called China Garden. The recommendation that I would suggest is improve on recruitment structure because in one month they have two staff leaving and they were only there for 2 weeks each.
To solve this matter I would recommend them to ask more questions about the candidates during the interview, for example, ask for pervious job reference and their backgrounds(Tsim, C and Tsim, L).
Remember to write a brief conclusion about this topic
It is very important for organisations to plan everything to the smallest detail, for example, job description, contract of employment and during their recruitment process because different selection method can affect the result of candidates that they hire. Also each type of method has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Bibliography and References
Armstrong, M (2006) A handbook of human resource management practice. 10th ed. [online] available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=D78K7QIdR3UC&pg=PA430&dq=assessment+centre+in+human+section&ei=0JqXS-P_OpCwMpiR2bIH&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false [Accessed 18 March 2010]
Business Dictionary [n.d] Interview definition. [online] available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/interview.html [Accessed 17 March 2010]
Cox, G and Dufault, C (1992) Twenty five role plays for interview training. [online] available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JTZ_H1hAaucC&printsec=frontcover&dq=role+play+interview&cd=1#v=onepage&q=role%20play%20interview&f=false [Accessed 18 March 2010]
Lecture notes (week 17) Jane Godson
Mullins, L (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
Sam Cotter (2007) Store manager of Tie Rack
Tsim, A The interviewee
Tsim, C and Tsim, L owner of China Garden
Thursday 15 April 2010
week 14 Role of the Line Manager
• List five benefits and five drawbacks of line managers being more involved in HR activities
The benefits of having a line manager are that the line manager is closer to their staff and the HR manager. Also the line manager has a better knowledge of certain areas because line manager usually deals with day to day basis.
Mullins (2007) stated that line managers provides better feedback than the HR manager because line managers used the hands on approach and observed their staff directly.
According to Mullins (2007), line managers can identify the needs and wants of staff without certain barriers, for example, staff may be scared of asking the HR manager because the question may seen to be unreasonable.
Another benefit of having a line manager is they can share the work load from the manager.
The disadvantages of having a line manager are that there are two managers in one department and this might cause conflict between the line manager and head of the department due to different beliefs.
Another disadvantage is that a line manager is closer to their staff and this may affect their decision making, for example, disciplinary.
Needham (1999) stated that line managers are not specialist in certain areas of the department.
What skills do you think that line managers need to develop
in order to effectively manage people and why? How are
your line managers developed at work?
According to CIPD (2009), line managers have wide areas of responsibilities, for example, organising work allocation and rotas, checking quality and monitoring work processes. Also line managers are on the lower levels of management so therefore they have a wide range of areas that they need to improve on, for example, good relationship with colleagues so communications is one of the key roles of improving line managers development.
Another area that line managers have to take on is carrying out activities which traditionally belonged to the HR department such as providing coaching, guidance and dealing with discipline and grievances. However line managers will be provided training to deal with these issues and line managers can also improve their skills during work, for example, improving their confidence when dealing with conflicts (CIPD, 2009).
During my employment with John Lewis the line managers were very professional when they were carrying their tasks and our team relationship was very good because at every day before and after the store opened or closed, there would be a team meeting so that we are up to date with sales targets and improve our relationship between colleagues.
• Go on to Prospects website and research the job roles for an HR manager. Do you feel your skills are more suited to the role of a line manager or an HR Manager? Explain your reasons.
After looking at numbers of career web sites and news papers, for example, The Times, The Guardian and reed.co.uk, I feel that I am not quite suitable for the role of line manager or HR manager. There are numbers of reasons, for example, experience that I do not have and this is one of the main reasons why I think I am not suitable. Also if I am going to apply for the role of line manager or HR manager, I will be competing with other candidates that have more experience than me.
When applying for this kind of level of employment usually employers will look for what types of training that the candidate have received, for example, CIPD qualification, skills and knowledge of the sector. Although I have been studying HR throughout my career in education I still think it is not enough because I have not been putting the theories and models in use. If I am going in to a HR sector I will prefer an assistant role or clerk role because these roles will provide me the skills, knowledge and experience.
Nowadays having a degree in HR is quite essential but also experience will be needed because this can prove to the employer that I have put my knowledge into good practice.
