Week 17 - Equal Opportunities

Week 17 – Equal opportunities

Equality and diversity. Equality is all about equal rights for everybody, but focusing on things like race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and age etc. It basically means that in the workplace all people should be treated the same and given the same opportunities regardless of any of these factors. Diversity is all about peoples differing characteristics and personality traits, although it can sometimes overlap with things like age (as older people are likely to show different characteristics to younger people for example). Diversity in a business means that every employee needs to be treated as a different person, as all people are different. 

Age legislation – Age legislation was bought in in October 2006 which is the final strand of equality legislation to be put into practice, along with existing legislation on race, sex, disability, sexual orientation and belief. The legislation was put into place to stop businesses discriminating against age, which means that if the business is hiring employees they can’t reflect on the persons age. Another example would be that when promotions become available the person in charge or filling this role can’t discriminate on age, so the person can’t think ‘oh he’s too young, I’ll go for someone older with more life experience’ because that’s not fair on the younger person. This new legislation would have had some big effects on employers, some would have had to have changed company policy in order to comply with these new legislations. Some changes could be that if a company is hiring it now can’t specify that an applicant must be a particular age, unless the age restriction can be justified or is imposed by law. The business will have to recruit people solely based on the skills and ability as opposed to the age. Even the phrases used when thinking about hiring someone or writing a job advert have to be thought about, it is seen as ageism if you use phrases like ‘’energetic and keen to learn’’ or ‘’experienced and accomplished’’ as both of these could suggest age bias. Businesses will have to make all their employees familiar with this new legislation to make sure that they comply with them, this can take time and time equals money. 

There are some stereotypes when talking about older and younger people, these are –

Older –

• ·         Slower to respond to change
• ·         Not very good with technology
• ·         Slow to process anything
• ·         Not as good as young people at physical things
• ·         Set in their ways

Younger –

• ·         Lazy
• ·         Not as reliable
• ·         Good with technology
• ·         Good with change
• ·         Rude
• ·         Un-motivated
• ·         No-respect

There are a lot of stereotypes when looking at younger and older people, although more often than not the majority aren’t true. Now that organisations aren’t allowed to discriminate against age these stereotypes may begin to die out. If organisations give older people the chance to try jobs involving new technology, whereas in the past they may have preferred younger people to use computers. Then this stereotype may die out, as older people will get the chance to use computers. Senior roles In companies are more often than not populated by older people, if younger people get the chance to take on this roles, and they should because organisations can’t discriminate against age, then they may lose the reputation for being lazy and may also become more reliable. 

Conclusion – This blog has looked at equality and diversity in a different ways, from different people’s point of views. It has helped me to understand the difference between the two, that equality is more physical attributes that you’re born with, whereas diversity is more focused on a person’s characteristics and personality. The blog has also looked at the problems that businesses faced when the new age legislation came in, problems like job adverts having to be re-written to take the focus off age and more onto the skills a person has.

Week 16 - Flexible Working

Week 16 – Flexible Working

Flexible working is definitely a part of modern day business. A definition of flexible working is - ‘The ability of an organisation to adapt the size, composition, responsiveness and cost of the people inputs required to achieve organisational objectives’

(Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2010)

Part time work – Many people can’t work full time for a number of different reasons from disability to having family commitments. Marks & Spencer know this and they offer a very flexible working schedule to fit the vast majority of people’s needs. They can adjust the working schedule for single mothers for example, and enable them to work hours which allows them to be available to pick their kids up from school.

Working from home – Working from home is a great example of flexible working, it enables someone to earn money by not even leaving the house. This is great it you have to take care of someone, either an elderly relative or disabled friend for example. If they constantly need someone to keep an eye on them then working from home is a great way of earning money. Parents may also choose to do this as it means they can nip out for 20 minutes and pick the kids up form school or run them to football games or even cook meals. A lot of companies enable people to work as call centre representatives from home. An American company called Alpine Access are doing exactly this and they plan to hire 600 new, home-based call centre representatives in the next three months. The jobs have good salaries with healthcare benefits and flexible working schedules.

Zero Hour Contracts – These contracts were designed to create ‘on call’ arrangements between employers and employees. These contracts are suitable for anyone who needs flexible working hours, the employer is under no obligation to offer employees work. The advantages to businesses are that they can keep a lot of workers in case they need to fill the spots in case staff call in sick etc. A good example of this is some self-employed personal trainers who already have a good client base may choose to get a zero-hour contract at a gym taking classes every week. This would enable the personal trainer to attend to existing work commitments with the added bonus of more work from taking classes at the gym.

The different types of flexible working -

Part time working – Workers are contracted to work less than full time hours. Advantages for the employees include flexible working hours scheduled around important things the worker has to do. Advantages to the business are that part-time workers with expertise can be bought in if the businesses budget isn’t enough to hire more full time employees. Part-time workers can reduce the work load and thus stress of other full time employees. 

