Human Resources - how individuals are managed within an organisation Essay Example for Free

Human Resources how individuals are managed within an organisation Essay Introduction People are an extremely important resource for any organisation. To be a successful business you need to employ staff with the right qualifications skills and experience. The employees of an organisation are collectively known as its human resources, in many organisations, both public and private, the human resources department is also known as the personnel department. However, the difference in name reflects a shift in emphasis from a purely recruitment and welfare role to a greater concern about how to maximise the performance of staff. Human resource management is also an integral part of many job roles. There are many duties performed by a typical human resources department. These duties include drawing up and implementing equal opportunities and health and safety policies, staff consultation, negotiation, appraisal and staff development, as well as training, recruitment and selection of staff. They are the most important resource in the production of goods ands services. Many aspects of the employer-employee relationship are covered by legislation. However, employers are recognising increasingly that good human resource management practice, which goes beyond the letter of the law, can generate benefits for both the organisation and the individual. The role of human resources Human resource management involves managing a range of roles relating to people employed by a business including: Recruitment The personnel department must advertise accordingly and try to attract the best candidates for the job, and the recruit the best applicants. If the wrong person is recruited, and then finds the job boring or too difficult, then the business will not get the most out of its human resources. Also where employees need to be flexible and autonomous and where direct control over employees is difficult, recruitment is becoming more and more important. To make sure the best person is chosen, personnel departments must be clear about: * What the job entails * What qualities the job requires * What rewards is needed to retain and motivate employees. There are many stages of recruiting, they are: 1. Analyse what the job entails and decide what sort of person is needed. 2. Decide how the vacancy is to be advertised or announced. 3. The selection process needs to be planned and conducted in such a way as to ensure that the best candidate is successful. Training involves employees being taught new skills or improving skills they have already have. Why might a business train its employees? It is argued that a well-trained work force has certain benefits for a business. * Well-trained workers should be more productive. This will help the business to achieve its overall objectives such as increasing profits. * It should help to create a more flexible work force. If a business needs to increase production, workers then have to be trained in new tasks. * New machinery or production processes can be introduced more effectively, if the staff are trained. * It should lead to increased job satisfaction to employees. Well-motivated workers are more likely to be more productive. * It should reduce accidents and injuries if employees are trained in health and safety procedures. * It may improve the image of the company. * It can improve employees chances of promotion. How does a firm know if training is required? One method might be to use the job description to find the skills and knowledge needed to do the job. If the employees skills do not match up with the ones in the job description, then there is a need for re-training. Employees can also be asked about areas where they are not quite as confident, and think may need a little work on. This should make them more committed to training. Training needs are found at different levels within a business. Training is often divided into on-the-job-training and off-the-job-training. On-the-job-training takes place when employees are trained while they are carrying out an activity, often at their place of work. Off-the-job training takes place away from the job, at a different location. It may involve the employee being released for periods of time to attend courses at colleges or other institutions. This is by far the most popular form of training. One vital key task of HRM is to keep up to date with employment legislation (UK and EU) and to remain alert to the implications of such legislation for the firm and the workers. The main aim of such legislation is to ensure that employees rights are protected. Basic rights include: * Employees must receive a written statement of terms and conditions of employment within 13 weeks of starting work. * They must be paid the same as other people who carry out identical or similar jobs. * Working conditions must be safe and healthy. * Workers cannot be dismissed unfairly. * Employers must not discriminate against any member of staff. Employees have basic rights to: * They are expected to comply with the terms of their contract. * To do jobs with care and skill, to the acceptable standard. * Observe health and safety regulations. * Not to damage the firms property. There are many other responsibilities that then form the basis of the contract of employment. The contract is formed as soon as the employer offers a person a job and they accept it. Motivation at work For many years firms have given financial rewards in an attempt to motivate employees and improve productivity. However in the last 2 or 3 decades firms have realised that: * the chance to earn more money may not be an effective motivator * financial incentive schemes are difficult to operate * individual reward schemes may no longer be effective as production has become organised into group tasks * other factors may be more important in motivating employees If other factors are more important than pay in motivating workers, it is important for firms to identify them. Only then can a business make sure its work force is motivated. Team work The Swedish car firm Volvo is a well-known example of a company that has effectively introduced teamwork. In both its plants at Kalmar and Uddevalla, it set up production in teams of 8-10 highly skilled workers. The teams decided between themselves how the work was to be distributed and how to solve problems as they arise. It is arguable whether these practices lead to an increase in productivity, but the company firmly believes this method of organisation was better than an assembly line system a similar system is used at Honda UK but with four person teams. If the firm is always changing due to the market, which is causing it to either, expand or de-layer. Then they will have to change the work force accordingly. The case study that I will be looking at is a position as a secretary for Ratcliffe College. P1- Recruitment One of the most important responsibilities of Human resource function is recruitment and selection. The costs of recruitment, training and retaining employees are high, but the costs of selecting the wrong people or losing key members of staff can be even higher. The processes of recruitment and selection must always relate the requirement for skilled staff to the business needs of the organisation. It is also essential that potential candidates be treated fairly. When vacancies arise because existing staff move to other jobs, retire or have to leave work because of illness. Some vacancies occur because the organisation expands or is restructured. Before the organisation advertises a post, it needs to decide whether there is a real need for the position to be filled. It might consider the following alternatives: * Amalgamating one job with another * Giving existing staff overtime * Recruiting temporary staff * Increasing the use of technology or machinery * Once an organisation decides that a vacancy exists, the recruitment process begins. Internal recruitment Internal recruitment strengthens employees commitment to the company, for example Kelloggs have stated the following in their recruitment policy handbook: * Offer the job to an existing employee, as a promotion or transfer * Advertise internally, if suitable candidate is likely to available internally * Advertise externally if no suitable candidate is likely to exist internally(and display notice internally to the effect that the advertisement is appearing) Except in special cases, all vacancies should be advertised internally before external recruitment methods are used. There are a number of advantages to advertising jobs inside the business. * It gives employees within the company a chance to develop their career * There may be a shorter induction period as the employee is likely to be familiar with the company * Employers will know more about internal candidates abilities. This should reduce the risk of employing the wrong person * Internal recruitment may be quicker and less expensive than recruiting from outside the business. However, there are also disadvantages. * Internal advertising limits the number of applicants * External candidates might have been better quality * Another vacancy will be created which might have to be filled * If having investigated ways of filling the vacancy internally the business still does not appoint, then it must find ways to obtain candidates externally. External recruitment There are many ways of attracting candidates from outside the company. The choice of method often depends on the type of vacancy and the type of employee a business wants. Each method has its own benefits and problem, although it could be argued that the overall advantages of external advertising are the opposite of the disadvantages of internal advertising, for example, there is a wider number of applicants. Commercial employment agencies, these are companies that specialise in recruiting and selection. They usually provide a shortlist of candidates for a company to interview, but can also provide temporary workers. For example HMS, Alfred Marks and Kelly Accountancy Personnel. The advantage of commercial agencies is that they are experienced in providing certain types of worker, such as secretaries and clerical staff. They also minimise the administration for the employer involved in recruiting staff. Their main drawback is that they tend to produce staff that only stay in a job for a short time. Another problem for the business is the cost of paying fees to the agency. Recruitment and selection P2-Personnel Specification The first step is to prepare a job description. Before writing a job description, the job itself has to be analysed. This will identify the skills needed to perform the job and will also allow management to consider the overall effectiveness of the post and whether any changes are