Fortune's Best 100

As a teenager I worked multiple jobs within the food industry and retail, as many do. Each of these jobs had their ups and downs, but I want to talk about one in particular: my very first job. I was freshly sixteen years old, and had landed a job with a business that sold carnival food (think elephant ears, corn dogs, cotton candy, and cheese burgers). I was excited to be making my own money, and to be learning a new skill. 

It was only a matter of weeks before I started taking on extra responsibilities at this job. It started with working opening and closing shifts by myself, which led to writing the schedules, taking Sysco and Pepsi orders, and many other things that were listed in the job description of a manager. The problem was- I was not receiving management pay, training, or even simply the title. Although I was rather naive, I had a lot of questions. I was only sixteen, was that why they were not willing to promote me as a manager? Why were the managers around me able to have the title and the raise, when I was the one doing their work? Will I lose my job if I confront them? Will they eventually promote me? 

Well, I did ask for a raise, and they told me no. So, I left for a company that would better compensate me for my time (and my job description). The monetary compensation that I was receiving at this job wasn’t horrible for a young teenager, but it wasn’t enough for the amount of work that I was putting into the business. In other words, the output/input ratio of my colleagues was greater than mine- almost as if they knew I would do the work regardless.

Ultimately, the presence of negative inequities, and lack of compensation, was what led me to leave my first-ever job, and I would do it again. 

A training that I have attended that I found to be especially beneficial was my CPR and First Aid training. This training was beneficial to me, and my classmates, for a multitude of reasons- the first being that it taught us life saving skills that can be used throughout our lives. The other ways that this training proved to be beneficial was through its effectiveness. This hands-on training experience was well-coordinated and administered, provided opportunities for practice, communicated the relevance of the training, and created a sense of meaningfulness (Week 6, Lecture One: Developing Training Programs). All of the information within this training proved to be meaningful, valid, and reliable (Week 6, Lecture Two: Evaluating Training Effectiveness).

While I have attended many trainings and courses that were both effective and beneficial, I have attended a few that were not. The first that comes to mind was a training that was meant to be a team-building exercise at one of my previous places of employment. We were required to take a personality assessment prior to the training, and then during the training itself we discussed the four (yes, only four) different types of personalities, and how they fit into the workplace. I did not find this training to be beneficial because it did not have an impact on employee performance, it didn’t teach any new skills, and the content simply did not feel meaningful (W6 Lecture One). Many of my colleagues felt the same way: that categorizing an otherwise large and diverse group of people into four, vague categories was not the most effective group-building exercise.

Ultimately, I’ve found that the key to training effectiveness is to include at least three factors: 

1. Teach a useful skill, or obtain new knowledge (why is the training relevant)
2. Make the content meaningful
3. Be well-coordinated and administered

References

Lecture 1: Developing Training Programs (W6 Lecture 1 – Training.pptx)

Lecture 2: Evaluating Training Effectiveness (W6 Lecture 2 – Evaluating Training Effectiveness.pptx)

“Despite the importance of job descriptions, very few HR professionals have a regular policy for updating them” (Tyler, 2013).

In my personal experience, I have found that the job descriptions of positions that I have worked in do not exactly match the duties that I actually fulfill. I would say that this is largely due to companies not updating the job descriptions on a regular basis. Keeping job descriptions up-to-date in essential, yet often sidelined due to other pressing demands in the human resources (HR) department. As Jill Bidwell, HR generalist at Sauer-Danfoss states, job descriptions ultimately are the “mother of all HR processes” (Tyler, 2013).

Job descriptions are critical for various reasons: goal setting, defining of roles, recruitment, performance evaluations, and safeguarding the alignment with company objectives (2013). However, the maintenance of these descriptions can be challenging due to the evolving nature of roles within the workplace, as well as the time needed to manage updates. Some suggestions I have for improving this short-coming include: treating job descriptions as “living” documents, include management and employees in the process, and being proactive in the way that job descriptions and actual duties are matched.

Firstly, conducting job descriptions as “living” documents can prevent them from being outdated in that they are consistently being updated throughout time- versus only being looked at when they are needed for hiring or for other purposes. Secondly, involving employees in the process of updating these descriptions may bring a fresh perspective considering employees are most familiar with the day-to-day operations of their roles. Lastly, being proactive in addressing the inconsistencies between job descriptions and the actual duties will create an environment of open communication amongst employees, management, and HR.

Overall, a combination of regular viewings, collaborations, and open communication surrounding these documents and their updates can mitigate the issue of outdated -and ultimately incorrect- job descriptions.

Reference

Tyler, K. (2013, January 1). Job worth doing: Update descriptions. Welcome to SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/job-worth-update-descriptions

Wegman Food Markets, Inc: “When management says they care about their people it actually shows in their actions. I have always been made to feel wanted and valued as a person and employee”.

Cisco: “I am given complete autonomy to do what’s best and if I need help, I have a strong support system. I love working for Cisco and hope to continue to for a very long time. I also love the diversity in the executive leadership, which is unique.”

Salesforce.com: “It is the only company in this size I know with this strong an employee force. Our Employee Resource Groups are a pivotal part of employees having a place to feel included or participate in meaningful ways to the causes that are important to them.”

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Finding work can be a challenge on its own, but finding a workplace that fulfills all of your needs and has a happy/healthy organizational culture can feel nearly impossible. This is why we’re going to take a peak into three of Fortune’s best companies to work for: from a human resources management perspective, what do these companies do to support their employees? How can current and future employees learn from them?

Before we dive into our three companies, let’s be sure that we have an understanding of human resource management (HRM) and how it harnesses a quality work environment. HR management is the “development of management systems to ensure that human talent is used effectively and efficiently to accomplish organizational goals”(MGMT453 lecture). In simpler terms, it is the processes that create functionality and culture within a workplace. If an organization is lacking in this area, it is at the employees and the organization as a wholes’ expense . If an organization has strong HRM, then everyone involved reaps the benefits.

Well, let us talk about what strong HRM looks like! Common themes between our three companies (Wegmans Food Markets, Cisco, and Salesforce.com) include cultivating a positive culture, a work-life balance/flexibility, good benefits, strong values, and the experience of a family-like environment (Great Place To Work Institute, 2024). Each of these themes are a direct result of HRM. The truth is, although employees from these three companies have very similar things to say about working there, they still are three very different companies- with very different employees. A large part of HRM is being strategic in the manner that processes within the workplace are aligned in order to meet the needs of the organization and its employees. This is where things can get tricky!

Arguably, deciphering which HR process are the best (and will be the most effective) for your workplace may be one of the most challenging aspects of being a manager. There are many ways to go about this, such as using an evidence-based approach, but often times it is about understanding the differences in your workforce- and capitalizing on it. In other words, the greatest managers “break the rules of conventional wisdom” by encouraging individuals to use and develop their naturally occurring strengths versus spending time focusing on developing their weaknesses (Buckingham, Coffman, 2014).

This idea of breaking the rules of conventional wisdom and cultivating an organizational culture that people want to be a part of is one that I would like to follow as a manager. I would like to be the manager who chooses the right strategies and processes that best suits my colleagues, as well as the organization as a whole. Most of all, I would like to be the manager that gives my employees a positive work culture, a work-life balance/flexibility, good benefits, strong values, and the experience of a family-like environment.

References

Buckingham, M., & Coffman, C. W. (2014). First, break all the rules : What the world’s greatest managers do differently. Gallup Press. 

Fortune 100 best companies to work for® 2020. Great Place To Work®. (n.d.). https://www.greatplacetowork.com/best-workplaces/100-best/2020

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