Benefits & Compensation in Small Businesses

This paper is based on the benefits and compensation in small businesses as this is one of the important factors the small businesses have to consider and likewise have to struggle to compete for top quality employees with big businesses. It is very important for any business to hire good and hardworking employees and for this; they have to plan out proper strategies. Moreover, it is not just important to hire diligent employees but the business also has to make strategies as to how to retain them especially in the case of the small businesses because the competition is very high and it is essential for them to retain them.Organizational culture The culture followed by an organization highlights its personality. Culture basically comprises of the assumptions, the values and norms the business has, its financial position and about its members and their behaviors. Whenever a new member is added to an organization, they don’t take much time to study and learn about the type of cu lture being followed, however every company has its different culture and although new employees may take time to adjust but they soon get to know about it and work accordingly.There are always some things that are quite obvious for others to understand what type of culture a business has adopted. The way the interior of an organization such as the setting and the furniture being used, what the people working in an organization wear and how and what they talk about tells about the culture of an organization. This is one of the factor that is considered as important by the employees and so the business must set a kind of culture that is easy and favorable for the employees to adjust and is basically the task of the HR department to make the employees feel comfortable.Can HR system make a difference to the creation of such culture? The human resources are required by all the organizations in order to compete in the extremely aggressive world today. This reason defines the purpose of t he HR system extremely necessary, increases efficiency and also enables the company to achieve a competitive advantage over its competitors. HR also helps to identify how and in what ways an individual attributes to affect is organizational effectiveness. The key purpose of HR strategy is to guide the process by which organizations develop and position organizational and human capital to augment their competitiveness.Nowadays, HR is used as a model that reflects an era of strategic management. It emphasizes on the knowledge-based competition. Therefore, these systems are designed in a way to develop and support ideas of intellectual capital and knowledge management that propel strategy formation. (Pynes, 2004). Problematic areas of Human Resource development activities One of the major problems being faced by the HR department is because of the diversified workforce at an organization. Many people feel uncomfortable to working with people of a different age, sex, or culture.Despite the fact that employing people from different groups is good but it can lead to a clot of conflicts. The management has to manage a diversified workforce effectively or it can effect employee satisfaction and productivity negatively and the employees who recognize themselves as valued members of their organization are more diligent, concerned, and innovative and this tends them to work harder. Another problem can be the economic unrest prevailing. People from diversified groups would be having different definition of ambition.The outcome of ambition is mostly unpredictable, some ambitions begun in selflessness end in rancor; others begun in selfishness end in large-heartedness. It can at times be uncontrollable as well and some people may not be able handle ambition serving it as a grief to others. It also leads to jealousy. Other than that, people might opt any way to achieve their goals and these might be unlawful as well. (Evans, 2003). Role and function of HR department To defin e human resources in the simplest words we can say that they are the â€Å"resources for humans† within the workplace.The task of the HR department is to meet the needs of the employees and it also serves as a connection between all the people who are involved. The HR system of an organization comes into existence depending on the company size. The Human Resource Department can be formed just by appointing Personnel who can manage a small workforce, In case of a small company but in the case where a larger, complex organization is concerned that employs hundreds of people with many departments and divisions, the task becomes more demanding. Employee Compensation BenefitsThis includes the remuneration and bonuses such as paid leaves, sick leaves and insurance policies, etc and it is Human Resources Department that is in charge to develop and to manage the benefits compensation system for the staff that serves as an inducement to guarantee the recruitment. Their goal does not j ust finish after recruitment but they also have to work on retaining employees and make them continue working for the company. After recruiting an employee, the Benefits Coordinator of the business must meet the selected candidates one-on-one or in small group settings and explain their benefits package.(Brockbank & Ulrich, 2005). Employee Relations These might include age and gender, race discrimination, etc. and it is mandatory for the HR Department to make sure a fair treatment of employees. Employees should know that they are safe and they can approach someone in case they are unfairly treated by anyone. The HR Department acts as an negotiator and works to establish cooperation between the legal entities, regulatory agencies, supervisors and employees to properly tackle and determine the issue is persisting.Policy Formulation Every company whatever its size is has a set of rules and policies. This is essential so that proper regulation can be maintained at the work place. These policies also help the managers to hire individuals and evaluate the performance of an employee currently working for the firm. Maslow’s model Abraham Maslow was the one who proposed the hierarchy of needs model. The model consisted of the five basic needs that every employee requires from the organization in order to sustain well.The most imperative need is the physiological need of an employee that includes the basic needs without which he cannot survive such as food, water, clothing and shelter. Next comes the safety needs of an employee, that are also essential to make him perform well in an organization and this is followed by the need of belongingness. As man is a social animal, he always needs family and friends, etc. Third is the self-esteem needs that can be explained by admiration as a person always needs recognition from others for encouragement.The last is the need of self-actualization i. e. enhancing ones capabilities. However, some factors also put restrictions to this model and one of them is the differences in thinking levels of the employees belonging to different cultural backgrounds. Rewards and Benefits Rewards and benefits are major set of HRM activities. The business should provide their employees rewards and benefits like pay, fringe, etc. The most common rewards they can give to the employees are worker’s compensation, social security and unemployment insurance.By focusing the employee’s performance it provides benefits to its employees, which are considered by the staff members, executives and managers of the company. Conclusion The leaders are the ones who should encourage their juniors to suggest ideas that could lead to creativity and innovation. The employees should be rewarded, supported and proper amalgamation should be provided for the processes. Fund learning should be encouraged. This can be done by prioritizing it into budgets and work plans and to make it accessible to the employees or it would be of no use.Trust and respect should be placed on all the levels of the organization. Free communication and personalization should be allowed. Constant training or at least monthly or yearly training programs should be held for all the staff to keep on learning new things. The return on investment should be taken care of. The employees should know how much they are contributing to the company. These are some more factors that could help UN to retain their current employees. (Anderson & Anderson, n. d. ). Reference Anderson, D. & Anderson, L. (n. d. ). A.Awake at the Wheel: Moving beyond Change Management to Conscious Change Leadership. March 9th, 2009. Retrieved from: http://www. changeleadersroadmap. com/freeresources/P1D. 7. 17. aspx Brockbank, W. & Ulrich, D. (2005). The HR Value Proposition. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Evans, C. (2003). Managing for Knowledge – HR's Strategic Role. 1st Edn. Butterworth- Heinemann. Pynes, J. E. (2004). Human Resources Management for P ublic and Nonprofit Organizations. (Jossey Bass Nonprofit & Public Management Series). 2nd Edn. Jossey-Bass.

