Final blog review

Final blog entry

This module has been one of my most enjoyable modules throughout my first year, but also a challenging module. There have been many new theories, models and concepts I have learnt, when I first looked at the module scheme, I did not think this would be an interesting module. However, this was made fun by my lecturer as it was not always just a normal lecture. We would also do activities involving the whole group which made it more pleasant. I believe that the aims and objectives of this module have been reached and have taken a lot from this module. I also believe this module is very important in a working environment.

During this module, I believe I have learnt many new interpersonal skills. I feel that I have developed in communication skills, this is because from the very first lecture where we did an ice breaker, I feel I have communicated well with my peers and made new friends. I also needed communication skills in group work when we did our first assignment and listening was also key in that assignment. This is because I had listened to others ideas in order to get the best result possible.

The most challenging blog to write in my opinion is the blogs with the most research in. A couple of exams are blogs such as the equality blog and reward blog. This because many times I could not find the research I needed which made it very time consuming.  I believe the blogs where you had to describe mainly theories and personal experiences the most enjoyable as I got to review the lectures and learn about myself in the process of doing these blogs.

If I was the module leader, I would change a few assignments. I feel that the group work assignment was a good assignment because I learnt a lot about working in a team and the conflicts that can occur in a team. However, I do feel it is unfair slightly because of the different groups chosen. In my opinion, the lecturer should choose the groups. The Lecture content was full of information, made fun by the activities in class. Therefore I do not have a problem and would not change anything with the lecture content. I enjoy the fact that if you turn up to lectures; you understand the theories more and will develop more skills. The activities for my lecture were amusing, whilst hard working at the same time. For my lecture, I appreciated the activities we done in class because otherwise, I believe I would not have enjoyed this module as much as I did.  I think activities and theory notes were balanced well overall. However, I would suggest either deadlines for blogs or exams instead. This is because many people find it difficult to work with without deadlines. If there is a deadline, people will have to do blogs earlier and we would not be under so much pressure if someone leaves it late. I suggested exams because many blogs are not secure and so people can look at others. Deadlines would also help with this as once it is passed the deadline, you should not be allowed to change anything. On the whole, this module has been one of my favourites and I have thoroughly enjoyed the first year. 

Perception and Communication

Perception and Communication

Perception is a procedure whereby individuals arrange and are aware of things around them due to their senses. It includes both the recognition of environmental stimuli and activity in the way they act to these stimuli. Hammond (2011) defines perception as the process by which the brain arranges and interprets information taken in through senses or creativity of our imagination. Perception also involves the five senses which are hear, taste, smell, touch and sight. There are many reasons that influence our perception such as the interest in something or the sound of something. In a work place it can be important for many reasons, it can have an impact on decision making such as through selection or promotion.

Personal experience

When I first attended university, I felt nervous going into the first class as I did not know anyone and would not know how they would react to me. Before I meet anyone new, I am usually very content and I tend to sit back to observe how they would act before trying to make new friends. In the first lecture, I saw a few people talking and my initial thoughts was that they seemed to be a nuisance and that they had a big ego. They did not take things as seriously as I thought they would and I also had the idea that they was trying to take control of the class. My initial judgement came because they seemed to be fairly loud and talkative. Appearance wise, they did not seem to be my sort of friends and therefore, I did feel I wanted to make friends with them, this can be classified as stereotyping. However, my initial thoughts was completely wrong after a while and my thoughts are completely different to what they first was. This is because they started talking to me and I got along with them fine. They were extremely friendly and invited me to socialise with them. When it came to the first assignment they were also hard working, which I did not expect. So my initial perception was incorrect as they are now my best friends at this university. To avoid making this judgement again, I will give people the chance to talk to me and will not avoid anyone, I will also not judge them on appearance or attitude.

Communication

Communication is a vital factor in life. It is where two people exchange and share information, this could be new information to one individual or just ones opinion. Foss (2008) defines communication as a state where a source transmits a message to a receiver. Having effective communication is can reduce perception problems, not just in a work place of in society too. This is because better communication can reduce conflict. In a working environment, communication is needed for high productivity and for employees to know what is going on in the company. Especially if it is group work. It is stated that more than 70% of a workers time will be communicating. 

