Monday, September 30, 2019

Importance of Participation

This is a vital issue today that what is the purpose of electing the political parties to form the government. If we look the entire democratic process it completely gives the picture of non people oriented leadership establishments in political leadership, getting education, starting business doing any social services. The democracy's look is capitalist. Till we change this look and understand the democracy has given the first right to common people and that right is representative right and now we have to think how this right should be used by the common people to lead the society entering into the political institutions.The representative right is now used by the wealthy classes in our society and they able to build the political parties and in maximum cases they constituted the constitutional framework that gives the political parties to come in front of the common people through election commissions registration process. If we seriously look into the function of election commiss ion they should limit themselves to act for preparing the people's mandate giving programme and listing the voters, but they are doing some extra job given to them by the political leadership who want to remain in seat of power.The democracy is the rule of the common people first using the representative right from the constitution directly   and forming the political institutions to workd for the people. After five years the election commission make the arrange ment for asking people to vote to these institutions which has been formed directly taken the representative right through the constitutional provision to establish the people's leadership in the political institutions. We have to change the capitalist huge social money costly system in people oriented simple and meaningful process.Which could bring social unity among the world community and the capitalist people also feel for the society and remaining in the society and earning they mustnot ignore the social needs afteral l society is supporting them to get the profit  and taxes are not the only answer because taxes is to be collected to run the administration properly because present world social system, social centralised imagination is not thought about so every welfare programmes has been taken by the state and the result is that they unable to fulfill the people's desire.So change the democracy and  all political parties should correct the constitution of their country to include the people's commission provision to provide the people their first democratic right of The Representation   to form the political institutions in this way we can control the society and unite the people  for better purpose. Peace, security and prosperity would come through the social system  supported to political system.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Casualization and Its Effects in Kenya