Safety on Public Transportation

One of the major features of any developed society is mass mobility. In order for man to fulfill his obligation put food on his table, man has to move around. Thus mobility is an essential aspect of human life. Man has to move from one destination to another. Elementary Science has described this as a natural feature of human beings. Over the years, the growth of technology as made for variables when it comes to human transportation. One of such means of transportation is public transportation. Although transportation is a necessity to most people in America, it will be alarming to note that Americans spend more trying to meet up with their daily needs. Compared to other countries in the world, an average American spends more to move around. As part of the government’s efforts to ensure a better standard of living for the citizen, the public transport system is an initiative of the government tailored towards reduction of the price incurred on transportation by Americans. Therefore, Americans now have a choice which provides a greater freedom. However, as commendable as this initiative is, Public Transportation has its good and bad sides. There are some dangers that one is open to when one takes a public transport. To begin with, the security and privacy one enjoys when one is moving around in one’s private car is better than when we are moving around in public transport. Statistics have shown that people moving around in public transportation are susceptible to insecurity than those transporting privately. On the issue of crime in public transportation, the police department and other organizations have given tips on how to avoid crime in public transportation. For all I care, the next person to you might be a serial killer or the lousy old woman might actually be planning to steal your wallet. At this point, one will be unfair not to admit that public transportation has had a lot of positive impact on the pockets of Americans. With the insistent rise in the prices of gasoline in America, public transportation has being a good alternative for the people of America. At least it has helped save more money that should have been used in the purchase of gasoline. It is also effective and reliable. The next time you are about to meet an appointment and you want to go by public transportation, make sure you have it at the back of your mind that although some dollars will be saved, there is the risk of falling a victim. Therefore, be vigilant and alert!