University

There can be many ways Buckinghamshire new university can help improve communications with students using the recommendations from the article "how to improve staff communication." One way is to have a shared purpose between lecturers and students. Students need to understand the importance of communication, this is because if they are struggling but do not communicate with the lecturer, they can not share a vision of how the organisation can improve the individual. Students will be needed to help improve the organisation as a whole. Lecturers are like leaders and also need to realise the importance of communication in order to share there vision of what students are working towards.  In some lecturers, surveys and questionnaires have been filled from students, to have their opinion on what the year has been like. This is an effective way of communicating. Having a shared purpose also means that employees can understand goal they are working towards and employee communication is vital to generate a engaged workforce, that is committed to working towards an objective. 

Another to improve communication to "keep the personal touch." This is because students can value face to face communication with lectures highly. The idea of this is for lecturers to have the conviction and ability to hold a two way conversation so communication is effective. This will help universities because students can become in contact with lecturers regularly and easily. The university could also improve as students can express their opinions. This type of communication can be referred to as an all channels network show below. The opposite to a two way conversation is Handy's role culture. This can be referred to as a "top down" communication style. Handys role culture has been referred to as a greek temple, as shown below. Walker (2011) describes role culture as the role or job description that is more vital the individual in the job. The top of temple is where the more important decisions are made. The pillars are the functional units of an organisation which follow orders from the top of the temple. When an organisation is changing, this culture will be insecure as change will be difficult in these types of organisations. Grint (2005) claims that role cultures are usually found in bureaucracies.

The final way to improve universities communication with students recommended from the article will be to engage the people. The CIPD here has identified three strong ways of employee engagement. These ways are "having the opportunity to feed your views upwards; feeling well informed about what is happening in your organisation; and believing your manager is committed to the organisation." These ways can improve communication betweens students and lecturers because students can make their opinion clear straight to the lecturers or senior lecturers. A student expressing there views is key because it can help improve results which would improve the organisation as a whole. With students knowing what is happening in an organisation, there can be a development of trust as nothing is hidden from them, therefore communication will be effective and students feel more comfortable communicating with the university. The last one can be related to a lecture, where a lecturer is committed to teaching. From a students point of view, knowing that a lecturer is committed and wanting to teach someone, relates very well to the student, therefore communication between them is likely to improve.

Overall I feel that perception and communication is most vital for an organisation to work well. This is because the better communication is between employees and managers and students and lecturers, the better the organisation will be. They two groups of people can share the thoughts in order to improve the organisation. I think that the university has done well with communicating with students as I have been informed about most problems that come up. I can also happily come up to a lecturer without hesitation. I do not believe that lecturers have been stereotypical and perceived others as different even though they may be a certain gender or race.

Bibliography

Grint, K. (2005) The Sociology Of Work: Introduction. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Hammond, J. (2011) Branding Your Business. London: Kogan Page.

Littlejohn, W.S. and Foss, K.A. (2008) Theories of Human Communication. 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Kogan Page.

Walker, A. (2011) Organizational Behaviour In Construction. 1st ed.

Reward

Reward

Rewards are a system whereby something is given, usually financial rewards or employee benefits in recognition of effort, commitment and other reasons for the performance of the employee. Some financial rewards will be bonuses and performance related pay. Financial rewards can be referred to as tangible or extrinsic benefits. However, there are also non-financial rewards such as work life balance and the opportunity to develop skills. These rewards can be referred to as intrinsic or intangible benefits. Mckenna (2000) defines reward system as managers giving something back to employees in order to attract, retain and motivate people in a desired direction. Mckenna also says that rewards are aimed at employees in return for the effort and contribution they make to achievement of organisational objectives.

John Lewis

John Lewis rewards employees in many ways. This is to try and make it a better place to work and to create a better spirit. When I worked in John Lewis for work experience, they rewarded me non-financially by giving me regular feed back on performance; this is a way they give appraisal. This helps make the environment a happier place and therefore, employees can work to the best of their ability. John Lewis also has a policy which is to pay staff according to the market rate for the job they are doing, and that is justified by performance. Added to that is the annual bonus, pension scheme and the discounts. This again makes employees more willing to work which can lead to a better performance as the bonuses will be shared between them. Wood (2011) tells us that in 2011, “Shop workers received a bonus worth more than nine weeks.” So John Lewis’s staff gets both non monetary and monetary rewards.

