Human Resource and Management Essay Example for Free

Human Resource and Management Essay It is widely accepted that functions involving management include planning goals of the organization, organizing its employees so that efficiency can be achieved, leading involves employee motivation and influence, whereas control function makes sure that all other functions help bring success to the organization . Another viewpoint is that there is a fifth function which is staffing. Staffing involves the HRM department making sure that the appropriate people with valuable skills are placed on jobs (Bartol, 2004). Human resource department has become more important today as it is integrated and much more strategically involved. The HRM department sees it very important in order to be successful as an organization much effort should be put on recruitment of employees, then they should be motivated to perform their task, and trained to execute their responsibilities effectively. To built an efficient work force and maintain it on that level the HRM needs to influence employee behaviour when they seem off track. The few ways in which they can do is by organizing which includes job design/redesign, remuneration and benefits, training and development, and performance management. Job Design Job design is method which involves organizing employee tasks and giving them responsibilities. It also focuses on changing duties of employees so that job satisfaction is gained, which therefore increases efficiency. It focuses on the content of job and effect it has on employee motivation and effectiveness. If job satisfaction is achieved productivity can also be achieved, some people prefer jobs which they feel comfortable at, identifying what makes a good job for the employee can be helpful in improving performance, this can make difference on cost resulting from absenteeism and low turnover. The job fit matches characteristic of people with characteristic of jobs. A person not fitting a job can be disastrous for the company and the employee. By re-designing the job the person/job fit can be may be improved, this can affect employee motivation as the job becomes favourable for employee, catering to their need of job-related satisfaction, for example a person who does not likes to talk much may find it awkward and frustrating at a bank teller job because there he may have to interact with people all day long (Keaton, 2001). Read more:Â  Areas of Human Resources Management Business The ways to re-design a job includes job enlargement and job enrichment, this involves reducing the problems faced by the employee on job. Broadening the scope of the job by expanding the tasks to be performed may reduce the monotonous job experience, as their would be new tasks for the employee to perform, this may help influence behaviour as the employee may achieve job satisfaction and also feel more important as a part of the organization. Job enrichment deals with the employee given more responsibility then before, by adding planning, controlling and evaluating to his job function. Job enrichment may include giving the employee the entire job rather then a part of work, expanding the assignment so that the employee can learn from new tasks, moreover developing new areas of expertise. It may also include giving the employee more autonomy so that he can organize work according to his will, along with giving feedback to higher officials. The more these characteristics are in the job the more motivating it becomes. For the employees motivational value comes from job enrichment due to the feeling of employees that work is now more meaningful, due to the fact that they are more responsible for outcomes. These changes therefore satisfy the employees need for growth, work motivation, work satisfaction, and work effectiveness (Schuler, 2008). Remuneration and Benefits The HR department has also the responsibility of setting employee remuneration, which is the financial payment to employees for their work. This can be used in influencing employee behaviour, it is necessary for the organization to reward employees fairly. If the employee feels he hasn’t been rewarded well he will be de-motivated. Organizations work towards keeping their skilled employee the time, they do not want to lose employee who have worked with them and are good at what they do, also for motivating employees to be more effective and efficient at work HR department tries to best set the wages inline with the expectance of the employees. Well paid employees feel more satisfied with work and are also more willing to give something extra to the organization, in long term this can increase employee commitment and built a trusted relationship between employee and employer. The other option which the HR department uses in influencing behaviour is the benefit system. Employee benefits are does part of the process that reward in addition to cash pay. These benefits may include insurance, medical, pension schemes, a company car or loan, and paid holidays. These benefits care for personal security and needs (Armstrong, 2000). The aim of employee benefits is to contribute to a competitive reward package, also to provide tax-efficient method of remuneration. This is also to provide for the employees need and also for their request for financial help, thus demonstrating that they are part of a caring organization so in turn they can be motivated to carry out work. This also increases the commitment of employee to the organization. The benefit strategy should be directed at the goal of achieving objectives of the business by ensuring it has high