Module Review- FINAL BLOG!:)

An Interpersonal Skill I Have Developed During This ModuleDuring this module, an interpersonal skill I feel that I have developed is my ability to understand and solve problems. I believe as a person now when I need help I will ask somebody for help or guidelines in order to understand what is being asked to do. I have also developed better listening skills as I understand others points of views, I have learnt that it is important to listen carefully to what is being said then reflect on what I have been told, even if I disagree, it is important to understand one another's perspective.

Most Challenging Blog
The blog I found to be the most challenging was the week 15- Corporate Social Responsibility. The reason why I found this blog to be the most challenging was I did not have any work history involving the topic in the past and I had missed the lecture due to being ill. I had to rely on research to answer the questions and spent the most time on this blog compared to any other. Furthermore if i could improve in the future i would make sure I attended all lessons and kept up to date with each blog, this would have benefited me in the long run as I would have been given helpful feedback to improve my work and overall get a better grade. I also believe I would have saved a lot of time that i have spent researching and reading books.

Changes Made, If I Were the Module Leader
The only aspect of the module I would change if I was leader would be by setting deadlines for each blog rather than telling students to post them and having a certain day to hand them in by. Even though our module teacher reminded us to keep posting our blog's, some students (including myself) were to laid back and lazy therefore we did not post them while we were learning. This is a disadvantage as some students  may have forgotten what they have learnt and overall had to spend more time researching in order to complete the blogs. I feel this also de-motivated individuals to come into lectures because they were so behidg on other blogs they felt as though as if they should catch up first and then attend lessons on recent blog's. If each blog had a deadline i feel it would be more effective for the module leader as they will have more chance of receiving everyone's blog's on a regular basis and also it is beneficial for students as they will have no choice but to do them on time!

Personality

Contrasts between Nature and Nurture

The psychology towards personality “is made up of the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that make a person unique. In addition to this, personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life.” Research has shown that the personality is processes influenced biologically which brings in the nature nurture debate:
 The reason why this has been debated is because many researchers say personality is driven through nature; this term means that your personality or characteristics are inherited through genes. This is argued by other researchers who claim that personality is made from nurture which means that your personality is made through the environment and life experiences.The terms nomothetic and idiographic can be used to describe nature and nurture. The term “nomothetic” comes from the Greek word “nomos” meaning “law”.  Psychologists who adopt this approach are mainly concerned with studying what we share with others this describes nature. The term “idiographic” comes from the Greek word “idios” meaning “own” or “private”. Psychologists interested in this aspect of experience want to discover what makes each of us unique describing nurture. Both the nomothetic and idiographic have a similarity which is they both try to explain the makeup of one’s personality. The nomothetic approach explains that a person’s personality is inherited and concentrates on genetics where as the idiographic approach states that personality is developed due to the conditions of the environment a person is in and how that develops there personality. The other difference is that nomothetic approach says that the personality is fixed but the idiographic approach suggests that personality is open to changes and that it does not stay fixed due to an experience that might change the person’s personality.




Summary of My Results from the BBC Big Personality Test

After taking the personality test on the BBC website, I have gained the following results:

Openness: 4

Conscientiousness: 6.9

Extroversion: 3.6

Agreeableness: 4.2

After reviewing my results, I agree with my score for openness because it states I am likely to get distracted and be prone to daydreaming, this does usually happen as I get easily distracted by others and tend to day dream. It also mentions that I am imaginative which I also agree with because I always think of new ideas- even if they are not always the right ones! However on the contrary I disagree with my score on conscientiousness, extroversion and neuroticism. Reason being is I feel as though as if iIam not as organised as I would like to be because I leave work to last minute and get distracted by things in my social life too much. . I agree with extroversion and agreeableness because I do generally look at life positively furthermore I enjoy meeting new people and i am considerate to people and prefer to work in a team rather then independently.  (BBC, 2011) 


ConclusionI think that nature is dominant towards the nurture and it would win the debate because majority of offspring have similar traits to their producers for example, a father might be into sport and played when he was young so might his child be doing the same, or another example being the father may had hear on his head when he was young but now he doesn’t and the son’s hair is now falling out as he is reaching his mid thirties. And for experiences shaping someone’s personality, this is possible for example I may see some one die and my personality may change but the same can occur to my family member but it has not been opened to them as they have not been exposed to the similar situation.