Fairness a key factor in John Lewis. Ferrell (2012) describes is the attribute of being “equitable and impartial.” There are many advantage of being a co-owner which is that you get to share of the profits and they get a year bonuses every year, but to ensure fairness, it is the same for every partner. John Lewis also has policies to ensure equal opportunities are fair for everyone. This can motivate employees if they all know they have an equal chance of appraisal or promotion. John Lewis differs from other companies for many reasons, firstly it is owned by employees and they receive a share of the profit for bonuses.

Chief Executives

There are many opinions for and against Chief Executives receiving large bonuses if there organisation has underperformed. Some may argue that they should receive large bonuses because it is arguably the most important role in an organisation. This is because they have to make important decisions to influence the direction of the organisation. There job may therefore be one of the most stressful and in order to keep motivated and willing to work, large bonuses maybe required. Their job is more difficult than others. However, since they are the most important role in an organisation and they are the ones making the key decisions, but if bad decisions are made and the company has underperformed, they should not get bonuses in my opinion as the blame is mostly their fault. The fact that they already are on high salaries means bonuses are not necessarily needed for them, so if the company does under perform that year, they should not get bonuses. There are advantages and disadvantages for both.

 Bibliography

McKenna, E.F. (2000) Business Psychology and Organisational Behaviour: A Student's Handbook. 3rd ed. East sussex: Psychology Press Ltd.

O. C. Ferrell, J.F.Fraedrich (2012) Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases. 9th ed. Mason, OH: South-western Cengage Learning.

Wood, Z and Kowelle, J. (2011) John Lewis to share nearly £200m in bonuses after successful year [online]. theguardian. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/mar/09/john-lewis-staff-share-200m-pound-bonuses [Accessed: 9 March 2011].

http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/resources/faqs/employment.html

Equal Opportunity and Diversity

Equal Opportunities

Equality and Diversity

Equality is where people are all equal, everyone is treated in the same way, characteristics such as age, marriage, ethnic origin, physique, gender, experiences, social and cultural factors are not taking into account. No human is at a disadvantage. Humans differ in many ways such as motivation; some are more motivated than others. Some have different attitudes, personalities and some are more intelligent. But equality states that we are all equivalent. There should be equal opportunities and therefore discrimination should be gone. Ferell (2012) defines equality as how income is distributed between employees within an organisation. Equal opportunities are seen as a concern of human resource practitioners. Price (2011) highlights that the main factor which causes a problem to equal opportunities is social justice.

Diversity relates to the various types of people, that we should honour and respect the differences of employees. This is because they are an asset to work and can contribute so work can be done more efficiently and effectively. There are many examples of diversity; these are factors such as race culture, gender, age, experience and more. However, diversity does not just focus on the problems of discrimination. It also ensures that employees exploit their potential fully and add to the organisation. It embraces a broad range of people. Managing diversity is seen as the concern of all employees. Mullins (2008) defines diversity as multiple differences between individuals.

Age legislation in 2006 and Stereotyping

Some of the age legislation laws are as stated:

• “prohibit unjustified age discrimination in employment and vocational training

• require employers who set their retirement age below the default age of 65 to justify or change it

• introduce a new duty on employers to consider an employee’s request to continue working  beyond retirement

• Require employers to inform employees in writing, and at least 6 months in advance, of their intended retirement date. This will allow people to plan for their retirement

• remove the upper age limit for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights, giving older workers the same rights to claim unfair dismissal or receive a redundancy payment  as younger workers, unless there is a genuine retirement 

• Include provisions relating to service related benefits and occupational pensions.”

Since the age legislation came into force in 2006, an employer is not allowed retire, hire or promote someone that is based on age. Unless it is justified. Having the age legislation brought in can have an impact on employers. This is because they have to choose extremely carefully the best candidate. Even if an employer thinks he has the best candidate for the job, they can not refuse an offer. An employer will have to be very careful of there actions. They will also have to think carefully about the questions they ask. This is because some of the laws that have been adopted mean “questions must relate to the requirements of the job. If it is necessary to assess whether personal circumstances will affect performance, this must be discussed objectively without detailed questions based on assumptions about age.” The age legislation will force more work on employers not just for hiring new recruits, but also internally in the company, this is because promotion and training will have to be thought out carefully and made sure that it is not based on age.

