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Week 10: Individual Assignment

Diving into the existence of Labor Unions and the impact they have on the working environment.

By: Gage Ekström

While I have never been a member of a labor union, after spending two summers working for a heavy-civil construction company I have definitely spent a lot of time around union members. Through my job I even got to look into some of the benefits and drawbacks behind labor unions as well as why they are used on some jobs and in some companies and why they are not in others. However, I would say that my understanding of labor unions is summed up perfectly in this quote by Mason Stevenson with HR Exchange, “It goes without saying labor unions are controversial, at least in the United States. Pro-union workers believe unions are one of the basic building blocks of a strong working class. Opponents say unions are too restrictive and hurt working class employees” (Stevenson, HR Exchange).

I would definitely say that my experience and opinions of labor unions may be skewed to the pro-union side, purely because of how a lot of my connection to them was with the coworkers I interacted with on our job sites. They were proud of the organization they were with, and understood that it was through standing together that they could guarantee work and good pay. I also have supported unions in the past such as when the teachers at my school went on strike, demanding better pay.

I do see the other side however, in that unions can harm the average working individual. I know that job-seekers can be barred from applying to a position if they are not a member of a union, or they will be forced to join it if they are hired. Another point made by Stevenson was that “workers are bound by the decisions of the union even if they disagree with the decision. In some instances, they only way a unionized employee can get out of the situation is to resign, which is not always an option” (Stevenson, HR Exchange). While there is a lot of good in banding together as employees to ensure good benefits, it can in turn hurt others in the industry or block out any individuality in the group.

Compared to what we learned in lecture this week, I was pleased with the cohesive understanding that I was given concerning labor unions. It built off of my existing understanding of them, while also offering more context as to why some people choose to join unions such as because “they believe it is the only way to make changes or get their fair share” (Week 10 Lecture, MGMT 453).

At the end of the day, I would say that I am still very middle of the road on unions. I understand their benefits and support their existence, but I think they should also exist in moderation. Right now, “workers in protective service occupations and in education, training, and library occupations had the highest unionization rates (34.7 percent and 33.5 percent, respectively)” (Stevenson, HR Exchange). I think that there are definitely industries where employees can greatly benefit from unionizing, but I don’t think everyone needs to be unionized. As for me, going into a management role in a construction company, I do not think there is any need for unionizing with my employees as I feel very well compensated. However I will continue to work with unionized employees on my jobs, and I will support them and other individuals when they feel like a union is the best way to ensure that they will be paid and compensated fairly in their line of work.

Sources Cited:

Stevenson, Mason. “Pros and Cons of Labor Unions.” HR Exchange Network, 20 Nov. 2023, www.hrexchangenetwork.com/hr-compensation-benefits/articles/pros-and-cons-of-labor-unions.

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Week 9: Blog Assignment

An analysis of mental health and stress personally and in the professional environment.

By: Gage Ekström

Hello All! I am glad you found your way to my blog and if you are a student I hope that the term is wrapping up well for you! This week in our lectures we focused on benefits as well as health and safety, and I feel like I learned a great deal about how to effectively apply these to my professional life in the future.

To further my knowledge of these topics and of myself, I participated in three different tests and assessments:

  • The Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory
  • A Coping and Stress Management Skills Test
  • A Type-A Personality Survey

For the Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory, I got a score of 95, meaning that I have experienced a low amount of life change in the past year, and that because of this I have a lower susceptibility to a stress-induced mental health breakdown.

On the Coping and Management Skills Test, I got a Problem-Focused Coping score of 67, which means that I sometimes use problem-focused strategies to help cope with my stress. While it does vary depending on the situation, it is often a good idea for me to take action in order to modify or take charge of a given stressor to better cope with it.

Finally, for the Type-A Personality Survey I completed, I got a Impatience / Irritability score of 51. This means that while my interactions with others is mainly warm and tolerant, there are also times where I can get impatience and hostile. This means that when I am stressed or frustrated I can lash out at others or just end up stewing in anger or frustration. Something that surprised me is that even though I have a moderate score, this Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) that can lead to hostility, impatience, and the other related traits can even cause heart disease.

Through each of these assessments, I learned that while I am not a very stressed person, I do not always do the best at handling the stress I encounter. I know that this is something I need to work on too, because according to the World Health Organization, “15% of working-age adults were estimated to have a mental disorder in 2019” (WHO). According to their website article on mental health in the workplace, there are many different things myself and other companies could do to work on promoting how mental health is handled in the workplace, with four ways being:

  • prevent work-related mental health conditions by preventing the risks to mental health at work;
  • protect and promote mental health at work;
  • support workers with mental health conditions to participate and thrive in work; and
  • create an enabling environment for change.

