Employee Participation and Involvement

Employees participation is a legally supported means given to employees and providing them with having their say in decision-making  which may affect an employment status, whereas employee involvement copes with encouraging employees by managers to commit them to organisational values, which include: financial participation, quality improvement, sharing information and  consultation.

Those are three examples of how organisation can involve employees in decision-making:

·         To get employees involved in decisions , employees discuss and then put  views to the management through a representative. They can also use suggestion letters and employees to make recommendations on the issue.

·         Some companies make a decision to give a small shares packages. It makes staff to feel more involved part in decision making in the organisation.

·         Second  example of getting employees concerned about decision-making is for instance when universities carry out surveys to staff and students to help make decisions in the future.

Reference list:

Mullins, L. (2010) Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9^th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Unknown (Unknown) Involvement [online]. Available from:

http://www.scontrino-powell.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Blog-Pic-Involvement1.jpg

[Accessed 9 May 2011].

Employee Participation and Involvement

Reward

Reward

 

The organisation I have chosen is Tesco, they reward their employees in different ways. Staff is given Privilege card , the card gives 10% discount and Club card points on most Tesco products. They are also eligible to exclusive staff discounts with Tesco Personal Finance and Tesco Telecoms.

This reward is for staff who has been working for Tesco for at least one year. It shows  Tesco fairness because workers are rewarded after they have shown some loyalty to the organisation.  

They also care about staff health:

 ‘To ensure that staying fit and healthy doesn't cost our people an arm and a leg, we have some great discounts with top healthcare companies. We offer exclusive discounted rates for staff on health cash plans, dental cover and private medical insurance, to help take the burn out of healthcare costs’.

(Tesco, 2008)

They support the lifestyle:

 ‘We recognise that Tesco staff have busy lives outside of the workplace, so we've introduced a range of policies that will help you find a better balance between your work life and home life. From saving money with childcare vouchers to taking time off work for a career break or extended holiday, at Tesco there are a variety of options available to support your lifestyle’.

‘Our staff work hard, so we believe they should be able to make the most of their leisure time. To help with this we have negotiated discounts and special offers that are available exclusively to Tesco staff. There are discounts on theme parks, holidays and gym membership that are available all year round. There are also special offers throughout the year, to make sure there's always something for everyone.’

(Tesco, 2008)

‘None of us know what the future holds, but you can be sure that peace of mind and financial security for our staff is very important to us. Planning ahead to your retirement is easy with our award winning, Tesco pension scheme. With a Tesco pension you are able to understand how financially secure you will be when you decide to retire. As well as pension provision you have access to a life assurance scheme that will provide financial protection for your family’.

(Tesco, 2008)

This policy is open to all members’ staff in Tesco PLC. However, to get the most out of the pension scheme people have to work there for a long time. Tesco shows fairness and equity by allowing staff members to financially secure retirement pension.

Tesco rewards their employees through a variety of schemes. These are aimed to improve their lifestyles outside the work and influence performance inside the workplace. Reward schemes are based on equality and are available for all members of staff to improve staff commitment, morale and motivation.

I strongly believe that Chief Executives should not still receive large bonuses if the organisation that they have led has underperformed.

Those are arguments for (they should receive bonuses):

·         The reason for the organisation to underperform may be out of the Chief Executives and employee power.

·         The company might not have achieved the targets for the year, although hard work has been put in.

Arguments against 9 (they should not receive bonuses):

·         If the organisation has underperformed, most funds should be directed to change this critical situation.

·         They could make some mistakes in the field of leading the business, which affected in bad results, so they should pay penalty for that and have the bonuses cut.

·         Lack of motivation for them if they know they would be paid whether organisation has successful performance or not. It will result in worse performance of the company.

·         Frustration of shareholders and staff which can fell it is unfair.

·         Bigger cost for the company.

Reference list:

Unknown (Unknown) Job-reward [online]. Available from:

http://www.maurilioamorim.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Job-Reward.jpg [Accessed 5 May 2011].

Unknown (2009) Tesco Careers [online]. Available from:

http://www.tesco-careers.com/home/working/rewards-and-benefits [Accessed 5 May 2011].

Performance Management

Managing Performance

Armstrong and Baron (2004) famously stated that performance management is a process which contributes to the effective management of individuals and teams in order to achieve high levels of organisational performance. As such, it establishes shared understanding about what is to be achieved, and approach to leading and developing people which will ensure that it is achieved’.

