Changes in the Placement Activities - Assignment Example

Placement Report II Placement Report II Indicate whether there are any changes in your placement activities There was a little change in my role as a customer services agent at the company. My main role remained that of answering phone calls and responding to customer requests and questions. However, my supervisor gave me additional responsibilities. She asked me to assist her with filling in daily manual reports for all the products. The supervisor filled in the unique input numbers for each product and passed the forms over to me for completion. My responsibility entailed filling in information such as refund details in the daily report. This daily report will then be handed over to the office manager, who will check it to determine if the input numbers in the forms match up with the refund requests for each product. I enjoyed these additional responsibilities because I was able to learn a lot during my placement period. Indicate To What Extent You Have Now Achieved Your Objectives My main career objective is to get skills and knowledge fashion and management of luxury products. My immediate plan is to go to France after graduating from The Hague University to study Luxury and fashion Management in IESEG. My internship placement at DFS has contributed a great deal towards helping me realize my career objective. Through this placement, I have been able to get immense skills and knowledge in after-sales services for luxury products. This is very fundamental in shaping my future career, especially given that I did not have any previous experience in luxury products prior to this placement activity. I have learnt many things such as communicating with both customers and employees and data entry. These will be fundamental in advancing my skills in my future career. This internship placement has therefore enabled me to achieve part of my objectives and keep my dream for a career in luxury products management and fashion alive. Describe Your Progress Regarding Work Content-Related Matters. What Knowledge Is Missing? My progress was fantastic in terms of developing and growing my skills and knowledge. The internship placement was a great opportunity for me to put my theoretical knowledge in practice. The environment at DFS was very challenging and demanding. This prompted me to bring out the best in myself and drive me towards realizing my potential in terms of service delivery. I did not have any prior experience before joining DFS for this internship. The knowledge, skills, and experience that I have acquired through this internship process is immense. Career wise, I have gained skills in communication, customer relationship management, data entry, and managing luxury products. Despite having a great environment for advancing my career, DFS did not have a good structure to promote fashion. Fashion and luxury products go hand in hand it is a fundamental part of my future career objectives. DFS did not give me enough skills with regard to using fashion to market luxury products. What Skills And Attitudes Need Extra Attention During The Last Stage Of Your Placement? Despite having a very successful placement period at DFS, I realized that I need to work harder on some of my skills in order to be successful in future. During my last stage of placement, I will have to pay more attention to my linguistic skills in the English language as well as other major languages such as French. Most of the customers speak English and it will be necessary to improve in this respect in order to communicate with the customer efficiently. I also need to develop other strategies for communication. As a customer service agent, it is necessary to have a wide range of communication skills in order to deal effectively with customers who may have different grievances. Describe Two Situations in Which You Did Well and Also Two That Did Not Go Very Well My time at DFS in the placement program has been filled with both challenges and opportunities. I faced different situations, some of which I was able to resolve, while others were beyond my control. Firstly, I was able to resolve my fear when I joined the group of employees at DFS. I was the smallest person in the office in terms of age and experience and I was intimidated to join a team of highly skilled employees. I was able to overcome this challenge in the first few weeks and made some of my best friends in the office. The other situation that I was able to handle was answering phone calls. I believe I have great telephone etiquette that enabled me communicate with customers of the company efficiently. I was, however, not able to resolve one situation when a disgruntled customer became very angry with me and did not want to accept the company rules and procedures as I explained to him. I had to refer the matter to the office manager before things got out of hand. The other situation that I was unable to resolve was when I encountered a client who did not understand English very well. We could not communicate effectively because she was German. Luck enough for her, we had a colleague who understood German and was willing to serve her. Does The Nature Of The Placement Activities Correspond With Your Expectations? The placement activities I undertook at DFS were in line with my expectations before I joined the company. I knew that DFS was a huge international company with an enormous client base located all over the world. The task, therefore, was going to be challenging and difficult. I expected to work in a dynamic environment with various challenges that would prompt me to be at my best. The nature of activities that I engaged in as a customer care service personnel were not far from what I expected. I knew beforehand what customer service entailed and I was prepared to meet any emerging challenges. What Subjects / Courses In Your Study Program Do You Need In