Communication and Involvement

Employee participation gives the employees the opportunity to share their ideas and opinions whereas employee involvement is a process where managers encourage their employees to communicated better with the company. The difference between employee participation and employee involvement is that employee participation gives employees the chance to input their views and opinions on any situation in the business, such as if the organisation should use random sampling for their market research, while employee involvement contains issues of their own interest, for example, being a member of the organisations share scheme. Foot, M & Hook, C (2008).

One way that businesses can involve their employees in decisions making is by sharing information such as having team briefings and this will allow their employees to contribute ideas for improve the business as this will give them the chance to talk about and discuss as a team the reason for a procedure to proceed. Another way that organisations can involve their employees in decision making is by empowering them. This can be done as it gives the employees the power and responsibility which would give them a bigger say in the decision process. Organisations can carry out employee opinion survey were they can give opinions and share their views of the business. This will been an advantage for the employee’s as it will help them grow in the organisation and feel more involved. 

Many organisations are using social networking sites as a means of involving their staff for both existing staff and potential recruits. One organisation that uses social networking is Alton Towers. They use facebook to help promote their theme park and by using the social networking sites, it allows them to promote upcoming events and promote the offers available such as 2 for 1 voucher. Potential recruits can find information about any vacancies and how to apply online on facebook, they can post and question about the advertisement and the responses are then given by people that work at Alton Towers about whether any positions are available and how to apply for a position in the company. Existing employees can inquire about the park and check for updates on facebook which makes it easier for them as it’s easy and it doesn’t require the employee contacting their managers for any inquiries.

Organisations using social networking to communicate with staff have its advantages and disadvantages.  The advantages of using social networking are:

•  Embrace your passion and identity. 
• Community, sharing, and connecting
•  Increase transparency in government and organizations 
• Message gets spread very quickly 
• Very cost effective

The disadvantages of using social networking are:

•  Lack of Anonymity
• Scams and Harassment
• Time Consuming

In conclusion, I've enjoyed this topic as I was really unfamiliar with this topic and now found it interesting having learnt a lot from it. It is also a topic that relates to the world of work, which is also why I enjoyed it to such a large extent as it will be relevant information to me once I finish University and find a job. I will know how an organisation analyses their employee and how they want them to communicate.

Reference:

• Foot, M And Hook, C. (2008) Introducing Human Resource Management. 5th Ed. Pearsons Education Limited: Essex
• Mullins, L J. ( 2007) Management And Organisational Behaviour. 8th Ed. Pearsons Education Limited: Essex

Reward

Reward is something that is given or received to someone who has provided a service or who has earned it by working. There are different types of reward that can be given. One of them is financial rewards. Martin et al (2010) has stated that ‘A reward system consists of financial rewards and employee benefits, which together comprise total remuneration’. Financial rewards are received by business. These include:

• Basic pay rates
• Incentives
• Performance related pay
• Bonuses
• Overtime payments

 

However, they do also provide non-financial rewards such as:

• Recognition
• Opportunity to develop skills
• Career opportunities
• Work life balance
• Flexible working time

 

Rewards motivate employees in an organisation to work hard. This helps them grow as an individual and learn while they earn. Tesco gives their staffs great opportunities for working at Tesco’s. Tesco believe the employees deserve rewards for working hard and building a good reputation for the organisation therefore they provide their employees with pay and benefits. Tesco try to ensure that their employees are being cared financially therefore they provide three different schemes for their employees to help them maintain themselves financially.

The first scheme is called “Shares in Success”. This scheme gives free shares to everyone who's worked in Tesco for one year at the end of the financial year, which is February. They share a proportion of their profit amongst their employees, based on the salaries they are given. The staffs Tesco shares are held in trust for 5 years and after the 5 years, the employees can take them, tax-free.

The second scheme that they provide for their staff is called “Save As You Earn”. This scheme gives their employees who have been working with them for over a year the option to save up to £50 every 4 weeks for 3 to 5 years and receive a tax free bonus at the end of it. This will allow them to use their savings and bonus to buy Tesco shares at up to 20% less than the market price or take the cash.

