Thursday, January 30, 2020

Work life balance “Don’t be fired by your family” Essay Example for Free

Work life balance â€Å"Don’t be fired by your family† Essay Best practice has shown that â€Å"both employees and employers can benefit when staff are able to adapt flexible work practices thereby enabling them to better manage their work and family responsibilities† (UQ, 2007, p. 1). In the end result this could increase employees productivity. â€Å"Supervisors have an important role in developing and maintaining a family-friendly work environment† (UQ, 2007, p. 1). â€Å"A supervisor could help creating this environment by flexibly organizing work arrangements and workloads taking into consideration certain factors such as night lecturing, summer schools, acting as a role model demonstrating understanding and acceptance of work family balance, and take a positive approach to negotiating flexible arrangements† (UQ, 2007, p. 1-2). 3. 2 Teleworking is good for business and employees Teleworking is another practice resulted in improving productivity. According to Business Legal Reports (2006), †teleworking has some benefits such as: relocation cost savings, increased productivity by reducing employees absentee, reduced costs for office space, and employee satisfaction† (p. 7). So, when supervisors consider benefiting from telework, they won’t only provide an improved work-life balance for the employee, but also they will get improved business performance for the employer. 3. 3 Other best practices 3. 3. 1 Concern for employee community (Employee Care Program and Employee Relations Program). This practice proved that it could reduce employees’ turnover. This kind of program â€Å"monitors how people are doing in their jobs and in their lives, offers rewards, gifts, annual picnic and holiday, flexible scheduling and telecommuting, and medical coverage. † 3. 3. 2 Encourage employees to take their vacations This practice is important to enable employees to relax enough to avoid stress, anxiety, emotional problems, job burnout in order to let employees perform at their optimum level. 3. 3. 3 Consumer-driven health care Textron, Inc is an example company that adopted this practice. The company â€Å"consolidated employee healthcare options and shifted to consumer-driven healthcare. This resulted in increased productivity, a significant decline in healthcare costs, and decrease in the casual absentee rates and the incidence of disability leave. † (Business Legal Reports, 2007b, p. 3) 2. Conducting Performance appraisals â€Å"Monitoring staff performance is a key for any supervisor. It should be part of on-going discussions with staff and volunteers about their work and the results obtained. † (Mathew, M. , 2007) According to Hays, S. W.(2004), â€Å"an immense amount of energy has recently been devoted to upgrading the quality of performance appraisals by tying them to organizational missions and goals. † (p. 262) 2. 1 Best practices for evaluation? According to Hays, S. W. (2004), best practices concerning evaluation showed that â€Å"HR experts agree that evaluations ought to (a) be based on objective and observable criteria, (b) involve mutual goal setting, (c) avoid the tendency to assess irrelevant worker traits, and (d) be tailored to each individual job and worker (rather than using one form for every employee). † 4. 2 360-Degree performance management feedback system According to Business Legal Reports (2006), â€Å"this system, which solicits feedback from boss, peers and direct reports if there are any, has been increasingly embraced as the best of all available methods for collecting performance feedback. † (p. 4) â€Å"The 360 process allows for multiple points of view to be given on any given individual. It neutralizes what might otherwise be one rater’s bias (either positive or negative) and helps to paint a more comprehensive picture of that individual’s performance. † (p. 4) 4. 3 Other best practices Hays, S. W. (2004) also mentioned other best practices in conducting performance appraisals such as: â€Å"Employee Performance Management System (EPMS), 360-degree evaluation, Team-based evaluations, and Gainsharing. † (p. 262) 5 Resolving Conflict According to Vogel, A. (2007), â€Å"unproductive workplace conflict arises when appropriate communication breaks down. The result is wasted work time; a drop in motivation, productivity and quality of service; employee attrition; loss of authority; a stressful work environment; and even direct damage to the company. † 5. 1 The best approach to avoid â€Å"The best approach to workplace conflict is to avoid unproductive quarreling altogether. And suggested four strategies –mentioned by Daniel Dana- for eliminating strife: (1) address conflict early, (2) avoid a one-sided solution, (3) take risks such as apologizing, (4) respect others’ peace-making gestures. † (Vogel, A. , 2007) 5. 2 Guidelines for managing the situation. Vogel, A, (2007) mentioned some guidelines to help managing scuffles before they escalate into real crisis such as: mediating conflict between two employees, decide to mediate, hold preliminary meetings, conduct a three-way meeting, work out a deal, self-mediation, step outside your office, listen first, and finally manage diverging viewpoints. † 6 Improving Employee Relations 6. 1 Create a newsletter One practice to improve employee relations is to create a newsletter that works for employee communications either a printed one or an electronic one (by e-mail or on the website). 6. 2 Build a forum on your website or intranet This forum will provide an informal communication channel for employees to share their ideas, events or even their problems 6. 3 Create shared events Being a supervisor you could make some events shared even if you turn the routine group tasks into fun shared events. For example CMP Technology made the spring-cleaning records become an event. â€Å"Employees worked together in teams and competed to win a dinner for the team and discarded 12 tons of unnecessary paper in the process. † (Business Legal Reports, 2007a2) III. Conclusion. The main conclusion is that best practices can -for sure- help supervisors and enhance the way they deal with their responsibilities with employees by adopting approaches, techniques, and policies to create a positive, creative, and supportive work environment. Another conclusion is that information technology has an important role in providing effective HR practices. Finally, supervisors should be a model themselves for their employees in order to make a real change. References Bjomberg, L. (2002). Training and development: Best practices. Public Personnel Management. Winter 2002.International Public Management Association for Human Resources Survey. Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://www. entrepreneur. com/tradejournals/article/160542388_1. html Business Legal Reports, Inc. (2006). Top 10 Best Practices in HR Management for 2008. United States of America: Business Legal Reports, Inc. Business Legal Reports (2007a1). 10 Tips for HR to Boost Intranet Efficiency. Best Practices in HR. (838), pp. 1-2 Business Legal Reports (2007a2). ‘Bin There, Dump That’-Spring Cleaning Recors Becomes Event at CMP Technology. Best Practices in HR. (838), pp. 3 Business Legal Reports (2007b). Case study: Move to consumer-driven healthcare decreases costs, improves employee health. Best Practices in Compensation Benefits. (734), pp. 3 Collins, R. Druten, K. V. (2003). Survey of Australian and New Zealand Human Resource Practices, CCH and AGSM. Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://www2. agsm. edu. au/agsm/web. nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/CCHREPORT2003/$FILE/CCH+Final+2003. pdf Hays, S. W. (2004). Trends and Best Practices in State and Local Human Resource Management: Lessons to be learned? Review of Public Administration, 24(3), pp. 256-275, SAGE Publications. Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://rop.sagepub. com/cgi/content/abstract/24/3/256 Mathew, M. (2007). Best Practices Module: Human resources management. British Columbia Museum Association. Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://www. museumsassn. bc. ca/Images/Best%20Practices%20Modules%202/Human%20Resource%20Management%20FINAL. pdf Orsini, B. (2000). Improving Internal Communications. Internal Auditor. December 2000. Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m4153/is_6_57/ai_69759744/pg_1 Rubin, L. Merripen, C. (2003). IGDA Business Committee: Best practices in Human Resources. IGDA. Retrieved April 16, 2008 from.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Emotion and Memory of the Holocaust Essays -- Historical Knowledge of

