Women in Management: Jessica Evans - Essay Example

Biography of an American woman in management In her mid thirties, Jessica Evans1 is a successful human resource manager of a research organization that finds a prominent place among the well-reputed companies of the world. She has been in this organization for the past 10 years. Jessica recalls her start and traces her career graph till the point where she is now. This graph is an approximately rising one, where we cannot distinguish a conventional peak because the current position would find her at the best of her success. Jessica recalls the beginning of her job life: “I had started my career with the job of a sales girl in the present organization. I had a previous experience in sales though. I belonged to the Information Technology CBU (Client Business Unit) and I did enjoy my job for sometime. This was until our manager began to press us for rising sales figures.” The organization where Jessica belongs is essentially a research oriented consultant firm. The function of such an organization is to engage a section of the work force in writing reports and hence the organization would publish them in regular intervals. Most of the times, special reports meeting the specific needs of clients are produced. The sale depends on the sales department, which is also divided into CBUs just like the research section. Jessica has appeared in both in the print and visual media with her expansive knowledge in all subjects and not just pertaining to IT or health. She seems to have specialized in all of them. As she puts it in her words: “ This is not the time to criticize the Jack of all trades, rather the time calls for a Master of all trades. Therefore all children needs to be encouraged to master themselves in all the fields as many areas as possible”. Perhaps that is what she wanted to incorporate in her personality. She reveals how, the decision of her career was influenced by the surprises offered by life and the challenges, which she had to overcome. When it comes to her family life, Jessica is equally frank and honest. She lives in a two-room apartment in California with her two daughters – Sarah is 12 years old and Nancy is 2 years younger than her. Jessica seems to have joined the organization just after Nancy’s birth. When asked about her husband, she humbly admits, “I am perhaps not intelligent enough to sustain a successful marriage.” She is but surely a successful mother. Divorced from her husband around 9 years back, she raises her two daughters single handedly. “There was a governess for the initial years, but I would like them to grow up independently. Besides, Sarah is growing up now and enjoys taking care of her younger sister. The kids are far more responsible and matured than their age”, says Jessica. So we have another competitor growing up at your place! She smiled politely, revealing a set of pearl white teeth seeming to reflect the milk white shirt that complemented the pair of blue jeans. Jessica also talks about how her erratic life style has been well cooperated with by her children. Being a Human resource manager, she often has to travel to different branches and offices of the organization. During this time the kids take good care of themselves and her ever-cooperating sisters also pay visits time and again. She expressed her gratefulness for having such nice people around her to support and be by her side in all times. Besides being a responsible mother, she is also a dutiful daughter and never forgets to pay a visit to her mother every alternate day. How does she manage all these? When asked, she replies modestly, “ God’s grace has made it all possible. I do not want to take any credit and off course I have been lucky to have such great people around.” Jessica is a practical and modest woman and her virtues are reflected in her simple life style despite earning a huge sum. As the conversation took place at her own apartment, her children were also present and I found the pretty Sarah looking admiringly at her mother when she spoke. Jessica was a quiet during her childhood and directed her energies towards creativity. I had the fortune to have a look at some of her sketches. The subjects were mainly her family and friends. Besides she also played the piano, which she learnt from her mother. Her hair, tied back in a knot clearly revealed the every confident and down to earth countenance bearing a pair of intense brown eyes, which can scan someone to the very core at the very first brush up. She sat back relaxed in her armchair with crossed legs as she talked about her parents and siblings. Jessica’s father had died when she was just 5 years of age and her mother worked as a teacher in a nearby school. She was the youngest of the three sisters and the friendliness they shared substituted the need of any outside friends. However, Jessica was an introvert and preferred to stay alone for most of the time. She had a knack towards studying anything and everything and read all kinds of books. It is difficult to think that someone who started her career as a sales girl was an introvert. Her later days of career showed that she had come a long way from those days of shyness and preference to stay away from the surroundings. However, as she said, “I began my social interaction from the age of 10 when I was sent to a boarding school at Sacramento. This was a boon to me as it made me more independent and interactive and helped me shape my dreams.” During her early years of schooling, she was a shy student and her favorite subjects were English literature and Mathematics. “I perhaps owe my management skills to my deft at calculations during my early days”, said Jessica, “I made very little friends during this time. I had only one friend, a girl who used to sit besides me and shared her books and lunch with me. We grew up to share a more mature relation when she had encouraged me at every step and always appreciated every small things I achieved.” The lady interviewed was a tennis champion in her school days. Although she made very little friends, she is a committed and a loyal one. Even