The final scheme, “Buy As You Earn”, gives the employees a chance to join the BAYE scheme after every three months. Employees can buy shares at the market price every 4 weeks, saving tax and can use National Insurance on the salary to do this. They can start, stop or change the amount you invest at any time, the choice has been given to them and if they decide to keep the shares in trust for 5 years, they will get even more tax advantages.

These schemes only apply to employees who have worked with Tesco for a certain amount of time, such as for over 3 months or over a year. This can be a disadvantage for employees who have only join the company however, if they carry on working with Tesco, they will also be able to join these schemes. I believe these benefits give their employees a boost as they can rely on their job to help them and support them financially. This also becomes their motivation. However, the rewards do not end just there as Tesco have more rewards that they provide for their employees.

Tesco also reward their employees who have been working there for over a year by giving them the “Privilegecard”. This is a staff loyalty card that gives them 10% discount and Clubcard points on most Tesco products. This is really beneficial for the staff as they can save money on many products. Also, eligible staffs have access to exclusive staff discounts with Tesco Personal Finance and Tesco Telecoms. Even though this is a good idea for the qualified staff, it can be a downfall for other employees that do not have access to the exclusive discount. They might feel discriminated as they are not qualified enough to receive this reward.

As well as giving rewards for the present, Tesco also provides benefits for their employee’s future. This is done by providing their staff with a pension scheme called “Tesco Pension Scheme”. With this scheme, members of staff are able to understand how financially secure they will be when they have decide to retire. As well as pension provision, employees have access to a life assurance scheme which will provide them with financial protection for their family.

As well as future planning, Tesco also have health scheme that are provided for their staff in case of any injuries so they do not have to worry if they get hurt. Tesco have great discounts with top healthcare companies to help their employees. They offer discounts such as, health cash plans, dental cover and private medical insurance.

Not only do they provide financial scheme to help them for the future, they also provide their employees with leisure time scheme. This is where staffs get exclusive discounts and special offers such as discounts on theme parks, holidays and gym membership, to reward them for working hard for the organisation.

To conclude the rewards that the organisation provides for their employees, I believe Tesco does try to ensure that they can provide their staff with all sort of financial scheme and that they are able to look after their staff when they are in need.

Reference: http://www.tesco-careers.com/home/working/rewards-and-benefits/protecting-your-health

Many people have raised arguments whether or not Chief Executives should receive large amount of bonuses even if the organisation that they have led has underperformed. The arguments for Chief Executives to receive bonuses shows:

• Even though the organisation has underperformed, Chief Executives receiving bonuses will encourage them to stay will the organisation instead of leaving their position in the company for another position in a different company where they will receive bonuses not matter what the situation is of the organisation 
• If the Chief Executive continues receiving bonuses, it will make them feel even more valued even though their company has underperformed. This will become a motivation for the Chief Executives to work more effectively which will improve the company’s performance.

Arguments against Chief Executives to receive bonuses even if the organisation that they have led has unperformed show that:

•  Company who are short of income usually perform badly therefore bonuses for the Chief Executives is not necessary as they may be the reason for the lack of income
• When a company pays bonus to the Chief Executives, they encourage them to give poor performance as it’s their responsibility to for the company to perform well. They will think no matter how the company does, they will receive bonus and this allows them to work less effectively for the company 
• Companies that pay Chief Executives bonuses when their company is underperforming will cause problems in the company and this will create a division in the company which may worsen the overall performance.

In conclusion, everyone deserves to be rewarded and I believe that it should be equal. Some organisation that rewards qualified people with higher rewards can be unfair to others who work in the same organisation that are less qualified. They might feel discriminated as they are not educated enough as other that receive higher rewards and this can cause de-motivation and this may affect the employee’s performance. I also believe that all types of rewards should be open for different people however, only be given when they deserve it as this is a great way to motivate them. However, I also believe that reward may not always be a motivation for staffs to perform well as when employees receive rewards, they may think that as they have received a reward, they will not have to work hard as before as they may carry getting rewarded.