In the aftermath of the Jewish Holocaust, an outpouring of eyewitness accounts by both survivors and perpetrators has surfaced as historical evidence. For many, this has determined what modern popular culture remembers about this atrocious event. Emotion obviously plays a vital role in the accounts of the survivors, yet can it be considered when discussing the historical significance of the murder of six million European Jews by the Third Reich? Emotion is the expression of thoughts and beliefs affected by feeling and sensibility of an individual regarding a certain event or individual. In terms of the Holocaust, emotion is overwhelmingly prevalent in the survivors’ tales of their experiences, conveyed in terms of life, death, and survival. As scholars often point out, the Holocaust evokes strong sentiments, and transmits and reinforces basic societal values. Through in-depth observation of various forms of media sources, this paper will argue that emotion and the lack thereof, as a repercussion of the Holocaust, through the testimonies of those who survived its trials and tribulations, has played an enormous role in determining historical knowledge of the genocide. In analyzing the stories which survivors of the concentration camps and their perpetrators have put forth as historical evidence supporting the findings of scholars, one must pose the question: where does fact end and emotional distortion of the subject begin? It is critical to approach this question with great care, so as to note that not all historical accounts of the Holocaust by survivors and perpetrators are laden with emotional input and a multilayered interpretation of the event. In her acclaimed article â€Å"Memory, Distortion, and History in the... ...e Museum.†. History and Theory, Volume 36, Number 4, Theme Issue 36. December 1997 8. Greenspan, Henry. On Listening to Holocaust Survivors. Westport, Ct. Praeger Publishers. 1998. 9. Kramer, Stanley. Judgement at Nuremberg. 1961. 10. Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz. New York, N.Y. Touchstone. 1996. 11. Lewy, Guenter. The Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies. Oxford, England. Oxford University Press. 2000. 12. Spielberg, Steven. Survivors of the Holocaust. 1996. 13. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. http://www.ushmm.org/learn 14. Wiesel, Elie. Night. United States of America. Bantam Publishing Group. 1958. 15. Wyszogrod, Morris. A Brush with Death. Albany, N.Y. State University of New York Press. 1999. 16. Young, James. â€Å"Toward a Received History of the Holocaust.† History and Theory, Volume 36, Number 4, Theme Issue 36. December 1997.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Have People Become Overly Dependent on Technology? Essay