References

Simpson, M. (2011) PowerPoint Presentation(Week 9)

Clake, R. (2010) How to: Improve staff communication

Flexible Working

     Three companies I have chosen that offer flexible working are Marks and Spencer's, Heritage Care and Lloyd's TSB.

        Marks and Spencer offer flexible working, as they offer their employees a choice to work full time or part time, and job sharing and term time working. Job sharing is one alternative work option. Two people share the same position in a company, each working a certain part of the week. Term-time working is designed primarily to help parents of school-age children work only when their children are at school. That means giving them on average 13 weeks of time off per year, allowing them to be with their children during the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays, as well as during all half-term breaks. Mark’s and Spencer’s keep employees happy and employ temporary workers who only work during term-term to cover term time workers work while they are away.
Marks and Spencer allow time off for family emergencies, such as serious illnesses, death etc. Marks and Spencer’s also offer dependency leave of up to 4 weeks paid leave which can then be followed by 3-9 months unpaid leave. (M&S, 2012

       Heritage offer there staff flexible working as they start with minimum 21 hours for part time staff and allow full time employees to work up to 35hours per week. Heritage Care also offer a employers a bank carer role. I currently work as a bank carer for Heritage care, I let management or DRP (designated responsible person) know when I am available to work and they ring me a few days before hand to confirm whether there is work available on days I have specified. I can let staff know days and times are available for the  following 6 weeks. Another advantage is when the permanent staff's rota is completed I can see which days there is work available so I can choose my own shifts which are guaranteed. However a disadvantage of this is the rota is completed every 6 weeks. Bank carers are given annual leave based on how many hours they work per week, and enhancement hours on the weekend. Heritage care also offer up to 35 hours of sickness leave which is paid for. Roles within Lloyd's TSB are incredibly diverse, they offer full time, part time, job share, term time and home working hours. 

At Lloyds TSB part time staff are entitled to a holiday allowance from 24 days, increasing to 30 days per year. (Lloyds TSB, 2011)Paid time off members earn paid time off as soon as they start working for Lloyd’s  TSB. The benefit package includes a variety of time-off options. Based on where the holidays fall on the calendar, staff will also receive nine or 10 paid company holidays each year, including New Year’s Day,  Memorial Day, Fourth of July (one or two days), Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and bank holidays. (Lloyds TSB, 2011)

Different forms of flexibilityFlexitime This allows you to choose, within agreed limits, when to start and end your working day. You work a standard core time, but you can vary your start, finish and break times each day.For example, within limits, you may also be able to carry over any excess or shortfall in the number of hours you are required to work. This could be something like one or two days a month.

        Part time workingPeople who work part time are permanent employees who have a set number of weekly hours. This is really beneficial to students as they can work part time and save money while they study, and they will not get taxed if they do not work over 21 hours.  Annualised hoursThis averages out an employees working time across the year so they work a set number of hours per year instead of per week. This is beneficial for businesses that are busy during a certain time, for example if a business is busy during the Christmas period, they can call in their annualised hour workers. This also benefits the employee as they will not be made redundant if the business cannot afford them at certain periods.

       Zero hours

       This is where employees have no fixed hours; they are called in when their employers need them to fill temporary positions as they occur. 