quality, committed people in their ranks. A flexible benefit plan helps employee choose between two or more benefits. An employee will be more motivated if he has a say in his benefit package, this way employee can gain better appreciation for the value of benefit he is be being rewarded. Benefits can also be aligned with work, such as giving paid holidays, this can be helpful in achieving short term targets of organization (Robert, 2008). The HR department has therefore the responsibility to work out the best reward system so that employees can benefit and feel satisfied with their work effort (Armstrong, 2000). Training and Development Training and developing employees so that they can deliver their best to the organization is one of the main functions of HR department. The HR department has to continuously work towards perfecting their work force, training them so that they can adapt to the changing business environment. HR department uses training and development to bring about a permanent change in the employees behaviour. Training is defined as helping employee do their current or future work better, where as development involves acquisition of knowledge, skills, personal development, and the right attitude so that the employee is prepared for future opportunities (Bacal, 1998). Training is used in altering the behaviour of the employee in a direction that will help achieve organizational goals. Training helps employees master their present skills or acquire new skill for the execution of another job. Learning is a part of training which brings about a permanent change in employee behaviour. Before training the personal analysis should be conducted so that it could be determined who requires training and their readiness for training. For training to be successful immediate reinforcement is needed so that appropriate behaviour is learned. The learner must be awarded in ways which satisfy needs, such as pay, promotion and recognition. Standards of performance should be set for the employee, as when these standards are met the employee gets a feeling of accomplishment. The training should be meaningful and should also give employee enough time to absorb. The employee should be encouraged to practise the behaviour again and again so that he could perfect his skills. This way a permanent change is brought about in the employee’s behaviour. There are different approaches to training, which includes on-job training and behavioural modelling. On-job training is that an employee is placed in a real work situation and is showed the job and tricks of the trade by a supervisor. This method widely uses the employee’s learning capability to understand and retain the task execution. The other method is behaviour modelling. This is used in increasing interpersonal skills by observing an experienced employee. These methods help bring about a favourable response from the employee. For this training and development procedure to be successful the HR department should ensure that training is linked to business objectives so that everyone is pointed in the same direction. The training should be focused on outcomes and not activities, also allowing employees enough time to adapt. Training should be motivating so that employee expectations could be met, of providing career pathways, increasing job satisfaction and also improving job security. Employee must be shown how to acquire new competencies and what are the benefits of gaining them The HR department should ensure that not only the organizations needs are respected but also the employees and what they want to achieve, so that positive change is brought about in behaviour. Performance Management and Appraisal The HR department knows how much it costs to acquire employees and retain them as a good working unit, they want to be sure that the outlay on staff is achieving an appropriate return. For this HR departments concentrates on performance management and appraisal, which is about creating relationships and ensuring effective communication within the organization. HR department cite as a process which ensures success for everyone, valuing the effort put in by the employees and also influencing and motivating them for their hard work, they feel it helps asses the employees so that they could be rewarded fairly. This is a communication process between employees and their supervisors, which helps built a clear understanding about the job function and what the employee is expected to do. How they can work together to build, improve or sustain employee’s positive conduct. It focuses on employee’s achievement on the preset objectives and how he can bring about a change in his behaviour so that necessary results can be achieved, with continued reviewing of performance against the plans the HR department ensures that objectives are met. The process of discussing work in progress, and how employees can enhance productivity with regular feedback can help determine where the employees stand, and also assess their accomplishments. Appraising an employees job makes them aware of how a task should be executed, also giving them a degree of empowerment which is the ability to make day-to-day decisions. It also helps employees on how to enhance performance, which in turn presents a chance to the employee to develop new skills and appropriate attitude towards work. If the employee understands his duties he can act more freely within the given framework. Performance appraisal is a part of performance management, it is a judgemental process of the performance of the employee on job. It is mainly done for the employees behaviour is moulded