Development and career - Essay Example

Development and career Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts May 5th, Development and career “Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge through experience which leads to an enduring change in behavior.” (Huczynski & Buchanan, 2010). Explain this statement, showing how it relates to a learning theory that you have studied on this module and to your own approach to learning. More often in psychology and education, the process that combines cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences and experiences in order to acquire, enhance or to make any kind of changes in an individuals’ knowledge and values all around the world is known as learning. The process of learning focuses on the result of learning and their explanations are known as learning theories. The learning theory describes the way in which the people and the animals learn and it helps us in understanding the complex process of learning. The two main value of learning are mentioned below. 1. It provides us with vocabulary that helps us in interpreting the various examples of learning. 2. It also suggests solutions in order to solve practical problems. The learning theory does not actually give theories but they direct us to find solutions. The three categories in which the frameworks of the learning theory falls are behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism from which behaviorism focuses mainly on the objectivity of learning while the cognitive theories look beyond the behavior of an individual, however, the contructivism sees learning as a practice in which the learner constructs new ideas and concepts. (Huselid, 1995). Many people have also criticized the learning theory because it focuses on the traditional educational practices and the critics have said that there is no such need of this theory and it has created more problems than the solutions. Moreover, in a process, we don’t comprehend but we learn it and it is done by measuring it and this makes people uncomfortable because they know that they have not grasped the problem. The process is not focused upon but it is often declared as learning by consensus. The entire educational world has been using the same system and learning is being quantified by measuring it in pieces by courses, hours, tests and then grades. It is assumed that psychology identifies the aptitudes and the conception of learning focuses on the four assumptions which are that someone knows what has to be learnt, how it must be learnt, why it should be learnt and by whom it should be learnt. Altogether all these assumptions the people socialize and evaluate if learning is taking place or not and since one knows aptitudes, we can track a person’s ability by setting goals for him. The approach of the learning theory is a pedagogical and psychological technology but it is humanly absurd. Within a free culture and our society, this process is understated and a variety of tricks are applied in the system which allows personal freedom without making an individual feel what is going on since the individual does not feel the arbitrary that is being done to him. (Lado & Wilson, 1998) Acquiring the knowledge through experience is what actually learning is and this results in a change in the behavior of an individual. Learning relates to the learning theory in some aspects. Since a combination of cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences and experiences results in learning, the explanation of learning are the learning theories. Through leaning the behavior of the people change because the people are made aware of the various aspects of things in order to make them aware. Learning something by memorizing or using the rote system is extremely useless because it feeds all the information in the mind of an individual and he memorizes it but he cannot eventually use that information because he has not understood the literal meaning of what he has memorized. Only when an individual understands what he has learnt, can be said that he has actually learnt how to perform it. Experience plays a major role in determining whether an individual knows something or not. After learning when one practices what has been learnt and repeats the same thing again and again, he gains an edge on that thing and he becomes a specialist since he is able to do it without any supervision. Moreover, experience makes him sound enough to come up with solutions in case any problem occurs. Although learning changes the behavior of an individual for good, it is worthwhile too. However, learning by experience is also related to the learning theory since learning focuses on its result while the explanations result in learning theories which are also described as a way in which people understand the process of learning. Various examples of learning are interpreted using the vocabulary which is providing by learning and it suggests solutions. When we learn by experience, we first have to memorize as well as understand the concept after which we learn by practicing it. Memorizing it is also essential because to practice something, we need to remember it as well. My approach of learning is first to read something thoroughly after which I apply the thing I have read since this enables me to know whether I have actually understood that concept or not. After this, I practice it as much as it is required to make me perfect in that field. Practicing it again and again makes me good at it. Why would managers want to change employees’ attitudes? Comment on the approach you might take as a manager, giving reasons. Emotions of workers in respect to work can adversely affect the success of an organization, stated by a landmark study. Gang & Gang, HR consulting giant, Towers Perrin and its research partner found in their study on work and human emotion on over half of 1100 North American employees they surveyed had "unconstructive" emotions regarding their work, whereas around a third had “extremely unconstructive” emotions regarding their work. Negative emotions badly affect profitability, productivity, retention, performance and key factors in the organization, stated by the study, Working Today: Exploring Employees’ Emotional Connection to Their Jobs, this study was carried earlier this year. (Leat, 2001). The researchers came across an astounding discovery that amongst the extremely negative employees, a full quarter of the employees planned to stay with their present job, this suggests that it is implied that employees may be just “hanging on” to their current jobs without being involved in, or by their work and that they may be just reasonably