Home workingHome working is where you work all or part of your contracted hours from home. It allows you to spend all or part of your working week doing your job from home or a different location to your workplace.For example, if your job is computer based and you do not have to be in the office every day you could work from home providing you have the required equipment.
Term-time workingThis is where employees work following school term patterns. Employees work as normal during term-time then during school holidays you don't go to work but you are still employed. For example you could choose not to work during school holidays if employees want to spend time with their chldren.This is designed mainly to help parents with young children work only when their children are at school
Staggered hoursStaggered hours are where you and your workplace colleagues have different start, finish and break times, allowing your employer to cover longer opening hours. It is essentially a shift system.Your pattern of working hours will normally be the same from day to day and week to week. For example, you might start every day at 9 til 5.

      Advantages for the employees due to flexible working

       Flexible working offer increases opportunities for employees to fit in family needs, and ensures parents to spend quality time with their children. flexible working enforces equality amongst genders within the workplace. Usually mothers have to give up their work completely and this results the woman to becoming financially dependent on her partner or spouse. It further reduces the woman’s chance of any promotions in the workplace as well as reducing her national insurance contribution, meaning the state pension is also reduced. Furthermore, if women take time out from work to have children then they are more likely to lose skills, so if the company offer flexible working, mothers are still eligible to obtain and develop further on their skills. (Campaign.libdem, n.d.)

        Flexible working also helps employees manage their work load more efficiently as they will have time to relax and spend with their family , this will also motivate employees when they do come to work.

      

       Advantages for the employers due to flexible working
Advantage of flexible working include reducing employee sickness and absence, this is beneficial for the employer and the business as a whole because everything will be organised and all work loads will be completed.Employees will appreciate it the time they have been given off, therefore when employees are asked to work overtime, come into work during their days off or even carry out tasks they do not usually do, employees will be more likely to accept the request.


      Flexible working will also motivate and boost up the employee's confidence, they will be more engaged into what they are doing and work to the best of their ability. Flexible working will also reduce absenteeism due family commitments as well as health issues caused by stress. (Campaign.libdem, n.d.)


         Disadvantages for Line Managers in regards to Flexible Working
      It will be difficult for line managers to keep flexible working employees up to date on issues as different employees will be working at different times, this can result in employees feeling left out which may demotivate them. The line manager may set up a meeting where some employees may not be available in the morning, so the meeting would have to take place when everyone is available. This further slows down the decision making process and makes the business run slower.  mployees with flexible working hours will not have as much time to learn and develop the skills taught by the line manager, so this will not only cause conflict but also would be a disadvantage to the company as there would be one less employee incapable to pull off the task expected from them. 


        References:

                Simply-Docs (2012) Zero Hours Employment Contract Template [Online]. Available from:     http://www.simply-docs.co.uk/Document.aspx?documentID=1338 [Assessed date: 22 February 2012]

M&S (2012) Flexible working [Online]. Available from:

http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/mscareers/rewards_benefits/lifestyle_options/flexible_working [Assessed date: 22 February 2012]

Directgov (2012) Different types of flexible working [Online] Available From: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Flexibleworking/DG_184872  [Assessed Date: 17^th February 2012]

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Equal Opportunities

The Difference between Equality and Diversity
Equality is where everyone is treated fairly and given the equal opportunity. It also identifies that the needs for others. For example equality within a work place would give a disabled person the equal opportunity to work as you would to a person without any disabilities. The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences.  These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, and religious beliefs. It is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. It is about understanding each other and moving beyond within each individual. Age legislation came into force in 2006, this impacts Employers because:

• Employers cannot for age including on the CV.

• The employer must only allow asking a reasonable amount of experience for a certain job role.

• Employers are not allowed to replace a member of staff because of their age for example replacing a 45 year old man with a 18 year old young adult.

• Clear orders of harassment are given for a workplace which is not tolerated against staff, including age discrimination. If an employee is feeling discriminated they are allowed to take legal actions.

• A business must plan interviews carefully considering the fact a young individuals parent may not be able to bring them to an interview in the morning because they may be taking their young children to school, so a business must give other times during the day for them to be able to make an interview successful.