The thought of how much technology people use on a daily basis can be frightening as one contemplates. From waking up to our alarm clock to going to sleep with the air conditioner on we are constantly using technology. The age we live in is known as the age of technology and the age of â€Å"progress†. Without a doubt, technology has made living much easier as an individual and as a society. Cars, trains, buses, and planes with air conditioning and the speed of a hundred horses has made traveling under any weather condition extremely convenient; so saying technology has not benefited people would be unrealistic. However, with all these benefits and almost every task involving the use of technology the question arises, have people become overly dependent on technology? There is a difference between being dependent on something, and being overly dependent on something. Just being dependent on something could mean that there is a chance that if it was gone then it would cause the person no harm, but when someone is too dependent on something, then the disappearance of the independent would harm the person. In my opinion people have definitely become overly dependent on technology because of many reason. Much of my evidence presented are articles written, surveys conducted, and personal experiences that I have had. Articles have been written and surveys have been conducted to find out how dependent people are on technology. I am going to present quotes and evidences from articles and literature that explain how technology has grown in peoples lives and has taken over. Chanie Kirschner presents some very interesting points on how people are overly dependent on technology in an article written less than a year ago; one of which is â€Å"when the internet is down, work is over for the day† this is true to a great extent (Mobile). Schools have let students out early because the power was out and no work could be done. The second point is that â€Å"buyer’s remorse is much more common.† Internet shopping has become so common and convenient that people are  forgetting how to handle cash and do not know from which store to buy a certain item from anymore since everything can be found online. The third point is that â€Å"you don’t live in the moment.† He gives an example that a parent goes to see the performance of his/her child and is too busy getting the camera to work or is looking through a screen that the actual experience is gone. This also means that people are extremely dependent on technology and digital media to get information from anywhere in the world. Rather than letters and written statements people depend on videos and voice recordings which can easily be deceivable. The fourth point that Chanie gives is that â€Å"nobody knows a   phone number.† Cell Phones have become so common that 90% of American Adults have a cell phone. According to the above chart, the majority of Americans have a smartphone. Smartphones have the capability to contain documents, phone numbers, GPS and more. All which are capabilities that people depend on their phone for, without the phone people would not remember a phone number or even know how to get around in their own city. Students are extremely dependent on spell check and auto correct that writing a paper by hand would be extremely difficult. The fifth point that was presented is that â€Å"You are dreading having to break up with your boyfriend face-to-face.† Although Chanie gave a personal example, it can still relate to the fact that people are too dependent on technology to communicate with other people. From relationships to online interviews, people are forgetting how to communicate with others face-to-face. The sixth point that was presented is that â€Å"Brick and mortar stores are going the way of the dinosaurs.† As I stated earlier in the paper, online shopping has become so convenient that small businesses and markets are going bankrupt and online businesses such as â€Å"Amazon† and â€Å"Ebay† are booming. The Final point that Chanie gives is that â€Å"Without your phone, you feel naked.† People are not only depend ent on phones with their daily lives but with their health as well. A teenager that has lost his/her cell phone goes through psychological stress. The punishment for a child that ten years ago used to be forbidding them to go outside and play is now taking  away their electronics. The question to ask to understand if people are truly overly dependent on technology is, are they able to live without it? In a poll by CNET, 28 percent of people said they wouldn’t be able to live without high-speed Internet (America). Technology is slowly dominating people’s lives and is becoming a need rather than a want, like the author of an argumentative-persuasive essay writes, â€Å"Ultimately, we can say that ,†living without technology is like living without air† in this technical world of today.† An article written by Ismat Tahseen titled â€Å"How dependent are we on technology† states â€Å"The survey — of 12,000 adults from Brazil, China, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan and the US — found that about 61% millennials (those aged 18-24) believe that technology is currently making people less human. It revealed that despite being the digital native generation, 59% of millennials felt that society has become just too reliant on technology, a site reported† (Times of India). It is obvious through the evidences and literature presented that people are become overly dependent on on technology. The example of schools being shut down is in of itself enough to understand that the education system today is so dependent on technology that it cannot continue without it. Along with business that cannot continue without coolers or registers or even lights. Overly depending on somthing or completely depending on somthing consist of the inability to continue without it for example the GPS that was stated earlier. If the GPS stops working on a road trip then the person would have to go to a store near by and ask for directions and the one giving directions can only know so much. A person leaves on a road trip fully depending on his car and GSP and does not even prepare for the worst case scenario which would be his car, phone, and GPS stopped working. This is a clear sign that people are overly dependent on technology. The society we live in today has become so fast that people must depend on technology in order to make a living and survive. All the points stated by Chanie connect to the over dependence on technology and the fact that it would be chaos if all technology was hacked and all power shutdown. In conclusion the majority of people themselves agree that people are overly dependent on technology and even 29% of people say they cannot live without high speed internet. Its been stated that people depend on technology for information, travel, and  communication. It was also said that schools and businesses cannot continue without technology. According to the research conducted, it is clear that people have become overly dependent on technology. Works Cited â€Å"America has become too dependent on technology.† UAB Kaleidoscope. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 July 2014. . â€Å"Argumentative Essay.† Susan Yaroshevich. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 July 2014. . â€Å"Mobile Technology Fact Sheet.† Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 June 2014. . â€Å"How dependent are we on technology? – The Times of India.† The Times of India. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 July 2014. .

