Week 10 BOC: Getting Fired

As a freelancer in the cosmetic industry, you bounce around a lot from job to job, company to company. When I began my venture as a freelancer I started out working as a perfume girl at the age of sixteen. This was the first legal job that I had done considering the fact that I had previously worked any job that I could since I was 13 years old. The pay was amazing to me at the time as I was earning fifteen dollars per hour standing in the middle of a store, handing out pieces of paper that smelled good. I felt like a flower girl handing out flowers to random people, it was a nice change of pace for me as I had always worked harder for my pay. At any rate, this led me to other opportunities later in life as I had already had the experience in my background which led me to the position that I currently hold today. The only bad experience that I had ever had with the many companies that I had worked with was with a smaller company that took me out of my normal element and took me to work at different types of locations than what I was been accustomed. I really felt more like a sales person in that position than any other that I had previously held. Never the less, I accepted the opportunity and did the best job that I know how, working hours that constantly changed while being expected to push products to people. I new something was strange because usually during a few months out of the year, most cosmetic companies seize freelancing because of the season. This one didn’t but still expected me to keep the same numbers. I obviously wasn’t able to do that because the season was slow and the expectations were high. After handing in my sales invoice, I was terminated via email. At first I felt bad, then realized that I was probably better off because the management should have known better than to set me up to fail. My reputation was untarnished as I have established my working ethics in this community being offered much bigger and better thing since this occurrence.

Week 10 EOC: Up in the Air

In viewing this movie I was shocked to see this in action. I have always felt that this should be done by the people the person works directly under. When it is done in a style of a chain of command, it only seems natural that this should happen because the person is next in line on the chopping block should anything go wrong. It isn’t always a good way to handle this issue, but it is more understandable should it be deemed necessary. In the movie I was surprised that they appointed a single person to do this. Seeing all those firing experiences being put together in one person’s day showed how someone can have a skewed view of the good and bad points of a termination. It also showed how desensitized a person can become to the effects on the lives of the individuals. In the movie they brought up the points of the fired employee being able to seek new opportunities in their fields or in other fields. They also brought up the fact they the people being fires could use the time in a way that is more beneficial, or more to their liking. Even though someone may feel as though they are happy or doing well in the field that they currently hold, it might not be the best situation for the employer or the best fit for the organization. He also recommended making use of this time to reflect and retrain themselves with new and other skills. I have been let go before and I new that there were other employees that would keep going back to them to be rehired, but I felt that I was not worth my time to be bothered with an organization that did not value my work ethic and integrity. It worked out for the best.

Week 9 EOC: Personal Freedom vs. Union Membership

Being a prior service member of the Unites States military I have had the experience of being required to be a part of their union in order to be a part of the organization. At the time that I was being enlisted I didn’t mind doing so because it gave me many opportunities that I would not have previously been exposed to and experienced by any other means. I felt that any way that I could get on board with this organization was the best thing for me to do so that I could take my life in a better direction than I would have had I staying in my situation from that moment. It was an experience none the less. The good, the bad, and the ugly. In some ways I enjoyed the privileges of being a part of this organization. Visiting new places, learning new skills, and the feeling of being a real part of a bigger entity than yourself having its perks and down falls. On the other hand I had slowly come to realize a lot of the personal freedoms that I let go of when I signed on the dotted line. Sometimes I miss the camaraderie that I felt at the time. Going through the same issues successes with those around you. The ups and downs that we experienced often pushed us closer together as a team as well as friends and individuals. Even if you didn’t care for certain people, you still had a better idea of where how they felt and where they were coming from in their views on the world. Some things that took place benefited us, while there were other things that took place in which I did not agree, but had to go along with them anyway. I’m glad I had the experience, but some of the things that I didn’t agree with resulted in me finishing my term looking for other opportunities.

EOC: Sexual Harassment Week 8

Kind yet naïve, those types of qualities can get you in real trouble with the wrong people. In my ventures in life I could tell you a thing or two about sexual harassment. What people will do for a quick thrill? What they'll do for jealousy. It's a hard issue to deal with in today's fast paced world. Usually, the one's who have gotten away with it will continue to do it and be caught. In the skills that are needed to do this indecent activity, there are common skills that are learned such as lying, turning a conversation around and living a double standard. Being caught doesn't change anything. At that point it is so ingrained in a person's nature that it will continue without second thought. I would like to take this time to warn all the people involved that things will not change. They will only change when all hope of a person's ability to live up to this double-life can go on any longer. And then sometimes...
The work environment is a dangerous place for this intoxicating cocktail of cocktails. Definitely not for the weak of heart, a good time can be had by everyone, but at a certain point it all changes and not for the good either. This situation can happen in any environment, work-related of otherwise. In the workplace it can be especially devastating. Not only to the people involved, but the moral of a company's employees. It’s a complicated web we weave to rely on the good words of another. This can only be defined in the words of our beloved Wikipedia as being "a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and annoyances to actual sexual abuse or sexual assault," such few words with many rippling waves of meaning by any means.