Old People Stereotypes	Young People Stereotypes
Old person may not be able to work in a place that requires strength and hard work.	So not have enough experience to work in a certain role for example sales role may ask for a strong sales background for 5 years.
May not have knowledge on technology e.g. computers.	Young people are not as enthusiastic to work and therefore would take work less seriously.
They do not have the same education as now.	Young women may not have enough commitment to work as they might start a family.
May not be able to learn new technology skills, may find difficulties in learning how to use certain software’s.	Young individuals may rude and very immature not taking work as serious as they should.
They may not have the same enthusiasm to work as they did when they were young.	Young people may not respect other employees.
Have more experience in manual labour than office work.	Young people may not have the right intentions towards work.
They do not have the same enthusiasm or commitment and knowledge than a young person.	Younger people do not pay attention to society and what is happening to business.
May not be able to work alongside other ethnic individuals.	Are not able to make decisions for themselves so they will always be treated like children and told what to do.

 
 
How Organisations can attempt to change these attitudes

Organisations help change attitudes by bringing in diversity, making different age groups work within in the same role as each other, by doing this helps young employees to learn skills from more experienced staff.

Another thing organisations do is apply teamwork, making all age range workers to with each other and complete a task this helps the older employees and younger employees to interact and get to know each other, which would also help the older worker to get to know the younger worker having a different perspective about them to what they have been told.

British Airways Benchmark Practice in Relation to Equal Opportunities
British Airways diversity team launched a new Diversity and Inclusion Strategy which has the aims of ensuring everyone understands the importance of diversity and it should takes place throughout the whole business.

The Diversity and Inclusion Strategy supports being against harassment and bullying, this has become a positive impact which has led to more groups of organisations to empower diversity for example Employers Forum on Belief which is a multi-faith network that gives all religions prayer room inside the workplace.

British Airways also looks to their disabled staff to whether or not their services and products are accessible for disabled people, so to improve on this they also train all their employees to be aware of the disabled needs, giving the organisation a better understanding.

Conclusion
The terms equality and diversity are now spreading more and more around the world and especially within business giving everyone an opportunity to work and become accepted. Diversity not only bring other backgrounds of people together but it also helps business bringing different skills ideas to be used in business.  

References

BBC (2011) Miriam O’Reilly wins Countryfile ageism claim BBC [Online]. 11 January. Available From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12161045 [Assessed Date: 17^th February 2012]
British Airways (2012) Workplace – Responsible Colleague [Online]. Available From: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/csr-diversity/public/en_gb [Assessed Date: 17^th February 2012]

Reward

An organisation which rewards employees
A reward system consists of financial rewards and employee benefits, which together comprise total remuneration.’ (Simpson, 2012). 
Choosing just the right reward will encourage employees to redouble their efforts and aim even higher, reward does not always have to be in financial forms, it could also consist of other benefits.

Asda has launched an online management system that enables plastic gift cards to be used by employers as easily as paper gift vouchers.
As well as making employee incentive schemes easier to manage for any size of business, it can also help to reduce the costs associated with the security risks of storing high value gift vouchers and the secure postage required to distribute them.
Graham Sellors, Director of Asda Business Rewards, says: “The system is very simple yet secure and allows funds to be added remotely by an authorised administrator to new or existing gift cards.
“This system allows Asda gift cards to match the flexibility normally only associated with gift vouchers.”

benefits of the GCMS include:

• 24/7 access- total control of funds by authorised customer- at the touch of a button.
• security-cards can be suspended if lost or stolen
• remote access- cards can be securely managed from any computer with internet access
• pause-protect - this is a function allowing cards to be activated once they have reached the correct recipent.
• re-use- all cards can be re used as many times as necessary, employees can also top up the cards in store themselves.
  