A stereotype for young people is that they are not experienced enough for the job. Some say that young teens are lazy and irresponsible. Therefore, they will not want to employ them in an organisation. Another reason is because they believe they lack motivation and act in violent in their behaviour.  A stereotype for the older generation is that they are not as strong as they use to be. For example, in a working organisation, they may be unable to keep up with the pace of the job, and hearing might not be as good as it once was.

A way to stop stereotyping is to offer youngsters and elders jobs. It can even be part time. This is because giving a youngster a job may give them a certain responsibility that they have never received before. You can set goals for both elderly and youngsters, this would then mean that they can have their own goals and do not have to concentrate on keeping up with the pace. Giving them appraisals will also help their motivation. Treating them fairly will also help individuals and encouraging the whole work environment not to age stereotype will also aid the attitudes of others.

British airways

British airways have many innovative practices in order to have equal opportunities. They range from equal opportunities in age, gender, race, religion and sex orientation. They have innovative practices in age as they have built programmes to “ensure consistency in recruitment for both external and internal applicants.” They also consider “flexible working options prior to retirement” which shows that their innovation as they give alternatives. British airways “encourage age diversity in all areas by challenging assumptions and stereotypes linked to age.” This shows that they are following the age legislation and that age is not a factor when employing. They also have schemes for gender equality; they have introduced a few flexible working alternatives that benefit women who need dependent care. This shows that women also have equalities and that gender is not a problem. Race is a big factor in British airways. No matter where you are from, you still have equal opportunities. This is shown as a worker on the website tells us that “During my career I've had a number of very supportive managers who recognised my potential and encouraged me to seek opportunities to progress.” British airways listen well to ethnic workers and have many innovate objects such as increasing ethnic workers to senior levels and are in contact with other organisations such as “race for opportunity.”

Conclusion

This topic has taught me many things. I can now define equality and diversity and state the differences. I can see how it is important in society that there should be equal opportunities for all, British airways have a number of innovative practices that I never knew they do. They do many schemes to increase opportunity for all. This topic has shown me that even though discrimination still happens, it is getting reduced over time.

Bibliography

Mullins, L.J. (2008) Essentials of Organisational Behaviour. 2nd ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

O. C. Ferrell, J.F.Fraedrich (2012) Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases. 9th ed. Mason, OH: South-western Cengage Learning.

Price, A. (2011) Human Resource Management. 4th ed.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is how a company acts towards a society in which it operates. As well as their product or service, they also focus on the environment and social practices inside the society. For example, they may help the environment by disposing waste in a environmentally friendly way. Daft and Marcic (2010) define corporate social responsibility as the management’s responsibility to make the right decision and take actions that will help assist welfare and society as well as the company.

Marks and spencers

After visiting the Eden centre, I found a number of companies using CSR in practice. The first company was Marks & Spencer. This is because they have many CSR practices in use. One CSR they are focusing on is the environment, they are setting out over  180 goals to achieve. These are many goals such as encouraging customers to reuse or recycle products and packaging. This would help the environment a lot and they have already achieved sustainable packaging materials, which uses more sustainable raw materials for the packaging. They have many more targets to help the environment, but the one that I have noticed in the last year was reducing carrier bag use. Where they aimed to “reduce carrier bag usage by 33%,” and they have exceeded this aim as there was a “reduction of 62% from 2006/07 to 2010/11.” 

Benefits to Marks & Spencers for helping the environment are the reduction of costs. Reusing packaging for example means they will not have to make as much and therefore, can reduce costs. This may also give you a better reputation and consumers may notice this and buy from the company. 

Another Marks & Spencer goal is towards communities, where they need to ensure that communities benefit in supply chain. They work with their suppliers to help improve livelihoods in communities. This shows CSR as they are not totally focused on the products and services, but also other communities.  Marks & Spencer also work with fair-trade by have more of a variety of fair trade foods and converting “20 million clothing garments.” This shows support to other communities and they are on course to research on communities who are vulnerable.  This also shows interdependency between society and business.