Week 7 EOC: How to Evaluate Employee Performance in 15 Steps

Evaluate Experience

o What did you learn?
In the process of interviewing both of these individuals, first I realized how much I didn't know about them personally. In asking each of them these fifteen questions I discovered that they had many of the same views about themselves that I had about them.

o What caught you by surprise?
I was surprised to realized how much I already knew about them just in my every week view of them as fellow classmates. Also in realizing that each individual was on board to make suggestions on how to go about the activity. As a group we were ready to roll from the start and saw the assignment through to the end of the evaluation process.

o How prepared were you? I was actually a lot more prepares than I thought I was.

o Evaluate the individual members of your group.

Kelsey- Kelsey took charge right away in organizing the project and vocalizing each step. Our understanding of the overall requirements and flow of the project was due to her assessment of the questions. Kelsey was clearly the leader of the group once we settled in to our location.

Richard- He was clear in making his intentions known that he was all for participating to the best of his ability while breaking down the components of the project in a round-robin fashion for efficiency in disbursement of the effort between each member and time management.

I chose the location and led them to an area that was enjoyable yet somewhat secluded so that we could discuss how to go about tackling this project. I also ensured that there was clarity in any misunderstanding of the project or individual questions.

o By name, how did they participate? We participated about equally. Kelsey took on a leadership role, I brought up issues that needed to be addressed in order to plan out the discussions and Richard acted as a participant by asking valid questions and pointing out questionable areas in our discussions.

o Do you think they (by name) could be viable candidates for a real job? Explain.

Kelsey- I believe that she can absolutely be an essential part of any team. Her take charge attitude reflects her willingness to jump in with two feet. She came across as highly articulate while knowing how to play the role of team member as well.

Richard- He is a perfect candidate in that he has the courage to speak up in any situation that doesn't seem clear or fair when others may not. He brings up valid points while keeping each individual engaged in the process of the task that is at hand.

o Would you want them to represent your school in a job interview situation as graduate of The Art Institute? I would love to be represented by these two individuals in relation to this school. They represent the team attitude, responsibility, and willingness to succeed that is necessary in today's rough terrain

o How could this experience be improved for you? For the class?

Week 6 EOC: Steps in Job Instruction Training

In the Job instruction training process, certain steps are needed in order to ensure the proper training of a new employee to your company.  Watching the movie “9 to 5” presented in class, some of the steps were followed while some were ignored. I preparing the employee, the new employee was briefed on the work environment and the duties that it involved. This step was passed down to an overlooked employee instead of the management whom which she was appointed. This gave the new employee to get a feel for the culture of the business and she got an understanding of what was expected. Her overlooked supervisor presented the tasks involved with the job in a quick one-day session that assumed her level of basic office skills were up to par.
A quick explanation of the duties and demonstration were not enough for this newly working housewife to grasp when it came down to actually performing the job herself. In the explanation of the duties they seemed like simple and easy to do. When it was time for the new employee to take on tasks that were assigned she failed in completing them. This happened not only because of the lack of any effort on her trainer’s part to let give her a chance to perform the duties on a trial basis, but to follow-up on the lessons learned in training process.
The portions of the film that we did get to watch gave us good and bad examples of how things should be approached in a job instruction training program. Giving the new employee a chance to make their errors early on with some OJT is essential in order to make the corrections necessary for them to succeed. This would be the best way to ensure their understanding of the tasks assigned.

Week 6 BOC: Stolen Valor Lawsuit

The company went wrong in not doing a background check on the supposed veteran before hiring him/her. The company should try to settle with the new employee outside of court and formally apologize before hiring them. The company should take the former employee to court. The monetary reward awarded in the case should cover lawyer’s fees, wages and other all costs that would compensate for the deceit and the time lost in training and experience that should have been provided to the other qualified applicant. Jail time should not be required unless the company does not receive compensation. If the company does not get any monetary reward due to their failure in performing a background check.

Week 5 EOC: Stolen Valor

How would you handle the issue of stolen valor as an HR representative?

Being a veteran of the United States Navy myself, I would not take this situation very lightly in regard to finding employees for my business or a company in which I am hired to find qualified, competent, and able people to fill positions. There are experiences associated with military service and a level, of honor, loyalty and commitment with being a part of the service. The very act of pretending to portray these values without having actually taken part in these actions would test my patience as an employer or hiring manager and the core integrity of the person that is seeking the position offered. I feel that it does both parties a disservice by creating a false sense of what is expected of the person as a future employee.