Sunday, January 5, 2020

The Main Aspects Of Politics - 1760 Words

One of the main aspects of politics is theory. A theory is a deep, abstract thought or speculation. Philosophers over the years have come up with many theories ranging from a variety of topics. Two of these philosophers, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke, came up with their own theories that contributed to political theory. Locke was born in 1632 in the United Kingdom. His view on government was that every citizen involved in the society consents to the government once they have benefited from it. Locke focused his theory of private property in that it is important to society. Rousseau was born in Switzerland in 1712. His major belief was that a government is truly free if all citizens were able to speak out and have the right to vote.†¦show more content†¦The executive has the job of enforcing laws and has the power to carry out any sentence. They also have the power to fix details of legislation. Executive power is limited in the way that it cannot go beyond the limits of natural law. Natural law is the philosophy that certain rights are inherent to humans. Locke says that the law must be founded on the will of a superior. It must also perform the function of establishing rules of behavior, and be binding on humans. He believes that if a government oversteps their authority they forfeit their power to rule the people. This belief comes from Locke’s view on the government is a government of consent which means both parties are in agreement (Tannenbaum, 180) Rousseau disagreed with Locke’s view in many ways. Rousseau believed that the purpose of a government was to bring people into harmony and to unite them under the â€Å"General Will.† He denounces Locke’s belief in a representative democracy. Rousseau believes that sovereignty is unalienable, legislative power cannot be a legitimate form of power delegated to representatives. This power must be exercised by the entire population or there would be no republic. Rousseau also disagrees with Locke about who should be able to vote. He believes that no man should be excluded from participation in politics (Tannenbaum, 205). Rousseau fails to mention women, which can be implied that they may be excluded from participation. Rousseau believes in aShow MoreRelatedSimon Hix s The European Union1519 Words   |  7 Pageshis that he researches are, ‘European Union Politics and Policy, The EU legislative process and the European Parliament, Parties and elections and Rational choice theory’ (LSE, 2014). His primary aim when writing this book was to give readers an understanding of how the European Union, as a political system works and how the institutions within it function and why they function in the way that they do and this is the general field of the book. The main contribution the book is making is that theRead MoreSimon Hixs The European Union1519 Words   |  7 Pageshis that he researches are, ‘European Union Politics and Policy, The EU legislative process and the European Parliament, Parties and elections and Rational choice theory’ (LSE, 2014). His primary aim when writing this book was to give readers an understanding of how the European Union, as a political system works and how the institutions within it function and why they function in the way that they do and this is the general field of the book. The main contribution the book is making is that theRead MoreHow Democratic Is The American Consitution?1310 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"How Democratic Is the American Consitution?† written by Robert A. Dahl is a novel that’s main purpose is to â€Å"suggest changes in the way we think about our constitution† (Dahl 2003, p.1). Robert A. Dahl revolves his book around a few questions. 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