Impact of Labor Laws in Mitigating Effects of casualisation in Kenya Humphrey Mwangi  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1413/2009 Franklin Mutwiri  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1604/2009 Patrick Mutai  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-0087/2009 John Warihe  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1268/2009 Susan Awuor  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1222/2009 Mary Mumira  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1246/2009 James Otunga  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1421/2009 Kevin Kariuki  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HD333-BOI-1249/2009 Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology CBD Campus Presented to E. O. Achoch Abstract This study explores and examines the actual impact of labor legislation in mitigating the disturbing issue of casualisation of work in Kenya. The increase in casualisation in the country is a subject of great controversy. Increasingly casual employees are filling positions that are permanent in nature. Behind employee vulnerability in the country is the high levels of unemployment and accompanying poverty. Poverty has bred a dangerous work environment where many desperate job seekers in the labor force are willing to take any job for survival purposes rather than dignity. This is a big challenge for trade unions in their pursuit to protect and advance workers’ rights and foster decent work conditions. The study attempts to cover the following as per the terms of reference: What exactly is casualisation of work, How wide spread is it in Kenya, What difference has new provision in labor legislation made on casuals according to gender, occupation, status etc, How Labor Laws Have Affected Aspects Of Casual Workers rights, do labor laws affect the family of casual workers communities and local stakeholders such as trade union and NGO’s and what are the views of employers’ in terms of impact of labor laws and casualisation of work and their sustainability. Keywords: Federation of Kenyan Employers, Standard Employment Regulation Impact of Labor Laws in Mitigating Effects of casualisation in Kenya Collins Dictionary defines casualisation as altering of working practices so that regular workers are re-employed on a casual or short-term basis. Casual employment is also referred in some literatures as â€Å"precariousness† a familiar term in employment (Burgess and Campbell 1998; Weller and Webber 2001; Hunter 2006). Precariousness is seen in terms of bundles of job characteristics to do with insecurity and poor quality of life. It is characterized with lack of regulatory protection and working time insecurity Casualisation of a workforce is therefore reduction in full or part time employees and their replacement with employees who are called in on an as-needed or casual basis. This can reduce the employees working conditions by reducing the commitment from the employer to them, and giving the employer opportunities to control them by reducing their hours. Casual workers can be more difficult for employers to manage as they have no guarantee of finding available employees at any time, but they have the advantage of only employing people when they have the work for them An elastic approach to casualisation refer to non-standard and non-permanent employment relationships such as temporary work, fixed term contracts, seasonal work and subcontracting or outsourcing. It is also important to make a further distinction between casuals that are employed directly by the company or those that are supplied through outsourcing and subcontracting arrangements. Typically support services such as cleaning and catering and in some cases transportation and distribution and security are subcontracted. According to Okougbo (2004) casualisation of work is characterized by demand for employment which is highly variable such as port work, farm work, farm migratory work and other jobs of unskilled intermittent nature. He further states that contract labor is a form of involuntary servitude for a period of time. Labor and service contracts are terms used by management to describe contract labor. Management sometimes refers to it as â€Å"body shop† or â€Å"direct hire† while other refer to contract labor as service providers. Neo-liberal market restructuring globally and in the region is the driving force behind the sharp increase in casualisation. Neo-liberalism seeks to deregulate markets including the labor market to increase labor flexibility. In short, employers want the freedom to pay low wage, change the number of workers and how and when work is conducted thus this is casualisation. According to the employment act (2007) If an employee works for a period or a number of continuous working days which amount in the aggregate to the equivalent of not less than one month, or performs work which can not reasonably be expected to be completed within a period, or a number of working days amounting in the aggregate to the equivalent of three months or more, then the contract of service of the casual employee shall be deemed to be one where wages are paid monthly and section 35 (1) (c) shall apply to that contract of service. Labor Relations Act which prescribes that casual worker should be employed permanently after three months of continuous work besides which employees are supposed to be provided with medical and housing benefits. The Act also stipulate that an employee whose contract of service has been converted in accordance with subsection (1) (Employment Act, 2007) and who works continuously for two months or more from the date of employment as a casual employee shall be entitled to such terms and conditions of service as he / she would have been entitled to under this Act (Employment Act, 2007) had he not initially been employed as a casual employee. These include:- †¢ Notice. Where the contract is to pay wages or salary periodically at intervals of or exceeding one month, a contract is terminable by either party at the end of the period of twenty-eight days next following the giving of notice in writing †¢ Working hours. An employer shall regulate the working hours of each employee in accordance with the provisions of this Act and any other written law. Rest period. According to the employment Act subsection (1), an employee shall be entitled to at least one rest day in every period of seven days. Annual leave. After every twelve consecutive months of service with his employer to not less than twenty-one working days of leave with full pay †¢ Maternity leave. A female employee shall be entitled to three months maternity leave with full pay. The female employee shall have the right to return to the job which she held immediately prior to her maternity leave or to a reasonably suitable job on terms and conditions no t less favorable than those which would have applied had she not been on maternity leave. A male employer shall be entitled to two weeks paternity leave with full pay. †¢ Sick leave. After two consecutive months of service with his employer, an employee shall be entitled to sick leave of not less than seven days with full pay and thereafter to sick leave of seven days with half pay. †¢ Medical attention. Subject to subsection (2), an employer shall ensure the provision sufficient and of proper medicine for his employees during illness and if possible, medical attendance during serious illness. †¢ Service pay. The casual shall be entitled to service pay for every year worked, the terms of which shall be fixed. The wage bill in the private sector, a key driver of household consumption, is increasingly dipping as most employers opt for casual workers to cushion themselves against a harsh business environment. Despite stiff regulations introduced last year to protect casual workers from exploitation, thus making hiring of such employees expensive, Government statistics (GOK, 2006) show that casual employment grew by 13 per cent last year compared to a five per cent growth in 2007. Comparatively, the levels of regular employment dipped 2. 9 per cent in 2008, reflecting employers' preference of hiring casuals during the period, says the 2009 Economic Survey (GOK 2009). Casual workers accounted for 32 per cent of total wage employment. As a result of this preference, the private sector wage bill grew by a measly 10 per cent, compared to a 14. 6 per cent rise in 2007. This is attributed to increased use of casual laborers whose pay is usually lower than that of regular employees. The economy is also gradually sliding into a largely casual employment which could have dire implications in the already turbulent labor market,. This would reduce domestic consumption as households will have less to spend, thus reducing demand in the productive sectors and hampering poverty eradication. The Enactment of the Employment Act by Kenyan parliament roots for better protection of casual laborers by making it mandatory for employers to remit statutory deductions to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). Previously, casual and contract workers – who constitute the majority of Kenyan workforce and include house-helps, watchmen, matatu touts and building and construction workers did not qualify for most of the benefits that are available to permanent employees. There is also a bigger risk of lay -offs for casual workers to escape the statutory contributions. The greatest impact that the new laws have had in the labor market is to push employers towards outsourcing the services of workers they would ordinarily employ as casuals to cut costs. This had negatively affected the job market in that companies cannot absorb more jobs and worse still, they have to cut their marketing and advertising budgets to cope. Casual employment remains the cheapest way of engaging workers, especially so at these hard economic times when employers focus is on taming labor costs. But the flipside is that we might end up with lower revenues from income tax if the labor market was to be largely made up of casuals. The purchasing power for families will also reduce drastically. Hired on short-term contracts, casual workers strive to fulfill production quotas for long working hours under poor working conditions and low wages, often without maternity or sick leave, housing and medical allowances. Most of them are denied right to join trade unions and basic services like water while some are victims of reported sexual harassment at the work place. They face stiff penalties for mistakes, work while sitting or standing for between eight and twelve hours daily, with only a forty five minute break in between, in order to beat the quota set by supervisors Kugler et al (2003). Their daily pay is between Sh120 and Sh160 but a percentage is deducted ostensibly for social security or hospital insurance contributions, which rarely benefit them (GOK, 2003). Casual labor market is perpetuated by lack of any permanent, on-going attachment between employer and worker (Ralph C. 1960). Where this condition exists and where entry of worker