Three Short Reflective Pieces - Assignment Example

3 Short Reflective Pieces Job Crafting as a Cashier The concept of job crafting was introduced to Gigatom bank in 2010. At the time, I was employed as a cashier earning a salary of 5000$ per month. The idea of job crafting was alien to me since I had never had the opportunity of practicing it. A memo was sent through the various employee email addresses and informed us that there was going to be a meeting in a fortnight to illustrate to the staff how the job crafting was going to be implemented. As a person who appreciates change, I was quite thrilled to try out something new. During the meeting, our branch director explained to us that the essence of the job crafting was to examine the role of each employee and redesign the job dynamics in a manner that would ensure job satisfaction (Dubrin 21), enable a one-on-one engagement between the employees in the running of the bank, and develop resilience in hard times and a thriving experience at work (Quentin & Schultze 44). We were advised on how to customize our roles in the bank in ways that would maximize our strengths (Dubrin 12), enhance our motives and fuel our passions to greater levels. Professional job crafters when were then introduced to us. They gave as an in-depth analysis of the importance of job crafting through examples such as the development of a positive self-image of oneself (Bakker 23), the need for creation of a tighter connection between staff members, and the deep desire for fulfillment of passion in a particular field (Krannich & Caryl 55). These reasons had such a huge impact on me because in more ways than one they spoke of my heart- held goals and dreams, and this was an opportunity to achieve them. We were, however, cautioned that as much as job crafting was a new and exciting concept that provided employees with greater freedoms, negative job crafting could lead to significant losses in the company (Quentin, Schultze 22). All of us were given a plan on how to design the job craft after which we would submit it to our supervisors for revision. My job craft submission went through without any glitches and I was granted the go-ahead to begin its implementation. The first change was in the cube in which I served my customers. It had come to my realization that I had been operating in the same cube for nearly five years and it was growing monotonous and boring (Bakker 4). I chose to follow my passion of mathematical computations and hence joined my colleagues in the department charged with the valuation of loans and calculation of interests. This move opened my eyes to more opportunities in terms of interacting with colleagues from other departments and making friends along the way (Danniels & Baker 26). After about a month, I realized that I had the potential to perform even more tasks than I had been assigned. I thus seized the opportunity and consulted my branch manager for an increase in responsibilities at a reasonable increase in salary. After a year and a half while working under the job crafting program, I realized that my life had changed almost completely in the job environment. I realized that I enjoyed performing my work even more and I was able to achieve some of personal goals, identities and expectations that I had set forth. How “code switching between cultures” might help an individual to develop as a professional in a globalized world As a young Cashier working in the ever-busy city of Hong Kong, my services were specifically on high demand due to the fact that I could comfortably speak six languages. I was working for two days in Xing Family Bank, a day in Gonk International Bank and two days in Zingsu Bank. The reason for my high demand was my excellent skills in code switching that enabled me to change between languages in the same conversation. My main role in these banks was to serve customers who were from abroad who did not understand the Chinese language. Planes were landing in China from all over the world and a medium of communication was vital. That is where I came in. As the language professional, all clients who did not understand Chinese were brought to my desk. I would then inquire their country of origin and from there speak to them in a language that they understood best. Since most countries have more than one national language. I would employ code switching between the national languages until I figured out which one they understood best. Code switching was also vital in scenarios where I had a client from say a Spanish-speaking country (Muysken &Milroy 34). I could easily change from Spanish to Chinese if I wanted a service from a colleague. In a fast, dynamic and ever-changing environment, code switching provided me with the ability to pass certain valuable information to my co-workers in a secretive manner without compromising the security of that information. Code switching also provided me with a wide range of employment opportunities in different companies that required people with knowledge on a vast array of languages (Krannich & Caryl 74). This exposed me to different cultures and experiences and also more opportunities in the business world. I realized that the world was becoming a global village whereby different people from different walks of life and cultures would have to meet and hence communicate; code switching would thus be vital in cases where translators were required to convey information between two people of completely different cultures. Code switching enabled me to communicate effectively (Knox & Heike 23) as I was attending a job interview. The panel had individuals who were from different nationalities and hence communication was a problem. However, using my code switching skills, I was able to explain my points to both parties coherently without losing meaning of the point I was trying to pass across. I was also able to explain certain concepts better since I had more vocabulary in one language than the other to