Bucks New University measures student’s performance in a variety of ways. Tutors have to measure and manage students to ensure that their performance stays on the track. It often happens that students are distracted from university work due to the fact it is time in their life when people want to go to parties, meet with friends. This is why lecturers must follow all the time students’ achievements and results. The most important feature of this measurement is the feedback given on the assignment. The lecturers assess my performance with a feedback sheet which is attached when given results back. After student becomes aware of improvement if it is needed and advices how he could better perform. Other aspects for measurement are attendance and overall performance of the module/year. My personal tutor hasn’t assessed my performance due to the fact I haven’t had the need for any contact with him during my first year.

According to the Sunday Times (2008) an effective mentor should possess:

·         Listening skills

·         Team working skills

·         Good communication skills

·         Work experience and great knowledge

·         Enthusiasm to help while mentoring

·         Outgoing personality

·         Patience

In my opinion my mum has been a mentor to me even she still is nowadays. From the childhood, then education period and now during studies I have always consulted her when I wasn’t sure about what to do, which choice should I make. She has a great talent to easily encourage me to do the best step for me. I think she is a person whom experience I would like to achieve in the future. I feel she has got many of the features of the mentor. She is patient and open minded. She has always given my guidelines in the right direction. She has affected my life because she has taught me all the skills and knowledge I possess now.

Reference list:

Mullins, L. (2010) Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9^th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

The Sunday Times (2008) Entrepreneurs: a mentor can tune your skills [online]. Available from:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3778514.ece [Accessed 3 May 2011].

Selection

Selection

The organisation which I have chosen is Tesco PLC.

‘We aim to make the selection process thorough and challenging for a number of reasons. Firstly, to make sure we employ only those people who are right for the role and, just as important, who will fit in with Tesco culture. And secondly, to make sure that you start out on the right career path, so you get the most out of the training and opportunities’.

(Tesco, 2001)

The first stage for the selection is a Psychometric Test. The applicant is asked to take this test after they have screened his application form, and if they have identified him as a candidate with the right potential. Psychometric Test is a series of questions that allow employer to gain a better understanding of candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, attitude and aptitude for verbal and numerical skills. The main advantages of this selection method are that it adds objectivity to selection process and increases predictive validity of selection decisions. It also measure factors that cannot be assess through application form or interview. One the other hand Psychometric Test discovers only general data about the person, a deeper research is essential to make decision whether candidate is suitable for the post.

The second stage of selection is an interview with a Tesco senior manager, structured around person competency framework. The main reason for the interview is that the organisation can interact with the applicant face to face. The positive aspects of this method are that it can assess some person attitude to job, problem solving and communication skills (by open and situational questions). It shows if candidate is enthusiastic for the job, confident and has some knowledge about an organisation. The negative features for interview are that interviewer makes assumptions and snap decisions about the applicant. It is quite artificial and very stressful situation largely for the candidate.
The last stage of selection for Tesco applicants is an assessment centre. A mixture of group and individual exercises assessed by the teams of selectors. The benefit of this method is that it is the most comprehensive overview of an individual’s strengths and limitations than any single selection method. Assessment centre is more objective than an interview alone which can depend on just one person interpretation and also decision makers can reach and share quick decision. It’s a long process to fit into one day of assessment.

One year ago I took part in an interview for the post of a shop assistant in Poland. The interview wasn’t structured and the interviewer asked me too many needless questions, for instance about my family, which I had found unrelated to the topic. This artificial situation made me feel quite stressed and I was just waiting when it would be finished. I think that I gave my feelings to employer and that could be the main reason to reject my application. I think there was no earlier studying of my application form to determine the areas for the investigation, and the interviewer might had made some assumptions about my personality. Unfortunately, the interview was not very effective, it just wasted time for both parties.

As I am a member of staff of the TRS 24/7 Recruitment Solutions I would rather say that the organisation has quite poor methods of selection. To improve the TRS’ selection process I would strongly recommend them to:

·         Always ask for the applicants CV. It provides employer more specific with person details, previous work experience, education and qualifications.

·         Carry out the interview which will be more formal. It is very helpful tool for the selection to gather more information about the candidate. The questions can be developed from the CV.

Selection holds many dissimilar methods in order to generate a good source of information about an individual.  First and foremost to have a successful selection, the recruitment process has to be done effectively so as to filter the best candidate through.