necessary. Clear job descriptions form the basis for preparing advertisements and for drawing up person specifications. Once individuals are in the post, job descriptions allow them to know exactly what their roles are, and what is expected of them. Before writing a job description, the job itself has to be analysed. This will identify the skills needed to perform the job and will also allow management to consider the overall effectiveness of the post and whether any changes are necessary. Clear job descriptions form the basis for preparing advertisements and for drawing up person specifications. Once individuals are in a post, job description allow them to know exactly what their roles are, and what is expected of them. When preparing a job description, it is important that the business to look to: * Describe the job accurately- if you overstate or understate the requirements of the job, you will be less likely to attract suitable applicants * Avoid discriminatory descriptions wording that implies one sex is preferable to another is unfair, illegal and unnecessarily restricts the number of people you are able to choose from. Below is an example of a job description, advertised in the local paper, for my case study. Ratcliffe College Job title School secretary Department: Administration, including Bursary Location Ratcliffe College, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake Salary à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½15,000- 20,000 Requirements for the job: * Enthusiastic, sociable, hard working person. * Taking care of any paper work regarding the school, and answering calls throughout the day on any matter. * Computer skills and experience of working in an office. General information * The hours per day would from 9am-5pm, 5 days a week. * There is a team of six people who deal with the administration of the school; this includes the bursar, the head masters secretary and the four secretaries. The profile of the best person to fill a job is a vital reference document to use during the selection process. It helps eliminate unsuitable candidates, guides interviewers and allows selectors to compare candidates objectively. The following are the key areas in drawing up a person specification: * Knowledge and understanding required for the job * Skills and abilities required for the job * Experience required for the job * Educational requirements The following shows a person specification: To fill the receptionist post we are looking for people with most of the following qualifications: 1. GCSEs in Maths and English, additional qualifications such as computer skills required. 2. The applicant must have had previous experience in an office environment 3. Must be computer literate, and able to use a photocopier. 4. Must have an outgoing, friendly personality, and able to communicate efficiently with students and fellow members of staff alike. Most importantly, they must be able to answer the telephone and help with any enquiries. When preparing person specifications, there are several pitfalls to be avoided. * Asking for higher qualifications than are needed, it runs the risk of passing over less-qualified staff who are likely to become frustrated in positions that fail to extend their abilities * Asking for someone with particular or extensive experience, an individual with the right aptitudes, skills and temperament may be a quick learner * Stipulating particular age requirements, tasks that are traditionally regarded as junior can often be done as well, if not better, by older staff. Similar, jobs that have been regarded as the preserve of more mature employees may be performed by able, qualified and highly motivated young people. * Defining narrow physical requirements, these must only be specified where the requirement is genuine and essential. Remember that the specification of physical attributes can lead to direct or indirect discrimination. * Basing your specification on someone who is already doing the job, no matter how good that person might be, he or she is a unique individual and no one else will be a perfect replacement. The newcomer will bring his or her own personality, values and skills. P3-Reviewing Applications Miss Puddleduck- she seems to be able to get on with people and handle situations, as we can see this from her working as a carer in an Elderly Home. She is the eldest to apply for the job and has a good amount of previous experience, which give her the skills needed, like office and computer work. Seems to be a hard work and has good communication skills, and also she has worked with children before so is a strong candidate. From her CV I see that she has three young children, This may cause a problem, as she has a live-in child minder. Mr Langer- Mr Langer sent in an application form with exceptional exam results both from GCSE and A level. He gave some job experience which all showed experience but nothing that was relevant to the job description. His letter of application was very short with not much detail. Being as he hadnt any experience in secretarial duties then I would have thought that he would have tried to impress me through the letter of application. This didnt happen but because of his good exam results I offered him an interview hoping he would have something to offer the company. Mr Langers CV was average, he had typed it out so that it looked neat, and it was set well but the contented which he needed to impress me wasnt there. Mr Langer was a very intellectual young man by the language which he had used on his recruitment forms and his given exam results but unfortunately he didnt have the relevant experience to offer this post. Miss Hill- the weakest candidate looking from her application form, but she seems to be enthusiastic over the job, but from her CV she says she likes socialising, which may be a downfall as she may need to come in any day of the week. Miss Hill has no previous experience. From the CV her GCSE grades are not excellent, however, she has passed English and maths, and has computer skills. I am not sure how well she can communicate with people of different ages, as I have no evidence that she can. However, as she is young she may find it easier to communicate with the student, but she must be able to communicate effectively with the adults as well. She also has a young child, so she may know how to get on with the younger generation in the school Miss Hill has a young child, which could mean that she will need time off work to look after it. She states that her mum could look after the child at the weekends if necessary, however, her mum may not be available in the week if the child is unable to go to playgroup. So it may cause difficulties in the future, as she may have difficulties finding someone to look after the child or she may have to take days off. P4-Contract of employment Once a business has selected an employee, the successful candidates must be appointed. Once appointed. Employees are entitled to a Contract of Employment. This is an agreement between the employer and the employee under which each has certain obligations. It is binding to both parties in the agreement, the employer and the employee. This means that it is unlawful to break the terms and conditions in the contract without the other party agreeing. As soon as an employee starts work, and therefore demonstrates that she accepts the terms offered by the employer, the contract comes into existence. It is sometimes a written contract, although a verbal agreement or implied agreements are also contracts of employment. The employment Right Act, 1996 requires employers to give employees taken on for one month or more a written statement within two months of appointment. This written statement sets out the terms and conditions in the contract. Some common features shown in the written statement are: * The names of the employer and the name of the employee * The date on which the employment is to begin * The job title * The terms and conditions of employment * Remuneration and pay interval; * Hours of work; * Entitlement to sick leave and pay (if any) * Pensions; * Period of notice for employer and employee; * Disciplinary and Grievance procedures. Certain employment protection rights cover employees that are appointed by a business. Government legislation makes it a duty of employers to safeguard these rights. They fall into a number of areas. * Discrimination. Employees cannot be discriminated against on grounds of gender, race or disability. So, for example, a business cannot refuse to appoint a candidate for a job only because that person is female. * Pay. Employees must be paid the same rate as other employees doing the same job, a similar job or a job with equal demands. They also have the right to itemised pay statements and not to have pay deducted for unlawful reasons. Other conditions which may be included are: the need for medical examinations, working from different locations, the right to search employees, the need for confidentiality and the need to obey the specific rules of the organisation. If the employer fails to provide a written statement of the main terms and conditions of employment, an employee could exercise his or her legal right to ask an industrial tribunal to decide what ought to have been in the written statement. This is then imposed upon the employer. Employers with more than twenty employees are also obliged to ensure that every employee has a copy of the disciplinary and grievance procedures. Employers have always wanted workers to be as flexible as possible. In the past this has meant paying overtime for extra hours worked, or higher rates for shift work. Faced with competition, businesses attempted to use their existing employees more efficiently. Sometimes this could benefit the employee. An example of a situation in Adams is a single woman with a child was able to work between the hours of 9 am to 3 p.m. each day while her child is at school. Working flexible hours could mean an employee may take time off for personal reasons and still work their required number of hours a week. Training would also be given to workers so they become multi -skilled able to switch from one job to another if needed. This example of job rotation may perhaps lead to the employee being more motivated. From a firms point of view, an employee that can change jobs may prevent the need to have temporary workers to cover for illness etc. and so reduce labour costs. An example of this is the workstyle initiative at Adams, where team working has been introduced so that workers can change from one process to another and do the work of others in the team if necessary. In 1985 John Atkinson and the Institute of Manpower Studies developed the idea of the flexible firm. They suggested that businesses have a core and a periphery. As a result of increasing competition, firms