Author: Alicia Estrada

Labor unions can be both beneficial and detrimental to the worker and to the employer. In terms of this week’s course work, I was able to take away the fact that unions are formal organizations of employees who are looking out for the workers interest and who collectively stand up for employees’ wants. Employees’ join unions if they are unhappy with certain circumstances at work, if they need to be safeguarded from certain management decisions, or if they believe that through unionization positive work change will occur.

One benefit that an employee gains through labor unions is the fact that employees can speak up in the workplace by collective bargaining. Collective bargaining as defined by the lectures is when the labor and management representatives discuss the wage rates, hours and working conditions of the job. Through collective bargaining it might be possible to get higher wages, more benefits and conditions for the workers. In the article, The Cost of a Decline in Union it states that union decline has resulted in inequality and that “Most studies suggest that about one-fifth of the increase in economic inequality in America among men in recent decades is the result of the decline in unions.” (Kristof, 2015) As well, it enables employees to find a means to resolve the issues in the workplace and secure themselves against unfair treatment.

On the other hand, unions can be problematic to the employers. In the article, Why unions are so worried about right-to-work laws, it explains that right-to-work laws are debated on the grounds that workers should not be forced to pay unions, while proponents argue they weaken unions by decreasing the available finances and power. (Kasperkevic, 2017) As suggested by the lecture, management may want to oppose the establishment of a union since the workers who get the union membership may have higher wages, benefits, and employment rules may influence scheduling and promotional decisions as well as restrict management’s flexibility in decision making. As well the negotiation conflict over the contract terms could result in impasse, striking, or lockout.

The key thing that I learned from this material this week was how a union would benefit employees when they are not feeling as though they are being heard. I would be willing to get in on a union if I feel as though myself and people surrounding me are not being paid correctly, not working in safe conditions or simply are not being heard. If I was working for a company who was being entirely honest with its employees and giving its workers good wages and benefits I may not feel as if the need of a union is as necessary. Overall, I would want a union if workers had more of a say.

Reference:

Kristof , N. (2015, February 19). The Cost of a Decline in Unions. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/column/nicholas-kristof

Kasperkevic, J. (2017, February 24). Why unions are so worried about right-to-work laws. Marketplace. https://www.marketplace.org/story/2017/02/24/push-nationwide-right-work-law-could-weaken-unions

Based on the results of the survey, I learned that I am a mix of type A and type B personality. My score was 45 out of 100. This represents that I have characteristics of type a like being motivated or goal orientated but I am also not very competitive or impatient. My score level of stress was 60 out of 100 which places me in a somewhat stress category. This represents although I am able to handle daily responsibilities. Stress sometimes can’t affect me and has the potential to become a larger issue if I don’t find ways to cope with it. As I advance in my professional career there are many things I can do to lower my stress. Meditation can really be beneficial as well as, maintain a healthy work life balance, get enough sleep and exercise. Practicing stress management like deep breaths, yoga and time management can help. Having open communication with family and friends will also allow me to have someone to talk to and prevent burnout. There is a lot of research that shows how stress, anxiety and burnout are big issues in organizations or workplaces. These things can affect employees and the productivity in the work. There are organizations like the EPA that provide mental health counseling, stress management classes, and provide flexible work schedules. These efforts allow the reduction of stress and help improve employees well being and it creates a healthier workplace environment. 

A time that compensation motivated behavior was at my first job working in a dental office. One of my coworkers that’s worked there for many years always did her best at following the rules, helped train new workers and would stay late at the office in order to get all her work done. Despite all her efforts, she was never getting a raise, and her pay did not reflect on how much work she was doing after some time another dental office offered her a better deal with higher pay and more benefits. She decided to leave her old job and accept the offer at the new clinic. I think the compensation was motivated for her because it made her feel more valued for all the work that she does at work. Money is very important, especially for bills, food, and just living in general. If employees aren’t being paid enough, they begin to feel unvalued and search for other places that are offering them a better deal in this situation. My coworker was offered a better deal from a different office, and this made her feel valued for all the experience and skills that she has. The office also gave her flexible hours and better benefits, which helped her feel less stressed and gave her more time to spend with her family due to all these factors. The new dental office offer seemed much better than staying at her old office that was working her too hard and not paying her enough. This shows how compensation can affect individuals behavior. Employees are more likely to stay at a job that appreciates them and rewards them in a fair way. Having a proper pay with good benefits is very motivating for employees to stay at the company and work hard.