Reference list:

Unknown. (Unknown) Job [online]. Available from:

http://reviews.in.88db.com/images/stories/job.jpg [Accessed 2 May 2011].

Unknown. (2001) Tesco [online]. Available from:

http://www.tesco.com/recruitment/html/careers/selectionprocess/selectionprocess.htm [Accessed 2 May 2011].

Recruitment

Recruitment

The on-line recruitment site I have chosen is www.monster.co.uk. It is really user friendly and accessible site, with a clear layout even for those who have never used this kind of website before. Monster site offers personal insight into jobs we are interested in. The layout allows searching for the job by specialising the industry and specific job role they are looking for. It is really helpful option due to the fact we are targeted at the desire post.

Monster website allows people to create a perfect CV, there are also some examples and advices how to improve the CV or the Cover letter. There is also an option for the Advanced
Job Search where we can specify in detail desire by typing Location, Company, Industry, Category (e.g. Accounting/Finance), Job Type, Career Level and Education Level. Next it is showing a list of jobs for seeking area. We can also stay connected to the latest jobs, events and career advice from Monster by adding this page to favourites on for example on Facebook or Twitter.

Not only is it a page to look for some jobs but also the forum where people can discuss job issues.

Monster site contains also big variety of articles on the such topic as Career Development, Job Interview or Workforce.

Merseyside Fire Service’s recruitment campaign is the one which has recently interested me. Merseyside Fire Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the county of Merseyside in north-west England and is the statutory fire fighting and rescue service responsible for all 999 fire brigade calls in Sefton, Knowsley, St. Helens, Liverpool and Wirral. They were trying to recruit more ethnic minority and female fire-fighters. To achieve the goal Merseyside inter alia hold awareness days to give people an idea of the entry standards needed. They also advertised vacancies through agencies who specialise in attracting women and ethnic minorities. Their performance turned out to be successful due to the fact they noticed 100% increase in workforce representation of both groups. Moreover, three females and six from minority groups initially started job.

I feel that this recruitment campaign caught my interest because the stereotype for a fire fighter is a man and organisation was predominantly aiming at women and ethnic minority. Secondly I liked also the fact that Merseyside is one of the few organisations drawing attention to the issue of equal opportunities and diversity management at work.

There are many advantages and drawbacks of online recruitment, these most important ones are:

Advantages:

      it is less stressful way of applying for the job for applicants, as they do not have face to face contact with an employer

      the recruitment process is available for people 24/7

      extremely quick process to go through

      easy to access for all willing to find a job

      low cost for the organisation

Disadvantages:

      too many candidates for one vacancy

      not everyone might have access to the Internet

      sometimes some technical problems can occur (error)

      negative aspect for the company because they cannot see who actually is filling the application, sometimes people can provide untrue information just to get the job

      the elderly are often disqualified due to having difficulties to fill the online application while they could turn out to be experienced and reliable workers

To conclude recruitment is known as all activities directed towards locating potential employees. Employers by recruitment want to obtain a pool of suitable candidates for the post. As a process it is a major cost for the organisations but they have to take part in it to be seen as using fair procedure.

Reference list:

Unknown. (2011) Merseyside. Fire & Rescue Service [online]. Available from:

http://www.merseyfire.gov.uk/aspx/pages/careers/recruit-charter.aspx [Accessed 1 May 2011].

Unknown. (2011) Monster [ online]. Available from:

www.monster.co.uk [Accessed 1 May 2011].

Unknown. (Unknown) Woman fire-fighter [online]. Available from:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszpIsXHQnEiJ9vcVPvDywBmCESOT98qVeDr95VMpXKBNtJUotPi-UCRjZh1j8AJoW0KNOo2nO1YHlAmIJGtDFhK_I9dyBfAkik2qGmlWLOvm9uzNBCNA7jZDGmABe5eakjw_s2-AEvzo/s1600/Woman+Firefighter.jpg [Accessed 1 May 2011].

Equal opportunities and diversity

Equal opportunities and diversity

Equality

The equality relates to giving equal attention for all people disregarding sexual orientation, religion, belief, disability, marital status or age. Equal opportunities are connected with legislation intended to outlaw discrimination. The government gets involved in protecting individuals at work against discrimination in employment (either it its direct or indirect discrimination).

Diversity

According to Mullins (2010 p151) ‘diversity focuses on the multiplicity of differences among people – on the variety of people as heterogeneous groupings. Individual differences are the basis of diversity.’