is easy due to low skill requirements and the absence of institutional barriers, the labor market is likely to accumulate a chronic surplus of supply. The resultant highly competitive market is conducive to corrupt hiring practice and a wide variety of other social evils. Casual workers provide cover at short notice for the absence of permanent staff. Some may belong to an area â€Å"pool† of relief workers who are contracted when work becomes available. The key characteristics of a casual worker are; †¢ They are offered work for a specific day or session only †¢ They have no right to be offered work beyond that day or session There is no regularity of work. It is characterized with lack of regulatory protection and working-time insecurity (Tham, 2007). In contrast to standard employment, there’s little right to protection against unfair dismissal and no right to notice in case of dismissal (O’Donnell, 2004). As a result casual tends to have even less employment security than fixed term employees since they can be dismissed with ease at almost any time. This greatly affects their financial proposition as they are not sure of their fate-they literally live a day at a time. Most dramatically, casual employment is exempted from almost all rights and benefits that have come to be attached to â€Å"permanent† contracts. These include such basic entitlements as annual leave, sick leave and payment for public holidays (Watson et al, 2003). The main attribute is a simple entitlement to wage enhanced in some cases by so called casual loading on the hourly rate of pay. Precariousness has several dimensions but ultimately two of which impact greatly on casual labor rights. These include; †¢ Lack of regulatory protection Working-time insecurity Other critical dimensions may include low and irregular earnings and employment insecurity which statues are overwhelmingly silent on. Statutory regulations has played only a limited role in establishing a standard employment regulation (SER) through the provision of dynamic standards to support a platform of â€Å"decent† work (Cooney et al, 2006). However, it is a complicated and layered system leaving sizeable gaps as a result of poor coverage, poor enforcement and exemptions. The award system provides a large array of rights and entitlements for employees but these are generally confined to full time permanent (standard) employees (Campbell, 2004). These clauses permit casual employment under certain limitations and then specify that casual workers are exempted from most rights entitlements starting with employment protections such as rights to notice and compensation for dismissal. This lack of regulatory protection is not confined to non-standard work. It can also apply to parts of standard workforce where gaps in protection have been eroded. Standardized working time arrangements are central to SER. Deviations from the norms centered on working hours involves; †¢ irregular work hour both in number and timing †¢ overly short †¢ overly long These represent a much change in present period, drains employees, control over work and sponsoring increased working-time insecurity. Another central feature of casual employment is the ability of employers to determine the number and timing of hours and to alter these at short notice. Casuals appears here as easily available, easily deployed in workplace and then easily disposable (Walsh et al, 1999). Negotiation of working hours is commonly a rather fraught process in which workers are often reluctant to refuse shifts-even at short notice and even at inconvenient times-for fear of jeopardizing future offers (Pocock et al, 2004). According to Barone (2001) there do exists various institutional arrangements that can provide employment protection; the private market, labor legislation, collective bargaining arrangements and contractual provisions. Some forms of de facto regulations are also likely to be adopted even in the absence of legislation simply because both workers and firms can derive advantages from long-term employment relations (OECD,1999). This is invariably averse to employment protection legislation which has of recent days been seen to shut its doors on plight of casuals (Kugler et al,2003). Employer’s opinion on casualisation can also be deduced from Federation of Kenyan Employers which is a registered umbrella body of employers in Kenya. FKE has duties such as; to encourage the principle of sound industrial relations and observance of fair labor practices as well as to promote sound management practices amongst employers through training, research and consultancy services and adoption of best practices. FKE was established in January 1969 in response to the activities of the then-Kenya Federation of Labor, which had unified the trade union movement into a single entity. The employers felt they needed an organization that could represent them on major social and economic issues. Since then, the Federation has gained considerable strength and power. It started as a body with only 161 employers; today it represents about 3,000. On the thorny issue of casual labor, the group has few real answers. Since a large number of Kenya's industries are seasonal in nature, like agriculture, hotels, restaurants, plantations and other related businesses, it is very difficult to eliminate casual labor entirely. According to the employment act (2007) cap 35 (a) casual staff can be employed by a company if the contract will not exceed the three month agreement for casual staffing stipulated by the labor law. If there is to be a continuation of the person in the position beyond the three month agreement, the employer is expected to give a contract letter to the individual stipulating the terms of employment. Accordingly FKE (2007) casualisation is rife in the country; but most of the companies perpetuating the offence are not mainly its members, so this has limited what the organization can do about it. However, many employers argue that due to economic hardship not only witnessed in Kenya but globally, they are forced to employ their workers as casuals because they will not afford to sustain them  in the long run. Many companies usually have periods of booming and recessions in there businesses and such will determine employment of staff. Some industrial companies employ workers as casual for two months then they relieve them of their duties and hire new staffs. The treatment of â€Å"casuals,† says COTU Secretary-General, Francis Atwoli (2009), â€Å"has haunted the trade union movement for many years and is a throwback to the colonial era when workers were classified as casual people†. Atwoli believes the Kenyan labor movement could be strengthened if the casuals were allowed to unionize. To this end, COTU is now negotiating with the government to organize casual workers regardless of their salaries. COTU also wants all casual workers to become eligible for the benefits that permanent workers get: worker's compensation, housing and pensions. The COTU secretary-general recently flayed FKE for advocating that the government should institute more controls on wages. Atwoli sees such a move as an obstacle to expansion in industry. He argues that if workers are poorly paid, their purchasing power will remain low and they will not be able to afford manufactured goods. This will keep manufacturers from expanding and new jobs will remain an unfulfilled goal. Observers in business circles think investors view low wages with mixed emotions: while some foreign investors look at low wages as a sure means of maximizing profits, others see them as a sure way of reducing purchasing power in the market which could subsequently mean low sales. On the other hand, government economists argue that it is better to maintain low wages that the national economy can support rather than high wages that will lead to high inflation. FKE argues that â€Å"In raising minimum wages they are guided by certain factors like the ability of the economy,†Ã‚   To sustain any level of minimum wages, FKE says, other factors come into play like the level of unemployment in the country as well as the ability of the small employers to pay. FKE believes that COTU has to be realistic in its approach to the whole issue but FKE is studying COTU's demands. However, it should be noted all players i. e. the government, FKE and COTU concurs that unionizing casuals may be essential to safeguard the gains of all Kenyan workers. Low wages and limited benefits make casuals an attractive proposition for companies trying to cut costs. Discussion The exploding population will only exacerbate the situation as more and more workers enter a work market incapable of keeping pace with this growth. As the population growth continues to outpace the growth of jobs, employers will have increasing leverage to demand concessions from both workers and their unions. Kenya's labor movement must somehow address these issues if it is to continue to make progress on worker's rights. References Campell, 1 (2004) ‘Casual work and casaulisation: how does Australia Compare’? Labour and Industry, 15(2): 85-111. – (2007) ‘long working hours in Australia: working-time regulation and employer Pressures' Economic and Labour relation Review, 17(2): 37-68. – (2008a) ‘Australia: institutional changes and workforce fragmentation’, S. Lee and F Eyraud (eds) Globalization, Flexibilization and working condtion in Asia And the Pacific London: Chandos (2008b) ‘Pressing towards full employment? The persistence of underemployment in Australia’, Journal of Australian Political Economy, 61:0156-80. Cooney, S. , Howe, J. and Murray, J. (2006) ‘Time and money under Workchoices: Understanding the new workplace Relations Act as a scheme of regulation’, UNSW Law Journal 29(1): 215-41. Hunter, R. (2006) ‘the legal orudution of precarious work’, in j Fudge and R. Owens (eds) Precarious Work, Women and the new economy: the challenge to legal norms, Oxford: Hart. Junor, A. 1998) ‘permanent part-time work: new family-friendly standard or high Intensity cheap skills? ’, Labour and Industry, 8(3): 77-95. Pocock, B. , Buchanan, J. and Campbell, I. (2004) ‘Meeting the challenge of casual Work in Australia: evidence, past treatment and future policy’, Australia bulletin Of Labour, 30(1): 16-32 Pocock B. , Prosser, R. and Bridge, K. (2004) ‘Only a casual†¦ ‘: how casual work Affects employees, households and communiti es in Australia, Discussion Paper, Adelaide: Labour studies, university of Adelaide. Okougbo, E. 2004. Strategic Issues on the Dynamics of Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice. Lagos: Wepoapo Enterprise. Weber, M. 1947. Protestant Ethics and Spirit of Gapitalism Tham, J-c (2007) ‘Towards an understanding of standard employment relationships Under Australian labor law’, Australian journal of labor law, 20(2): 123-58. Walsh, J. and Deery, s. (1999) ‘understanding the peripheral workforce: evidence From the service sector’, Human resource management Journal, 9(2): 50-63.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Wooden Baseball Bats Are Better than Metal Bats Essay