  Like Tesco, Asda also offer ‘Shares in Success’, this is when Tesco offer their employees free shares at the end of the financial year (which is February). According to employee salaries, a proportion of Tesco’s profit is distributed amongst employees. Employees are eligible to take these shares tax-free after they are held in trust for five years. There is evidence of fairness in regards to shares within Asda as all employees are eligible to participate in the share schemes of working for the company for as little as three months. The different types of share schemes available also show evidence that Asda are trying to achieve equality and fairness as there should be something available to suit all employees.
  
  Employee leisure time: Asda give their employees staff discounds a 15% staff discount and special offers that are available such as theme park visits in the summer, free gym membership and much more. These are available exclusively to Asda staff only.
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• Asda also engages their employees in its next advertising campaign by giving them the chance to win starring roles in a television advert. As part of efforts to engage its workforce with the relaunch of its ‘pocket tap’ advert, the retailer has invited employees to take part in a simultaneous ‘pocket tap', which was held in Adsa stores in March 2009.

Employees were given the chance to film their colleagues doing the pocket tap. Entries were uploaded to www.youtube.com/savingyoumoneytv, and the best will win parts in the next advert, which will be filmed at the store of the employee chosen to perform the leading role.

Another reward that Asda give their employees is annual bonus if they have worked for Asda for six months, or three months if they are salaried staff. In the retail sector, each store has individual performance measures and profit plan targets to meet, while staff in distribution centres have a bonus plan based on cost performance. Head-office employees’ bonus is based on total company profits.

Asda rewards differ for different groups in relation to the length of time in which they have been working for the company as well as the type of employment they are working in. There is a wider-range of rewards available for full-time employees who have been working within Asda for over a year. By offering employees who have worked for the company for a longer period more wider-range and advanced rewards fairness is demonstrated, because this suggests that those who have contributed the most deserve more.

Do you think that Chief Executives should still receive large bonuses even if the organisation that they have led has underperformed? List the arguments for and against this.

A recent story in the news regarding to Chief Executives receiving large bonuses even if the organisation underperforms is the story relating to Stephen Hester. Stephen Hester is the Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland; he rejected his bonus even though he met the targets set. (BBC News, 2012)
I believe that Chief Executives should still receive their bonuses as promised even if the company as a whole underperforms; the reason for this is because if the rewards promised are not given, then this will cause the Chief executive to be demotivated and will result to an increase in poor performance within the organisation.

Arguments for

·         Chief Executives have stressful jobs and so therefore there should be high rewards to make the job position attractive.

·         The Chief Executives contract will state their rewards if targets are met so therefore once targets are met it would be seen morally wrong to not offer the Chief Executive their rewards.

·         By offering large bonuses, it will motivate the Chief executive to work harder and aim for more challenging targets.

Arguments Against

·      Instead of offering Chief executives bonuses, the money could be used for investment purposes and also for growth.

·      Employees within an organisation will feel it is unfair if they are at risk of job losses while the Chief Executive receives large bonuses.

References

BBC News (2012) RBS boss Stephen Hester rejects £1m bonus.  BBC News [Online]. 30^th January. Available From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16783571 [Assessed Date: 4^th May 2012].

Fairness is promoted within this reward as Asda try and aim to find rewards which are appropriate for all their employees no matter their age, religion, or gender.

Performance Management

How does the university measure your performance?  What role do your lecturers take in this process and your personal tutors?

The university measures performance by giving students exams and assignments as this will test students’ knowledge and skills. When students receive their grades at the end of the year, this shows indications of the university measuring student performance as they are giving students a level at which they have performed within.

The role lecturers take within this process is that they provide students with the work needed to gain the knowledge which measures their performance. Lecturers also carry out lessons to help students develop the knowledge and skills required.

Personal tutors play the role of being mentors, they help students with problems they may be experiencing, and furthermore they offer advice and support. This plays an important role in performance measurement as personal tutors aim to encourage all students to do well.

Read the article on the next page from The Times on mentoring.  What skills do you think are required to be an effective mentor?