have attempted to make the workforce as flexible as possible, to increase productivity, reduce costs and react more quickly to change. The business would try to motivate core workers, giving them job security, and employ periphery workers only when needed. Increasingly employers looked to make plans that allow a business to respond to changes. For example, if a large unexpected order arrives, a business will need workers that can get it out on time. Using a flexible workforce enables a business to react effectively to changes that take place outside the business. Examples of workers that are used by a business includes: * Part time employees. * Temporary employees to deal with increases in demand. * Workers on zero hours contracts who are employed by the business but only work and are paid when both the business and the employee agree. * Workers who work to annualised hours contracts, where they work a certain number of hours over a year rather than in a week. * Workers who bank time, by not working when demand is slack but being asked to work that time at a later date. * Office temporary workers to cover for illness. * Self-employed workers. * Job sharing, where two workers are employed to do a full time job that in the past have been carried out by the one person. P5-My Performance in the Interview Before the interview 1. The interviewer should check that the interview arrangements are satisfactory: * Is the seating adequate? * Is the lighting satisfactory? * Is the room quiet or private? * Has it been ensured that the interview will not be disrupted? * Has access for candidates with a physical disability been checked? 2. Check through the job description and the person specification. 3. Read the application forms again, not any special questions or queries. 4. Write down the agreed questions that every candidate will have to answer, so they can make comparisons of each interviewee, this could including: * Why did you apply for this job? * Why did you apply to this organisation? 5. At the beginning of the interview every candidate should be welcomed by name and invited to sit down. 6. Begin the interview with an open or easy question, which should help the interviewees to relax. 7. The interviewer should always stay calm and uninvolved and be ready to listen 8. Keep observing the candidates. Watch for body language signal such as: * The way they sit * Arm and hand movements * Eye movements and eye contact * Voice 9. At the end of the interview the interviewer should: * Thank the candidate * Find out if the candidate has any questions or wants to add anything; * Find out when the candidate could start work; * Ask whether the candidate still wants the job * Tell the candidate how and when they will be told the result of the interview After the Interview 1. The candidates should leave feeling that they have had a fair hearing. An interviewer can ask either open or closed questions. * Open questions cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. Answering them allows individuals to express their opinions and to talk at length. Here are some examples of open-ended questions. What did you enjoy most about a particular job? Which skills do you think would be most useful in this post? How do you plan to achieve that? * Closed questions require a simple yes or no answer. It will always be necessary to ask a few closed questions, but their use should be restricted. Closed questions do not allow the candidate to talk freely, and they can make the interview somewhat stilted, with the interviewer doing most of the talking. When I was the interviewer I asked open ended questions, which allowed me to find out more about the candidate personality as well as there attitude to work. However from my colleagues point of view I was told that I was to laid back towards the candidate and to disorganise, this was because I had not gone through the CVs and the application form. This could have meant that I missed some vital information about the candidates. Also I did not write any information down about each candidate, which meant that I could not remember what the candidates where like. Which meant that I could analyse and compare the candidates. As an interviewee I was confident going for the position, willing to answer the questions, with no problems. But in doing this I had not research the position enough, as I had a lack of information about the school. Knowing this would of help me to put across my views on how I would of achieved the job successfully, and showed that I was interested in the job. I feel that during the interviews I fulfilled most of these criteria. The seating was adequate; there were two seats for the interviewers and one doe the candidate. However, there was a desk in between, it would have been better to try and create a more relaxed atmosphere, by either not having the desk at all, or sitting to one side of the desk. I was familiar with the job description and person specification, and had already prepared certain questions for each candidate. I had prepared a sheet with the questions that I was going to ask all of the candidates, a copy of this can be found in the appendix. I welcomed all the candidates by name and shucked there hand, and tried to make them feel welcome. Throughout the interview I used a variety of open and closed questions. I should have used more open than closed questions to allow the candidate to talk more. This would be one aspect I would have to change in future interviews. I thought of some follow up questions, however, could have thought of some more. I observed the candidates several times throughout the interview, which gave me a good idea of their overall body language. At the end of the interview, I allowed the candidates to ask questions, found out when they could start work, and told them when they would hear of the result. I didnt tell them how they would hear of the result, and I forgot to ask then if they were still interested in the job. After the interview I made some brief notes on the way the candidate had reacted during the interview. All these documents remained private between myself and the other interviewer M4-Local Labour Market Employment by sector Leicestershire TEC Area % East midlands % Great Britain % Agriculture Fishing 1,500 0.4 6,900 0.4 71,000 0.3 Energy Water 5,000 1.2 17,600 1.1 214,700 1.0 Manufacturing 116,700 29.4 418,700 25.8 4,060,000 18.0 Construction 13.300 3.3 70,700 4.4 987,900 4.4 Distribution, Hotels restaurants 80,000 20.1 354,800 5.0 1,319,400 5.9 Transport communication 22,000 5.5 81,100 5.0 1,319,400 5.9 Banking, finance Insurance, etc. 58,600 14.8 230,200 14.2 4,183,700 18.6 Public administration, Education Health 85,900 21.6 378,700 23.3 5,496,600 24.4 Other services 14,000 3.5 65,700 4.0 1,068,900 4.7 Total 397,000 100.0 1,623,800 100.0 22,534,900 100.0 The labour market is split up into three different labour sectors: 1. Primary these are businesses that are involved in extracting natural resources from the environment. Examples are the first two rows of the table. 2. Secondary businesses convert the raw materials from the primary sector into a form that can be used by customers. The third and fourth rows on the table are examples of this sector. 3. Tertiary Organisations provide services. The reminding rows are businesses in the tertiary sector. * Manufacturing contributes nearly 30% to GDP and employs some 27% of the workforce, goods produced range from textiles clothing through aerospace engines. However, manufacturing output within the region is forecast to fall by approximately 0.5% in 1999 before recovering in 2000. * Service Sector employment is growing faster than at the national level, but the service sector is still relatively under-represented. IT related employment, in particular, continues to expand. * Agriculture the East Midlands accounts for 10% of UK agricultural output, and employs 45,000 people across the region, rising to nearly one in five of the workforce in some areas. * Unemployment the regional claimant rate has been below the UK rate and currently stands at 3.9% compared to the UK 4.4% for May 1999. Current situation prospects Within the East Midlands, growth in services was estimated to have been stronger than the UK as a whole during 1998. However, the region saw a sharp slowdown in business services growth, reflecting the dependence of the sector on local manufacturing. Manufacturing output declined significantly during 1998, due to deterioration in both domestic and export demand, and a strong pound. Manufacturing output within the region is forecast to continue to decline during 1999, before recovering in 2000. Subdued performance is also expected in retailing distribution, and in transport communications. Overall regional GDP is expected to rise only slightly by 0.3% during 1999, with employment levels expected to remain static. Short-term changes in the GDP by sector (% per year) Manufacturing Services Other All services Fin. Bus. Services 1998 1999 2000 1998 1999 2000 1998 1999 2000 1998 1999 2000 E.M. 0.3 0.3 -3.1 1.5 0.2 1.2 4.9 2.2 1.9 6.8 -0.7 -1.9 UK -0.2 -0.2 -3.2 1.3 0.6 0.5 2.5 1.5 1.4 1.6 -1.4 -1.9 Inward investment The region has seen inward investment in manufacturing over recent years. In the first half of 1998 the East Midlands won 16 inward investment projects, which created a total of 2,240 jobs. Approximately 50% of the projects came from the USA. Other inward investment projects within the region include Toyota, the Japanese car manufacturer, which has expanded its plant at Burnaston in Derbyshire at a cost of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½200m in order to build a second car model, the Corolla. The region has also been successful in attracting call centres, despite competition. In the future as direct banking and insurance services increase, further investment opportunities are likely to arise for the region. The East Midlands success in attracting inward investment can be explained by its central location, good infrastructure links with the rest of the country, relatively low land prices, and the quality of its workforce. Leicestershires Industrial Profile Leicestershires industrial structure has experienced a long period of change and this change is seen to continue. The manufacturing industry consists of textiles and clothing, electronic engineering, mechanical engineering, food processing, printing and publishing, and pharmaceuticals. In Leicestershire 26% of the population are employed in this sector compared with 19% nationally. The most important manufacturing industry group, in terms of output, remains other manufacturing which includes textiles and food manufacturing, currently accounting for half of all manufacturing output. The fastest growing sector was national transport and communications, with an average annual growth of 9.6% since 