Wooden Baseball Bats Are Better than Metal Bats - Essay Example But, it is important to let the reader know beforehand that using a wooden bat is a tradition in major league baseball (MLB). For reasons, the reader must refer to the advantages of wooden bats described in the coming lines. Halter (1981, p. 22) asserts that â€Å"big-league rules say a bat must be wood, round, and no more than 42 inches long†. As one goes from little leagues to major ones, the use of wooden bats becomes a tradition keeping in view their material, weight, safety and affordability as compared to aluminum (metal) bats. Wooden bats are heavier than metal bats because they are solid and metal bats are hollow from within, and that is why they require more effort to sway than aluminum bats. They also have a smaller sweet spot due to which the hit remains within range, that is, the hit zone is small. In other words, the weight in wooden bats is concentrated far from hands, or in other words, the center of gravity lies in the barrel. Thus the â€Å"swing weight† (Nathan, 2007, p. 1) is higher which keeps the ball within range. A metal bat is lighter because of a larger sweet spot (Zumerchik, 1997, p. 52) and the weight is concentrated very close to the hands which will have the hit swing much higher as the swing weight is lower. Wooden bats are safer than metal bats because the exit speed of the ball is much slower in the case of wooden bats. Thus, the ball comes off with slow speed which is good as it reduces the danger of injury if the ball hits another player or pitcher. This is why MLB endorses the use of wooden bats considering the hit power of the professional players. Metal bats, as they are lighter, can easily get tossed away to injure another player. Also, the larger sweet spot in case of metal bats causes larger exit speed of the ball, that is, the ball will â€Å"jump off† (Wolff, 1997, p. 23) faster which could injure anybody within the hit zone very seriously. There have been unfortunate events in past, like, as Chandler (2010) states,

