By Chantel Schirmer

Photo by Evan Krause on Unsplash

Imagining I am moving from the rural area of Oregon and changing to Thailand would bring many cultural changes. As one can imagine the weather alone is enough of a change without even tapping into Hofstede’s 6 dimensions. According to the article, Navigating the differences between Thai and Western work cultures, understanding the “cultural identity and its significant influence on daily life” is a cornerstone for anyone making the international transition from one country to the next. I would not do this if my job was ethnocentric because of how out of loop those internationally can be however I would do so knowing my job has the Geocentric orientation (Swift).

When it comes to the people of Thailand they have the most warm and welcoming demeanor. According to Hofstede, this could be considered as part of their high value for collectivism. While the USA is known for their individualism. These two are often different. As Americans in their professions seek productivity and timelines while the Thai value relationships which can be a problem or one of many cultural challenges for both cultures working together. However, understanding this allows someone like me coming from the USA to understand the value of relationships and their desire to seek harmony with others. As I change my value system to theirs I can change greater understanding to how this affects our overall productivity.

The 6-D model of Thailand describing Thai scores in six cultural dimensions Analyzed at Geert-hofstede.com (Hofstede-Centre). Uploaded by Anna Kristina Sundgren. (Ahlqvist, Matti & Sundgren, Anna, 2017)

Moreover, Thomas J. Knutson puts it this way, the Thai place the “emphasis of the high-context, collective Thai culture on social harmony and pleasant relationships strongly suggests that Thai people will exhibit high levels of rhetorical sensitivity and reflection and low levels of noble self in their interpersonal communication” (Knutson, 2003). Again, the American culture is one of seeking their own. I will have to learn to seek others’ inputs and work together as a team collectively to be able to achieve the goals we have. At the same time it also will affect the ways in which we communicate. There is much to learn but understanding the 6 dimensions of Hofstede will help me recognize that these differences even in the scope of short and long term orientation can help me understand the “differences and how they “may affect decision-making processes and implementation timelines of initiatives” (Swift, 2024).

References:

Ahlqvist, Matti & Sundgren, Anna. (2017). How values lead to barriers – A matter of life and death in a developing country. 10.13140/RG.2.2.18153.65124.

Singh, K. (2024, April 27). Navigating the differences between Thai and western work cultures. Thaiger. https://thethaiger.com/guides/navigating-the-differences-between-thai-and-western-work-cultures

Swift, M. (n.d.). W10 Lecture 3 – Introduction to International HR. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W10 Lecture 4 – Global Staffing Orientations. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Thomas J. Knutson, Rosechongporn Komolsevin, Pat Chatiketu, Val R. Smith, A cross-cultural comparison of Thai and US American rhetorical sensitivity: implications for intercultural communication effectiveness, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Volume 27, Issue 1, 2003, Pages 63-78 ISSN 0147-1767, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(02)00060-3.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147176702000603)

By Chantel Schirmer

Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, what better time than to analyze the effects of stress whether on the job or in life and how it impacts me. So what is job stress? Our lecture defines it as “tension people feel when they are facing or experiencing extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities; and, they are uncertain about their ability to handle them“, (Swift). The key I see here is “uncertainty.” Whether that is from stress on the job to changes in life it is reconizing how we handle these “uncertainties” that can make all the difference. 

Reflecting on the results from Take the Life Stress Inventory, Type A Personality, and Coping & Stress Management Skills, I noticed how important it is to stop and take inventory throughout our lives as things can change in a moment. In fact I can recall a time two years ago taking the inventory of the Take the Life Stress Inventory test and how it helped me realize how I was in a place of unbelievable stress and surviving. Taking inventory is vital to breaking down the reality of factors in my life that can lead to increased stress. Whether it be a change of jobs, loss of a loved one, moving yet again, pay changing it can make a huge difference to offer myself grace and the ability to change. 