I was also able to find examples of practices that real world companies have implemented to improve mental health in the workplace. One example was how Goldman Sachs has now implemented a program that requires all of their employees at the vice-president level and higher to complete a 25 minute mental health training virtually. They quoted that, “Managers will be equipped in identifying and responding to changes in workers’ behaviors, such as appearances, attitudes, absenteeism and poor conduct” (Kelley).

I think that knowing I have room to grow, and seeing how companies have been supporting their employees has motivated me to want to take better care of my mental health too.

Sources Cited:

“Mental Health at Work.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-at-work. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025.

Kelly, Jack. “How Major Companies Are Addressing Mental Health in the Workplace.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 18 Mar. 2024, www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2024/03/14/how-major-companies-are-addressing-mental-health-in-the-workplace/.

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Week 8: Blog Assignment

Analyzing the weight and motivation that compensation provides in an individual’s decision making.

By: Gage Ekström

Compensation can be a key attribute behind the decisions that many people make, and there are many different examples where this is evident.

For me, compensation played a key role in my decision when I was balancing multiple job offers and I needed to decide which one was best to commit to and sign on to. Through my analysis, all of the jobs had similar working hours, and mostly the work would be the same. While the company culture and location also played a role in my decision for where I should work, I would say that the biggest component that ended up guiding me to my final decision was the pay that I was offered.

The company that I chose to sign on with provided me with the highest offer I received. It beat out all of the other companies in pay, and I knew that working there I would be making more money then anywhere else that offered me. I think that compensation in this case played such a key role in my decision making because in today’s world money gets you everything. It allows you to eat, provides you with safe housing, transportation, and more. So knowing that I would be getting paid the most with this company also helped me know that I would be getting the most of all these other things as well.

While I do really like this company, the work they perform, and the location I will be working in, the higher compensation that came with this position helped grant me the security that it will provide me with a comfortable life and I will not have to struggle to get by.

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Week 6: Individual Assignment

By: Gage Ekstrom

Training is defined as a, “process whereby people acquire abilities to perform jobs” (Week 6 – Outline – Training and Development). I have been in many trainings throughout my life, with some being much more effective than others.

The best training that I was ever a part of was at my internship over the summer when I had to learn how to use two key software in the construction industry, HeavyBid and HeavyJob. Both of these are super dense programs with numerous tools that you can use, but I was able to navigate through them and use them effectively based on a day long training that I was able to partake in. This training did a very good job of establishing the necessary objectives behind the the training course which are:

a. What the employee is expected to do
b. Quality or level of acceptable performance
c. Replicate working conditions
d. Ensure transfer of training

(Week 6 – Outline – Training and Development)

Throughout the day I learned what all I would need to use the software for, how the work should be inputted and displayed, offered real world scenarios that I was able to practice with, and then given the opportunity to demonstrate my knowledge of the software to the instructor. It was a small and intimate training which also really helped me feel free to ask questions and further connect with the material.

On the other hand, a poor training that I have been a part of was at my very first internship freshman year when I had to sit through videos describing how to use Microsoft Project. The videos were long and dull, and provided me with no opportunity to ask for help. It did not replicate the working conditions well, and these videos had no way to ensure that I properly learned the material.

While I understand how to use the software now, it has come from repeated use and outside people directing me on how to use it, not from those videos.

Information gathered from: Oregon State University’s MGMT 453 – Mike Cieri, 2025

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Week 5 Discussion

An analysis of my job interview experiences including their effectiveness and impact.

By: Gage Ekström

Hello! I am happy that you found your way to my blog.

I have been in many job interviews, and a fun fact is that I actually placed First in the state of Oregon for the Job Interview competition in the Future Business Leaders of America club I was a part of in High School.

Throughout all of the interviews I have been in, and I have had good ones and bad ones, the single thing that impacted the effectiveness of the interview was the interviewer themself and how comfortable they made me feel. At the end of the day, it was the recruiter that gave me a insight into the company, and helped me see what the type of people I would be working with would be like.

Just like we saw in our lectures from class this week, it is important to select recruiters who are, “warm, personable, and knowledgeable about the job and organization.” In the best interviews I have been a part of it was apparent the recruiter loved the company and the worked that they performed.