A Critique on Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” Essay

The task of this paper is two-fold; first, this paper will trace and explain the evolution of Martin Luther King, Jr. ’s belief that war, racism and economic injustice are all intertwined and can be dealt with the restructuring of society’s priorities and addressed the necessity of a revolution of values; second, this paper will also explain how he carried out his beliefs in the his speech at the Lincoln Memorial, â€Å"I Have a Dream†. At the onset of this paper, it is important to note that King’s ‘background’ [which includes his race, habituation, education and religion among many others] is crucial in his struggle against racial discrimination, violence and economic injustice as experienced by blacks in the United States of America. This was clearly stated in the speech wherein hundreds of thousands of people were able to serve as audience. In this speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. talks of manufactured and institutionalized oppression, I mean oppression which involves the mechanisms of law and power relations the basis of which is against the ‘natural law’. The speech purpose is made evident here as its intention was made clear: that racism should be abolished. Furthermore, Luther King’s striking delivery made it more of just an expression of freedom but of a struggle against an intangible foe: his fellow American’s mentality. Natural law theorists, following the thoughts of St. Augustine that â€Å"an unjust law is not a law at all† and Aquinas’ notion of â€Å"law as an ordinance of reason†, view morality as essentially tied up with the very essence of law. How does King figure in all of this? How can we explain the evolution of King’s ideological perspective? The point is clear: Oppression and unfair treatment of individuals is not morally valid nor is it morally permissible most especially if the basis of such is the individual’s ethnicity or race. As the Kantians believed, each person has a capacity for rational deliberation and choice and as such, an autonomous being with dignity and therefore, ought to be respected by virtue of being human persons. The evolution of King’s ideological perspective may therefore be construed in such way that it is a product, both of his experiences as a black living in a white-dominated society and his philosophical and political development and this may be inferred from Fairclough’s book, â€Å"Martin Luther King, Jr. †, 1995. King’s speeches very clearly communicate his views: â€Å"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality†¦. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits[†¦] (as cited by Carson, 1998). Three important points about King and his political thrusts, philosophical orientation and as to why he may be called a â€Å"radical democrat† may be inferred from the aforementioned quotation in his speech. First, as a leading figure in â€Å"civil rights movement† King believed in the tenets of democracy and liberalism in the sense that he believed that both white and black Americans must have fair treatment in the realm of the law, for the purpose of law itself is the administration of social justice. Second, he believed in the â€Å"non-necessity of violence†. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s â€Å"civil disobedience†, he believed that there are peaceful ways in and through which the problem of political and economic injustice may be resolved. It may further be inferred that for him, political, economic and social change can best be achieved not through violence [and that the government should not keep itself busy from going to war, as in the case of the Vietnam War] nor by transforming a portion or a sector of society but what is needed is a restructuring of the society as a whole. King believed that a â€Å"revolution of values† is a matter of strict necessity. King’s views may be identified as â€Å"radical† in this sense. He emphasized the need to restructure even how we think about black Americans or African Americans. It may be inferred that racism, the feeling of being superior over another race or ethnic group or nationality is grounded on the wrong premises; wrong modes of thinking and reasoning. It is by transforming our psyche and by appealing through reason and conscience that society as a whole may chart its rightful path towards genuine social change. Third, he believed and fought not only for civil rights but also for economic changes especially labor rights and lobbied for law reforms to be enacted to protect Negroes from exploitation and oppressive schemes adopted by employers. These include fair treatment and equal work opportunity, just compensation, etc. This is how he carried out his beliefs in the Memphis Strike and the Poor People’s Campaign. King served as a voice crying for the emancipation not only of black Americans but also of other human beings from the chains of oppression. Based on the above discussion, we can see why King believed that the problems and conflicts brought about by war, racism and economic injustice are all intertwined. What we can infer from his views is the interweaving and interconnecting patterns brought about by racism itself. Furthermore, the speech was made memorable as it was delivered at the Lincoln Memorial. Abraham Lincoln was the first to abolish the slave trade in the southern states during his term which was considered as a significant step towards racial equality in the United States. But racism is not in itself the root of the problem; it is merely an effect of a traceable cause. This cause, this root of racism, is none other than a distorted value system, a wrong frame of mind resulting to feelings of superiority and even contempt and hate which further results to taking an unfair advantage of other human beings, plus a very materialistic market essentially driven by capital. The fault is, at bottom, deeply embedded with the minds of persons and a wrong value system, a wrong sense of pride and nationality, for it fails, in the Kantian sense, to respect persons for the sake of being human persons, not as mere means and tools that another person or race may use but as ends-in-themselves, possessing the capacity for rational thought, capable of making rational choices and thereby, beings that are autonomous and dignified and for the aforementioned reasons, deserve to be respected. References: Carson, C. A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. : Warner Books; Reprint edition (2002). Fairclough, A. Martin Luther King, Jr. : University of Georgia Press, c. 1995.