Friday, September 27, 2019

A Step For the future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Step For the future - Essay Example Mama says, â€Å"In real life I am a large, big.boned woman with rough, man.working hands† (Walker). Although she is very weak financially, yet she has remained composed through all thick and thin of life. To me, Mama is a role model because being a woman does not make her deprived of any thing in any sense. Having studied Mama as a character in Everyday Use, I have come to realize that much of the injustice women conventionally complain of can be attributed to their self perception of a weaker sex. It is their own sense of delicacy and insecurity that makes them underestimate themselves, and the opposite gender takes advantage of it. If women leave underestimating themselves, no man can undermine them, and Mama stays as an evidence for this. A & P: Having read A & P, the biggest lesson that I have learnt is that men’s preferences and sense of responsibility in life change as they mature. For a man who is as young and immature as Sammy, gaining approval of a girl passin g by may mean more than job, that is the most fundamental demand of a mature man. Sammy enters into an extremely useless and unproductive argument with the store manager for girls whom he has seen for the first, and perhaps the last time in his life in the store.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Appraisal Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Appraisal Systems - Essay Example Performance appraisal of employees resorted to by organizations has many objectives. Mohrman, Resnick-West and Lawler (1989) identify increase in motivation to perform effectively and to increase the self esteem of the employees as essential objectives of performance appraisal methods. They usually enable the organization to maintain a reliable record of the performance of each employee in order to determine the wage levels, incentives, salary increase, transfers and promotions. The performance appraisal methods also bring out the needs for training of employees at various levels in the organization. By studying his/her performance appraisal report the employee is able to improve upon his performance by rectifying the mistakes he/she might have committed earlier. There are various methods usually employed by progressive organizations to make appraisals of employee performance. These can be divided into three different groups; (i) individual evaluation methods, (ii) multiple person evaluation methods, and (iii) other methods. The individual evaluation methods are based on an assessment of the performance of the individual employees. ... The report is not data-based but merely represents the impressions of the superior about the subordinate. Since the report is mostly subjective the employee may not be sure of his strengths and weaknesses and is also not guided for rectifying his mistakes. Essay evaluation is a non-quantitative technique in which the rater is asked to prepare an essay based on the job knowledge and potential of the employee and the employee's understandings of the policies and programmers of the company. The attitude and perceptions of the employees are also taken into account while preparing the essay. This method has serious limitation of being a subjective one and sometimes the rater may be found to be poor in expressing his views correctly. Under critical incident technique the effective and ineffective behavior on the job of the employee is observed by the manager who prepares a list of incidents representing the poor or outstanding behavior of each employee. The manager periodically records the incidents and at the end of the rating period these incidents are summarized to evaluate the employee performance. This method is more suitable to assess the job of the supervisors rather than that of the employees at low levels. In the check list method a list of objective or descriptive statements about the employee behavior is included and the rater makes his observations on the employee performance by checking the particular trait of the behavior which he assessed the employee to possess and other traits are left blank. A variation of the method is to assign weights to different traits and summarize the assessment of the rater. One serious limitation of this method is that the rating is normally biased by the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 121