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Additionally, the Type A Personality Survey revealed that while I am “while generally characterized by warmth and tolerance there are also times that when I am stressed my frustration can be triggered with impatience and unkindness. In the past these results lead to heart disease that they are now seeing is really a root cause of the effects of impatience regarding stress. Ways to decrease this could be by adding in regular routines for exercise. As well as recognizing how past and present my high score in coping and stress management skills in particular using  “Problem-focused strategies” is how I have maintained excelling in my academics and other commitments amongst changed beyond my control. Finding others that can support you is helpful. Continuing to use these strategies and modify necessary changes when I can will help balance out the stress. 

Moreover, businesses could be saving themselves from a lot of damage if they incorporate a “comprehensive, strategically designed investment in employees’ social, mental, and physical health pays off” (Berry et al., 2010). 

References:

Berry, L. L., Mirabito, A. M., & Baun, W. B. (2010, December). What’s the hard return on employee wellness programs? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2010/12/whats-the-hard-return-on-employee-wellness-programs 

Coping & Stress Management Skills Test. Psychology Today. https://psychologytoday.tests.psychtests.com/bin/transfer

​​Swift, M. (n.d.). W9 Lecture 6 – Job Stress. HRM. MGMT 453×400 

The Holmes-Rahe Life Stress-inventory. https://www.stress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Holmes-Rahe-Stress-inventory.pdf

Type-A Personality.Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/tests/personality/type-personality-test

By Chantel Schirmer

When it comes to compensation money can speak volumes to employees. We know the weight of money is significant when an employee chooses to take a position or promotion. In fact, Dave Smith says it this way “It’s not just a number; it’s an emotional measure reflecting how valued an employee feels by their employer” (Smith, 2015).

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

A few years ago I remembered hearing the employees share about the $500 incentive per pay period to the employee who got the most wine club sign-ups. The energy as you can imagine was electric. A “$500” bonus to a paycheck was significant. It didn’t take much to enforce the motivation of employees to reach out to customers to grow the “wine-club” sales. This Monetary incentive is an example of direct compensation and extrinsic rewards that ultimately motivated the increased performance of employees (Swift).

This experience showed the power of money and extrinsic rewards which not only motivated individuals but also drew in the team dynamics of the employees togetherness as well as increased customer service which increased sales and overall profits for the company. Additionally, the extrinsic reward also indirectly positively affected the intrinsic rewards through intangible efforts such as psychological where the compensation also met the needs of employees with family to further care for their well being and the boost of team dynamics which could be said to increase the social effects.

Part of the reason the employees’ behavior as well as mine, was able to be influenced to get more wine club sign-ups was that the internal equality of the jobs was considered to be attributed to distributive fairness. We all worked the same level of job, and same pay, so the compensation of input/output of the employee who got the most made sense. Ultimately in this case the perk of that $500 bonus was enough to keep the employees motivated to work hard, increase sales, while also knowing someone was getting a significant boost in their paycheck was a case of seeing the extrinsic rewards directly impact the individual employee, the entirety of team togetherness, and improve the company’s overall productivity. The increased motivation of behavior made the pay out for the employer worth it.

Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash

References:

Smith, D. (2015). Most people have no idea whether they’re paid fairly
Links to an external site.. Harvard Business Review, 93(12), 1-3 

Swift, M. (n.d.). W8 Lecture 1 – Introduction to Compensation. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W8 Lecture 2 – Pay Structures. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W8 Lecture 3 – Current Issues in Compensation. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W8 Lecture 4 – Overview of Incentives. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W8 Lecture 5 – Designing Incentive Programs. HRM. MGMT 453×400

By Chantel Schirmer

Photo by Cherrydeck on Unsplash

Training is essential to employee on-the-job performance. However, how many of us can reflect on jobs we have had and say we had great training. As I reflect on jobs I have had I realize the times supervisors mentioned a desire to train or gave us the expectation of performance or better yet how we failed performance, but where was the training. As our lecture describes, training is “the process by which people acquire the knowledge and skills, or capabilities to perform jobs” (Swift).