A training that I thought was very beneficial was during my dental assisting training at work. It connected directly to the job that I was doing and it was very effective. My team leader showed me the steps and allowed me to practice while giving me feedback. This matches our course materials because good training is when practice is encouraged and feedback is given regularly in order to improve skills. The training also allowed me to use “transfer”, which means I was able to use what I learned straight away in real workplace situations. Another reason why I think it works really well was because the training had clear goals to achieve. I understood what was expected of me and what good performance looks like. The lecture states that training design should establish objectives and replicate work situations so that the employee is able to transfer what they learn in training to their actual jobs. 

A class I did not find very beneficial was a writing class I took in high school, where the teacher did not give proper feedback in order to improve our writing skills. Without having proper feedback from the teacher I was not always able to apply it to my future writing. This made the class less effective because I was not able to improve my skills and apply better writing skills in the future assignment. This connects to the Kirkpatrick training evaluation model, where training should be judged by reaction, learning, performance and results. Training should feel interesting and is only beneficial if individuals actually learn something from it to use later in life. The Kirkpatrick model is used to evaluate if training actually improves learning and workplace behaviors. Good training needs to have proper goals, job connection, practices and feedback in order for it to be useful. If these things are lacking, the training can feel disconnected and useless.

Reflecting on my past interviews I can see the difference of ineffective and effective methods when compared to realizability, validity and utility. Some of my past experiences with interviews have lacked structure and have been informal. The interviewer was more focused on small talk instead of asking questions that were related to the job. During these interviews I felt as if they were unreliable and inconsistent due to the fact that most of the questions were not the same for the other candidates which makes it hard to compare applicants. Based on the lectures reliability represents consistency in measurement. When there is no standard question then the consistency is lost. In comparison to effective interviews that I have been in where there is a clear structure of questions that are related to the job. These interviewers had a list of questions and recorded my responses for future evaluation. 

This approach increases reliability and validity because it focuses on job performances. Interviews that have structure are more valid because they measure what is supposed to be measured. I also saw that when interviewers understand what are the job qualifications the questions are more meaningful and relevant which increases the content validity. I also experienced ineffective practices because interviewers can make quick judgments or focus too much on personality over the abilities of the interviewee. Snap judgments and first impressions are biases that can lower validity which may lead to poor hiring decisions. 

If I were to advise employers on how to conduct interviews I would recommend having a structured set of questions as well and scoring guides so they may reflect and compare candidates easily. Being active listeners, minimizing biases and reviewing the job qualifications can also prepare employers for interviews. As well as combining interviews with other methods of selection like cognitive tests or work samples may lead to an increase of accurate hiring decisions while maintaining effectiveness and cost. Effective interviews consist of structured meetings with consistent, job related questions to carefully predict performance of the candidates. While ineffective interviews rely on intuition and do not have any structure. 

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In the 2025 Fortune best companies to work for highlight organizations like Hilton, Cisco synchrony and American Express. These companies all demonstrate a strong form of human resources that practice employee, well-being and engagement. Based on the employees feedback, many of these companies are trustworthy, inclusive, and prioritize flexibilities for their teams. In the Cisco employee report, it states that leadership supports mental health and physical health and is encouraged at work, which helps improve productivity and satisfaction. Synchrony employees also state that their company provides supportive benefits, and flexible work hours, which represents how HR policies are impacting their employees morale. These practices represent HR course lectures by showing the importance of employee engagement and the roles that managers have in shaping experience in the workplace. In this list, these companies are seen as having strong leadership which leads to having high performances and higher productivity. These companies build a culture of care and trust with their employees. This idea represents the importance of employee relationships with their managers. It is a very important factor in job satisfaction, and success. Functions in HR like training, benefits, and managing performances all support how managers create these positive environments. As a future manager, I would like to prioritize communication with my employees as well as fairness and employee development. Based on the lecture it states, “HR practices are often a reflection of an organization’s culture.” (Lecture 1) Similar to the cultures within these companies, I want to create a workplace where my employees feel valued and supported. In order to achieve this goal, having HR practices that consist of feedback and providing professional development opportunities with work life balance policies will lead us towards our goal. I think one of the most challenging things of being a manager would be balancing employee needs with an organizational goal. Providing support to employees during difficult times can be very stressful and hard to maintain productivity. Having a strong and effective HR practice will be very crucial in helping managers be able to navigate through difficult and challenging times and build motivated teams.