give a better visual description. Code switching also proved to be a powerful negotiation skill. Research had showed that people were generally more likely to sell you goods if both parties were speaking the same language (Edward 40). This was useful to me as I invested in buying goods from China and later selling them to other countries at reasonable prices. The advantage that I had was that I could speak both languages hence the negotiation of prices was quite an easy endeavor(Gardner 34). In banking halls, clients felt safer and more relaxed when they spoke to someone who understood their language. This gave them the relaxation that whatever they said would not be misquoted somewhere or their money misused due to a misunderstanding. Code switching also enabled me to raise my status and in essence add authority to my position; this gave clients a sense of security and safety (Majstorović & Inger 57). Furthermore, code switching enabled me to improve my performance in other languages since I was using them frequently. I realized that my ascent and general flow with words improved significantly; this enabled me to use different parts of my tongue well during speech. It helped to boost my performance as a cashier because some clients even believed that I must have been raised in their home country. This improved customer relations significantly, especially with foreign clients Reflection on how Social and Environmental Sustainability Applies in my Profession as a Cashier. Sustainability defines the process of remaining diverse and productive (Ekins 23). When attributed to the social environment it implies that the subject under discussion can maintain its diversity and thus adding importance to the social status of the populace (Banerjee, & Vanita, 21). Environmental sustainability on the other hand refers to a subject being capable of maintaining environmentally friendly activities that do not interfere with the environment at the least (Piotrowski 65). As a cashier, the concept of social sustainability was very important. I worked in a social environment where I attended to customers in person by serving them on a daily basis. This practice therefore demanded that I depict amity besides providing my customers with the best services they could get (Ekins 27). Moreover in order to uphold social sustainability I had to try as much as possible to ensure that I created a positive social impact out of my work place. While at my desk, I was fully organized and ready to serve the customers according to their requests. I tried to ensure that I provided the best of service, keeping my customers cool and relaxed. Errors were few if any, hence services run smoothly on most days. The trick was to do everything in a rather simple manner that could be understood and followed. I also explained to them the tasks at hand and all they needed to know in a friendly manner, all the time giving room for them to express their ideas and even raise issues. This way, I managed to gain their trust and hence created a socially sustainable environment. Outside my desk I interacted with other professionals of different calibers, some of whom were my friends. During our coffee breaks, we used to chat, hold discussions, as well as jog our minds to find solutions to everyday problems affecting us in our society. I employed my knowledge and experience as a cashier, coupled with other life experiences to solve their issues, especially financial problems. Doing this enabled me to maintain the socially sustainable status. Moreover, as a keen and cautious cashier, I took very good care of my environment. Even though the concept of environmental sustainability is not well-defined in my career as a cashier, it affected me as a social being. Therefore, I had to balance my career to ensure that I would not become ignorant or complacent of the environment around me (Owen, Jonathan & Alaa 22). At my work place the much I did and which I tried to uphold was to maintain a clean environment-this was basically when handling inorganic materials and waste paper as wastes from my work station. Once I stepped out of that seat, I was tasked with a different demand to ensure I met the environmental and social standards that my colleagues would agree with. Keeping a clean home at my residence was mandatory besides getting involved in community projects like tree planting during my free times, especially on weekends. This way, I was able to uphold the morality of a socially and environmentally sustainable environment. It was important to note the link between social and environmental sustainability where environmental sustainability basically formed part of social sustainability, hence it was not easy to uphold one and not the other (Owen, Jonathan & Alaa). Usually, once you contribute to environmental sustainability, then you are involved in social sustainability practices. The reverse is however not true in all scenarios. It is, therefore, evident that social and environmental sustainability was very possible in my profession as a cashier. Woks Cited Bakker A, Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 Banerjee, Preeta M, and Vanita Shastri. Social Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability in Business: How Organizations Handle Profits and Social Duties. New Delhi: SAGE India, 2010.. 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Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2011. Muysken , Milroy. One Speaker,Two languages; Cross Disciplinary Perspective , New York, Free Press 2007 Owens, Jonathan, and Alaa Elgibali. Information Structure in Spoken Arabic. London: Routledge, 2010. Print. Piotrowski, Katy. The Career Cowards Guide to Resumes: Sensible Strategies for Overcoming Job Search Fears. Indianapolis, IN: JIST Works, 2008. . Schultze, Quentin J, and Quentin J. Schultze. Résumé 101: A Student and Recent Grad Guide to Crafting Résumés and Cover Letters That Land Jobs. New York: Ten Speed Press, 2012. . Read More