Internship at Second Harvest Foodbank - Essay Example

? Internship report at second Harvest Food bank Internship report Introduction This report describes my duties and responsibilities at Second Harvest food Bank in September 2012. The purpose of the internship is to practice the theory I acquire during course work. It enabled me to transmit my entire knowledge about corporate and the law (Barbur, et al, 2011). My stay at Second Harvest food Bank helped me a great deal on improving my interpersonal skills, communicational skills and more so understanding how justice is achieved and maintained in the society. This report paper will seek to describe my experience, challenges, and recommendations in my tasks and responsibilities while serving at Second Harvest food Bank. Second Harvest is an organization that deals with strategies and programs targeting local hunger. It operates in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Its operations began in 1974 and have grown over the years to the largest food store in the region. It supplies food to nearly a quarter of the county population of which almost half of the supply is fresh farm produce. The organization purposely advices families about nutrition and health food selections. It concentrates on distributing food to low income people effectively and efficiently through direct service program and collaborating with a network of non-profit agencies. Some of its partner agencies are shelters, pantries, children’s program, soup kitchen, residential programs, and senior meal sites. Volunteers contribute their hours to perform free service at the organization and get a reward in form of food supplies. On return, these hours save on high costs of personnel recruitment. Such a practice enables the volunteer to practice justice by giving back to the society. I was in a position to understand the struggles other peoples undergo in life, learn how to interact with less fortunate like orphans in the society and how to handle difficulty situations when assisting others. Duties and responsibilities Data entry 68.50 hours Food sorting 39.50 hours Arranging emergency bags 6 hours Helping Second Harvest bank set up its launch 5 hours. Filing paper 4 hours Downloading music 4 hours creating labels for salads 4 hours Working with second food bank needs very little sophistication and mental effort since it did not demand any technical effort. The tasks were straight forward, no need for experience, but basic computer knowledge for data entry were necessary. The tasks involved less of mental energy but more of physical energy. This is because I could file papers manually, sort food as well as arranging emergency bags. For purpose of neatness, little mental effort was essential. The preparation of the organization launch needed a lot of time and good planning for it to come out successful and commendable. This is because the organization has many guests and partners therefore; this event took a lot of attention both mentally and physically. My internship at second Harvest food bank exposed me to the world of reality when executing tasks (Barbur et al, 2011). It gave me the opportunity to manage my work and time effectively, ensuring that every task is completed within the set time. I prioritized my work and allocated time according to tasks’ complexity and lengthy. It also gave me an opportunity to improve and practice my computer skills. Working with a computer enabled me advance my basic computer knowledge, learn new programs and even create an interesting working environment, as I could not get bored. The use of computer made me appreciate the importance of new technology since I could enter data within short time, edit it, and retrieve information if necessary. The application of computer simplifies tasks since summaries are generated when necessary within the shortest time possible. Relating with people at work was my biggest opportunity to practice and enhance people and communication skills learned during my course work. I was able to resolve personal issues and conflicts between workers. It gave me the challenge to express opinions without interfering with peoples freedoms. Listening to music was interesting and a source of motivation. Although every employee enjoys such a favourable working environment, it has a cost impact on the company finances because downloading music requires internet, which is a costly asset. Working with second harvest food was interesting since there was minimum supervision; one performs tasks without surveillance around (Braxton, 2010). This shows that the organization trusts its employees. On return, the employees view it as their obligation to work effectively for the company because of good relationship between employees and the management. This also ensures that very little managerial workforce is necessary since every worker carries on tasks without supervision. I also like the organizations commitment in serving and motivating the community because one can work for the company and get food in return. I liked the teamwork environment in the organization since the employees relate like a family; they work together and share problems. This gives them a common mindset as they all work towards the same goal and objective. Therefore, the employees are free to interact and consult each other ease during challenges. The organization delivers justice to its stakeholders since employees are treated with respect. Conversely, I did not like the routine work since data entry was my biggest responsibility. This was the same every time hence monotonous and boring, as I could not face any new challenge for motivation. The management contacts a brief whereby they elucidate to the employees the company’s expectations and the consequences for those who do not obey. In addition, any conflict arising within the organization is handled with neutrality whereby there is no favor on either parties. For the organization to attain a neutral judgment ground, it has policies and regulations that are applicable to every employee (Paul, et al. 2008). This makes sure that there is law and order in the organization, every shareholder is treated with equity, and rights and freedom are respected. When the agency is dealing with other partners, conflicts of interests occur. These conflicts are managed by analyzing the situation against the binding contract between the involved parties. These contracts ensure that every party adheres to the stipulated guidelines and rules. Second Harvest food bank observes distributive justice during food and resources distribution to the needy, this is because it has a set protocol and only the targeted and qualifying people get the food. The organization also practices procedural justice because when individuals have an opinion or argument in the process of execution or business operations at large, they have the freedom to voice it. The organization observes interactional justice. This may refer to the treatment and reactions employees and other stakeholders get during decision making like promotions and punishments. The organization explains it decision to the affected parties with lots of respect, honesty, and openness. This reduces chances of unwarranted speculations and rumormongering. They employees get an explanation on why procedures are important in certain activities (Braxton, 2010). The internship was fabulous only that the duties were limited because the organization has minimum departments and organizational structure hence limiting students who want to experience entire organizational structure. Conclusion The working atmosphere in Second Harvest food bank was very friendly as there was teamwork and minimum supervision. This gave every worker an opportunity to express his or her needs and opinions. The internship enhanced my relationship with the management and authorities. Additionally, it gave me the opportunity to put into practice the theory work I learn during course work. This enabled me to internalize and strengthen my analytical skills as I could handle challenges as they came. Additionally, it enabled me become an independent person rather than dependent since instructions and consultations were minimal. It sharpened my communication skills and gave me a touch of the real world business experience. I was able to understand and identify with the society needs whereby I can volunteer to provide for the less fortunate, understood company policies and their importance, the need for motivation and punishments for those who do not obey company rules. My internship gave me the opportunity to understand the role of a company to society and justice to its stakeholders. Reference Barbur, L., et al (2011). Factors that influence the decision to pursue an internship: the importance of mentoring. Journal Of Veterinary Medical Education, 38(3), pp. 278-287. Braxton, E. T. (2010). Healing The Wounded Organization: The Role Of Leadership In Creating The Path To Social Justice. TAMARA: Journal Of Critical Postmodern Organization Science, 8(3/4), pp. 89-118. Fehr, R., & Gelfand, M. J. (2012). The Forgiving Organization: A Multilevel Model Of Forgiveness At Work. Academy Of Management Review, 37(4), pp. 664-688. Green, B., Graybeal, P., & Madison, R. L. (2011). An Exploratory Study of the Effect of Professional Internships on Students' Perception of the Importance of Employment Traits. Journal Of Education For Business, 86(2), pp. 100-110. Paul B., S., Sheila, H., & Michael J., L. (2008). Density dependence and environmental justice organizations, 1970–2008. The Social Science Journal, pp. 49343-351. Read More