The concept of managing diversity admits that the workforce is composed of diverse population of people and that the diversity consists of visible and non-visible differences which including background, age, sex, race, personality, work style and disability. Using all this differences the organisation will create a productive environment where organisational goals are met, people feel valued and their talents are fully utilised.

Equality plays key role in ensuring that everyone is treated fairly and is equal, whereas diversity is looking for a great variety of people and for individual to feel respected and recognised.

Age legislation came into force on 1^st October 2006 which covered all discrimination on the grounds of age. Now it is against the low if the employer discriminates the potential or existing employee because of his age. No matter if the person is in his middle twenties or in his seventies they should both be given the same equal opportunity as everyone else.

An employer while rejecting application should make sure and be careful that the reason for the rejection is not connected with the age of the potential employee.

There are many stereotypes related to the age. The typical one for the young people is that they are believed that they have lack of work experience. Most of them while seeking for the job is just after university graduation and do not have too much practical knowledge. The other one is that the youth is not so much responsible, and likes to go on the parties a lot, what can caused in being late and bad mood at work the next day of the party; affecting organisation in bad way.

The older people, especially while talking about physical task they seem to be quite slow and it takes them more time to do the same task as it would be done by someone who is younger. They can also be regarded as not being flexible with new employers. It can be difficult for elders to change their habits from previous work and start in the completely new environment with new principles. On the other hand there are also some positive aspects of the work of the elderly for instance they are really reliable workers who are strongly committed to perform the task.

Organisations can change these attitudes for instance by giving to the elderly the tasks which do not require so much effort from them, and for the youth to give them work experience they need.

The organisation I have chosen is B&Q. It is a British retailer of DIY and home improvement tools and supplies. Not many people know that B&Q is a founder member of the Employers Forum for Age. It is crucial to B&Q culture to respect their people diversity which is central to the company success.

‘We believe that a diverse workforce creates a mix of talents and that makes us a successful business.’

(B&Q, 2011)

The B&Q so far has removed the retirement age more than 15 years ago. It means that workers are allowed to continue with the company until they decided themselves it was time to leave the company. They are listed in The Times 'Top 50 places where women want to work' for four consecutive years’. It shows the company is in demand with equal opportunities for women. The B&Q workforce spans a huge age range from 16-96, approximately a quarter of the staff is over 50. Their workforce reflects 55/45 gender split. More than 1,200 of their employees speak over 60 different languages, with many being multilingual. They were well ahead of the 2004 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), for instance they changed their store layouts, introduced induction loops and Braille signage in customer toilets. Moreover they provided E-Learning in place for all employees on 'Respect for People'.

These are some of the B&Q policy goals in relation to equal opportunities:

• ‘Eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity in employment regardless of age, gender, colour, ethnic or national origin, culture, religion or other philosophical belief, disability, marital or civil partnership status, political affiliation, sexual identity or sexual orientation.’
• ‘Provide structured training for staff at all levels to help everyone understand and embrace the value that the diversity of our people brings to the business.’
• ‘Ensure that our working practices are sufficiently flexible to enable our staff to balance the demands of work, family and leisure time.’

(B&Q, 2011)

Summing up equal opportunities and diversity nowadays have to be taken into account by the employers due to the legislation. The people who have achieved the biggest success in the area of equality are women, elderly and young people. Most of the stereotypes about these groups are incorrect as show on the example of the B&Q which has many workers of different ages including much older plus the workforce reflect almost fifty-fifty gender. Many organisations are improving equal opportunities and managing diversity in order to meet the rules regulations which allow a wider range of people from different backgrounds to be working together and be successful with the diversity among them.

Reference list:

Mullins, L. (2010) Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9^th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

UCU guidance. (2006) Age Regulations 2006. Available from:

http://www.ucu.org.uk/media/pdf/9/t/ageregs_guidance_1.pdf [Accessed 9 May 2011].

Unknown. (2011) B&Q [online]. Available from:

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/corporate/content/environment_ethics/ethics/respect.jsp [Accessed 9 May 2011].

Unknown. (Unknown) Business diversity [online]. Available from:

http://postgradgogetter.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/business_diversity_469779.jpg [Accessed 9 May 2011].

Unknown. (Unknown) Equality [online]. Available from:

http://blog.pappastax.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/equality.jpg [Accessed 9 May 2011].