While this may seem not to be a very important part of the position filling process, the employer will be taking into account whether they are being supportive of the employment of veterans in their company. If the people being hired as ex- or retired military are found not to be, then this will test the very virtue of the company that supports these individuals. As a representative of the company, people should model the values and morals of the company and its employees.

The employee would not be looked upon a valuable member of the company until demoted or let go of depending on the specific situation. If demoted, they would at least have the opportunity to gain back the trust of their fellow employees, management and the person that initially hired them. In business, your relationship with people is everything; therefore, a break in that relationship’s base would create a rift in that person’s career and the company that this person has represented.

Week 4 BOC Analysis of your Job

What is the job title? Does the title explain what the job is? If not, what title would offer a better explanation? The job title is Hazmat manager. I believe that the title accurately describes the position.

How does the job fit in with the rest of the company? What jobs are comparable? Is the wage/salary comparable to other jobs within the company? Within the industry? Use reference materials (library, Internet) to justify your answer. This job plays a part in every part of every job associated with maintenance of parts. some jobs that would be comparable would be a (QA) quality assurance manager or a federal, state or company Safety Inspector.

What is the chain of command? To whom does the person with this job report? Is this person responsible for monitoring the work of others? Describe the internal and external contacts of the person holding this position. The chain of command depends on the level of expertise with OSHA as a head of all national safety requirements and qualifications. They ultimately report to OSHA. they are responsible for maintaining the work of others is requiring the safe storage, use and disposal of any and all hazardous materials. The internal contacts would be any person or group that uses hazardous materials as well as the Hazmat team designated to respond to an emergency incident, while external contacts would be OSHA and the EPA.

What duties and tasks does the person holding this job perform? What are the physical requirements of the job? This person must be able to maintain the storage, inventory and collection of all hazmat and items used to clean them up. They must be expeditious in responding to a hazmat emergency. They must be able to lift full 5 gallon drums of grease and/or paint.

What tools and equipment are required for this job? Include any computer equipment. This job entails the use of basic tools such as a screw driver. It also uses rags used to clean up oil and paint. Hazmat suits, and breathing apparatuses,a vehicle, and a computer or laptop

Describe the baseline knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform this job. Cleanliness, organization, basic computer applications, inventory skills, able to learn new software programs, must ensure the compliance of all safety precautions associated with safe storage, handling and disposal of all hazmat items. You must have a valid licence to transport hazmat to disposal locations.

Week 4 EOC: Mini-Case Study

1. What advise would you give Bob Borich?
I would advise him to get back in the game of doing the initial training of his new personnel in order to ensure a lower turn over in his employees. I would have him plan an orientation program to make sure that his new employees have a better understanding of the topics that pertain to them and shows them where they fit in the company. I would also have him prepare an orientation kit in order to organize all the information that is pertinent to them within the company and individually. and gather the socialization strategies that would suit his line of business and individual company the best.

2. How unique do you believe Bob Borich's current situation is?
I believe that this situation happens more often that not, or at least until management gets wise to creating a functional training program that provides the proper orientation and socialization techniques that are necessary. These implementations can keep a window open to employees that may have problems, both personal and professional, that they would like to address to keep communication flowing instead of going to work for another company.

3. What parts of orientation should be turned over to employees to conduct?
If Bob does turn over parts of the orientation to his employees I would advise him to do the follow-up fro the orientation himself so that he gets feedback on the program. This will show him any weaknesses in the orientation program and provide him more time to do what he loves to do best and allows him to effectively run his business while keeping his turn over rate to a minimum. The employees should conduct more of the socialization of the company. This will give new employees a feel for the company’s culture and how it runs on a day-to-day basis.

Week 3 EOC: Networking and External Sources

The best way to find people to hire is through current employees in a referral-based system. Your current employees know how the company is run and can convey these standards to their colleagues and fellow associates. In your favor, you can find out their work ethic through current employees and get an idea of the person’s reputation amongst their peers.

Colleges are excellent places as recruiting sources because of the range of people that are looking to better their future and find employment in the fields that they are studying. Another way to find qualified representatives would be to hold or attend open job fairs. The benefit in recruiting at job fairs is that all interested parties come to you and can get an idea of the requirements of the job while you get to engage in a face-to-face informal interview with these new potential candidates. Your company gets a chance to get across its professionalism network with other companies that are recruiting. The people seeking employment get to make their first impression with brand representatives while getting a chance to stand out and show what they can offer. The opportunity for them to shine is greater than placing their resume on online and hoping for the best.

Another place that I would look would be the Chamber of Commerce. This is a great place to find people that are already experienced in your field and have achieved a certain level of successes. You can also check with the chamber of commerce to see if they have been recognized for work they have done as individuals or for their previous employers.