according to the companies determined objectives (Bacal, 1999). Performance appraisal brings about favourable attitude of the employee, in the form of commitment and motivation. This is why it important to appraise employees, its importance can be identified as a development to clarify why it is essential to have an effective training program (Banfield, 2008). It is also important for reward purpose as it identifies the deserving employee to receive a reward and who should be trained to achieve high efficiency. Employee motivation is the key behind his compliance to change and this appraisal system stimulates effort to perform better. Employees can be given a legally acceptable reason for promotion or reward and also in case of discharge or transfer so that the employee can’t feel of being treated unfairly. The basic compliance to change of behaviour for an employee comes with monetary incentives, therefore this system helps identify what to pay the employee. This system also encourages communication so that a sense of trust builds between the employee and supervisor, this can be beneficial for the organization as they can work towards carefully shaping the behaviour of the employee so that needs of the organization are catered for, as the employee will respect his supervisor’s decision and will work with commitment and desire. Conclusion The employees are the most important resource of any organization, their commitment and sincerity to the organizations objectives is much sought after. The HR department’s role in this is significant as it sets a benchmark of high standards for the organizations employees. Ensuring that change in behaviour they want is achieved in manner which is acceptable to the employee. The HR department first has to identify the lacking, if it’s concerned with the job they can use job design to influence employee behaviour as an inappropriate person/job fit can be de-motivating for the employee and costly for the organization. If they feel their employees value monetary benefits more they can alter their remuneration and benefit packages according to the need of the employee to generate a feeling of importance in the employee, thus motivating them to achieve organizational goals. The HR department can also analyse the skill level and competence of the employee so that any lacking can then be corrected by employing training and development methods, thus equipping their workforce with new skills and knowledge, readying them to face the challenging business environment. Lastly HR department can use performance management to mould the behaviour of employee according to the need of the organization. With a continuous judgmental system employee motivation and work efficiency can be measured, and then rewarded accordingly. A motivated workforce is the key to any achievement for the organization, so this is what organizations should continuously strive to achieve employing the discussed techniques to influence them.

Preexistence of Christ :: essays research papers

Preexistence of Christ Advanced Information The preincarnate existence of Christ may be "only a simple, contemplative inference backwards from the spiritual glory of the present Christ" (Deissmann); certainly its clearest expression is found in later writing reflecting upon the rudimentary messianic, even adoptionist, assessment of Christ in the primitive Christian community (Acts 2:22 - 23; 10:38). Yet preexistence is at least implied in words of Jesus himself: "The son of man came"; the owner of the vineyard "had still. . . a beloved son: finally he sent him." It is explicit in sayings attributed to Jesus in John's Gospel: "I came down from heaven"; "The glory I had with thee before the world was." Jewish scholars attributed "ideal" preexistence to things (law, temple) and persons (Adam, Moses) deeply reverenced, echoed perhaps in Paul's calling Christ "last Adam. . . from heaven." Greek thinking, reflected in Philo, was familiar with preexistence of souls. But it is unnecessary to find here more than a source of usable terms. The idea that the Son of God, eternally preexisting in glory with the Father, moved by love became incarnate was too central to Christian faith to depend upon coincidences of language for its basis. BELIEVE Religious Information Source web-site Our List of 1,000 Religious Subjects E-mail Paul appeals for generosity because Christ, "through rich, became poor." He pleads that converts live as sons because "God sent forth his son"; argues for self effacement from the fact that Christ, being in the form of God, "emptied himself"; contends, against the Gnostics' pleroma filling the gulf between God and creation, that "all things were created in, through, and for Christ. . . who is before all things." As "Lord from heaven" Christ provides the pattern of our resurrected humanity; as he first descended, so he has ascended, the measure of his triumph and assurance of ours (2 Cor. 8:9; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:5 - 6; Col. 1:15 - 16; Eph. 4:8 - 9). For such practical, pastoral exhortations one does not argue from fringe speculations, but only from familiar, accepted, foundation truths. John's Gospel and Epistle, assuming that Christ came from God and went to God (John 13:3), emphasize his being sent by the Father on divine mission, expressing divine love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9 - 10), a revelation of the unseen Father by one belonging "in the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18), a divine Word, present when God spoke at creation and now again conveying meaning and power to the world (John 1).