Helping communities can also bring many benefits to the organisation. This is because it will build a stronger relationship with communities and therefore, can create more links with them. This will make business easier and their reputation will again be higher. There can be a source of competitive advantage as there is likely to be more positives from the media and others.  Helping local communities may also make it easier to recruit employees and so there is another advantage of corporate social responsibilities. 

Marks & Spencers also have CSR in order to help their own customers. This is because they have launched new products that are healthier in order to help consumers . They have launched eat well healthier snacks.  They have also spotted vegetarian customers and have helped them by adding dishes suitable to them. This again shows that they think about all types of consumers and not just on the business.  They have already achieved many commitments and are looking too again for consumers in 2012.

 

Having a CSR to help out customers can also have its advantages. Some of these advantages are that consumers are more likely to keep shopping there and can develop loyalty. This is because it can create credibility and trust with customers.  Treating customers well can also make it easier to recruit.

This topic taught me a lot. I never really knew what CSR was before I learnt this topic and never knew that so many practices are in different companies. I believe CSR is important because businesses should think of customers as well as their own company.  This is so consumers are more content to shop their and it can also give an advantage to the business with its recognition and reputation.

Bibliography

Daft, R.L and  Marcic, D, (2010) Understanding Management. 7th ed. Mason, OH: South-western cengage learning.

 http://plana.marksandspencer.com/media/pdf/how_we-do_business_report_2011.pdf

Performance management

Performance management

Performance management is a procedure where the direct and efficient management of individuals and teams help to attain increased levels of the company’s performance. Cardy (2011) points out that performance management is far more than reporting on performance, they should also provide feedback. Cardy defines it as functioning with a team or employees to enhance future performances.

Performance management is important in an organisation, that is why we measure it, to check on employees commitment and motivation as this is like to increase the activity of employees. There are many benefits of measuring performance of employees. One of the benefits is that the goal will be clear-cut and the togetherness of the company may be better. This is because an individuals goal will be similar the an organisations and therefore, most employees can work together. This in turn can lead to increased communication skills. There are many ways to measure performance such as number of products made or number of complaints dealt with.

My appraisal

Performance appraisals frequently record an assessment of an individuals performance and growth that individuals may need. An appraisal is a chance to see how employees are getting on and to see what they have accomplished. Randhawa (2007) claims that an performance appraisal is evaluation of an employees performance in order to make future decisions on them. The reasons for appraisals are that it can enhance current performance which can increase motivation. It also makes clear what is expected from the aim of the job and if employees need training or if they have the potential for promotion.

There can be many problems with appraisals. If criticism is taken the one way or it is not constructive, it will not be an effective appraisal and the motivation of the employee may deteriorate. Work productivity might be less. There can also be many other problems such as reward, reward may not be as hoped and so the employee again may lose motivation to work. The manager may also lack interest in appraisal and may not be prepared, in turn, infrequent feedback will be provided. Hegar (2008) also mentions some problems such the problems of being bias.

An appraisal I have had a work is when I had work experience at John Lewis. They called me in with the manager of the section I was working at, and my employer. It was a one to one basis, they gave me feedback and discussed how I was doing, my performance and if I had any issues with the job. They went through a performance record and told me what the colleagues thought of me.

In my opinion, the appraisal was effective. This is because I felt that I had done my job well and I got recognised for it. They also asked if I wanted a job at John Lewis, these factors motivated me to work hard as I felt was wanted in the company. They gave me positive feedback and listened to whatever I had to say. I also think it was effective because they shared every ones views that I was working with on me. So there was nothing hidden, even if I had criticism, it would be constructive criticism.

They did not set me any goals since I was only on working experience, however, the little jobs I had, they thought I don ea good job. They would make sure I know which driven me to work harder. Overall, I thought it was an effective appraisal.

Skills to be a mentor

A mentor is an individual who helps advise and supports other employees. A mentor usually has a lot of experience in which they use to help the employee develop. They will encourage an employee to work hard and achieve its maximum potential so that their performance will improve. Avis (2010) depicts mentoring as a long term learning curve which is used to support individuals who have not reached their maximum potential yet.