Reference and Bibliography
Charted institute of personnel and development (2009) [online] Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/maneco/general/rolefrntlinemngers.htm [Accessed 20 March 2010]
Mullins, L (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
Needham, D (1999) Business for higher awards [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8w3hXLIBfywC&pg=PA223&dq=disadvantages+of+having+line+managers&cd=5#v=onepage&q=disadvantages%20of%20having%20line%20managers&f=false [Accessed 20 March 2010]
Reed (2010) Job search results [online] Available from
http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/London/HR-
Manager/?JobID=18830429&k=hr+manager&ns=True&lit=3 [Accessed 20 March 2010]
The Guardian (2010) HR manager [online] Available from http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/job/978057/hr-manager/ [Accessed 20 March 2010]
The Times (2010) HR manager / human resources manager [online] Available from http://jobs.timesonline.co.uk/job/390323/hr-manager-human-resources-manager [Accessed 20 March 2010]
The benefits of having a line manager are that the line manager is closer to their staff and the HR manager. Also the line manager has a better knowledge of certain areas because line manager usually deals with day to day basis.
Mullins (2007) stated that line managers provides better feedback than the HR manager because line managers used the hands on approach and observed their staff directly.
According to Mullins (2007), line managers can identify the needs and wants of staff without certain barriers, for example, staff may be scared of asking the HR manager because the question may seen to be unreasonable.
Another benefit of having a line manager is they can share the work load from the manager.
The disadvantages of having a line manager are that there are two managers in one department and this might cause conflict between the line manager and head of the department due to different beliefs.
Another disadvantage is that a line manager is closer to their staff and this may affect their decision making, for example, disciplinary.
Needham (1999) stated that line managers are not specialist in certain areas of the department.
What skills do you think that line managers need to develop
in order to effectively manage people and why? How are
your line managers developed at work?
According to CIPD (2009), line managers have wide areas of responsibilities, for example, organising work allocation and rotas, checking quality and monitoring work processes. Also line managers are on the lower levels of management so therefore they have a wide range of areas that they need to improve on, for example, good relationship with colleagues so communications is one of the key roles of improving line managers development.
Another area that line managers have to take on is carrying out activities which traditionally belonged to the HR department such as providing coaching, guidance and dealing with discipline and grievances. However line managers will be provided training to deal with these issues and line managers can also improve their skills during work, for example, improving their confidence when dealing with conflicts (CIPD, 2009).
During my employment with John Lewis the line managers were very professional when they were carrying their tasks and our team relationship was very good because at every day before and after the store opened or closed, there would be a team meeting so that we are up to date with sales targets and improve our relationship between colleagues.
• Go on to Prospects website and research the job roles for an HR manager. Do you feel your skills are more suited to the role of a line manager or an HR Manager? Explain your reasons.
After looking at numbers of career web sites and news papers, for example, The Times, The Guardian and reed.co.uk, I feel that I am not quite suitable for the role of line manager or HR manager. There are numbers of reasons, for example, experience that I do not have and this is one of the main reasons why I think I am not suitable. Also if I am going to apply for the role of line manager or HR manager, I will be competing with other candidates that have more experience than me.
When applying for this kind of level of employment usually employers will look for what types of training that the candidate have received, for example, CIPD qualification, skills and knowledge of the sector. Although I have been studying HR throughout my career in education I still think it is not enough because I have not been putting the theories and models in use. If I am going in to a HR sector I will prefer an assistant role or clerk role because these roles will provide me the skills, knowledge and experience.
Nowadays having a degree in HR is quite essential but also experience will be needed because this can prove to the employer that I have put my knowledge into good practice.
Reference and Bibliography
Charted institute of personnel and development (2009) [online] Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/maneco/general/rolefrntlinemngers.htm [Accessed 20 March 2010]
Mullins, L (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.
Needham, D (1999) Business for higher awards [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8w3hXLIBfywC&pg=PA223&dq=disadvantages+of+having+line+managers&cd=5#v=onepage&q=disadvantages%20of%20having%20line%20managers&f=false [Accessed 20 March 2010]
Reed (2010) Job search results [online] Available from
http://www.reed.co.uk/job-details/London/HR-
Manager/?JobID=18830429&k=hr+manager&ns=True&lit=3 [Accessed 20 March 2010]
The Guardian (2010) HR manager [online] Available from http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/job/978057/hr-manager/ [Accessed 20 March 2010]
The Times (2010) HR manager / human resources manager [online] Available from http://jobs.timesonline.co.uk/job/390323/hr-manager-human-resources-manager [Accessed 20 March 2010]
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