Analysis of the story “Shakespeare in the bush” Essay

In the story Shakespeare in the Bush, author Laura Bohannan has an argument with a friend about the interpretation of Shakespeare’s literature. Her friend stated that Shakespeare was â€Å"a very English poet† and that people of other cultures could certainly misunderstand his literal meanings. The author then argues that the plots and motivations of Shakespeare’s tragic plays will always be apparent because human nature is more or less universal through out the world. She does however take into account that the customs and translation of his works could produce slight differences in their interpretations. The argument remained a stalemate as she was preparing to travel to Africa. Her friend gave her a copy of Hamlet as a parting gift with hopes that perhaps she would find the true interpretation. On her trip to Africa the author finds out that custom, translations, and culture play a larger role in the interpretation of Shakespeare and that his meanings were not as universal as she previously thought. During her stay with the Tiv in Africa, Bohannan gets a chance to relay the story of Hamlet to the tribe. She began the tale with the appearance of Hamlet’s fathers ghost. Right away the elder questioned this. The concept of someone having a ghost or living after they die was very foreign to them. They were convinced that the author had gotten the story wrong because the only explanation for a spirit could be that it was an omen sent by a witch. Horatio was also viewed as a fool for not bringing such an important matter before a person with proper knowledge of such omens. The Tiv’s perspective was that hamlet this matter should have never been brought to Hamlet’s attention. It is obvious that their customs and traditions were already biasing their interpretation of the story. If Hamlet were not informed of this â€Å"omen† he would have never sought revenge for the death of his father, thus changing the plot dramatically. Another major complication with the story the Tiv had, was Hamlet’s uncles’ succession to the throne. In Tiv society it is only natural for the brother of the chief to become chief in the event of his brothers death. The Tiv also commended the speed with which Hamlet’s mother remarried after the death of her husband. A wife of one of the elders overheard this part of the story and explained that a quick remarriage is ideal. She stated that  without a husband the farm would not be cultivated, therefore a quick remarriage was essential so that lack of food would not occur. It was obvious to the Tiv woman that the mother had done this in the best interests of the family so Hamlet had no reason to feel negatively about it. The author tried in vain to explain why these things would make Hamlet miserable. Fear of famine was not on the mind of Hamlet’s mother for she was powerful enough not to rely on her husband for food. Western society would view this remarriage as a form of incest and would not be socially acceptable. Also a mourning period would be expected before a widow could be remarried and this was not done. In the elders minds these were normal events and which should not motivate anyone to be depressed. This proves that the authors’ argument of motivation of the greater tragedies being clear everywhere is flawed. The Tiv elders had many explanations for the behavior of Hamlet, which held the authors interest. They all agreed that Hamlet was being bewitched and this was the cause of his strange behavior. They clarified that only a male member of ones family had the power to bewitch people therefore it was clearly king Claudius who was behind this. The Tiv also had an explanation for he supernatural events that occurred. They believed the presence of his fathers ghost was understandably an omen sent by a witch to Hamlet to tell him the truth of his father’s death while trying not to offend the current king. Although these answers were not the same the author viewed she found them fascinating and she modeled the remaining parts of the story around them. Bohannon was learning that the Tiv culture and belief systems did not allow the storyline to progress in the same way as Shakespeare wrote it. After hearing of the death of Ophelia from the author, the Tiv elder wished to know whom her male relatives were in order to find who was responsible. Upon hearing that Laertes, Ophelia’s only living male relative, had returned from France the elder was bold enough to offer his prediction for the end of the story. He proceeded to tell how Laertes was scheming to get money to pay off his debts. According to the elder, Laertes had bewitched his sister in order to sell her body to the witches. The Author protested to this by saying that the body was in fact buried and Laertes had jumped into the  grave and was followed by Hamlet. The elder then concluded that Hamlet had jumped in after him to prevent Laertes from snatching the body. He continued to say that the son of a chief would not want to see another man to become rich and powerful. He said Laertes would be angry with this and try to kill Hamlet. Bohannan had to agree with this although it may not have been exact; Laertes did wish to kill Hamlet. Perhaps the elder’s abstract interpretations of the story had led him to universal conclusion after all. In his own eyes, the elder understood the meaning of the story correctly even though his thoughts did not match with the authors. After the