Reference:

• Mullins, L J. ( 2002) Management And Organisational Behaviour. 6^th Ed. Pearsons Education Limited: Essex
• Mullins, L J. ( 2007) Management And Organisational Behaviour. 8th Ed. Pearsons Education Limited: Essex

• Rewards And Benefits (2009) Tesco Careers [Online] Avaliable From: http://www.tesco-careers.com/home/working/rewards-and-benefits [ Accessed  9 May 2011]

Performance Management

Armstrong and Baron (2004) quoted and defined performance management to be “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”. This means that organisations observe how their employees are performing and this sets clear expectations of what needs to be achieved. Employees perform will reflect on whether they deserve a raise in their salary or a bonus. This will also allow employers to reflect on personal development and it will enable recognition and reward.

One of the methods that organisation use to manage employees perform is Appraisals. Appraisals are usually used to record an assessment of an employee’s performance and how they have developed in the company. Fletcher, C (1997). This gives the employer and the employee the opportunity to reflect on what’s been achieved and whether their targets and objectives have been achieved.

As I do not work, I interviewed my friend and asked how her company, Aldo’s, uses appraisals. She said that her company use appraisal every 3 months and they do this as her manager sits her down in their meeting room and has a one on one session with her. The appraisal is both written and verbal. In this session, the manager goes through her progress in the company, review her targets and aims that where set in the beginning of the month and if they have been achieved. They also analyse her overall performance and they do this by filling in a form rating her performance from 1 to 5, 5 being the highest.

On the performance feedback she got told that she is doing quiet well has majority of the rating were between 3-5. From the feedback they tell her how she can improve and they advised her to set herself a target to serve more customers to receive a reward. At the end of the appraisal, the employer and the employee sign the documents to show that an appraisal took place and reflection on her performance was done so they can wait few months to do another appraisal to assess the improvements.

She says that the appraisal was effective as she was told how well she is doing. This boosts up her confident and allowed her to carry on doing well in the company. She also commented and said that being told how to improve her performance also helped as this gave her an idea how to do better and become a better employee.

The skills that are required to be an effective mentor are:

• Listening skills as an effective mentor need to be able to listen and understand any issues that have been raised by their learners and they will need to advise them how to overcome the problem. 
• Communication skills as it is important fir the mentors to be able to communicate with their learners. If a mentor does not have good communication skill, the learner will not be able to understand them.
• Being able to solve problems. This is important as this can help the learners learn how to fix and overcome certain problems that may have occurred.
• Knowledge skills. This is important to be an effective mentor as the mentor must know what they are teaching the learners.

It is important for mentors have these skills as this will make them better at their job and this will benefit them as they can help other people. 

The person who has been a mentor to me and has affected my life is my Father. I have always looked up to my him as his very kind hearted and always does things for people. His characteristics influence me and this made me want to be more like him. He has taken me down the right path and taught me the right and wrongs in life for example, never to speak badly about someone and always respect people to gain respect. He has always taught me that education is the best way forward. In order to achieve a decent life, having a good education will lead us in having good jobs which means better future for the family. His encouragement to my education has allowed me to come university and take my education further. My dad tries his best to provide for the family and he works really hard to do this. His characteristics have always had a positive affect in my life.

In conclusion, I have enjoyed this topic as I have got a new understanding about how organisations manage their staff performance and how other people in your life can affect your life and influence the way you behave. This topic has also made me aware as now I know what to expect when I get a job after completing my Business Management degree.