Reflecting back on one of my more recent jobs that had lots of talk and expectations put on employees by the General Manager but not followed up with actual training shows how the lack of training can really influence a whole department. Instead of actually training employees, or the manager and assistant manager under him, he only continued to add to their responsibilities by adding more skills, tossing around knowledge and giving out performance reviews. What he failed to do was actually train his employees to do the acquired skills to perform the jobs in the manner he was aiming for. This ultimately led to one by one disgruntled employees leaving until both the manager, and assistant manager left him leaving not one employee left under in a rather successful company that ran had been operating for 36 years. However under his management in just under a year and entire department left. In the article, Your New Hires Won’t Succeed Unless You Onboard Them Properly, we learn the critical role managers play in training. The article stated that this critical role ensures “their new recruits feel supported and are enthusiastic about their roles” (Ellis et al., 2017).

This horrendous experience of lack of training led by poor management shows how the employees not only lacked the knowledge to do their skills, but we ultimately lacked feeling supported, and with that, each employee left one by one. I can concur with the importance of onboarding and if there is effective training just imagine how the department could have thrived and the employees stayed.

References:

Ellis, A. M., Nifadkar, S. S., Bauer, T. N., & Erdogan, B. (2017). Your New Hires Won’t Succeed Unless You Onboard Them Properly. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/06/your-new-hires-wont-succeed-unless-you-onboard-them-properly

Swift, M. (n.d.). W6 Lecture 1 – Training. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W6 Lecture 2 – Evaluating Training Effectiveness. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W6 Lecture 3 – Onboarding and Socialization. HRM. MGMT 453×400

By Chantel Schirmer

What is implicit bias? Do we have one and what do we do with it?

Photo by Arvin Mogheyse on Unsplash

While I am not one who is very political I took the Politics Implicit Association Test and was surprised how the function of an IAT seems to play with your mind (Harvard, 2024). The repetition of “bad words” with a category of either political party over and over again can create a pattern of belief in your mind. It seemed to mess with my mind and its neutral ideas to provide the implicit bias through the amount of time it took me to select one over the other. While there wasn’t a massive difference, there was a slight difference. The slight difference is what I need to be mindful of ad give me information to allow me to be aware and take action.

In How to Think about ‘Implicit Bias’ says it best when they state, “This tendency for stereotype-confirming thoughts to pass spontaneously through our minds is what psychologists call implicit bias (Payne et al., 2018).” More than that “It means your brain is noticing patterns and making generalizations (Payne et al., 2018).” That is exactly what my experience with taking at IAT was. I noticed patterns via the test and also in the amount of time it took me to respond.

Implicit bias can significantly impact the reliability and validity of selection processes in various contexts, including hiring, promotions, and performance evaluations. These biases, often unrecognized by decision-makers, can lead to decisions that favor certain groups over others based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, socioeconomic status, and even political status. For example, if an interviewer has an implicit preference for candidates of a particular background, they may unconsciously give them higher ratings regardless of objective qualifications, just as seen in the IAT when a good word or bad word was associated with a certain political party. One effective strategy to counteract implicit bias in selection processes is to implement structured interviews with standardized evaluation criteria (Bohnet).

References:

Bohnet, I. (2016, July 18). How to take the bias out of interviews. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-interviews

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Steinmetz, C. (2013). The Perfect Hire. Scientific American Mind, 24 (3), 42-47

Harvard. (2024, November 3). Projectimplicit. Take a Test. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/Study?tid=-1

Payne, K., Niemi, L., & Doris, J. M. (2018, March 27). How to think about “implicit bias.” Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-think-about-implicit-bias/

Swift, M. (n.d.). W5 Lecture 2 – Introduction to Selection. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W5 Lecture 3 – Choosing Selection Methods. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W5 Lecture 4 – Improving Interview Effectiveness. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W5 Lecture 5 – The Selection Decision. HRM. MGMT 453×400

By Chantel Schirmer

How does an employer select the right candidate for an open position and what methods of selection can set up an employer for success? 

Photo by Hunters Race on Unsplash

To answer those questions we rely on this week’s course material as well as my experience to find ways employers can have interviews that minimize their bias while also helping them select their next right candidate for the job.