Reading an article from the Times, I believe there are many skills and abilities required to be a mentor. The skills are not as difficult as one may think. These are skills are skills just as listening. In order to be a good mentor, they must listen to the individual, main eye contact with them so the individual feels they can go to someone for advice. Mentors must be supportive, so they can help an employee grow and develop. One of the most vital factors in my opinion of a mentor is being a good communicator and having some experience. This is because they can share the knowledge they have with the employee, so the employee knows what they have to go through in order to improve their performance and grow. Relationship is also an important factor. This is because having a good relationship with your employee develops the element of trust.

My mentor

At A levels, each student was given a mentor. I was very pleased with the teacher I got, this is because not jut through A levels, but also through school, the teacher guided me and encouraged me to work hard. At A level we would have a meeting every week to discuss how Ii am getting on. We would also discuss results and coursework due in, as well as personal life if needed. I would be explained what I should do in order to try to succeed, not just academically, bit also through sport. Discussing how I can improve in areas and encouraging me to be motivated as it gave me a sense of belief that I could do well and therefore, it motivated me to work hard.

However, my parents have been the biggest mentor in my life. This is because they support me whatever I choose to do and always try to push me the best I can be without putting too much pressure on me. This cold be in hobbies such as golf or piano or academically in school. They have guided me through my life, even when I have hard decisions to make. They would help advise me and are my biggest inspirations.

This blog has been comforting; this is because I got to look back at my school times. I believe performance appraisal is important in a working environment; recognition is needed in my opinion for good work in order to keep motivation high. I have learnt a lot from this topic, how appraisals can be effective and problems that can arise with appraisals. Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed this topic.

Bibliography

Hegar, K.W. (2008) Modern Human Relations at Work. Mason, OH: South-western Cengage Learning.

Avis J, Fisher, R. and Thompson, R. (2010) Teaching in Lifelong Learning. Berkshire : Open university press.

Randhawa, G. (2007) Human Resource Management. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors Ltd.

Cardy, R.L and Leonard, B. (2011) Performance Management: Concepts, Skills, and Exercises. 2nd ed. New York: M.E sharpe Inc.

Recruitment

RECRUITMENT

Recruitment is the process of hiring potential employees or candidates for a particular job. They could be hiring employees for many reasons such as a shortage of staff. Gatewood (2010) defines recruitment as a companies activities that cause a number of individuals to apply for a position. There are many ways of recruiting, such as through job centres, job advertising and even recommendations.


www.fish4jobs.co.uk
Fish4jobs is an online recruitment site that targets the Uk market. There own website tells us that there are 17188 new jobs listed and 37,005 new members this month. There are many reasons why online recruitment sites have increasing over the years. One reason is because of technology, a job space can be put on a site very speedily and so applicants can apply quickly. Job seekers will also have a much longer time to look for a job and there may be more people looking on the website than going into a store asking for an application. It is also very easy to put your CV on online recruitment sites and this will be for employers to see.

Fish4jobs layout is very clear in my opinion as they have a lot of sections where they can choose where to find a job. For example, there are jobs such as accountancy, sales, management and many more on the webpage. This also shows that fish4jobs is well structured. The layout is also clear because you can easily locate jobs in your areas and there is a search bar to look for jobs suited to you. It has headings such as “browse jobs” which makes it much easier to find a particular job in an area for you. The colour of the website is orange, so it is very bright which can attract job seekers. It also gives you statistics on the webpage which is shown above.

www.monster.co.uk
Monster is slightly different compared fish4jobs. First of all the colour is purple compared to fish4jobs orange. There is a search bar for monster, where you can type in the job title and location. Monster also uses social network sites to stay connected with the latest jobs, uploading a CV is also simple with monster as it is on the front page. There are many advantages and disadvantages to both websites.

E-recruitment campaign

E-recruitment is a procedure of using the internet in order to find a job for an individual. There can be job advertisements on the website which can attract a number of candidates. Armstrong (2012) defines online recruitment as using the internet to promote job vacancies and provide information about jobs.