 

Reference:

• Mullins, L J. ( 2005) Management And Organisational Behaviour. 7^th Ed. Pearsons Education Limited: Essex
• Flecther, C. (1997) Apprailsal. 2^nd Ed. Short Run Press: Exeter

• Times Literary Supplement (2008) Entrepreneurs: A Mentor Can Tune Your Skills [Online]. Avaliable From: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3778514.ece    [ Accessed  10 May 2011]

Recruitment

The online recruitment site that I am going to review is Reeds, www.reeds.co.uk. Reeds was launched in 1995 and now are one of UK’s biggest online recruitment agencies that is used by different people who are searching for jobs in the UK. It has been said on their website that “Today, reed.co.uk is the UK's most visited job site. Each month, more than 3 million jobseekers use reed.co.uk in their search for work, making over 60,000 applications every day.” (Source: Hitwise, Jan-Dec 2010). Reeds have 350 offices across the UK and the jobs that become available come from over 8,000 recruiters including recruitment agencies and private and public sectors. 

Reviews have showed that throughout January, Reeds have received the most visitors than any other online job sites in the UK. Figure’s have been released from reed.co.uk’s annual Client Satisfaction Survey showed a 91% overall satisfaction rating and during January, over 2.3 million applications joined reed.co.uk, as the number of vacancies featured on the site climbed to a two year high.

This graphs shows the job opportunities across the UK has increased up 9 index point since December 2009 to January 2011 according to the report from the website itself. Employers demand has increased by 13% from pre-Christmas lows to give a Reed Job Index reading of 113. This has been the highest since the Index began. Private sector growth is responsible for this increase, as new public sector jobs remain less than half their level of a year ago. Reference: http://news.reed.co.uk/?paged=2

The layout of the website I believe is really useful as it is very organised and easy to use. This is because all sections are laid out neatly so people can use it in an orderly so they know what they are doing. Below is an example of the layout of the reeds website.

 

Reeds website has quoted “We are committed to offering a fully accessible and inclusive website for all jobseekers and recruiters”. This means that this recruitment website has been designed for all users and for those who have a disabilities can also benefit from their online service. Using key board control, users can also change text size by, select 'View', then 'Text Size' and select your preferred size. The website is coded with valid XHTML 1.0 and all Style Sheets used conform to CSS 1.0. They also have the following:

• Use an easy to read font size and style
• Allow users to resize all text across the site
• Use sufficiently contrasting foreground and background colours
• Provide meaningful text for all images
• Separate page content and layout and use cascading style sheets
• Provide a full site map
• Ensure all pages function correctly without JavaScript

The recruitment campaign that really interested me is Recruits Event Service. This event service group look to employ the right individual for their group as their requirements say that experience is not essential and they provide full time training. This campaign really got me interested as I have no CSI license however, I have a great passion for wanting to steward at famous sporting venues and this organisation enabled me to fulfil this desire. Having grown up watching my idols such as Anna kournikova, playing at these famous venues, it grabbed my interest to work in such an environment. Also, having the opportunity to be a part of memorable sporting occasions appealed to me very much. Although the salary was not as appealing compared to other campaigns, I was willing to compromise as this opportunity meant working while enjoying these sporting events.

Online recruitment has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of online recruitment is that it is cost effective. When organisations put their vacancy on their website, it will cost them nothing whereas if an organisation uses job boards or the newspapers it will cost couple of hundreds. Also, the vacancy can be advertised whenever the organisation needs to on the website and it will not cost anything whereas using newspapers or job boards will cost every time an organisation needs to use it. Another advantage is that it is very quick and time consuming. 

Organisations can put up a job vacancy in the morning and the first candidates can get an interview straight away. This saves a lot of time for the organisation and the candidates applying for the job. Using online recruitment gives the organisation a bigger audience. Majority of the people in the UK are using online websites to search for jobs. A research in the UK has said that average age of candidates who use jobsites are people 35 years of age. Online recruitment is also most people’s job hunting resource no matter what age range they are from. Another advantage of online recruitment is that is it extremely easy as most job websites are user friendly and do not require in-depth knowledge of IT to post a vacancy advertisement. Online recruitment helps organisation pick out the best candidates in an automated way and manages to dismiss unqualified candidates which saves a lot of time for the organisation.