stories conclusion the elder added his thoughts about the tales finish. The poison beer that killed Hamlets mother was obviously meant for the winner of the fight. According to him if Laertes won the duel, the great chief would have given him the poison. This way no one would no that the king arranged Hamlets death. In addition the elder claimed that the chief would have done this also for fear of Laertes witchcraft. Someone who kills his own sister with witchcraft is potentially very dangerous. Very pleased that he had correctly interpreted the story, the elder told Bohannan that she should tell them more stories from her country. The elders would then instruct her about the true meaning of the stories so that she could return home unlighted by their wisdom. The Tiv felt that the author was the one Reexamining the argument, which fueled this story, it is clear to see that the author’s friend was correct. The difference in culture had a large impact on the interpretation of Hamlet. The argument Laura Bohannan presents is flawed. Even though the Tiv elder was able to loosely predict the outcome of the story, Bohannan failed to prove that the plot and motives of Shakespeare’s great tragedies were universal. The Tiv had very different rationalizations for the plot progression and the character motives. The author did not take seriously enough the enormous impact the Tivs different customs and traditions would have on their analysis of Hamlet. Through out this story you can see that human nature does plays no part in the Tivs interpretations of Hamlet. The author learns that culture is the main reason for these differences of opinion. Taking into account the cultural differences of the author, her friend, and the Tiv it seems clear why they  would interpret Shakespea re in very different ways.

Academic Paper vs. Article Writing Service Are The Requirements The Same

Everyday kind of information can be presented in written forms. It can be done using an academic paper or through article writing, also known as non-academic paper/writing. Majority of studies and researches are carried out using information from these forms of writing. Due to this, people take strides to learn the similarities and differences. In this write-up, the difference and similarities between an academic paper and article writing service will be discussed. The Differences Evidence-Based The reason behind academic papers is not unconnected from educating the reader by providing the information backed up with facts. An academic paper can cover a particular subject proposing a theory and show how this theory can be proven with enough evidence e.g. scientific data. Article writing is done to provide entertainment which contains information that is biased as they are supported by little or no facts. It is mainly born out of the writers point of view and can be full of sentiments. It is often done by inexperienced writers with money-backed intentions to entertain and persuade the reader. Formal vs. Informal In academic papers, the form of writing is usually formal and professional looking. There is no room to condone slang words, contracted words, and esoteric languages. The writing is strictly done according to stipulated guidelines. It typically includes an introduction, a body disclosing an overview of the subject accompanied by evidence, and a conclusion that sums up everything in the writing piece. It contains the authors name, credentials, and the list of references. In article writing, information is provided without any manner of formal tonality. It can appear unprofessional as it may harbor slang expressions and indiscernible words. In its bid to entertain the audience, some humor can be incorporated and another element which cannot be seen in academic papers. Audience Academic writing is meant for an educated audience educated scholars and researchers based on proven facts. Article writing is not always intended for an educated audience. Professionalism vs. Unprofessionalism Academic papers are strictly done by professionals in a given field. They are expected to possess enough knowledge regarding what they are writing about. The writing will be reviewed and edited by the authors colleagues and take a lot of time to be published. Article writing can be done by anybody who has little or no knowledge regarding the topic. It takes lesser time to publish. The authors name may not be present. Articles are traditionally void of the authors credentials and list of references where they got their work from. Similarities Informative Academic papers and articles are written with the sole purpose to educate the audience. Both can contain relatively similar information. Originality The information provided in an academic paper and article writing is not expected to be gotten from other peoples words and ideas. The content has to be unique, original, and authentic. In case the information is based on someones ideas or their words are used, a citation is needed to show the source of the gotten information. Failure to do this is tantamount to plagiarism. Creativity In both forms of papers, writers would want to be captivated by their work. In order to achieve this aim in academic papers and article writing, fact-based information and personal experiences that have not been heard of are infused into the writings respectively to gain the attention needed. There you have it!   These are the features that make up academic papers and article writings.