week one discussion post

After taking the Life Stress Inventory, Coping and Stress Management Skills Test, and the Type A Personality Survey, I learned a lot about how I handle stress. My Life Stress score was just over 250 which means there’s a 50/50 chance I could face health problems if I don’t manage my stress well. Some of the things that added to my score were changes at home, family, and dealing with stress in my daily life.

The coping skills test showed that I already do a few good things to manage stress like staying organized and talking to people I trust. But it also showed that I sometimes overthink things, which is something I need to work on. The Type A Personality Survey told me that I’m driven and like to get things done fast, but I can also be too hard on myself. I need to relax more and learn to not take things as serious.

To handle stress better in the future, I’m going to focus on three things: First staying active by going on walks exercising, Second writing down my thoughts when I feel overwhelmed, and Lastly setting boundaries so I’m not always thinking about work. Knowing how I respond to stress will help me take care of myself and look for jobs at companies that care about mental health too.

A little while ago my dad Dean, made a choice that really stuck with me. He left his longtime job at a shipping company that handled cargo to start working somewhere else. Why? The new job paid more and gave him a better schedule. At first I didn’t get it he knew everyone at his old job and had been there for years. after he gave his justification we understood and supported him.

My Dad wasn’t chasing money just to have more of it. He wanted to be able to do more for us. The higher pay meant less stress about bills, more savings for the future and the ability to fix up things around the house without worrying about every cent. I could tell it gave him a sense of pride, like he was finally in a place to give us the kind of life he’s always wanted to. He got his new job that was very similar however paid more and had a better route for him. He also got more time to spend with the family and being more present in our lives instead of working as much.

That decision taught me something simple but real compensation isn’t just about money it’s about what that money and time can give you. For my dad, it gave him a chance to be more present and take care of us in a way that mattered to him.

Reflecting on my experiences with different training programs two stand out the most. I can identify clear distinctions between effective and ineffective training approaches. One particularly beneficial training is the underwent was a two-week shipping class I went too. This program was structured, comprehensive, and delivered by professionals in the field that were active. The instructors ensured that every participant thoroughly understood the material which earned a basic certification of standard watch keeping and safety. The seriousness and dedication of the training professionals created an environment of learning and skill acquisition.

In contrast my experience with restaurant cook training was less favorable. The training lacked structure and guidance. I was expected to know how to prepare most dishes without any formal instruction. This lack of proper training left me feeling unprepared and undervalued. Reflecting on these experiences the difference aligns closely with the insights from the Fortune article, “The Making of a UPS Driver.” UPS realized that their traditional rigid training wasn’t working for younger workers and responded by redesigning their training to be immersive and tailored to how modern workers learn (Hira, 2007). Rather than abandon high standards they changed the delivery of training to meet new learners where they are.

Just like UPS invested in understanding their workforce the shipping class I took was effective because it respected the learning process. The restaurant training failed because it lacked investment in the training process. Effective training programs consider the learner’s needs provide structure and reinforce knowledge with real application.

Sources:

https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/11/12/101008310/

Reflecting on my interview experiences I have seen both effective and ineffective practices. after reading “The perfect Hire” and the SHRM articles on reducing bias helped me understand more.

The most recent interview I completed was for a shipping company that deals with cargo. The interview was very straightforward and a bit dry. The interview got its point across effectively. The questions were clear and I liked how they focused directly on the responsibilities of the role. Thinking back the consistency of the questions enhanced reliability, as each candidate likely went through the same process. The focused on practical related issues, helped boost validity as the interview was designed to see if I could actually handle the job. The utility was great because the company was able to quickly gauge my fit without wasting time.

On the other side I’ve also had interviews in the past that were much less effective. These were often terrible as it was very informal with interviewers asking unrelated questions or personal questions not pertaining to the job. They would try to create small talk or be your friend rather then follow the structures assessment of my abilities. This approach hurts reliability and validity. After reading those articles I can now see how bias likely affected those interviews. Its important to keep interviews structured and focused, behave based off the situations and have a solid rubric for picking applicants.

Sources:

7 Practical Ways To Reduce Bias Hiring Process

https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/talent-acquisition/7-practical-ways-to-reduce-bias-hiring-process

The Perfect Hire

https://canvas.oregonstate.edu/courses/1997074/files/110561618?wrap=1

Week 4 course materials really highlighted how important job description are. The weeks content also highlighted how hard it is to get the description down to the minute details. I have first hand experience on how a job description need to be maintained, not having a proper description and not having a description at all.

From my own experience I always remember a job I applied for at a sushi restaurant. The job I applied for was to be a dish washer when I was in high school. The job description didn’t really have much other then washing dishes and I figure it was pretty straight forward enough. It was a low entry job so I didn’t expect much from it and did any task my superiors asked of me.

In recent times i got another job working on ships for a cargo company operation out of Hawaii and many other parts of the world called Matson. When I applied for the job the description was vague for example “performing task on the ship” and ” wake up calls”. The task descriptions didn’t capture the actual work i would be doing on the ship which was extremely tasking then what it sounded like on paper. In the article Job Worth Doing: Update Descriptions stated by Tracy McCarthy ” Having a bad job description is worse than [having] none at all”. That statement really resonated with me because its like my description was so far off from the actual work I was doing that it would have felt better to not have a description at all.

The examples above really high light how important it is to modify and update job descriptions as time goes on. Over all this weeks learning materials really showed how important optimized job descriptions are for the people applying for these job. Its not a curtesy but a necessity for people to understand what they are signing up for.

Source:

https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/job-worth-update-descriptions

The companies that we will be looking at are The Cheese Cake Factory, Wegmans Food Markets Inc, Protiviti, Workday are the four companies that are chosen from the list of the 100 companies that was provided.

The Four companies mentioned above all share a huge emphasis on treating employees so well that it really feels like a family more then a workplace because of how friendly and caring the managers and the employees are. The workplace feels so welcoming that it promotes a stronger work ethic for the employees as they want to work harder for the company because they are treated so well. The companies above ideals reflect on how I would like to be a manager, I would want to treat my team or employees as if they are family because I’m a pretty caring person.

However, in situations where I have to “put my foot down” I find it the most challenging part because my empathy for my employees may conflict with the goals of the company. For example, since I see my employees as family it will be harder for me to make hard decision’s that must be made to reach the goal of the company like firing employees, resolving conflict between employees and making sure the work flow is appropriate. From the content we read in week one Strategic Planning from the lecture two slides seems to be the solution because it stated an “Overall plan for how an organization will match its internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats”. Strategic planning will help me address the issues I have with my employees by labeling our specific goals and making sure everyone is following them even if they are seen as family.

Sources:

Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® 2020

Lecture 2 – Strategic HR Management