A mentor is an advisor, so this means that the most important trait they acquire is the nature to be trustworthy.

A mentor should have the skill to be able to listen and give feedback, they must be able to show respect to their mentee. The mentor must also show unconditional acceptance and be able to provide support and help when mistakes are made. A mentor must also have the skill to be sensitive towards the mentee’s feelings, furthermore they must have patience. The mentor must also be able to encourage the mentee in fulfilling their aims.

Mentors must also have excellent communication skills as they will need to be able to talk and influence the mentee to carry out the right tasks. (The Times, 2008)
Identify someone from your college/uni, school, work, social life who has been a mentor to you.  How have they affected your life?

Someone who has been a good mentor for me at school was my form tutor. My mentor was able to influence me in making the right choices in life, such as subjects which I should take for GCSE and also showed continuous interest in my academic life. She proved to be a good mentor as she was always there for me when I needed her. She affected my life as she always gave regular feedback in how she thinks I am doing, and also encouraged me to set myself targets as she believed this will help me to get further in life while being able to reach my full potential. My mentor had the necessary skills needed to be an effective mentor; she was trustworthy, supportive, showed patience and sensitivity. She showed that she genuinely cared as she would regularly call home and ask if I am getting on fine at school and she would always remind me that she is there if I need a chat.

References

The Times (2008) Entrepreneurs: A Mentor Can Tune Your Skills [online]. Available From: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3778514.ece [Accessed Date: 6^th May 2012]

Selection

Find examples of three different selection methods used in an organisation with which you are familiar and identify when they are used and why, along with the pros and cons of each

Interviews:

When are they used?

An interview is a formal meeting when the interviewer will ask the interviewee questions and will evaluate that person upon the answers given. This is a common selection method used in most organisations and are usually used at the latest stage of the selection process.

Why are they used?

The main purpose of interviews is to allow the interviewer to gain more knowledge about potential employees. Interviews will help the interviewer make a judgement towards what the candidate is like, their personalities as well as their motives. Interviews are much more personal than CVs, if there was something on the CV the employer wanted to question the candidate about, this can be done during the interview stage.

The Pros

·                     The employer will be able to get an insight to what the candidate is like.

·                     Candidates will find it harder to lie about certain issues if they are being asked face-to-face.

·                     Interviews are more personal, so this will mean that there will be some connection between candidates and interviewer.

The Cons

·                     Interviewing candidates can take time.

·                     Interviews are expensive.

·                     If the correct information is not being asked then the interview will be useless.

References:

When are they used?

References are used after a candidate is selected for a job, this will help the employer get a better vision of what the candidate’s background is like.

Why are they used?

References help the employer understand skills the candidate may have developed through previous employments.

The Pros

·                     References give the employer understanding to what previous employees thought of candidates.

·                     If the recruiter does not believe something then they can talk to previous employers.

The Cons

·                     References can be biased.

Assessment Centre:

When are they used?

They are used at the latter stages of the recruitment process and are usually used for managers and graduate training.

Why are they used?

They are used to create an environment in which candidates can demonstrate key workplace skills. (Target Jobs, 2012)

The Pros

·                     Helps differentiate between similar candidates.

·                     Helps candidate understand what the job roles will be like

·                     Are more accurate as candidates are putting skills identified to use.

The Cons

·                     Assessment centres may be expensive and time consuming

·                     The evaluation process might be biased and furthermore there may not be any feedback given.

Describe an interview that you have taken part in.  It may have been for a job, but could also have been within your school or university.  Was the interview effective?  If so, why.  If not, why not.

I took part in an interview when I applied for a part time job at Marks and Spencer. This was a one-to-one interview with a Marks and Spencer employer; I personally thought this interview was effective as they asked questions clearly and also gave examples to what they are asking for. I thought this was helpful as it excludes the issue of misleading questions. Another reason why the interview was effective was because at the end of the interview, the interviewer gave feedback to how I can improve myself when going for an interview in the future. She gave advice such as having more confidence in myself as well as making eye contact while speaking to the interviewer. Personally I thought this was helpful as it would help candidates to improve their skills in the future.