However, online recruitment has its disadvantages which are that they can be too many candidates applying for the job. Inappropriate candidates may apply for the job which can waste time and it may become difficult to limit the amount of applicants. Another disadvantage can be that some organisations may not receive the right qualified candidate through online jobs and can miss out on having the right candidate for the job. Another main disadvantage is that if a candidate is from a far distant, it will require telephone interview instead of a face to face interview which means the employer won’t really be able to tell the candidates personality and this can become the wrong decision for the organisation. 

Some people can give false information when applying for a job online. This can be a big disadvantage for the organisation as the information the candidate have said on their profile may not be true. This can only be settled once the candidate meets the employer and this can waste more time. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4932418. Another disadvantage of online recruitment is that it can limit the attraction for those who are unable to use technology. These candidates include disabled people with dyslexia. These people may be the right one for the job however, they may miss their chance due to less knowledge of technology. 

In conclusion, I have learnt a lot on this topic as I did not have a great understanding on how organisations use recruitment methods. This has also made me aware of what to expect when going through the recruitment process in the future.

Reference:

• Roberts, G. (1997) Recruitment And Selection. The Cromwell Press: Wiltshire

Equal Opportunities

Equality and Diversity are relatively similar terms. The difference between equality and diversity is that equality can be described as eliminating discrimination and ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity whereas diversity is described as valuing individuals and respecting them for who they are and accepting there differences. Mullins (1999).  Diversity also recognizes that everyone is different in a society. Equality gives access for all groups which are supported by legislation. However, in equality, sometimes individuals think treating everyone equally can lead to indirect discrimination. This means individuals can be treated unfairly because of requirements that are unreasonable which may exclude the particular group the individual belongs to, for example height restriction can discriminate against women. Equality and diversity are both often used interchangeably but they do refer to different strategies.

The impact that age legislation may have on employers are:

• Due to age limitation, variable experience for future may be affected. 
• Organisations will employ more older people which because of the age legislation therefore it can change the culture of the organisation 
• Some older people may have to invest extra money into training and other equipment that needs to be used in the organisation 
• Some organisation would like to employ certain people for certain jobs such as, someone will a lot of energy, and this may not be possible as due to age legislation because younger people have more energy compare to older people

 
Everyone gets stereotyped no matter what age category they fall under. Stereotypes that everyone tends to hold on older people are that they are unenthusiastic about changes being made and are very old-fashioned about certain things. They are also unproductive and are very slow learners. They take their time to do things, for example, some aged 45 may take their time to get up on a stall to get something from the shelf. Also, older people tend to have disabilities.

However, stereotypes that people tend to hold on the younger generation is that they do not have a lot of experience as they only are in education and have no experience in the work world. They also get label as being inconsiderate and immature as they are still young they tend to behave like kids. However, the good point that they get labelled as is that they are fast learners.

Organisations can attempt to change attitudes regarding old and young people by comparing their performance in a work environment. This will be ideal as it will help reduce stereotypes. Another thing that organisations can do to change these attitudes is by encouraging both older and younger people to work as teams. This can change the attitudes that may have existed about older and younger people not being able to work as a team.


 

“Tesco’s practice in relation to equal opportunities”.
Tesco benefit from equal opportunities and diversity in many ways and they do this by the successful development of greater customer and staff loyalty. Tesco have stated on their “This year the Board asked our Diversity Advisory Group to analyse the diversity of Tesco’s UK workforce compared with the UK population – our aim being to mirror the composition of the population as a whole”. As they conducted the research, The Diversity Advisory Group have found out that Tesco need to increase the proportion of:

• female store managers and senior team members;
• store managers and senior team members from ethnic groups
• 45-54 year-old store managers and senior team members.

As they have realised that this will encourage the organisation to provide equal opportunities, they set targets to increase the proportion of women, ethnic groups and older staff in these positions as they are planning to achieve this by providing improved coaching and mentoring and providing foreign language tapes for staff training, improving communication to celebrate success and by conducting research to identify further short and long-term solutions.