Week 3 EOC: Culinary Survivors

Week 2 EOC: This Charming Man

There were many deeper meanings of the film "This Charming Man" showed not only how outliers are viewed in business, but in society as a whole as well as in love. In business most people were worried about immigrants taking their jobs, companies requiring hiring them and the people having to pay for immigrants living on the country’s welfare money.
In love people feel insecure in the sense that they believe that not only will these immigrants invade their place of work, but that they will also hurt or take away their women making men feel compelled to defend what they feel should rightfully belong to them. There are many examples of this is American society and abroad. With all of the changes that have been made in sharing knowledge and unity through out the world, there are still countless situations where immigration is frowned upon and not taken lightly by people native to the lands.
I would like to include the example of an issue that the United States is currently faced with in dealing with the U.S./Mexico border. This creates a large scale of difficulty considering that the United States depends on their cheap labor and has included them in the U.S. welfare system and community programs for so many years prior to today. The cultures have been intertwined in business, language, and many other aspects that can still be seen throughout the nation.
The film shows how immigrants are accepted by the government but not necessarily always by its people. Most countries go through some type of period where immigrants become too much of an issue to ignore and must facilitate them while the people themselves acclimate with themselves in an environment where they may not be looked upon kindly as people’s suspicions can grow wildly out of control.

EOC Week @: Zippy Airline Catering

The changes made to the Zippy Airline Catering Company were essential to its growth and were significant enough not only to increase production to keep up with the increased demand, but to keep their employees happy by offering them group bonuses. The redesigns will cause less stress to the individual employee while giving them the process and ability to be able to step up Zippy Airline Catering’s meal production. As a result of the engineering redesign, this hospitality company will flourish and be able to take on numerous and larger airlines that will be visiting Guam and possibly from countries around the world.

As a small business grows, it is important to keep your employees in the loop and to give them an opportunity to contribute their ideas in resolving the company’s difficulties in growth opportunities. This not only shows them how valuable they are to the company as individuals, but shows the challenges that the company will be facing and a better understanding of their new role. When the employees feel valued they are more likely to stay and be happier with the changes in their work environment knowing that they played a part in the company’s expansion process.

Issuing bonuses to it’s employees was a good idea to motivate them to include themselves into the new plan. It was a better idea to give issue group bonuses not promote the feeling of a team and have each employee realize the new goals and vision of Zippy Airline Catering as a growing business. I would have liked not only to keep the small business “family” feel and quality that got the company noticed in the first place, but to have my employees be confident in their ability to help make the company better for each individual employee that is involved.

Week 1 EOC: Old Timer Makes Waves

Changes within the last few years have raised the standards of the hotel. These changes have been good for the customers and for the employees that could keep up. Sally is not one of them She is still operating by the standards that applied to her position a few years ago, not up to par with the pace the of the current environment of business practices. In sending this complaint about her issues with the company Sally has broken her chain in command and belittled her current management In her 20 years of service, Sally has become too comfortable, seeking the approval of her peers instead of her most recent management.

 

In handling this matter the management team has also been threatening. This can be seen as creating a hostile work environment for Sally and other coworkers. Their frustrations with her recent acts of misconduct have caused them to take action on paper, but crossed the line with their threats. Not only have they reported complaints against Sally as well as her falling asleep on the job but her medical leave on two separate occasions. Which should not apply to her performance issues.

 

Another issue with this scenario is that Sally feels entitled to special treatment due to her past successes, which is not the case. Instead of keeping up in the workplace add surpassing her previous accomplishments, she has fallen behind and it is evident by her the record of this work history. The problem could either be with past favoritism by management, discouragement by management changes, or personal issues with her happiness in the position. Her length of service is important, but keeping up with the hotels changes are even more important and this is where Sally has fallen behind.

About me

Las Vegas has become one of the Fashion epicenters of the world that is compiled by a wide range of styles and brand names. With an array of people visiting daily from every corner of the world, this new fashion Mecca is reaching new heights as a greater level of recognition has shed light on our growing retail industry. An increase for the demand in high fashion is giving the city another way to attract people than that for which it is known, it’s legendary popularity for grand hotels and casinos. The opportunity to show the high end fashion in a city known for its entertainment and fine dining is bound to be a good time when beautiful people and fashion are combined. I would like that anyone viewing or visiting this blog would take part and join in the conversation. I want to know about things that inspire you and Lad Vegas locals that you notice are shaking things up in the fashion industry, on a local national or international level. This blog was created to give people a place to share what they like and don’t about fashion in and around Las Vegas. Let’s keep each other informed and updated on the latest fashion business news happening throughout the Las Vegas Valley.