In your own organisation or one with which you are familiar what recommendations would you make to improve selection processes?

The selection process within Marks and Spencer can be improved by offering candidates to carry out tasks stated in the job role within the store; this will help recognise the eligibility of the candidate’s skills. Another recommendation I would make is maybe having a few other candidates involved in the interview process, so instead of a one-to-one interview there should be a group interview. By enabling a group interview, the interviewer will be able to indicate the most suitable candidate out of the group. This will also be less time consuming as there will be fewer interviews to carry out.

Remember to write a brief conclusion about this topic

Selecting the most suitable candidate for a job role is one of the most important factors organisation face every day. If the most suitable candidate is not selected then is can result to poor performance within the organisation, resulting to the business facing negative feedbacks in regards to their customer service skills.

There are different methods of selections available to organisations; the three mentioned are interviews, references and assessment centres. These methods all have advantages as well as disadvantages and so to ensure that the most effective selection process is used, it is important that more than one selection method is used when selecting candidates.

Reference used:

Target Jobs (2012) Assessment Centres [online]. Available From: http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/assessment-centres [Assessed date: 6^th May 2012]

Recruitment

Go on the internet and review an on-line recruitment site such as www.monster.co.uk, www.fish4jobs.co.uk, or www.prospects.ac.uk

Comment on the use of the site, layout, accessibility etc.

Fish4Jobs is an online recruitment website which helps jobseekers find their potential jobs. I will be examining and commenting on the use of the site, its layout and accessibility.

Firstly, the homepage for Fish4Jobs is set in a very simplistic manner. It is easy to access all the relevant information and the homepage is set so almost anyone who can speak Basic English can use it.

The homepage is split up into sections, at the top of the homepage there is a ‘find a job’ search tool, this allows users to type their preferred job along with the distance they are able to travel. By doing this, the website will list all the jobs which fit the users criteria. The beneficial factor to this search tool is that it prevents users from wasting their time, the search tool takes the user straight to the information they are looking for and is very hassle free.

The second section of the homepage is headlined as ‘Jobs in your sector’; this section allows users to search for jobs within specific sector. This benefits users as users do not have to go through the option of searching the entire job database to find the relevant jobs. When users click on the relevant job sector, all the jobs within that specific sector will show, this will eliminate any hassle the user might experience.

The last section of the homepage outlines jobs within big organisations, such as B&Q, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and also care worker jobs nationwide. This section is useful as it will grab the users’ attention if the user is aware that big organisations are hiring.

Overall, the website layout is very basic, clear and easy to understand language is used so this means that anyone, no matter their qualifications is able to understand the information. The website is very user friendly, so this means anyone of any age, old or young are able to access the site. (Fish4Jobs, 2012)

Identify an e-recruitment campaign which has really interested you.  Explain why you feel this campaign caught your interest

 The RAF campaign has caught my interest, the RAF use unique techniques to advertise their job positions, for example their advertisement will always have loud fast beat sound in the background while telling a story. Their advertisement will be in the form of a short story, while being very graphical at the same time. This is the main reason to why the RAF campaign has caught my interest, once an RAF advertisement has started; it is easy to recognise what the advertisement is about. Usually there are hardly any talking going on during the time when the story is being told in the advertisement. This further caught my attention as usually there is a message at the end and because throughout the whole advertisement there were hardly any talking the last message stands out to the public.