to this day she has kept in touch with her childhood friend from her first school. Like a dutiful friend, she has also helped her in her own ways. When asked about her kind deeds, she brushed it aside saying, “no matter what I do for her, I cannot repay the immense faith and loyalty she had shown towards me.” Truly, the signs of a great person! What made her gesture even more special was the fact that she knew the interview was a hidden affair. Yet she had did not mention any hard words against anyone or express any grudges towards anyone. She has not forgotten her boarding school at Sacramento and the friends she made there. Before any important event in her life, especially whenever she appeared on television her friends would call her up to wish her luck. “Their wishes matter a lot to me. It still makes me sentimental and pensive if anyone forgets to wish me on my birthday”, admits Jessica. “Later on, after completing my high schools I returned to Ontario, my hometown and joint the local college to study mass communications and media studies. My mother wanted me to stay at the capital city and continue my studies. She thought that would be the best place to receive quality education, but I missed my home and also my sisters, one of them had already married and moved away to Canada”, revealed Jessica. Jessica expresses her past dreams in a very matter of fact tone: “The career path where I belong is not what I had intended to become from the very beginning. I had wanted to do so many things from my childhood. I wanted to dream of becoming a painter, a fashion designer and even a real estate builder. One thing that I had always been good at was organizing. As a child I had organized events at my school. So, whatever I did, I needed to be the decision maker or at least in some powerful position such that I could tell others what do and exert control.” When asked about the reason behind her choice of human resource as the branch of profession, she reveals an interesting fact about her life. She had initially joint a local small firm dealing in fat reducing ointment, as a sales girl. “Life was really tough then”, she comments. “Office hours seemed to be longer than the usual 8 to 9 hours. Sarah was just born and taking care of her as well as meeting the job demands were getting more and more difficult and this hectic schedule compelled me to leave my job. Eventually Nancy was born and talks about divorce were also on the rise. I had to find a living again and a good one to take care of both the children. I applied for the job of a sales girl in the present organization and go through after a long and tedious interview.” Jessica was working as a sales girl in the previous organization when the interesting event unfolded. Her distant uncle, who was getting old, owned a newspaper agency, which was running at a loss for the last three years. The revenues, according to her, were falling at a rate of 10 percent on an average. Good reporters quitting jobs. There was a lack of proper skill set availability. Big deals and sponsorships that were on the line two years back had to be cancelled due to unwillingness on the other side. Circulation and reputation of the brand was at stake. At this stage, he fell ill and was bed ridden. Having no children of his own and being quite close to her, Jessica was given the responsibility of looking after the business temporarily since her uncle was bed ridden for sometime. Her main responsibilities were to coordinate and supervise the reporters, the labor group and conduct and negotiate deals with other companies. One surprising thing was that the other two newspaper agencies of similar profile were doing quite well according to their size and status in the same city. According to Miss Evans, proper understanding of the problem highlighted the following issues: The production process involved outdated hand operated machines that called for a labor-intensive operation. This lead to a problem of hidden or virtual unemployment. This means some workers would not be making any real contribution to production but drawing salary. The need of a capital intensive process through installing new updated machines was in its utmost need but the labor union was constantly protesting against such transformation and giving threat to go on strike. This was a challenge to Jessica whose vision was to make the agency the maximum market shareholder in the city, increase its circulation to a dream level, tying up with big tycoons for advertisements and sponsorships. This responsibility was another reason why she left her job. The organization was losing its market share at a high rate. The following steps were taken at this juncture: Jessica describes her first step: “I called up the union leader for a friendly conversation. I explained to him where the company is lacking and if this continued it would not be possible for the company to survive in the market for a lone term. With all other companies following a capital-intensive technology the unemployed laborer following the closure of my company would not have any possible employment in any other company. I assured him that not a single labor will be retrenched but we need a workshop to train them to handle those sophisticated machines. The union leader seemed to be rational and understanding the need of the situation agreed to my proposal”. Proper workshops were arranged to train the labor force under the supervision of experts and trainers. Once new machines were installed and capital-intensive techniques were brought in, young enthusiastic and smart reporters were hired. With the help of an efficient accountant a full proof plan was drawn and submitted to the bank for some loans, especially to buy the new machines. Tie-ups were formed with some magazines at initial level in order to facilitate circulation. There was a Sunday magazine with a popular rate of circulation. Tie up with this magazine incorporated the circulation of the newspaper along with the magazine and this in the initial stage was very helpful in catching up with the market since subscribers of this magazine also