Teamworking

Teamworking

The time when I was working in a firmly successful team was once when I was working for the TRS 24/7 Solution as a waitress. I was a member of a team which consisted of four people. We were serving the dinner in one of the hotels. I believe our team was consistent in relation to the theory of Belbin’s Team Roles (1993). I feel like I was playing role of the Team worker, I was trying to make sure all are involved and promote team spirit. My supervisor took the position of Shaper and Co-ordinator (Chairperson). For Shaper he did this by using strong opinions instructions to ensure all workers are focused on the task; he would be frustrated by inaction. For the role of Co-ordinator he was helping the team to focus on goals, he controlled and got best out of people. The third person was a Specialist. The man had been working for the agency more than ten years so he was quite experienced in the service requirements of the hotel. He acted as a source of knowledge if anyone had any questions. The last person was an Implementer (Company worker). He turned ideas into action and got things done without the need for deliberation.

The main purpose of my team was to satisfy customer needs. There were no complaints and we were praised by the guests as well as by the manager. I strongly believe our team was successful in task due to the fact each member of the team was firmly committed and motivated to succeed and also there were four different types of people playing roles and sharing all responsibilities.

In my opinion the group, which I worked in for the Motivation assignment, wasn’t really effective. I would say it was rather satisfactory. I think we only managed to reach 2^nd stage which is Storming. We progressed through the first stage which is Forming. The team formed a group of four people which were in some way anxious, wary and unsure. We were busy finding who the other people are. Members were keen to establish their personal identities in the group and made a personal impression. There was the potential lack of focus and clarity around the purpose of the group and uncertainty about the task ahead and its terms of reference. In the beginning there was uncertainty in the environment, we were a bit confused about what to pay attention to and what exactly are our aims and shared goals.

Storming stage is a period of disagreement, frustration and potential confrontation but every group must go through it. There was a potential conflict because members felt more confident to challenge each other, and to express their views more openly. There was some frustration at an apparent lack of progress. The storming stage was really important as it led on to significant changes in creativity and innovation.

I think we were just about to reach the 3^rd stage of the team development which is Norming. But we did not succeed due to the lack of communication and motivation. We were not so well organised and our orientation of the task that was set wasn’t reached.

The two companies which I have chosen as those whose teamwork has been identified as a major contributory factor to their success are Office Angels and Luminus.

The Office Angels holds teamworking in the highest regard because it is a major contributing factor for this company to succeed. One of the main motivator for the employees is the chance to earn a holiday of a lifetime to go abroad.  Another motivating factor for the staff from the secretarial and office support is that they are rewarded for innovation and sales performance. Staff are really keen on completing the tasks.

‘Employees feel a strong sense of family within their teams, giving 86%, the top positive score nationally, for this statement. They believe colleagues care about each other (87%), say working together gives them a buzz (82%) and that team-mates are fun (89%).’

(The Sunday Times online, 7 March 2010)

‘Senior managers regularly visit the firm's 80 branches and even work on the sales floor. Clubb says: We try to make ourselves visible, and I want to be able to connect with the teams, so as part of our strategy we have just an operations director and manager, two steps between a branch and myself.’

(The Sunday Times online, 7 March 2010)

One of the reason for the Luminus company being successful as a team is that all employees are meeting together every month for a conference where are celebrating all business achievements and birthdays.

‘An 83% positive score, ranking the organisation second, shows staff find their work stimulating. Employees feel a strong sense of family in their teams, with a positive score of 84%, don't think profit is the only thing driving the firm (85%, second nationally), and they say the housing provider is run on strong principles, giving a 91% score which beats every other company.’

(The Sunday Times online, 7 March 2010)

There are lots of discussions in the companies about teamworking but only few people can really understand how to create and develop a successful team. Being a member of the team is a result of feeling part of something what is larger than you. People have to be conscious that personal success is dependent on the success of others, so they contribute their own skills to reach the common goal.

Reference list:

Mullins, L. (2010) Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9^th ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

The Sunday Times, (2010) The Times Top 100 companies to work for. Luminus [online]. Available from:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article7030218.ece [Accessed 7 May 2011].

The Sunday Times, (2010) The Times Top 100 companies to work for. Office Angels [online]. Available from:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/article7030219.ece [Accessed 7 May 2011].

Unknown. (Unknown) Teamwork [online]. Available from:

http://www.litmusrecruitment.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Teamwork-300x268.gif [Accessed 7 May 2011].