1992. This growth largely reflects the advantages of Leicestershire as a central location for distribution Industrial sectors Leicestershire TEC area Leicestershire county Leicester city Rutland 1999 Employee estimates Number % Number % Number % Number % Agriculture Fishing 3,100 0.8 2,700 1.2 0 0 400 3.5 Energy Water 9,200 2.3 5,600 2.4 3,200 2.1 400 3.5 Manufacturing 102,600 26.0 64,300 28.1 36,300 23.8 2,000 17.4 Construction 14900 3.8 10,000 4.4 4,300 2.8 600 5.2 Distribution, Hotels restaurants 83,000 21.1 51,100 22.3 29,200 19.1 2,700 23.5 Transport communication 23,100 5.9 16,100 7.0 6,500 4.3 500 4.3 Banking, finance Insurance, etc. 54,800 13.9 28,100 12.3 25,600 16.8 1,100 9.6 Public administration, Education Health 85,900 21.8 41,900 18.3 40,600 26.6 3,400 39.6 Other services 16,600 4.2 9,300 4.1 6,900 4.5 400 3.5 Total employees 393,200 100.0 229,100 100.0 152,600 100.0 11,500 100.0 M5 Analysing the recruitment documents I think I should have spaced out the application form a bit better and left more room for the forenames and surnames. On the application form I didnt put a space for sex, this should have been entered, as some people may see it as not giving equal opportunities. I think that it is of a good size, and the font is neither too small nor too large, however, if there had been more spaces left, then it may have been easier to read. There is not a final section asking for a supporting statement. This does not give the applicant opportunity to sell themselves. I should have put some spaces in the Employment History section for reason for leaving the job, and also how long they had been at their last job for. This would have given me some indication on how willing they are. Also if I had left space at the end of the form, there would have been space for the candidates to sell themselves, also giving me more information to base my questions on at the interview. There should have also been more space for them to fill in information about their education. In the references section there should be space to show what relationship the person given as a reference is to the candidate. As it is important for companies to enforce equal opportunities I should have had a section in the application form asking if they had a disability, what their ethnic origin is and also what colour they consider themselves (black, white, other, mixed). This should be an optional section; however, I should have included it. I also provided a sheet for the candidates to fill in just before the interview. This is where extra information could be gathered, and if any details have changed since they filled in the application form, then I could be notified of them. The appraisal documents: during the interview I made some basic notes of the candidates performance. These notes included how well they answered the questions, and their body language. I also gave them marks for their body language, their language and how appropriate it was, and how confident they were (1 being the best, and 5 the worst) In my personnel specification, I should have said more about the job so that they know more about the job and what jobs would be involved in the position. Also how to handle parents and children. Also in the job description, I should stated more about what the jobs would be involved with, like handling children from the ages of 5-18, so they need to be patient sometimes and also authoritative. M6-Strengths Weaknesses Mrs Jemima Puddleduck Her letter of application was most impressive. It was typed, set out correctly, and lots of good language was used. The recruitment documents that we received from Mrs Jemima Puddleduck showed that she was a well-educated young lady, showing she had studied both GCSEs, and A levels with excellent grades, and also well qualified. The only factor, which made me a little unsure of her, was that she had children, which I felt it might cause some difficulty about the hours she could work. Plus a degree in sports management. It was a very encouraging letter, outlining her strengths and weaknesses, and also stating any previous relevant work experience as well as any other experience to show her enthusiasm for work. Her experiences in jobs show us a very caring girl and she has taken part in work experience in very useful places. Mrs Jemima Puddleduck sent me a very short but detailed letter of application it was in written form very neat and well set out. Her work experiences have given her experience of what this position requires and I feel she would be an excellent candidate for this job. Mr Brett Langer The documents that were given to us by Brett Langer shows that he is ma very hard working person, we know this by looking at his GCSEs and A Levels. So he should then have the basic skills available to do the job successfully, with A grades in Maths and English in his GCSEs. My impression also was that he may be a little well qualified for the job, nonetheless a very promising candidate. It showed that he had some previous job experience, however, he had never worked in an office before. From the letter of application he seemed to be an all round person, being able to get on with people. We can also see this from his past work experience as a Waiter and Employee at McDonalds, this showing he should be able to get on with any sort of person and situations. The only problem is that he is going to be working on a temporary basis as hes looking for a job in the business sector, so he will only be working here until he finds a job in the business industry. Miss Tracy Hill Miss Hill is the youngest candidate applying for the position as Secretary. The recruitment documents, which we received from Miss Tracy Hill, she seems to be a nice girl but lack the personnel skills and personality for the job. There are concerns on how sociable she is, and how this may affect her work, as she may have to come in on a Saturday or Sunday. She has the basic skills to do the job with having GCSEs in IT, Maths and English. She also has no work experience in any field. She is the weakest candidate for the job, but we have decided to give her a chance to prove us wrong in the interview. Jemima Puddleduck questions 1. Will you be able to come in if there was an emergency? 2. Do you think you be able to handle the children when if they get rowdy? 3. Why have you decided to leave your present job? 4. How long would it take to hand in your notice at your present job? 5. How come you havent decided to go into the sports industry? Brett Langer questions 1. Do you know how to use the basics of computer software? 2. How long do you think you would work here? 3. Will you be able to come in if there was an emergency? 4. Do you think you be able to handle the children when if they get rowdy? 5. Do you think you would get along with the different age groups that go to the school? Tracy Hill question 1. Why did you leave school after your GCSEs? 2. Why havent you got any work experience? 3. Would it be a problem with the hours you work with a child? 4. Who will look after the child? 5. Will you be able to come in if there was an emergency? 6. Do you think you be able to handle the children when they get rowdy? M7-My performance in the Interviews To start off with I was shy, I was not sure how they would react to me, but as the interviews went on my interviewing technique improved and I started to settle down. I found that I didnt really help them to relax and settle down, which made them nervous and allowed them t make mistakes, as they didnt know how to react to me. After settling down I became confident enough to ask the candidate questions about the job and putting them in situations and asking how they would handle a particular situation. Due to this I became to laid back, I was showing poor body language; for example my arms were crossed. I also acted to casual with the candidate; I was told this from my colleagues who were also interviewing the candidate. Due to me being confident and laid back, I asked the candidate opened ended questions, which enabled my colleagues and I to get to know the candidate more intimately and what there personality was like. I also found that I was too disorganised for the interview, compared to my colleagues who where ready for the interview, as they had questions readily decided to ask the candidate. Which didnt show a good impression on the candidate and made me look silly. I also had not gone through the candidates information, which gave me a disadvantage, as I did not ask the relevant information for the job. Which lead to me not writing any information about the candidate, so it made it difficult on which candidate to pick for the job. I think that I also should have changed the tone of voice more, as I felt the candidate was finding the interview was getting to boring. Improvements 1. I should appear to be relaxed from the beginning of the interview so that they can give their best performances through out the interview. 2. I shouldnt act laid back whilst interviewing the candidate. As this gives a bad impression to the interviewee, about the way things are running in the company. 3. I should look through the application documents before I interview the candidate to have some kind of information about the candidate and question to find out more about their personality. 4. It would be more fairer to all the candidates if I took notes on each applicant, so that I can offer the job to the best person, so that I can compare them with there good and bad points and offer the job to the best person. M8 Our own design of a Contract of employment 1. Name of employer:_________________________________ 2. Name of employee:________________________________ 3. Job title: . 4. Salary: . 5. Start date: 6. Pay rate:.. 7. Amount of hours that must be completed in one week:. 8. Leave, you are entitled todays-paid holiday per annum in addition to statutory holidays. The leave is to taken at a time convenient to the employer. 9. Sick pay and allowances: .. 10. Amount of holiday entitlement: . 11. What notice is needed when you want to finish that job:.. to ensure flexibility within our workforce, you will at times be expected to work extra hours as required, but you will normally be given advanced notice of times. 12. Grievance Procedures, if you wish to raise any grievance relating to your employment, you should do so in accordance with the grievance procedure shown in the employee information binder, which can be obtained from the Personal office. 13. Pension scheme, details of the contributory company pension scheme, for which you are eligible, may be obtained from the personnel office. 14. Discipline Rules, the company rules form part of your conditions of employment. These are shown in the Employee Information Binder and it is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with these and observe them at all times.