involved in their work. The suggestion is quite obvious that employees who are not totally dedicated to their jobs may obstruct the success of the organization. Researchers in another conclusion concluded that uninvolved employees may affect the organization by adversely affecting colleagues with their unconstructive thoughts. To change the attitude of employees from negative to positive leaders at the workplace must comprehend few of the elements which underlay that may generate sensitively distant employees. In a study researchers stated that mainly five elements added to the majority of the employees’ negativity, comprising: too much workload, concerns regarding effective leadership, nervousness concerning financial and job safety, lack of interesting and challenging job, frustration and inadequate or perhaps no appreciation. (Lewis, 2003). Unconstructive emotions shooting from these factors spell trouble for the managers and employers, specifically regarding staff retention. A survey revealed that amongst the extremely negative group of workers, around 30% were keenly searching for new work and on the contrary only 6% of workers had constructive emotion regarding their present jobs. In a survey, employees were questioned about their ideal experience related to work; they focused on the following elements: Have a sense of self esteem- feeling capable, having confidence and being in control of their job and job experience. Citing outcome - the contributions employees make in assisting their company prosper. Being appreciated and appraised- realizing that the contributions they have made shall be compensated and recognized. (Micallef & Powell, 1997). Work leaders can create plans to dispel negativity and enhance positive emotions amid the workers mainly by understanding a number of factor that cause workers to be emotionally far from their jobs, and also a number of elements which the workers value. Mangers should include a number of elements in their plan, which are: Identification and communication of priorities- Managers can change negative attitudes of employees to a positive mindset basically by identifying and communicating priorities, setting such priorities with the workers assists them to concentrate on more important chores and in addition may also assist to reduce a little of the strain they sense when they are besieged by a grave load of work. Recognize break downs of work process- Establish whether there are improved or further prolific work processes that employees can utilize. Provide correct tools for work – When workers have inadequate or useless equipments to work with, they get frustrated, therefore it is necessary to make sure that workers have the suitable tools to perform their jobs. Grant them space- The managers should direct the employees only when needed and should only set expectations for the results, thereby permitting employees a greater sense of independence and power in making a decision how to carry out the job. This in turn augments trust and involves workers in the course plus the result. Give them proper training- To feel more expert and capable in their work training is very necessary; it prepares the workers greater task and further assignments full of challenge. Confidence is basically an output of ability and training is the instrument. Speak to them- Managers should talk to workers that what is expected from them concerning their performance, plus how and where they how and where in the corporation they "fit". By selecting various examples it should be demonstrated to the workers that their contributions make a difference, one-on-one discussions and staff meetings are ideal sites to converse how workers contribute to the success of the organization. Keep workers up to date- Workers need to sense that they are ‘in the know’ concerning their division and the company as a whole; this can be done by sharing of information. Managers should communicate to the workers that they trust and respect them and their work; employees in turn will feel appreciated and will pay back their leaders’ respect. Talk and listen to workers regarding their job concerns- talk to employees regarding issues quickly and in discreet, dispel the gossips with facts, and be sincere regarding issues and mistakes. Twisting of truth is never suggested as workers have long memories and their confidence can be gone eternally. (Storey, 1998). Make workers feel less worried about their job safety- Provide feedback to the workers about their job performance and don’t for review period to talk about their behavioral problems. Reward the workers for their hard work- As final point managers must ensure that they reward the workers for their contributions and positive behaviors. For most workers money isn’t the only motivator, therefore the managers should ask employees that what motivates them. Choose FOUR barriers to communication that you have studied on this module. Suggest, as a manager, how you might overcome such barriers. A process by which we convey our message to someone or the people in a group is known as communication and only if the message is conveyed clearly, the communication is effective. This is because the message is often distorted and the receiver does not receive it as it was sent. There are many barriers to communication which create problems for a manager and serve as hurdles in achieving the goals of the company. This problem is faced by many organizations since a 50 to 70% loss of meaning occurs when a message is being conveyed. Physical Barriers  This is one of the major barriers of communication at a workplace and it occurs mainly in the organizations that have very large working areas and the ones which are not connected physically. Since the organizations might have a very large network, they might exist in various cities and even countries in the case of the multinationals and the international organizations because of which communication is mainly done on the telephone or on the Internet. Communication which is not face to face often creates problems since the sender and the receiver does not see each other because of which both the parties may not interpret the message correctly. Besides this, there are many other distractions as well which are caused at a workplace by physical barrier which includes the environment and the background noise. Language  To convey a message effectively, it is most essential that both the parties must be well aware of the language that is being used to communicate. Therefore, both the sender as well as the receiver must know the language since this is also considered as one of the greatest barrier that results in ineffective communication. Usage of words which are not appropriate in oral or written communication, often leads to misunderstanding between the two. It is therefore essential that both the parties must be fluent at the language which is being used for communication especially for communication which is not face to face. (Baron & Kreps, 1999). Emotions  Emotions can also serve as a barrier to communication especially when an individual is occupied in emotions for any reason. People often have trouble in listening to the other people and in understanding the message which is being conveyed to them in such cases. Some of the emotional interferences include the following. 