Discussion - Essay Example There are three methods that one can apply to ensure that confidence levels are elevated and the questions directed towards him are answered in a prompt way. The first one is by researching about the company. The interviewing panel may try to test your knowledge about the company and therefore to be on the safe side, it’s better to have the basic information such its core values, mission and vision at your fingertips. Interacting with an employee in the organization can prove to be important to get an insider information that can help during the interview. These goals should always articulate with your goals in your resume as this will be an added advantage towards hiring you as an employee. Second, it’s good to come with answers to commonly asked resume questions. Though it may appear awkward, it is important to write down a list of the questions you expect to be asked at the interview and develop answers that can address them. This will boost your confidence in a significant way. Resume questions such as reasons as to why you quit working for a certain company should have ready answers that will satisfy the panel. Lastly, prepare to describe yourself in a way that will appear relevant to the job that you want to get. Your interest to the company should always be reflected when answering the questions asked. According to Louis Efron, an editor with the Forbes Magazine, it is important to prepare, in advance, a list of personal accomplishments in life that will boost your CV. Efron, Louis. Get That Job! Nine Ways to Interview with Confidence. Forbes Magazine, 2013. Web. http://www.forbes.com/sites/louisefron/2013/12/23/get-that-job-nine-ways-to- interview-with-confidence/ Retrieved, February 4,

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Human Resource Management Functions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Resource Management Functions - Assignment Example In the next section, this paper will further investigate why human resource management is currently considered so important in attaining superior business performance. After the discussion, it will briefly outline the main functions of human resource management and how these are applied in real world. The role of the workforce in the success or even mere survival of a business organization cannot be overstated. The old clich which states that "people is our most valuable asset" will not probably met disagreement with any manager in this competitive business environment. This is further emphasized by Bullinger, president of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft1 by stating that employees are a company's best assets together with their knowledge, abilities, creativity and commitment. He further asserted that the competitiveness of a business organization is highly correlated with the company's highly trained, creative, and motivated employees. John Purcell further highlighted the importance of employees in his research which emphasized the huge role played by the company's workforce as "strategic partners." This research strongly supports the highly economist viewpoint of Grant (2002: 219) of "aligning employees with organizational goals." Schuler and Jackson (1987) gave a more precise description on how management should "align" their workforce to support the company crafted strategy. Their conclusion was: If management chooses a competitive strategy of differentiation through product innovation, this would call for high levels of creative, risk-orientated and cooperative behaviour. The company's HR practices would therefore need to emphasise "selecting highly skilled individuals, giving employees more discretion, using minimal controls, making greater investment in human resources, providing more resources for experimentation, allowing and even rewarding failure and appraising performance for its long run implications" - on the other hand if management wants to pursue cost leadership (the model) suggests designing jobs which are fairly repetitive, training workers as little as is practical, cutting staff numbers to the minimum and rewarding high output and predictable behaviour. (Boxall and Purcell 2003:53-4) The importance of human resource management therefore can be traced back on the essential role that the workforce plays in the company. As this paper showed above, current researchers highlight employees as on of the competitive advantages in realizing the objectives of an organization. However, a deeper analysis will also reveal the great function of management to turn employees into "most valuable assets" and "strategic partners" thus, the key purpose of human resource management. So, what activities should be performed by the human resource department to produce highly productive employees Functions of Human Resource Management The Economist (2002) recognizes the changing role of HR leaders due to the rapid change in the business climate and environment faced by industry players. This also implies the changing function of the HRM in shaping their employees-from the "psychological contract, rewarding employee loyalty with personal development, financial progression, and job security" to the "boundary less