9/11 Photo Essay :: American America History

9/11 Photo Essay The day of 9/11 is a day that will be in the back of everybodys minds for lifetime. On that sorrowful day four passenger airplanes were highjacked and ultimately crashed. Two of the airplanes crashed into each of the Twin Towers located in New York City. After the buildings burned for around 20 minutes they fell to the ground bringing along millions of tons of debris that killed many workers from both towers. One of the other airplanes crashed into the Pentagon also killing many innocent people. The last airplane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after many believe that the passengers over powered the highjackers. Many people still morn the deaths of the victims from 9/11. From the second the planes crashed, people have tried to make money from this ordeal, making it one of the most advertised and talked about issue the US has ever seen. The photos that are being displayed are showing the emotions that the camera wants to show us. We only feel emotion from this tragedy because we ether have known someone that has been hurt, or we have seen the event happen so many times we just start to feel sad for just trying to imagine it. It was said once that a picture is worth a thousand words. Those thousand words are being manipulated by who has taken the picture. Every event can be made to look bad by a certain camera angle. Every picture and camera is biased to someone's certain point of view. That point of view could either be of a bad or good emotional state. The pictures from 911 are showing the emotions, that he American public wants to feel. In order for America to feel good about killing hundreds of Afghannies we have to see these bad images over and over again so that we can not feel the littlest sympathy for those of the families that we bomb everyday. Since thousands of Americans have died, we should show these ima ges that are all of sad emotions so we can get over this big mess. The pictures taken on 911 are all in sad and shocking mood. There is no way to make 911 happy in any way. Any picture taken from 911 is going to have a very sad and depressing mood to it. But this is the way that day should be looked at, a very sad and depressing mode.

Elements of the Communication Process Essay

Companies need to develop strategies to improve brand image and brand awareness. The important aspect of spreading brand awareness and brand image is through communication. Companies need to establish a communication channel to win the new customers and retain existing customer. This communication is not restricted just to customer but also stakeholders in the value network. Communication is achieved through advertisement, sales promotion, public relation exercise, direct marketing and interactive marketing. Elements of Communication Process Communication process should not be one way traffic. Companies should look forward to developing communication network in which companies can reach customer but customer also can effectively communicate with companies. Technology has opened up many avenues to carry out effective communication. Companies have traditional tools like newspaper, television, radio, telephone, billboards and modern tools like the internet, emails and wireless devices. Technology has made the communication process not only faster but also reduced over all communication cost. There are nine elements, which make the communication process. The two parties are sender-company and receiver-customer. The communication tools are message and media used to communicate the process. The four major communication functions are encoding, decoding, response and feedback. The last element is the noise which is anytime of interference disrupting clarity of the message. Senders must encode the message as per the target audience and use the right media. The receiver decodes the message, responds to the message and sends feedback to the company. Experience senders are able to garner a more effective response from the right message. Companies have to put effort in developing an effective communication program. The development of the communication program can be charted into eight steps. 1.The first step is identifying the target audience. The target audiences are the existing customer or the potential new customers. Target audience identification is essential for further development and overall success of the communication program. Once the audience is identified the next part is assessing the present company or brand perception within the target audience. Based on the results from the audience analysis the message should address the requirements. 2.The second step is to set specific objectives for the given communication message. This objective could be to enhance existing image, convey attribute, or encourage a consumer to act. The objective can have a cognitive, affective or behavioral response. 3.The third step is the design of the message. The designing of the message follows the objective of the message. The design of the message has to address the following four points, content of message, message structure, message format and message source. 4.The fourth step is the selection of the communication channel. The channel must be appropriate to carry the message to the target audience. For pharmaceutical companies, their sales people are the most effective channel in reaching the target doctor audience, instead of placing billboards. 5.The fifth step is related with the financial estimates of the whole expenditure. Companies need to decide budget of sales promotional and other activities. The common methods followed are an affordable method, percentage of sales method, competitive parity method, and objective-task methods. 6.The sixth step is the decision relate to the communication mix. Companies have limited budget, so they need balance expenditure among advertising, sales promotion, public relation, sales force and direct marketing. The relevant choice of the communication mix is highly dependable on the industry the company is operating. 7.The seventh step measuring results of the communication process. It is very important for companies to keenly follow the outcomes of the communication process. The results could be increased in sales, change in attitude or image of the brand. 8.The eight step is managing the integrated marketing process. Companies cannot afford to continue one medium approach to achieve desired communication effect. Companies must integrate all the available tools as to reach a wider audience and effectively communicate about brand and products.