1. Hostility 2. Anger 3. Fear Stress  Stress is another barrier of communication; however it depends on how much stress a person is having. When an individual is under immense stress, he will find it very hard to understand the message and this result in distortion of the real message. Since our psychological frame of mind is mainly dependent on our beliefs, experiences and values during the time we our under stress, we often fail to understand the message. (Bailey, Netting & Perlmutter, 2000). Filters of communication As a manager, I would suggest some which in which we can overcome the communication barriers and effective listening plays a major role in overcoming the barriers. For a manager, an employee who has an attitude problem is one of the biggest challenges and since the managers come across employees who they do not get along due to their personality, work style or temperament, who they cannot even fire becomes a major challenge for a manager. Performance appraisal To teach and guide the employees, performance appraisal is suggested because mostly the employees are unaware of their attitude because that is the way they are. This technique is used by the good managers to guide the employees because with the employees who have attitude problem, the other employees are unwilling to work with. Moreover, he criticizes the work of the other people and discussion at a meeting ends when that employee speaks. To overcome all these problems, I suggest the following actions to be taken. (Barker, 2008). The behavior of these individuals must be observed and their impact on productivity must be studied. The impact the behavior of an employee has on the work should be analyzed and notes should be taken. The manager should meet the employee personally and he should talk to that particular employee about his performance and his intention to help him improve. The employee should be asked how they are willing to improve their behavior and the way in which they can increase their productivity. Moreover, we should engage the employee in change management. People are often resistant towards change and they do not change until and unless it is extremely essential. In this case, the manager should explain the employee about the performance goals and the way they can be balanced with his attitude. A plan of action should be made after which evaluation must be done. Direct feedback should be gathered from the internal customers as well as the colleagues of that employee. At a workplace, the point of views of the other employees really matter. (David, 1997). Physical barriers of communication can be rectified by arranging meetings from time to time so that the people who communicate more with one another can know each other and understand each other more easily. Moreover, for communication web cameras should be used so that the receiver can read the facial expressions of the sender also. To rectify the communication barrier of language, both employees who are communicating should know the same language or in the cases when the language is not known by any one, training must be provided. Emotional barrier can be removed by reducing stress and making the employees feel happy and satisfied and by communicating with them when they feel relaxed. Create a formal letter applying for a job as assistant manager in a company and sector of your choice. Attach your CV and link it to the application wherever possible. Dear Sir/Madam, I read with much interest your advertisement in the Daily DAWN for the position of Assistant Manager in the Human Resource department in your organization. I have prior experience of working as an intern in the human resource department of a well known company where I gained a lot of experience and exposure of the day to day problems related to the human resources. Moreover, I also got a chance to apply the theories I have studied in the real world which enabled me to learn by experience. I am a hardworking, skilled and motivated individual and would love to be a part of your team and contribute towards the success of your organization. Enclosed is my CV for your kind consideration. I hope to hear from you in this regard. Yours sincerely, Reference Bailey,D., Netting,E. & Perlmutter,F.D. (2000). Managing Human Resources in the Human Services: Supervisory Challenges.1st Edn. Oxford Cool Soundsiversity Press, USA. Barker,C. (2008). Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. 3rd Edn. Sage Publications Ltd. Baron, J.N. & Kreps, D.M. (1999). Strategic Human Resources: Frameworks for General Managers. 1st Edn. Wiley. David, E.G. (1997). The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1466-4399. Volume 8, Issue 3, Pages 263 – 276. May 7th, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface?content=a713769986&rt=0&format= pdf Huselid, M.A. (1995). The Impact of Human Resource Management Practices on Turnover, Productivity, and Corporate Financial Performance, Academy of Management. May 7th, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/pss/256741 Lado, A.A. & Wilson, M.C. (1994). Human Resource Systems and Sustained Competitive Advantage: A Competency-Based Perspective. Academy of Management. May 7th, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/pss/258742 Leat, M. (2001). Exploring Employee Relations. Butterworth-Heinemann. Lewis,P. (2003). Employee Relations: Cool Soundsderstanding The Employment Relationship. Financial Times Management. Micallef, D.A. & Powell, T.C. (1997). Information Technology as Competitive Advantage: The Role of Human, Business, and Technology Resources. Strategic Management Journal. Vol. 18, No. 5, pp. 375-405. May 7th, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/pss/3088167 Storey, J. (1998). Developments in the Management of Human Resources. Management Research News. Volume: 11, Issue: 1/2 , Page: 27 – 27. May 7th, 2011. Retrieved from:http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=AD273803 0C09992C0BEA65134C49171B?contentType=Article&contentId=1647388 Read More