had a copy of the newspaper. She also began to coordinate the deals with the big corporate houses that were previously cancelled. Most of the collaborative negotiations have been successful. The following consequences unfolded thereafter: The rise in revenue was slow and negligible initially but revenue picked up in three months by 5%. Circulation increased and the market share grew by 10% in three months. New talents brought in started providing better quality of reports and articles. The dynamic lady also added: “Initially my mental condition was not permitting me to take the responsibility. But my grandfather’s words rang in my ears when he had asked me to promise that I would look after his business in his absence. As if to add to my strength, some lines of my favorite poet Robert Frost crossed my mind: - ‘The woods are lovely, dark and deep/ But I have promises to keep/ And miles to go before I sleep/ And miles to go before I sleep’.” One remarkable change occurred within her during this event. While hiring the new employees, she realized that this would be an interesting job and an important one too. After all, people were an indispensable resource to any business and manpower had to be deployed carefully because it decided a lot of things. After she joint the current organization as a sales executive, she found that the main reason for not being able to reach the target figures was the quality of the product itself. The research analysts and program managers had to be check for their quality of production and contribution. “Unless the base is good, the building des not stand for long”, she said. It was at this time when she decided to become a manager of human resource and involve herself in recruitment. Also, she loved traveling and this would be a part of the job of a Human Resource manager. “I joint a diploma course in Human Resource Management and went for evening classes after office hours. It was a challenging time but I was determined to cross it too. When I received my diploma certificate I applied for the post of the human resource executive in my organization. I had little hope, but my past records and reputation made the authorities think of giving me a chance. I was appointed as an intern for six months and once again my honest efforts and success made me permanent in the recruitment department. After this point, the climb was smooth and this is where I now stand.” Usually in order to have an early success, especially for a woman from a very mediocre family, it is usually observed that a person would need some financial support in the early stages. However Jessica Evans was lucky in this case because she had sponsored her own education after the college years. She is a truly independent woman in all terms. Although financial aids were not important to her in her way to fulfilling her dreams, she did express her gratefulness towards her elders and mentors. In her schools days, she recalls the influence of her Mathematics teacher whose commitment to work, humble presence and immense knowledge base left a strong impact. She says it in her own words: “ I was surprised to find my Mathematics teacher used to read literature books extensively in the libraries. She also has a lot of interest in music and art and was very impressed to know I had organized an art exhibition at my school. The extensive reading habits observed in my teacher really influenced me and I took it as a challenge to keep myself busy all the times in a versatile set of topics.” “When I went to my boarding school, I met my history teacher whom I found to have another significant effect in my life. She had taught me a lot of things besides my regular lessons. The skills of organizing, I have learnt from her. Besides, I also picked up some moral lessons from her way of leading life”, comments Jessica. The lady also revealed how the disciplines she learnt at her boarding school laid a profound impact on her life. She has leant to become an early riser and also incorporated the regular habits of yoga, meditation and exercise. She has also taught the similar disciplines to her children. “Yoga”, she notes, “can provide a lot of energy for the day to day work and helps to deal with tensions and anxiety.” Jessica also expresses her gratefulness to Christ that her children have stood by her in her hectic times and always been very understanding. Her family bond has kept her so happy that she never felt the need to marry again. She had met her first husband during her first job and their divorce issues began along with her shifting away from the job. Her uncle, she recalls, has been another great influence and is responsible for the main turn in her life. “Although not directly, but in some way or the other, I can realize and I am grateful for the helping hand of my uncle in my choice of career”, she commented. Usually great people need to compromise somewhere or the other in their way to success. Did Jessica have to make any such compromise in her career? Well, she thinks for a minute before she answers. The worst conflict of ethics she has experienced was during her career as a sales woman. Be it in her first or the second, she recalls, “ As a sales person, I had to utter at least 10 lies per day.” She laughs after saying this, but soon regains her composure to continue, saying: “In most of the cases I was well aware of the fact that the product did not contain the features that the client wanted, but I had to conform to the rules of the organization and say all lofty things. This really made me think and the job satisfaction was not there. In my second job, when I joint as a sales executive, I realized from my extensive studies that the reports written by the group of researchers and analysts were all rubbish and mostly prepared by amateurs and fresh graduates.” It was mainly from her own experiences that she took up the job of recruitment with a challenge and dedication. She is speculative about the potential employees and does not always base her selection on the qualifications of the employees but also on the on the on-spot questions that are designed by herself. When