The First Shopping Mall in America

Malls are collections of independent retail stores and services conceived, constructed and maintained by a management firm. Occupants can include restaurants, banks, theaters, professional offices and even service stations. The Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota became the first enclosed mall to open in 1956 and several more innovations have come about since to make shopping easier and more efficient for both store owners and customers.   The First Department Stores   Bloomingdales was founded in 1872 by two brothers named Lyman and Joseph Bloomingdale. The store rode the popularity of the hoop skirt to great success and practically invented the department store concept at the beginning of the 20th century. John Wanamaker follwed soon after with the  opening of The Grand Depot, a six-story round department store in Philadelphia in 1877. While Wanamaker modestly declined taking credit for inventing the department store, his store was definitely cutting edge. His innovations included the first white sale, modern price tags and the first in-store restaurant. He pioneered the use of money-back guarantees and newspaper ads to advertise his retail goods.   But before Bloomingdales and The Grand Depot, Mormon leader Brigham Young founded Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution  in Salt Lake City in 1868. Familiarly known as  ZMCI, some historians credit Youngs shop with being the first department store,  though most give the credit to John Wanamaker. ZCMI sold clothing, dry goods, drugs, groceries, produce, shoes, trunks, sewing machines, wagons and machinery sold and organized in all types of â€Å"departments.† Mail Order Catalogs Arrive Aaron Montgomery Ward sent out the first mail order catalog in 1872 for his Montgomery Ward business. Ward first worked for the department store Marshall Field as both a store clerk and a traveling salesman. As a traveling salesman, he  realized that his rural customers would be better served by mail order, which turned out to be a revolutionary idea. He started Montgomery Ward with only $2,400 in capital.  The first catalog was a single sheet of paper with a price list that advertised  the merchandise for sale along with ordering instructions. From this humble beginning, it grew and became more heavily illustrated and chock full of goods, earning the nickname dream book. Montgomery Ward  was a mail-order-only business until 1926 when the first retail store opened in Plymouth, Indiana. The First Shopping Carts Sylvan Goldman invented the first shopping cart in 1936. He owned a chain of  Oklahoma City grocery stores called Standard/Piggly-Wiggly. He created his first cart by adding two wire baskets and wheels to a folding chair. Together with his mechanic Fred Young, Goldman later designed a dedicated shopping cart in 1947 and formed the Folding Carrier Company to manufacture them. Orla Watson  of Kansas City, Missouri is credited with inventing the telescoping shopping cart in 1946. Using hinged baskets, each shopping cart was fitted into the shopping cart ahead of it for compact storage. These telescoping shopping carts were first used at Floyd Days Super Market in 1947. Silicon Valley inventor George Cokely, who also invented  the Pet Rock, came up with a modern solution to one of the supermarket industrys oldest problems: stolen shopping carts. Its called Stop Z-Cart. The wheel of the shopping cart holds the device which contains a chip and some electronics. When a cart is rolled a certain distance away from the store, the store knows about it. The First Cash Registers James Ritty invented the incorruptible cashier in 1884 after receiving a patent in 1883. It was  the first working, mechanical cash register.  His invention came with that familiar ringing  sound referred to in advertising as the bell heard round the world.† The cash register was initially sold by the National Manufacturing Company. After reading a description of it, John H. Patterson immediately decided to buy both the company and the patent. He renamed the company the National Cash Register Company in 1884. Patterson improved the register by adding a paper roll to record sales transactions. Charles F. Kettering later designed a cash register with an electric motor in 1906 while he was working at the National Cash Register Company.   Shopping Goes High Tech A Philadelphia pharmacist named Asa Candler invented the coupon in 1895. Candler bought  Coca-Cola  from original inventor Dr. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist. Candler placed coupons in newspapers for free Cokes from any fountain to help promote the new soft drink. Several years later, the patent for the  bar code  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ U.S. Patent #2,612,994 – was issued to inventors Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver on October 7, 1952.   All this would be for naught, whoever, if people couldnt get inside to shop. So credit goes to Horton Automatics co-founders Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt for inventing the automatic sliding door in 1954. The company developed and sold the door in America in 1960. These automatic doors used mat actuators. AS Horton Automatics explains on its website: The idea came to Lew Hewitt and Dee Horton to build an automatic sliding door back in the mid-1950s when they saw that existing swing doors had difficulty operating  in Corpus Christis winds. So the two men went to work inventing an automatic sliding door that would circumvent the problem of high winds and their damaging effect.  Horton Automatics Inc. was formed in 1960, placing the first commercial automatic sliding door on the market and literally establishing a brand new industry.   Their first automatic sliding door in operation was a unit donated to the City of Corpus Christi for its Shoreline Drive utilities department. The first one sold was installed at the old Driscoll Hotel for its Torch Restaurant. All this would set the stage for megamalls. Giant megamalls werent developed until the 1980s when the West Edmonton Mall opened in Alberta, Canada with more than 800 stores. It was open to the public  in 1981  and featured a hotel, amusement park, miniature golf course, a church, a water park for sunbathing and surfing, a zoo and a 438-foot lake.

Ideas for Thanksgiving Math Word Problems

Thanksgiving math word problems are an easy way to infuse the November spirit of gratitude into every part of the school day. Customize these general turkey-themed concepts for whatever grade level you teach. Addition/Subtraction Mrs. Jones baked 5 pumpkin pies on Monday, 6 pumpkin pies on Tuesday, and 8 pumpkin pies on Wednesday. How many pumpkin pies did she bake altogether?Jasmine made 14 cups of butternut squash soup for Thanksgiving dinner. The family ate 9 cups of the soup at dinner. How many cups of soup were left over?Mr. Wilson went to the store to buy the food for Thanksgiving dinner. He spent $17.43 on vegetables, $32.16 on turkey and stuffing, and $12.19 on beverages. How much did Mr. Wilson spend altogether?Grandma brought two dozen cookies to Thanksgiving dinner. All but 3 were eaten that night. How many cookies were eaten?The Pilgrims sat down to the very first Thanksgiving dinner. There were 73 Pilgrims and 56 Native Americans at the table. How many people were at the table altogether? Multiplication/Division Each apple pie serves 9 people. There are 5 pies on the table. How many people will this feed?There are 32 ears of corn for 16 people. How many ears of corn can each person eat?The grocery store is selling turkeys for $7 each. They have sold 13 so far in the month of November. How much money has the store made so far in turkey sales?The pumpkin patch has 47 rows of pumpkins and 93 pumpkins in each row. How many pumpkins are there in all? Advanced/Other Lois bought three turkeys for three different prices. The prices were $18.92, $21.75, and $16.31. What is the average cost of the turkeys? Round to the nearest cent.Mike ate 1.4 pounds of food at Thanksgiving dinner. John ate 1.6 pounds. Write an inequality to compare the amount of food each boy ate. Use the less than or greater than sign.