An e-recruitment campaign that I found interesting is one form Cadburys Schweppes. In 2008, Cadburys Schweppes wanted to employ 20 graduates. Whilst recruiting graduates, they have created an new idea which is to have a new online chatroom so candidates have a opportunity to interact with the company’s graduates. Berry (2007) believes that with the advancement of technology, graduates should be comfortable with social networking sites for information and communication. This got me interested because I believe social networking is becoming a big part of peoples lives, not just for graduates, but for everyone. When I read this, I thought it was a great idea that social networks can be used in the recruitment process. Contacting past graduates will also get an idea for the candidates and I believe social networking sites are the best way to do that.

Another online recruit campaign that caught my eye from Cadburys Schweppes is an online testing one. This campaign also caught my eye because of the testing they are doing on graduates in order to improve efficiency and speed of the recruitment process. I believe that this is a good idea as well as the last campaign, as it give an idea of who is suitable for the job. The article highlights that it can be used to make a shortlist. I believe this is an intriguing way to search for the best candidate for the job and think it will distinguish who is suitable for it. Links are shown in the bibliography.

www.shldirect.com
After visiting www.shldirect.com and completing some of the aptitude tests, I feel there are benefits and disadvantages to this test. I would be keen for similar tests as a recruitment tool because it gives me a chance to prepare for it. This is because there are likely to be similar questions provided on the internet and therefore, will have a chance to see what kind of questions could come up. I would also be keen on the test because it may tell me that the job is not suited for me even if I pass it. For example, there might be questions that are related to the job which are too challenging for my liking, therefore I may not want to take this job on. If my numerical skills was not very good, and the job was linked a lot with numbers, I may feel the job is not for me and therefore, there would be no point of an interview. So therefore, up to a point, I feel keen that aptitude tests should be a recruitment tool.

However, I don't believe aptitude tests should be there for many reasons. One reason is that if I feel I have done poor on one of the tests such as the verbal testing, I may have lost motivation before the interview. Also, questionnaires such as personality can be misleading; this is because I feel that my personality can sometimes depend on what situation I am in. For example, a question that came up on the personality questionnaire is are you a person that is talkative? So aptitude tests can also be misleading and therefore, I would also not be keen in having them as a recruitment tool.

Recruitment was a topic that I have learnt a lot from, for example I never knew so many tests that can be involved in the recruitment process. I believe recruitment is a difficult process as getting the candidate is a complex task. Even though there are many ways of recruitment, there are pros and cons to all of them.

Bibliography

Armstrong, M. (2012) Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 12th ed. London: Kogan page.

Berry, M. (2007) [online]. personneltoday. Available from: 

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2007/11/07/43161/cadbury-schweppes-launches-uk-graduate-recruitment-campaign-with-a-new-online-chatroom.html [Accessed: 7 November 2007].

Gatewood R, Field, H and Barrick, M. (2010) Human Resource Selection. th ed. ed. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

http://www.onrec.com/news/news-archive/cadbury-schweppes-sweetens-recruitment-with-online-testing-from-psl

www.shldirect.com

www.monster.co.uk

www.fish4jobs.co.uk

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Flexible Working

Flexible working

Flexible working is an arrangement made with the employer and employee so that the worker has a more varied schedule that they have to work, this is so they can have certain amount of free time, and therefore they have more time to do other hobbies. The location of work will also be accustomed to the worker so that it suits them better.  Kurtz (2011) defines flexible working as benefits that allow employees to adjust their working hours or place of work according to their needs.

Types of flexibility and their advantages

There are many type of flexible working. One type of flexible working is part time working. Part time working is probably the most common type of flexible working. It means that the worker is contracted to work less than the standard number of hours. Pride (2011) describes part time work as a permanent job in which individuals work fewer hours than the regular work week. There are advantages to both employers and employees. For employees, there advantages such as the freedom to balance work and other commitments. It can also add recruitment and retention of staff by offering family-friendly working practices. Part-time work can also helpful for teenagers, who can gain experience whilst studying. It can also be more satisfying that a full time job, this is because long hours may not satisfy an employee after working many years. They made feel tired and feel that the job is tedious, and therefore, there may me a loss of motivation.

Advantages to employers are that it is a cost-efficient style to keep costs low as full time is not always needed. Part-time jobs can also increase the workers without increasing wages to every employee. Other pros to employers can also include the retention of trained staff. Productivity will also be higher because work-life balance encourages employees to work harder.