One key we learned in W5 Lecture 2: Introduction to Selection is that developing selection procedures that are systematic allow for reliable, valid, and good utility can enhance hiring outcomes by ensuring better alignment with job performance and productivity. This approach not only supports more legally compliant practices but also improves the predictive accuracy of selection methods. Let me explain, when I was being hired for a new position that oversaw confidential information, financials, such as accounting and the like the CFO came in to make sure that content validity was completed. Without knowing if I was reliable, or could pass his validity test he would not be certain they could hire someone who could meet the essential skills of the job that would impact my ability to perform well on the job. If they simply decided to overlook both of those matters the chances of choosing an employee with the skills required to do the job could be lacking and more over could threaten the overall production of the company. However, utilizing both of these steps allowed for the selection utility that ultimately made it worth the time and money. As the lecture stated, “The higher the validity, the better the test does at predicting performance so it would have higher utility.” 

Photo by Alesia Kazantceva on Unsplash

Additionally, understanding relevant legislation, such as the Oregon Equal Pay Act, which prohibits employers from asking about a candidate’s salary history, is essential for fair hiring. This was surprising to me as I can recall two previous job interviews where both employers used past pay as a negotiating ability. While it worked in my favor to increase my wages I did not know the state legislation regarding this and could have prevented myself from sharing information I didn’t need to. It is important that employers be cautious with social media checks, as these can introduce inconsistencies and unintentional bias, potentially leading to discrimination.

Then again when I recall my experience with the CFO attending my interview I must admit at first I was surprised he was there however, he that was his role as the Chief Financial Officer to oversee all money and though he would not be my direct supervisor he wanted to ensure and make each step of the procedure of the selection methods that allowed for decreasing risk of error in the position providing validity in being able to do the job while allowing the “reliability in the consistency and dependability of (my) performance” (W5 Lecture 2). I am confident if others include reliability, validity, and utility they too can be confident that their chances of selecting the right candidate will increase greatly.

References:

Bohnet, I. (2016, July 18). How to take the bias out of interviews. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-interviews

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Steinmetz, C. (2013). The Perfect Hire. Scientific American Mind, 24 (3), 42-47

Swift, M. (n.d.). W5 Lecture 2 – Interview Selection. HRM. MGMT 453×400

By Chantel Schirmer

Over the years I have had a variety of jobs where job descriptions were written out clearly while others were vague and sometimes even created upon my leaving to train my replacement. Jobs were there was a clear understanding of the task and roles allowed for clear expectations and performance to be equally attained while vague roles or jobs hired as “an assistant” could mean anything and everything leaving for a burned-out employee and lacking boundaries to a lack of motivation for the employee to know what their job really is. Job performance has been one of many ways that job description allowed for growth and excellence for me as an employee to obtain or was too vague and too frustrating to know what was in my scope of job or ability to define what tasks were my responsibility or another’s creating more confusion and led to not being efficient. Not only is the job description essential in knowing your job and role from an interview to the performance review but as Janet Flewelling shares in HR Magazine that “job descriptions can have so much value if used regularly and appropriately. If you have an up-to-date job description you can use it for recruiting, performance management and compensation (Tyler, 2013).  (Swift, Lecture 2: Job Design)

Back several years ago I will never forget a job I interviewed for and later took. For one, I was asked to apply and thought of for the position, I updated my resume and came in for a professional interview, but I was surprised to find that the CFO, and manager were not only interviewing me but laying out the job analysis of the characteristics of the job, the tasks needed and not afraid to ask me questions of my own expertise and experience for the position being offered (Lecture 1 Job Analysis). In fact, if they saw there was a question of a task, they would discuss it, update the job description, and lay out exactly what was needed. At one point I thought it was unnecessary the amount of depth and what appeared to be “silly: questions were very important to not only hiring me to efficiently be able to do the tasks the company needed but also ended up launching them into being able to redefine and offer me a job and job description best on what fit me and their tasks and roles.