The RAF use techniques which will target young adults, mainly of the male gender but however there are roles for females. This can be understood by the type of graphic used, the advertisements are usually very action filled. This is something which would usually attract older teenagers and younger adults. (Joeteegee, 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01dfLgIQbRA 

  

Go to www.shldirect.com and complete some of the aptitude tests provided.  In your blog, comment on how keen you would be for similar tests to be used as a recruitment tool before gaining an interview

 After completing aptitude tests on www.shldirect.com, I can conclude that I would not be keen on similar tests being used as a recruitment tool before being granted an interview. I am against the idea of aptitude tests because firstly they can be seen as being biased when choosing candidates. It seems as though by using these tests, organisations are only trying to hire a certain type of individuals, so this means that the workforce will not be diverse. As these aptitude tests are given in English, there will be a language barrier for some individuals; furthermore it will be seen as unfair if English is not the first language for candidates as their understanding of what the tests are saying will be limited compared to someone whose first language is English. (SHL, 2011)

  

References

Fish4Jobs (2012) Find Jobs [online]. Available From: http://www.fish4.co.uk/ [Assessed Date: 6^th May 2012]

Joeteegee (2011) RAF Careers Advert [online]. 17^th January 2011. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01dfLgIQbRA [assessed date: 6^th May 2012]

SHL (2011) Practical tests [online]. Available From: http://www.shldirect.com/practice_tests.html [Assessed Date: 6^th May 2012]

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

      Provide a definition of CSR using academic sources.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) sets guidelines of behaviour for organisations, so they act ethically within society. Organisations should comprehend the different rights and interests of various stakeholders when considering CSR (Mullins, 2010).

             Identify an organisation from the FTSE4GOOD list or from your visit to the Eden Centre which is an excellent demonstration of CSR in practice.

One organisation which demonstrates excellent CSR is The Body Shop. The founder of the Body Shop was Anita Roddick, who was a Human Rights Activist, so therefore it is understandable that the foundation of The Body Shop is CSR; this business’s main aim is to provide business ethically.

      List and explain 3 examples of CSR within this company.  What are the benefits to the company of these 3 initiatives

The Body Shop is against testing their products on animals. The Body Shop state that they have never tested their products on animals nor do they participate in any business with suppliers who test products on animals. (The Body Shop, 2012)  The benefit for this practice is that the public are aware of the importance of endangered animals and animal cruelty, furthermore the environment is respected, the benefit The Body Shop have towards this practice is that they are able to state that they are a part of the positive change.

The Body Shop sources responsibly, this organisation is a big believer of fair trade, so this means that all of The Body Shop suppliers get a good return for their business. The Body Shop carries out business with over 25,000 reliable farmers and producers worldwide. This shows good CSR in practice as it illustrates that The Body Shop want to give everyone worldwide business opportunities. Customers also realise that by purchasing products from The Body Shop, they will be helping poorer suppliers by just paying a little extra for products. (The Body Shop, 2012) The benefit to resourcing responsibly is that this will create a positive brand image for the business; furthermore The Body Shop will be able to help change lives of poorer suppliers while at the same time being able to run a successful business.

The Body Shop follows the policy of protecting the planet, their commitment is to seek and sustain natural materials and ingredients while using all of the planet’s resources wisely. The Body Shop set challenging environmental targets, (The Body Shop, 2012) instead of using plastic carrier bags, The Body Shop use bio-degradable paper bags which advertise recycling. The benefit to this practice is that it helps make the public be more aware of the importance or recycling, this practice allows The Body Shop to consider the earth’s natural ingredients and the importance these resources have.

References

Mullins, L.J. (2010) Management & Organisational Behaviour. ninth ed. London: FT Prentice Hall.

Body Shop (2012) Saying no to animal testing [online]. Available from: http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/_en/_gb/values-campaigns/against-animal-testing.aspx? [Assessed date: 6th May 2012]

The Body Shop (2012) Sourcing responsibly [online]. Available from: http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/_en/_gb/values-campaigns/community-trade.aspx? [Assessed date: 6th May 2012]

The Body Shop (2012) Our Values [online]. Available from: http://www.thebodyshop.com/_en/_ww/services/aboutus_values.aspx [Assessed date: 6^th May 2012]