Essay Cinema of Attraction - 1656 Words

When one contemplates the concepts of cinema and attractions, the ideas of the modern day blockbuster film might come to mind. World disasters, car chases, and high profile police investigations are just some of the story lines that attract people to theatres year round. The term cinema of attraction introduced by Tom Gunning into the study of film is defined more precisely. To quote Gunning, a cinema of attraction: directly solicits spectator attention, inciting visual curiosity, and supplying pleasure through an exciting spectacle (p.230). This spectacle may be demonstrated through dance, song or offscreen supplements, such as sound effects and spoken commentary. Rather than a straightforward entertainment purpose, a film may seek to†¦show more content†¦The ending (or the beginning Ââ€" it was interchangeable) helped place the film in history books. The scene involved one of the bandits shooting his pistol towards the audience creating a spectacle as the viewers, seeing this for the first time, believed they were being shot at. Many audience members were startled by this cinema tactic and the action shot became a great innovation in film (Dirk, 2007). The Great Train Robbery used a number of inventive techniques; including parallel editing, minor camera movement and location shooting. The director was one of the first to utilize jump cuts or cross cuts which displayed two separate lines of action or events happening continuously at identical times but in different places (Dirk, 2007). For instance, the film is intercut from the bandits beating up the telegraph operator (scene one) to the operators daughter discovering her father (scene ten), to the operators recruitment of a dance hall posse (scene eleven), to the bandits being pursued and splitting up the booty and having a final shoot out (scene thirteen) (Dirk, 2007). Furthermore, The Great Train Robbery was also the first film in which gunshots forced someone to dance, which is now a clichà ©d action in many western cinemas. Additionally, the use of colour was a spectacle seen in some of the womens attire, the gun shots and the explosions in the train. Overall as the film worlds first linear narrative The Great Train Robbery made way for several future filmingShow MoreRelatedCinema of Attractions1670 Words   |  7 PagesThe cinema of attraction. ‘A matter of making images seen.’ This is what Fernand Là ©ger was writing in 1902 about the new art, trying to describe the possible changes in cinema, by emphasizing the fact that imitating the movements of nature is not necessarily the best way of defining cinema’s essence. This is only one of the writings concerning this topic which influenced Tom Gunning in characterizing the cinematic period before 1906 as that of the ‘cinema of attractions’. 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Employee Absenteeism Is a Well Recognized - Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: How To Employee Absenteeism Is A Well Recognized? Answer: Introduction In any organisation, employee absenteeism is a well-recognised problem due to fixed work schedules. Absenteeism can be defined as failure of employee to report to work as per schedule irrespective of the reason. This behaviour can be caused by several reasons such a sick leave, occupational deviance, bereavement and other situations. If absenteeism at work place increases, it affects a business in many ways. It may include global incidence, direct cost, service quality and indirect cost (Gosselin et al. 2013). This research proposal is the part of the responsibility given to me by the Head of Human Resources of International Conglomerates (IC) to conduct a research project concerning performance management. The IC proposes to identify why the level of absenteeism across their sales divisions markedly above the industry average since the last five years. The organisation operates sales teams across three sites in France, India, and Brazil. The number of employees in each team are as follows: France 55; India 123; Brazil 35. Each team is led by a regional sales manager who reports directly to the Head of Sales in each country. The first part of the proposal involves current literature review on the topic and investigates the causes of absenteeism. The rationale for investigating this topic is plethora of literature available on the absenteeism and loss of business productivity in the sales division. Research Aim and objectives A workplace is a complex environment and is affected by several problems. One of the main affecting factors is the absenteeism. Few small factors can affect absenteeism in a great way. However, the cumulative effect of these small factors have a huge impact. Therefore, the research aims to interact with the employees and the managers to identify the cause of rate of absenteeism above the industry average in three sites of the organisation that is France, India, and Brazil. It will help to identify if human resource management strategies align with the evidenced based options available in literature. Based on the data collection the researcher intends to suggest any measure to reduce absenteeism. The objectives of research are: To identifying the factors contributing to absenteeism in the target organisation To assess the impact of the problem on organisation Recommend preventive strategies to reduce absenteeism and performance management Literature review Before finalising the topic of the research, it was decided to check the feasibility of the investigation. Firstly, the availability and accessibility of the relevant data and information is checked. A quick examination of online databases and libraries indicated a presence of rich data on absenteeism. The rationale for investigating this subject is personal interest industrial relation where the topic absenteeism and its significance was explored. The impact of absenteeism can be felt directly by the organisation. It was found from the literature review that there are no underlying theories on the chosen subject. However, there are several theories explaining why an employee fails to attend the work. The available information and statistics highlights that absenteeism is the growing problem in many parts of the world. This is the area of high concern among the manager and the researchers. In UK and US the absenteeism crisis in workplace is high prevalent. The most effected with this crisis are small and medium sized enterprises and absenteeism involves both genuine and non-genuine causes (Tillett et al. 2015). Due to this absenteeism trend, the businesses in UK are losing around 7 days a year per employee. In UK, 23% of the firms report non-genuine absences. It is the primary cause of the short-term time off workmainly for the non-manual workers. Currently, the British firms are losing productivity worth of a week, which is found to have detrimental effect on their bottom lines. According to Soane et al. (2013), the cause of absence in majority of cases is due to illness and domestic reasons. The other common cause is accidents out of work and in workplace. A company sick pay scheme is the cause of absenteeism in 8% of the cases and the nature of the work and stress in 5% of the cases. Apart from the absence due to sickness, other absences are taken which are avoidable. It may include stressors in job environment, individual work ethic and characteristics, human resource management and company leadership policy. The cause of absenteeism due to relationships at workplace is found in 2% of cases and is mainly related to depression and anxiety at workplace. Therefore, it is important to know the exact cause of absenteeism and if it is avoidable (Merrill et al. 2013). Mowday et al. (2013) examined the cause of absenteeism and found that it cannot be explained in single factor. The paper explained the psychology of the employee abseteesim. There are multiple factors contributing to the absenteeism at job which includes nature of job, characteristics of employee, employees commitment, culture of the workplace, and extrinsic motivation at workplace. According to the equity and exchange theory an employee expects a reward as a fair exchange of what they have contributed to the business in terms of knowledge, skills and commitment. Therefore, rewards may be related to the extrinsic motivation such as pay and benefits and intrinsic motivation such as job satisfaction. Bhui et al. (2012) highlighted that ability to attend office, job satisfaction and work pressure together determines absenteeism. Stringent conditions in workplace may affect the ability to attend. Some may prefer not to take absent out of fear of losing the job. Mowday et al. (2013) studi ed that increased rate of absenteeism is related to management of absenteeism. It may happen due to firms not able to monitor the absence levels. Firms should be able to control the rate of absenteeism. Any reluctance at its end will reduce the pressure on the management to correct the problem. There are several negative implications of employee absenteeism. It increases unnecessary cost to productivity. The direct cost is the sick pay schemes of the company which together with other leaves and holidays may add to the companys burden. Many other indirect costs are quantifiable. The financial burden on many firms is increasing and adding to unnecessary repercussions for productivity. Replacing an absent worker with other person increases surplus of staff to maintain business productivity. There is a huge waste of managements time due to reorganisation of schedules. The shortage of staff adds burden on other working members in the organisation. It may lead to job stress and burn out among the remaining employees. If the absenteeism is proliferated, it may lead to absence mentality and acceptance of absconding behaviour (Deery et al. 2014). The set of strategies used by the human managers to reduce absenteeism include improved communication, employee commitment, discipline, return to work interview and incentives. The study executed by Kehoe and Wright (2013) showed that organisation implementing control measures to prevent absenteeism helps reduce the problem. Lack of trained supervisors, managers fails to counsel employee and control absence. If the managers have high commitment for their profession it s reflected in their behaviour which in turn have impact on labour turnover, job performance and absenteeism. High level of commitment among the employees leads to strong belief in accepting the organizations values and goals. Commitment helps the organization to exert considerable effort to retain manpower which is the main goal of human resource manager (). Most firms experiencing high rate of absenteeism is due to low level of effort given by the human resource department to eliminate absenteeism. Lack of disciplinar y practices in the organization is the other major cause of increased absenteeism (). The corrective action for human resource managers is to set minimum standards of attendance and other disciplinary control. Those firms having strategy for employee motivation in terms of innovative incentive and bonus schemes have