However, the next few months I was offered a job that offered me job rotation of two specific departments of running a brand new “shipping” role while also attending to accounting and then spread to job enrichment as I was able to tackle accounting and accounts manageably that led into empowering me to take on the non-profit sector (Swift, Lecture 2: Job Design). It continued to grow until I needed to leave where I was then asked to take my role and redefine my job into two new positions to hire someone to now handle all shipping and the new systems I was able to create. Thinking back I can still recall how fulfilling and pleasant that job and having a well-defined job description was for my overall joy and the company’s productivity they received.

References:

Photo 1 by Scott Graham on Unsplash

Photo 2 by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Swift, M. (n.d.). W4 Lecture 1 – Job Analysis. HRM. MGMT 453×400

Swift, M. (n.d.). W4 Lecture 2 – Job Design. HRM. MGMT 453×400

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

By Chantel Schirmer

How does a manager lead a company and its employees to become a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For? 

Come with me as I compare 4 leading companies and find how the threads of Strategic Planning, Clear Vision, and Goals, provide a sense of team, value, and individualize that keep employees coming back for more. For any aspiring manager including myself we can pay close attention to how exploring internal strengths both the individual and within the organization as well as aligning with the vision of the company, and implementing organizational strategy can lead to some of the top companies to work for. Let’s dive in.  

When it comes to the top companies employees enjoyed working we see Strategic Planning as an essential cornerstone to the company’s success. This is found specifically in what the lecture titled the W1 Lecture 2 – Strategic HRM (Swift, pg.3). Additionally, according to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® 2020 Hilton is the leading company (2020). Hilton’s employees’ happiness is at an overwhelming 96% coming from the company’s ability to incorporate what the lecture above states incorporate Step 1 of Strategic Planning known as to “Create a mission, vision, and set of values” (Swift, pg.3) (2020). Not only that but the key theme of Hilton, Baird, Pinnacle Financial Partners, and Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. are seen to incorporate vision into the company’s team dynamics. While Hilton leads the way in hospitality it is their ability to be “Dedicated to fulfilling its founding vision to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality” as Great Place To Work says, that essentially leads to their success of happy employment (2020). 

When a company sticks to its mission and its goals while also allowing expansion it creates stability as well as is the foundation for innovation for many employees. For example, Baird is said to have kept their vision alive through “The cultural principles put in place by our founder 100 years ago remain core to our firm today.” This is a rare strength yet has led to the strength of the company and its excellence. 

Vision, goals, and principles are essential to the organizational structure of every HR department. 

All of these companies have shown the divine ability to focus on the collective skills, abilities, and
expertise of the organization’s workforce” (Swift, pg. 4). Likewise we learn from Pinnacle Financial Partners that their culture was one of “same team, working towards the same goals” (2020). 

As a manager, I desire to lead a company that focuses on identifying the internal strengths and weaknesses of a company while aligning with the vision and goals that can expand the opportunities for each individual as well as the company. 

This first key is known as the “willingness to individualize” and learning to master that key into your own management style (Buckingham, 2014, pg. 3). Moreover we can learn from Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., that the way they made their employees “feel wanted and valued as a person and employee.” They not only master the art of the key theme above as a values-based family company and mission but have understood the importance of how to individualize their employees too.

A second key is found in First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently when it states “the best a manager can do is to make each person comfortable with who they are” (Buckingham, 2014, pg. 5). 

Again incorporating both of these keys into my own manager style will allow me to look past insecurities and beyond strengths or weaknesses to value the individual and find the places to allow them to shine. Aligning the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and the organization will be a challenge I would face as a manager as I analyze strengths and weaknesses and yet value the individual using weaknesses to provide growth opportunities. Thus the importance of finding strategies and polices to help align a successful HR department I will have to put into practice to be able to manage an outstanding company that others would desire to work for. With the insight from some of the Greatest places to work, incorporating Strategic Planning from the vision of the company to the strengths and weaknesses beyond analysis to the value of each individual I hope you too can manage a top Fortune 100 company. 

References:

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

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

Swift, M. (n.d.). W1 Lecture 2 – Strategic HRM. MGMT 453×400.