The relevance of Chapter VIII(watchkeeping)of the code Standard of Essay

The relevance of Chapter VIII(watchkeeping)of the code Standard of Training Certification and watchkeeping STCW - Essay Example Spokespersons of the industry were unanimous in addressing the core issue of the matter, which was to ensure that an effective watch is maintained on all the seagoing ships by qualified and fit personnel under all circumstances. With a single pointed focus, the pressing need of an internationally acceptable body, which could lay the road map for outlining the guidelines for protecting its valuable assets was consensually agreed upon.The International Convention on Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (Abbr: STCW) thus came into being on July 7, 1978 and its Standards were adopted for implementation on April 28, 1984 under the auspices of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) – an established nodal agency for monitoring compliance and implementation by `Parties to the Convention‘; two major revisions of the Standards have since been undertaken in 1995 and 2010 respectively . It became binding on all its members to comply to its stipul ations, in which Part `A‘ measures are `Mandatory.‘ `Recommendations‘ for guidance purposes constitute its Part `B‘ regulations, however with sustained implementation efforts by its members being urged upon. STCW Standards comprise of eight chapters. Chapter I deals with General Provisions; Chapters II & III are `Marine Vessel‘- specific, while Chapters IV, V & VI deal with the Radio Communications, Specialised Manpower Training and Certification aspects. This article is aimed at examining the relevance of the last and concluding Chapter VIII , dealing exclusively with ``Watchkeeping‘‘! Watchkeeping Roles and STCW Regulations ILO (International Labour Organisation) Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) Rules are the premise on which a large number of STCW Regulations have been drawn up. Drafted in tune with the MLC 2006 Rules in general, Standards pertaining to Watchkeeping are driven by the age old adage: ``Prudence is the better part of valourà ¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬Ëœ.The Maritime industry can ill afford the luxury of lack of vigilance on the part of its seafarers to be the reason for suffering losses; hence, a prudent Watchkeeping role is deemed pertinent by STCW. There had been several inconsistencies fuelled earlier by a diverse range of interpretations driven by outdated provisions on the Watchkeeping front preceding the advent of STCW, which caused administrative and operational problems. These issues needed immediate redressal. Enunciation of a slew of curative measures then became imminent. Seafarer is a sensitive biological animal too. Cut off from civilisation while on the high seas and working to the rigorous demands of the marine industry in multiple capacities, he is exposed to its occupational hazards, stresses and strains, and thereby to the dangers posed by `fatigue‘, both physically and mentally. There is therefore a lot of emphasis laid on `Rest‘ and to address this issue, STCW brought out the first lot of Amendments under Section A-VIII. It has specified a `Period of Rest’under its mandatory Regulation A-VIII/1, which stipulates

Health, Safety, and Nutrition for the Young Child Research Paper

Health, Safety, and Nutrition for the Young Child - Research Paper Example Developmental toys are essential for young children because they support the child’s learning process and have the added advantage of being less likely to cause unintentional injuries. (Herr, 2001). The guidelines which need to consider when selecting toys for young children are as follows:1. It is important to consider the child’s age, interests, and developmental abilities when selecting an appropriate toy. Developmental skills should be given foremost importance because the toy should be able to enhance his problem solving and reasoning skills.  2. High-quality construction features are important to consider such as durability, stability, and good design.3. Select toys that young children can use on their own with minimal parental supervision.4. Avoid selecting toys which have small pieces in order to eliminate the chances of choking. (Marotz et al, 2005).The pop-up farmhouse is a great toy for young children. The toy is safe and is not too heavy for the child to l ift. Pop up farmhouse can be used with minimal adult supervision because the toy is not made of small pieces. The toy is a good developmental item because it enhances the child’s imagination and dexterity. Moreover, it is great for eye coordination and is a good tool for familiarizing children with the sounds of farm animals. Therefore, I would advise parents to select this toy for their young children.  The Inch WormThe Inch Worm is an excellent toy for enhancing a child’s dexterity and locomotory skills.