On their website they have also stated that “New ideas emerging from this research may be fast-tracked; and we are introducing a KPI to measure our performance on diversity over the coming year”. This shows that they want to spread equal opportunities soon as they can in their organisation.

Tesco have also encouraged stores to look at flexible leave for their staff so they can take time off for special religious festival such as the Indian festival of Diwali. Tesco states “During Diwali, staff organised celebrations in store, wore traditional dress, and brought in home-cooked food to share in the canteen”. This shows that Tesco’s staff organise a celebration of Diwali in the store for everyone so they can take part in the festival. This includes everyone and it excludes diversity.

Tesco have also encouraged their business to make their jobs more attractive to people from ethnic minorities. They quote “This year, for example, during Ramadan we changed the time of store activities to allow staff time to pray, and promoted use of the staff training room as a quiet space for this purpose”. Tesco are paying their respect to different religion and different ethical groups which allows them to provide more equal opportunities for everyone.

The most innovative practice that Tesco offers is the Share Scheme. This seems to be the most innovative practice as they are committed to providing share ownership for their employees. They are trying to encourage staff to become part owners of the company and share in the company’s success. Tesco stated on their website that, “This year, £63 million worth of shares were given to 160,000 staff as part of our Shares in Success scheme”. This means that all employees that have been there for more than one year’s service have received shares worth 3.6% of their salary. Another reason why this is the most innovative practice is because Tesco is offering a save as you earn scheme to enable their staff to buy shares at a discounted price as a medium or long-term investment.

Reference: 

• Mullins, L J. ( 2002) Management And Organisational Behaviour. 6^th Ed. Pearsons Education Limited: Essex
• Mullins, L J. ( 2007) Management And Organisational Behaviour. 8th Ed. Pearsons Education Limited: Essex
• Tesco Corporate Responsability Review (2005) Tesco [Online]. Avaliable From : http://www.tesco.com/csr/f/f2.html [Accessed  10 May 2011]

Perception and Communication

Robbins et al (2010) has described perception as “The process by which individuals organise and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment”. This means people often make judgements about other individuals due to their actions and this is how they often perceive them. These judgements can often be incorrect.

At the beginning of university, the first impressions that I got of my friend Alia are completely different to how I find her now. At the beginning, I had a bad perception of her as I thought she would be bad influence to me as she never turned up to lectures or seminars and I thought to my self that I had to keep away from this kind of company. However, in one lecture we had to work as a team and I worked with her, my perception changed about her. This is because she was dedicated to her work as well as me. From there we become good friends and also did a few more assignments together for different modules. 

Another reason why I thought that she would be bad company is because she was really loud and really talkative and her personality was really bubbly. But this judgement was completely wrong because even though her personality was very outgoing, she was really enthusiastic about her education and she was really generous. She also enjoys helping people as do I and this allowed us to bond. To avoid making the same judgements again, I will not judge an individual on how they act and behave but I will only judge someone after knowing them and after making conversation or working with them. Another way that I can avoid making these judgements is by giving them the time needed to have a relationship with me in order for me to have an opinion of them.

There are many different methods that universities can use to improve communication with their student. Firstly, lecturers can have one on one session with their students to talk about and review their progress and their grades. This will help students if they are struggling to complete their assignment or need help revising for upcoming exams. I can relate this to me as I would prefer my lecturers giving me a review on how I can improve my grade and do better next time.

Another way that universities can have better communication with their students is by keeping them informed about lectures, if there is any cancellation or changes made and any information requiring deadline or exams. In business, this is known as “Engaging with people”. This can be done by emailing the students, or putting up any notice of blackboard where the student have access to view lecture notes and other information relating to their course.

Finally, lecturers can set goals for themselves and the student to help them achieve their aims and objectives. Setting these goals will help the student will their degree as the lecturer will share their knowledge relating to the subject to help them. 

Reference: Mullins, L J. ( 2002) Management And Organisational Behaviour. 6^th Ed. Pearsons Education Limited: Essex