Monday, September 23, 2019

The Westboro Baptist Church Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Westboro Baptist Church - Essay Example On the afternoon of November 27, 1955, the church held its first open ceremony (Lieblich 1). This paper will look at the Westboro Baptist Church, the church’s activities, and the first amendment. The Westboro Baptist Church has been enthusiastically engaged in events against gay individuals since 1991, when it begun concentrated efforts on a gay event at Gage Park near the church. In addition, the Westboro Baptist Church members carry out anti-gay remonstrations at military interments, picketing at celebrity funerals, and public activities that may easily attract media interest. Additionally, the Westboro Baptist Church has also held protests against Jews, and the members have also stomped on the flag of United States of America (Lieblich 1). The Bill of Rights of the United States contains the First Amendment which forbids the creation of laws that restrict the free utilization of religion, violates the freedom of the media, proscribes the petitioning for an administration remedy of objections, valuing an institution of religion, reducing the freedom of speech, or impeding the right to peaceably convene. The Westboro Baptist Church members take part in every day picketing in Topeka and tours all over the country to picket the memorial services of gay victims of gay-bashing, gay victims of murder, or individuals who have perished from complex situations associated to AIDS. They have also protested in events linked to homosexuality and live pop events. As of 2009, the Westboro Baptist Church claims to have taken part in almost forty one thousand protest in approximately six hundred and fifty cities since its creation (Lieblich 1). The Westboro Baptist Church has established its position by protesting against gay individuals in funerals and different unexpected places. Even though their choice to protest at these somber situations is unpleasant to a number of individuals, the rights of the religious group, however offensive and

Sunday, September 22, 2019

“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden Essay Example for Free

â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† by Robert Hayden Essay Perhaps the poem is a description of the coziness and the joy of Sundays during winter; a time for indoors, family, hot chocolate, etc. I expect much imagery pertaining to cold weather, togetherness, and other winter wonderland type visuals. The word â€Å"those† is used to describe the winter Sundays, so therefore it is looked at as a common topic. Paraphrase: Both the son and his father got up early on Sundays, his father put his clothes on in the cold, and with his aching, cracked hands from the labor and weather, he put on the fire, and no one thanked him. The son woke up to feel the cold break with the fire, and his father called him when it was warm, he would dress, so that his father would not lecture him. The son spoke indifferently to the man who drove out the cold and polished his shoes. He explains that he didn’t know of love’s austere and lonely offices. Speaker: The speaker could be Robert Hayden himself, describing his regret for not appreciating his loving father. He is depicted in the poem as a little boy, oblivious to his father’s hard work and care and only concern about his dislike for the lectures. He regrets â€Å"speaking indifferently† (10) to his father and explains, â€Å"What did I know, what did I know of love† (13). Figurative Language:` In the first stanza there is much repetition of consonants, â€Å"The blueblack cold, with cracked hands that ached, from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him† (2-5). Consonance in the repetition of the sound, â€Å"ck† emphasizes the severity and hardness of work the father endured and sad truth that he wasn’t thanked. In the second stanza the sound â€Å"ing† is repeated to show that the cold in the house broke with the crack of the fire that the father produced; â€Å"the cold splintering, breaking† (6). Synesthesia is used in the second line of the first stanza; â€Å"put on his clothes in the blu eblack cold.† Here, one sense is used to describe another; â€Å"cold† is something you feel and it is described as a color (sight). This gives the impression of what the cold looks rather that how it feels. In the first line of the second stanza; â€Å"I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking† (6), both anthropomorphism and symbolism. The cold is described to splinter and break; traits of lifeless humans as opposed to personification where it is given human traits. The â€Å"cold splintering and breaking† symbolizes end to the coldness of the house, now that the speaker’s father heated it; it shows the love and care that the father has for his child. In the end, after the son describes all that his father did for him on â€Å"those winter Sundays,† he repeats, â€Å"what did I know, what did I know, of love’s austere and lonely offices?† (13-14). The speaker repeats â€Å"what did I know† to show his guilt and great regret that he did know that the whole time his father did that out of pure love and care. Attitude/ Tone: The speaker is reflective over what his father did during â€Å"those winter Sundays† and expresses his regret. He is remorseful, exclaiming that he did not know what austere love was and gives a self-loathing tone when he says, â€Å"speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold† (10). He spoke badly to his father when his father warmed him and cared for him. He know notices the detail of his father’s nobleness and the sacrifices he made, while as just a kid he would only notice the â€Å"chronic angers† of the house (9). The son describes his father as a hero who labored and worked hard, and he is shameful that he did not realize it then. Shifts: First the son creates imagery of his father and his work; â€Å"Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made blanked fires blaze† (1-5). He immediately gives a shameful statement; â€Å"No one ever thanked him† (5); the son is talking about himself. Then he’d go back to describing what his father did for him. â€Å"When the rooms were warm he’d call† then again explains is naive feeling that he feared the â€Å"chronic angers.† He continues to tell of his regretful actions then shifts to a greater remorseful tone when he exclaims his not knowing of the love his father showed him. Title: The poem is indeed about â€Å"those winter Sundays†, however it is about a boy who describes a hard-working almost heroic father laboring to care for his son by keeping him warm during winter, while his hands ached and cracked and the son’s regret for being unappreciative. Theme:The main themes of this poem are love and regret. The son states his great regret for being unable to see the love his father had for him. Since he was a boy he did not know what austere love was he only believed that his father was â€Å"chronically angry† and not doing things out of love. The father loved his son by keeping him warm, and making sure his shoes were polished, ready for church, however the son, only a boy, does not notice. Grown up, the boy is remorseful over this, and wishes he knew better, so that he could love and appreciate his father more.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