High School Education in America and China Research Paper

High School Education in America and China - Research Paper Example American education system emphasize on students’ ability more than score whereas Chinese education system focus on student’s own knowledge more than his capabilities. In other words, American high school education system is more flexible than the Chinese educational system. It can give more individual care to the students since it focuses more on individual abilities. Although both China and America learn from other’s strong points to offset their weakness, differences still exist such as time schedule, educational style, and extracurricular activities. Heavy workloads are the major problems in Chinese education. High schools in China expect that there are twenty-five hours a day so that the students can have one more hour to study. Moreover, even Saturdays are working day in Chinese schools. In other words, Chinese students are not getting any opportunity for leisure activities. The over emphasize given to education is actually demotivating Chinese students. During my high school years in China, I could not travel around during school holidays because the school does not give long break time even on holidays. The schools believe that the long time study can help students to improve the skill. However, students need time to take a break. For example, I asked my younger cousin who finished his college entrance examination last month that what was his plan for vacation. He told me that he wants to stay home and seep in order to retrieve those sleep which he lost in the past three years. On the other hand, American high school educational system is giving more freedom to the students. American students are getting enough leisure time for playing, watching television or movies, surfing internet etc. Some American parents are of the view that American school system should follow the Chinese system in order to generate a sense of urgency about education in the minds of students. However, they are forgetting the fact that an external observer cannot judge Chinese education properly. American students have four classes per day and each class is of two hours. Students always do the voluntary labor on Saturdays after the class. Also, school will never construct barriers in front of students during vacation time. Many of the American students do volunteer jobs in order to get college admission without any hassles. Volunteer job is very important for getting admissions in American colleges. Not only the time schedule, but the education style also is different in China and Ame rica. Entwistle (1986) has classified learning into three major categories; deep, surface, and strategic

People in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

People in Organizations - Essay Example We are all amateur psychologists, and the most successful influencers are able to assess accurately their target influencees, and adapt their influencing messages to suit them. Such adjustments lead to the creation of influencer-influencee rapport. The conversation of people who are in rapport flows, and both their body movements and their words become synchronized with each other. The recommendation to match the influencee so as to create rapport is itself based on the even broader notion of liking. This says that we like people like ourselves and, in consequence, will be more willing to comply with their requests (Aguinis, & Henle, 2001),. Not only do we know that people are different, but we also know that they are predictably different. Indeed, we spend a great deal of our time classifying them into broad types, and explaining the differences between the types. Every popular newspaper contains an astrological section which implies that Capricorns behave in one way and that Scorpios act in another. The twelve signs of the Zodiac represent one attempt at classifying people into personality types based on the time of the year in which they were born. How accurate or useful are they Historically, many attempts have been made to classify people according to their personalities. The Greek physician, Hippocrates, offered the temperaments model of personality. He believed that there were four basic personalities or temperaments - melancholic, choleric, sanguine and phlegmatic. In his view, each was determined by the amount and type of bile and phlegm that people possessed in their bodies (Aguinis, & Henle, 2001). Distinguishing Between Personality Types If you are to select a particular influencing approach on the basis of your target influencee's personality, then the personality framework employed has to be both easy to understand and simple to use. You need to be able to divide people into a very limited number of personality types or classes, based on the personality traits that they possess. In modern times, Carl Gustav Jung was the first to observe that people's behavior, rather than being individually unique, fitted into patterns, and that many of the seemingly random differences in human behavior were actually ordered and consistent (Lambert, 1996). It is obvious that any attempt to reduce personality into only four categories inevitably ignores the subtlety of human differences. On the other hand, anything more complex is unusable by an influencer. For this reason, in using these four personality stereotypes, one is inevitably trading accuracy off against ease of use. The framework does allow you to classify the individual whom you may wish to influence in a simple way using your observation of their behavior and the examination of their created work or home environment. Such information can then be immediately put into practice. Personality Testing One obvious way to understand the relationship of individual differences to work-related behavior is to examine the applied literature on personality testing in the workplace. Psychological tests, attempting to measure individual differences related to occupational behaviors, have been used for over 60 years, and there now exist nearly 80,000 occupational-related tests. Both world wars, particularly the second, were