Another type of flexible working is job sharing. Job sharing is one full-time job that is split between two workers who agree the hours between them. They receive wages based on how many hours they work. Job sharing usually means that the workers days are like part time schedules, with just half a day or alternative days. Yeung (2003) explains job sharing as a form of permanent part-time work in which two people share the responsibilities and hours, as well as the pay and benefits of one full time job. Advantages of employers include retention of important workers who can not work full time and so the other option is to leave. There will also be a wider range of skills and abilities as there is more help, so problems are solved easier and there is a broader capability of their workforce. There may be a potential reduction in absenteeism, as workers can fill in the space.

There can also be advantages to employees. These advantages are that there will be less stress because they are working less hours and can rely on others if needed. There is also greater control of working life balance because of the fewer hours. This means that again time can be spent with other commitments such as with families or hobbies. Employees will then feel more refreshed and therefore, can be more motivated and hard working.

The last type of flexible work explained is zero-hour contracts.. This is where employees only work if they are needed. Work is not secured for them as they might not be called upon; however, if they are called upon, they are expected to accept the job. French (2011) clarifies zero-hour contracts as an arrangement where the employee is not guaranteed any work at all but in some way is required to be available as and when an employer needs that person. There are certain advantages to this type of flexible work. These are to employers, if you are short of workers, you can bring in extra labour when it is needed and having a few contract workers mean you will always be able to get a worker in. Costs will also be reduced because you only need to pay workers if work is carried out.

 There are also some benefits to employees which are extra income being brought in occasionally. Because they may have considerably low hours, stress will not be an issue and so commitments and hobbies will increase. Their morale will be better and therefore work productivity is likely to be higher. If it is a student taking a zero hour contract, it will most likely be suited to them because of studies.

However, even though there many benefits of flexible working, there are also disadvantages. Some of these disadvantages are that work life balance will be hard to find. Especially in home working, it may be harder to concentrate at home and there is no one to ask for help. Isolation can be a problem in flexible working because work colleagues will not be seen much. Exploitation might occur and line managers have a bigger work load. This is because may have to reorganise work as staff may be unpredictable with their work time. Line managers must also be a communicator, however, if a employee is not always at work, it will be harder to communicate with them.

Three companies 

A company that uses flexible working is B &Q. B & Q allow lasting employees to request flexible working so they can carry on with other hobbies. They offer types of flexible working such as part time. They have certain commitments to make for B & Q to make a great work place and one of the commitments is to guarantee that working practices are negotiable to change working hours so staff can balance work and leisure.  The website says that they do not only offer flexible working but they have achieved an award with the most flexible working policy.

Another company that offers flexible working is British Airways. They believe that balancing work and family life is very significant as it can benefit them and their employees. It has become a “part of the way they work” says Kim. It can benefit the company because of the reduction of costs; they offer types of flexible methods such as part time and job sharing.

BT also has different types of flexible working. These types are home working. They use home working for many reasons, one of the main reasons is that there has been a change in technology; it is now easier to work through home office. With programmes such as Skype and with the internet easy accessible, they can retrieve information and send information from home. Therefore they do not need offices for employees.

Flexible working has been a topic that has been pleasant; this is because I have learnt many types of flexible working which I can relate to in my life as I may need a type flexible job one day. I know the advantages and disadvantages and recognise some companies that use them. I believe flexible work is important in everyone’s life with the notion of work life balance being key in order to keep motivated. 

Bibliography

Anon. (2012) B&Q [online]. B&Q. Available from: http://www.diy.com [Accessed: 2012].

Anon. (2012) Diversity strategy [online]. British airways. Available from:

 http://www.britishairways.com/travel/crdivstrategy/public/en_gb [Accessed: 2012].

Ray French, Rayner, C and Rees, G. (2011) Organizational Behaviour. 2nd ed. West Sussex: John Wileys & Sons, Ltd.

Pride W.M. Hughes, Robert, J and Kapoor J.R (2011) Business. 11th ed.

Yeung, R. (2003) The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests & Exercises to Assess Your Skills & Potential. London: Kogan Page Limited.

http://globalservices.bt.com/LeafAction.do?Record=Flexible_Working_Services_solutions_uk_en-

gb&fromPage=Furl

http://www.insight.bt.com/Topics/Flexible-working/