My brothers cried Essay Example for Free

My brothers cried Essay Originally is a poem set upon the main themes of growing up. By looking at the poem in depth, I have come to a conclusion that Carol Ann Duffy is the persona who is writing with a childs perspective as when she was a child. In verse one, The poet creates a sense of noise and chaos by saying how each member of her family are making noise and moving. Mother singing My brothers cried both of these quotes contribute to the feeling of noise and chaos. Two metaphors, which are found in the poem by Carol Ann Duffy, could be fell through the fields miles rushed back. They show that they were in the countryside. It also shows that they are using some form of transport, which may be train or car. I assumed by reading the poem that the reader was a young girl, and when she is sitting down where on the journey, it feels like you are stationary so it feels as if everything is rushing towards yourself. This demonstrates the Childs prospective. On the last line of the first verse, the metaphor shows that the young girl is looking at one of her toys, which maybe a bear with button eyes, and as she has grown up a fraction more than she was, she may now understand that toys do not have feelings, and they are only buttons as the eyes so they cannot really see things. She makes us feel like a child is commenting here because when youre at such a young age, you think that toys really do live on their own world and they have the same senses as us. I. e. touch, taste, feel, hear, pain etc. I think that the whole poem focuses mainly on sudden interruptions because from each paragraph is a different age section of her life. You can also see by the poem that as each paragraph develops, the way it is written and the style of wording develops, as if the child is becoming increasingly mature and adult-like. The Childs vulnerability is shown in verse two by using such words as big boys eating worms and shouting words you didnt understand perhaps this is hinting that maybe the big boys who were eating worms were swearing or saying words which she was too young to have come across. The last word in verse two is italicised because the narrator (who is a daughter) is speaking and it also shows that she is missing where she used to live as a child. In verse three, the child is less vulnerable now she has settled in because she is now used to everything. But then you forget this shows that now the narrator has lived for quite a few years, she tends to forget her past easier. The narrator now speaks in a comforted tone and gives away the idea of being a lot more worried about life in general as compared to when she was younger and slightly unsure about moving. Now that she has fitted in well, she now understands how it feels like to be part of their community. The change is compared to the shedding of a snakes skin. They are compared with each other because it is in conjunction with her voice changing i. e. maybe she has changed language or they use a different accent. Or simply her voice could have just changed with age. Now that she is used to the changes, she feels as if she has completely lost her old voice I lost a river, culture, speech, sense of first space This could potentially be a good or bad thing but we assume it is for good because she prefers being accepted and fitting in when she didnt think she would ever. The person created in the poem, we could comfortably say that it is a girl, even though no evidence backs up this statement. I assume by reading between the lines that she is around the age of 8-12 because on the journey, she sees thing not as clearly as adults do. My voice in the classroom sounding just like the rest This also shows that she is a school pupil so she must be fairly young. The setting in the poem is created by the feelings shown by the young girl. Fell through the fields This shows that they used to live in the country side, but they moved to a rural area where flats and estates can be found Pebble-dashed estates So maybe the girl is unsure of the area when she realises that where she is moving to is a lot more busy and lively. The use of 3 verses is a very good idea for several reasons. For one, it defines the maturing of her age, which is put across using methods such as different tones of voice, and more complex metaphors and sentences. The whole poem could be mapped out as journey. The first verse demonstrates the beginning of her life and when the family move. Second verse indicating the actual journey, and the becoming older stage, whilst trying to get used to moving. With the last verse when she has settled in her new area, and it has a quote on the last line which demonstrates her socialising with her friends, and seems to have fitted in really well.