Information gathered from: Oregon State University’s MGMT 453 – Mike Cieri, 2025

I think if I could go back and tell the companies that I had poor interviews with how they should improve their interviews, I would tell them to be sure that they are selecting the right people or teams of people to conduct the interviews. If you want your company to seem reliable and like one that will look out for and respect its employees, then you need to introduce prospective workers to those that inhibit those ideals the most.

I also think that the interviews that had me interview with individuals from all different levels in the company helped me see all the different types of work that could be performed there, as well as all the different kinds of people.

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Week 4 Discussion

Analyzing challenges behind developing and maintaining job descriptions in the current day and age.

By: Gage Ekström

Hello all! I hope you are having a great week and if you are a college student that midterms are treating you well.

In today’s day and age, the experience of finding a job can be tedious and aggravating. This is also not alleviated due to the fact that the descriptions in job postings can be convoluted and complicated. However, in my experience there are common themes between the job postings that have been the most clear and straightforward, and which I have been most interested in.

The biggest thing that I could recommend to employers seeking new staff is to make the KSAO’s in a job description as clear as possible. As seen in this week’s lecture: W4 Lecture 1 – Job Analysis, KSAO stands for the following:

  • Knowledge
  • Skill
  • Ability
  • Other Characteristics

Information gathered from: Oregon State University’s MGMT 453 – Mike Cieri, 2025

If a company can define these as clearly as possible in their job description, it will better connect them with the most qualified candidates and people who are most interested in the job. This makes the job search experience better for not just the job seeker but the company posting it as well.

For example, I applied to a job at Portland General Electric, and they clearly laid out the required knowledge an employee would need to be successful in each of their postings, as well as the necessary skills and abilities needed. This made it much easier to know which jobs I should even apply to based on my skill level, and then made it much easier to talk about my strengths in those subjects.

While there are many other ways that companies can improve the way they develop their job descriptions, it is also important that they are updated constantly as well. As senior HR generalist, Jill Bidwell, says; ““Ideally, what is put in the job description can create a job posting and performance goals. It walks into a development plan for training you need. From a rewards perspective, it helps us benchmark other jobs,” (Tyler). As Jill puts it, job descriptions are not just good for hiring employees, but ensuring that they are supported and trained to the best of their ability as well.

Sources Cited:

Tyler, Kathryn. “Job Worth Doing: Update Descriptions.” Welcome to SHRM, 21 Dec. 2023, www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/hr-magazine/job-worth-update-descriptions.

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Week 1 Discussion

Hello Everyone! 

My name is Gage Ekström, and I am happy that you were able to find your way to my blog. I am a fourth year in Construction Engineering Management, and I aspire to find a career as a project manager for a construction company in the near future. But with that, I hope that you are able to enjoy this blog!

This week in class we were asked to look at 3-4 companies from the “2020 Fortune Best Companies to Work For,” and discuss how they practice HR, as well as what type of manager we would like to be one day and what we think some of the most challenging aspects of being a manager are. 

The first company I looked into was a financial services firm called Baird. It has offices across the globe but is based out of Milwaukee, WI. Many employees who worked there said that Baird did an amazing job of developing a positive culture at their company, as well as ensuring that they put people first and prioritizing family time and mental health. This does sound like an amazing place to work, because I know how important family is to me, and work-life balance is something I am very conscious of. I know that it can be really challenging as a manager to promote a healthy work-life balance and to tell your employees to put their family’s first when you have a bottom line to keep up and profits reign as king. But I would like to be a manager who supports his subordinates, and makes them feel respected. For if your employees are mentally healthy, they are much more likely to perform high quality work. 

We can also see how having a team who is happy to be at work can pay off in effectiveness in Chapter 1 of Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman’s book, “First Break All the Rules.” In this chapter we see a manager under the name “Michael” who describes the best team he ever had. The amazing thing is that the only true common denominator between the four employees he mentions is that they all had a positive attitude at work and were happy while they were there (Buckingham & Coffman, 13-14). I thought of this chapter as I read what the employees were saying for why they enjoyed working at Baird, and it sounds like having a positive work atmosphere where employees are happy with the work they are doing is key to having an effective team. I hope that I can foster this type of team on the constructions sites that I will manage in the future. 

While Baird was the company that mostly stood out to me, I saw this same pattern across many of the different companies that I looked into, with some prominent examples being Pinnacle Financial Partners, Plante Moran, Rocket Companies, and many more. 

At the end of the day, it seems like many effective companies are that way because they put their people and their culture first, and then see profits follow. 

 

 

Works Cited: 

Buckingham, Marcus, and Curt Coffman. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently. Gallup, 2016.