we meet such a great personality, we are always eager to learn something and it is all the more satisfying when the person gives some pieces of advice. I was curious to know what Jessica Evans would advice the women regarding the initiation of their career. In the words of this interesting personality, “Life is all about new challenges at every turn and how one comes out of the maze and solves the puzzle offered to him, decides his fate. As the saying goes ‘Failure is the tuition you pay for success’, the challenges at every step of my life have made me stronger and each time they have given me a firmer ground to stand. So never give up!” According to her, honesty is an important component of life and one’s should try not to compromise on that ground “whatever be the rate of exchange”. Yes, the course of life, as she notes, was not a smooth road. When she became the human resource executive, it did raise a few eyebrows, especially from her male counterparts. However, Jessica had always managed to make it clear that she was not there to play a child’s game and showed her sincerity and involvement with the organization apart from dealing diplomatically with her rivals within the organization. This is one thing I have learnt. Our tongue is the sharpest natural weapon we have. So one must know how to use it to one’s advantage, without being dishonest and harmful”, she commented. The interview with Jessica Evans was a warm encounter and she has been a great host besides being a very approachable yet dignified person. The biography of such a woman would definitely be an inspiration to all the young women of the age. She has exemplified not only an ideal manager but also had been idealistic in her personal life. She also represents the strength of character and moral ethics, which are a rare find of the time. Interview module: 1. Before beginning with your career issues, could you tell me something about your family background? The information you give me including your name and organization shall be kept a secret. Ans. Currently, Jessica lives in a two-room apartment in California with her two daughters – Sarah is 12 years old and Nancy is 2 years younger than her. Jessica seems to have joined the organization just after Nancy’s birth. She also gives details about her parents and siblings. When it comes to marriage Jessica mentions she is divorced from her husband and raises the daughters single handedly. 2. What were the attitudes of the people in your surroundings regarding your career or choice of job? How has the family supported you? Ans. According to her, the people around her have been quite supportive. In Jessica’s words: “God’s grace has made it all possible. I do not want to take any credit and off course I have been lucky to have such great people around.” She talks about her friends with whom she is still in touch and also her family. 3. What were the subjects that interested you and where did you gain your early education? How has this helped you in your future? Ans. Jessica talks about studying in a local school in her early days and then moving to a boarding school. Later she came back to her hometown for her college. She mentions that English and mathematics were her favorites and also mentions, ““I perhaps owe my management skills to my deft at calculations during my early days”. 4. Could you please trace the graph of your career right from the days of your education till date? Ans. She describes her first sales job at a company that dealt in fat reduction ointment and then she talks about how she joint the current job at a research based consultancy firm and eventually gained the require qualification to become a Human Resource manager. 5. Now, I would request you to lay focus on some specific important events which you feel have marked a change in your life? Ans. Jessica elaborates on the twist in her life when her uncle assigned her the job of looking after his Newspaper agency. She talks about how she made it function properly from falling revenues to smooth performance. She also mentions how this has changed her interest towards her choice of career. 6. Has there been any sponsors or any personality who had influenced you in your way to reach this level and helped in shaping your career? Ans. There was no financial aid but she talks about being influenced by some of her teachers and also her uncle who indirectly brought a change in her chosen route. 7. You life style and work responsibilities must be hectic and demanding. Have your family felt the pressures along with you? Ans. According to Jessica they have always been cooperative. Coming to the children she also mentions, “There was a governess for the initial years, but I would like them to grow up independently. Besides, Sarah is growing up now and enjoys taking care of her younger sister. The kids are far more responsible and matured than their age”. 8. Would you like to mention any significant hurdle that you had to overcome in your career? How have you managed to overcome them? Ans. She talks about some rivalry and doubtfulness about her capacity at the workplace and once again she mentions the management of her uncle’s newspaper agency and bringing it back to prosperity by identifying the problem. 9. Did you ever have to compromise with your ethics and principles during the route to success? Ans. In this context she talks about her experience as a sales executive where she had to lie constantly in spite of knowing about the poor quality of the product. 10. Do you have any message to leave for those women who are starting their career? Ans. She says a few things for the women. She talks about honestly and ethics and tells them never to give up on failure. She stresses on the importance of being a master of all trades and accepting life’s challenges bravely. 11. Any lessons and remarkable achievements or any other issue that you would like to highlight? Ans. Dealing with the workplace has taught her diplomacy and to use her tongue wisely. She has highlighted the issue of sticking to honesty at any cost and thus gives us an example of a woman of substance. Read More