Your Daily Work? The placement activities I engaged in while at DFS provided me with an opportunity to put my theoretical knowledge in practice. Some of the course and subjects that are relevant to what I do at DFS include persuasive communication and internal management. Persuasive communication comes in handy when I have to convince customers to follow the right procedures of the company when following up on their claims. I have to persuade them with rational reasons and assurance that their issues will be handled. Internal management, on the other hand is important in structured communication within the organization, such as communicating with superiors and colleagues. Has Your Career Path Become Any Clearer Because Of Your Placement? The placement opportunity has defiantly made my career path cleared. I have learnt, gained more skills and experience that is vital for my future career. I have also gained in terms of networking with different professionals in the field. In the process, I have found good mentors who will always give me advice on to improve in the future. Working at DFS has also given me skills of working in a multicultural environment. This is important because fashion and luxury products transcend any cultural barriers and appeal to every individual. Differences and Similarities, Which You Have Observed Between the Cultures of the Country Where You Are DFS is an international company with a multicultural dimension. Working for the company in Beijing introduced me to a whole new different culture. There are, however, some similarities and differences in the Chinese business culture and my culture. Elegance is a very important component of the Chinese business culture. This is portrayed in how companies and business name their stores and in the Chinese architecture. One similarity between the Chinese culture and my culture is hospitality. The Chinese very hospitable and friendly, and with China becoming one of the global leaders in development, more people are visiting china. The people are very welcoming. The other similarity is that Chinese are hardworking people, just like where I come from. Some differences in the cultures exist, such as the ability to embrace different languages. Most of the Chinese people are not willing to learn foreign languages unlike my culture. Situations in Which Cultural Differences Played a Role and Explain These On The Basis Of The Theory Of Intercultural Communication The theory of intercultural communication aims at bridging the communication gap between two or more social groups and cultures. The theory explains different challenges to intercultural communication and the various approaches of overcoming such challenges. This theory is important for individuals working in multicultural environment. In my experience in China while working for DFS, I encountered differences between my culture and the Chinese cultures. DFS is also a multicultural environment where people speak many different languages with different cultural backgrounds. According to the intercommunication theory, communication problems are likely to emerge when it comes to message transmission because of the differences in attitudes, beliefs and cultural values of the people communicating. I also encountered challenges while communicating with people in different situations. Some of the challenging situations include talking to customers, who do not understand foreign languages, associating with other people outside my work environment such as my neighbors, and responding to phone calls from clients who spoke foreign languages that I was not familiar with. Describe Your Progress in Your Command of Foreign Languages Knowledge of foreign languages is very essential in intercultural communication. I have always had a dream of working in a multicultural environment since fashion and luxury products are not tied up to one culture. With this realization, I have endeavored to acquaint myself with foreign languages in order to fit in different international set-ups. I am familiar with English, French, and Chinese. In have overcome several errors and imperfections in relation to my foreign language skills. Some of these imperfections include poor grammar, limited vocabulary, and negative attitude towards some foreign languages. I was able to overcome these issues through practice and interaction with people from a diverse cultural background. My friends and colleagues have helped me improve in various aspects and they now appreciate my skills in foreign languages. Imagine You Are the Boss in Your Placement Organization DFS is a great organization with an international reputation. If I were the boss of the company, I would change some issues such as making fashion a key marketing component, expanding the company’s products to other markets such as Africa and South America, and focusing more on research geared towards product development. These changes will ensure the company maintains its position on the global market by attracting more clients in the previously untapped markets, enriching the marketing strategy of the company through fashion, and research to make the company’s products stronger. All these changes will be supported by market research, and availability of resources. I will device a new marketing plan that will be centered in fashion. This will help to argument value to the already luxurious products of the company. Market surveys and questionnaires will also be useful in conducting research to implement these changes. I would, however, not change the company’s human resource strategy, organizational culture and organizational structure. These elements of the company have played a critical role in the success of the company over the years and will remain useful to the organization in the future. References Schaefers, A. 2014. HILUXURY – Hawaii Luxury Magazine. HILUXURY. 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