reduced absenteeism. In some firms with low absenteeism it was found that non-financial benefits have been more effective in reducing absenteeism (Gosselin Lemyre and Corneil 2013). It can be concluded from the literature review that absenteeism is the cumulative effect of individual characteristics and organizational response to the cues. Research design and Methodology Paradigm of Enquiry The paradigm of enquiry for this research proposal is positivism research philosophy, descriptive research design and deductive research approach. Both primary and secondary data will be collected for investigating why the absenteeism rate is more than the industry average in the target organisation. Both quantitative and qualitative research paradigm will be used for this study. The research will employ survey and interview method for data collection from the participants selected using both probability and non-probability sampling method. Precautions have been taken to ensure the reliability and the validity of the research. Research Methodology The research methodology is the structure of the research, which consist of the method outline and the research onion. The methodology analyses the research philosophy, design and approach with rationale for its use in the research proposal. It also includes data collection, sampling technique, and research ethics. Research onion is used to conclude the research methodology. The different layers of the research onion act as a framework to conduct the research in the systematic manner (Keraminiyage 2013). Figure : Research Onion (Source: Keraminiyage 2013) The four types of research philosophies are pragmatism, interpretivism, positivism and realism. The realism philosophy is the longitudinal study and the data given by the participants is assumed to reflects the research findings. The Interpretivism is used to interpret the data as a respondent and is a cross-sectional study. It does not involve data testing rather data is constructed using human reasoning and perceptions. It is therefore, considered inappropriate for this research. For this study, positivism philosophy will be used which assumes that the facts already existing in the universe can be scientifically analysed. It is justified because it aligns well with the deductive process. It is justified because the empirical data collected can be used to test the existing theories (Creswell, 2013). There are two types of research approach including deductive and inductive. In deductive approach or waterfall approach, a complex data is converted into a simpler form using quantitative research paradigm. On the other hand, the inductive approach involves building of a theory or hypothesis and involves qualitative approach. Inductive approach is suitable for exploring a subject using how and why inquiries. For this research, deductive approach is used. It is appropriate for the study because a research is conducted based on the existing research and theories. The subjective data collected from the employees on absenteeism needs to be confirmed with the secondary data. Due to time constraint there is no scope of building new theory therefore inductive approach is avoided (Barratt et al. 2015). Research design The framework or plan that guides the research study, data collection and analysis is referred to research design (Kelly et l. 2014). The steps of research design is given below- (Created by author) Problem definition is the first step in the research process. If the research problem is not clearly defined the research objectives will also turn wrong thus making the entire process a big waste of time (Kelly et al. 2014). This is the critical stage and the defined problem is to establish the reason for absenteeism rate above the industry average in the target organisation X. This creates an excellent opportunity to the managers to assess the situation and rectify the problem. Without research design it is difficult to attain the research aims and objectives. Research design directs the exploration involving procedural steps. There are three types of research design, which are explanatory, exploratory and descriptive. Exploratory research is used when a research issue is to be comprehend but is not discussed anywhere in exhaustive manner. Therefore, exploratory research builds a ground for exploration. The explanatory research on the other hand helps in data collection and selection of subject. This helps in enquiring an issue in details and establishes a relationship between set of variables. However, descriptive approach is used where the research issue is well known and can be investigated using top to bottom approach and in-depth analysis (Pickard 2013). Descriptive approach is suitable for this purpose as it will help to analyse and find out as to what and how the employees are take more week offs then scheduled. Data Collection Methods The major stage of any research process is the collection of data. This step ensures obtaining the relevant information pertaining to the subject. There re two types of data used in the research project including primary and the secondary data. When data is directly collected from the respondents or the research participants it is called as primary data. On the other hand, the data collected from the journals, books, newspapers and other databases is referred as secondary data (Sarantakos 2012). In this research the primary data will be collected from the employees and managers of the three sales division of the target organisation X to know why the rate of absenteeism has exceeded the industry average. The nature of the data collected can be both qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative data is the numeric data represented by charts and graphs. Qualitative data is the descriptive data that includes themes and patterns and are non-numeric in nature (Taylor et al. 2015). This resear ch proposes the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. It is also referred as Mix method and is used for gaining a detailed perspective on the research problem, which is the cause of increased absenteeism in recent years in the target organisation. For any research project, it is essential to have an appropriate instrument to collect the desired data. In academic research, there are multitudes of research instrument available such as interview, questionnaire, focus groups, experiments and observations (Pickard 2012). The collection of data and the instrument to be used is guided by academia and literature to give legitimacy and reliability of the research. For quantitative data collection survey questionnaire will be used. The questionnaire will be given to 54 employees randomly selected from three sales division France, Brazil and India. The questionnaire includes close-ended Likert scale response. The responses are graded as Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, and Strongly Agree. The quantitative data is collected with the aim to ensure the generalisability of the data and to obtain specific response pertaining to the problem area. During the development of the questionnaire the chance of bias response and errors will be eliminated (Creswell 2013). For qualitative data collection, interview method is used. Interview will be conducted with the regional managers and the human resource managers. For this research the interview will be conducted for 40 minutes. The purpose of descriptive data is to gain broad perspective based on the employees and managerial responses. Therefore, the interview will be based open-ended questions (Pickard 2012). Data Analysis procedures/techniques Data analysis is a high-risk task as any misinterpretation of the data may result in obtaining wrong information. It may defeat the very purpose of research. Qualitative data analysis- is performed by observational analysis. The employees and managerial responses were analysed by coding the transcripts from the audio-recorded interview. Themes are developed from the transcript and is analysed with the help of literature (Creswell 2013). Quantitative data analysis- distinct responses are obtained from the likert scale questionnaire. To analyse the scattered and the diverge responses the data will be converted to frequencies and percentages using SPSS tool. In quantitative data, it is easy to derive the research outcomes using central tendency. It will help in presenting the data in the form of tables and charts to get a generalised and inferential view (Treiman 2014). Sampling Appropriate sampling method is necessary which if failed may lead to contamination of the data and reduce the overall quality of the findings. Either probability or non-probability sampling technique can be used in the research. In this research both sampling methods are used. In Simple Random Sampling Technique, which is a probability, sampling a randomised process is employed for selecting the participants. This method prevents the contamination by human interference (Thompson 2013) Convenience Sampling Technique, which is a non probability sampling the participants are selected in biased manner to obtain insightful responses on the chosen topic (Mitchell and Jolley 2012). It is used for selecting the 3 regional managers. For this research proposal a total of 60 participants are chosen involving regional (3) and human resource managers (3) and employees (54) from three sites France, Brazil and India. Ethical Issues Ethical issues are inevitable when participating in research and the researchers are accountable for their own ethical conduct. In the process of research design, ethics is an important part. It helps in planning the data collection method, requesting access to organisation and the respondents for reporting the data. All the guidelines in the Data Protection Act 1998 will be complied while conducting the research (Barratt et al. 2015). When conducting this research, precautions will be taken to ensure confidentiality and privacy of the data collected. A written consent will be given to the participants that the information shared will not be used for any commercial purposes. The research values building trust with the respondents. A potential mentor was consulted to resolve issues while developing questionnaires. Participants will be given autonomy to respond to the questions without exerting external pressure (Deterding et al. 2015). Research timeline The subsequent levels of research onion is directed by the time horizon. Crossectional examination and longitudinal research are the two types of time horizons used in research. The longitudinal timeline is not used here as it is applicable for long term studies and for managing the gagging changes in this period (Treiman 2014). Since the time accessible is constraint cross sectional time line is used as it includes studying specific event at a particular time. Therefore, the research aims to complete the survey and interview process in 8 weeks time. The total research process is intended to complete in 10 weeks of time. The timeline of the research helps on to decide upon the sequence of events that needs to be carried out in the research. 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