Home Working – Working from home has a number of benefits for both employees and employers, improved employee retention is a benefit for the businesses who offer home working, parents with childcare responsibilities can keep their jobs when they enter parenthood, which is obviously a bonus to them as well. It gives businesses a broader choice of employees, as they can employ disabled people who prefer to work at home. Commuting time isn’t a factor so employees will have fewer disruptions which should lead to better productivity, and not commuting is obviously a bonus for employees as well. Fewer premises is needed so it can often be cheaper for businesses. A disadvantage of home working is if the employee gets stuck with a task it could be harder to get hold of managers if they don’t have their phones on them or in case they lose numbers, where as if the employee was in the office they could just go and ask face to face.

Annual Hours Contract – This type of contract is a system that works out how many hours an employee must work over a year. Once the hours are worked out they’re put into a schedule. This system could be put into place to reduce the working week, to reduce over time, to maximise productivity or to help the business cope with peak holiday times, for example school holidays, parents might want to take the kids on holiday, and chances are more employees will want to as well. But they all obviously can’t go at the same time. Some disadvantages are that some employees can still be asked to work extra hours at short notice, this can be beneficial to employers but can reduce the freedom of employees. 

Term-Time working – This employment contract does what it says on the tin, it enables parents or just mums or dads to work during term time and get school holidays off so that they can spend that time with their kids. Obvious jobs related with this are teachers, as they get the same holidays as the pupils. The leave is normally unpaid and the contract must be discussed with the employer. Not all companies allow employees to get this contract, as it would mean finding someone to cover for up to 13 weeks a year. This would obviously be a big disadvantage to the company. Managers can refuse term-time working, however if the employee is valuable to the company they may agree to their conditions. 

Job-Sharing – This is when two, or sometimes more people share a job. They share the pay, responsibility and the benefits of a full-time job. They share the pay in proportion to the hours shared each week. They can work split days, weeks or even alternate weeks. Their hours can even overlap. The benefits of job sharing from an employer’s point of view is it can retain valued workers who can no longer commit to a full time contract by themselves, who would otherwise leave if they couldn’t job share. Increased flexibility means they can meet demand in peak times, as the two employees sharing the full time contract can work together. The employees who job share have the added bonus of working less so they can fit in other commitments, this can reduce stress and productivity.

Week 15 - Corporate Social Responsibility

Week 15 – Corporate Social Responsibility 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a businesses impact on the wider world, and how you can help your business to make an impact in a positive way ‘’It means taking a responsible attitude, going beyond the minimum legal requirements and following straightforward principles that apply whatever the size of your business’’ Business link, [online].

CSR involves almost everything a business does and everyone that it deals with. All businesses would need to take into account the following factors –

• ·         Suppliers – Even if the business itself is environmentally friendly it doesn’t mean its suppliers are, businesses should be careful when deciding their suppliers. They shouldn’t trade with people who pollute the environment, as that’s basically polluting yourself. 
• ·         The business should think about how they affect the local community, if a business wants to open a big store in a heavily populated area they should take into consideration the pros and cons of the inhabitants of the areas.
• ·         A business should treat their employees with respect, and make sure that its employees are happy in the workplace.
• ·         Being environmentally friendly has one of the biggest impacts on a company’s CSR. They need to learn how to use resources more effectively and do anything they can to help the environment, even little things like fitting timers to light switches.

A common misperception is that having a good CSR policy can be costly, in some cases it can. However it can also boost a company’s profit, if big companies fit light switch timers to all of their lights in offices and stores worldwide it can make a huge impact by cutting down electricity bills. This benefits both the company and the environment. Customers also tend to want to deal with companies who have a solid, trustworthy CSR. 

The FTSE4GOOD index was launched in 2002 and only features socially responsible companies. 277 UK based companies are on the index, which can be very beneficial to businesses, it can attract investors and can be used as proof that the company is trustworthy. One of these companies is J Sainsbury. They demonstrate a sound CSR and everyone involved in the business has benefited from it. Some examples of Sainsbury’s CSR are –

• ·         Sainsbury’s employ 150,000 people to work in there stores, offices and depots. Sainsbury’s know that their employees are crucial and that they are the face of the business. So for Sainsbury’s creating an environment that’s a great place to work is of obvious importance. Sainsbury’s make sure they do this by hiring the best people and treating them in the right way. They make sure that they stay true to their principle of equality, diversity and fairness, communicating regularly and listening genuinely. They give everyone of their employees a chance to develop their own skills and job title. They also believe that recognition is key, and they are quick to reward employees who make any extra effort. Sainsbury’s know that if they treat the employees well they will give all they’ve got and enjoy working for Sainsbury’s. This will reduce staff turnover and in turn save Sainsbury’s money. They have even received a gold accreditation from ‘investors in people’ for their commitment to improve in business by investing in their colleagues.
• ·         ‘Sourcing with integrity’ – It is obviously in the businesses best interest to provide its customers with quality products at a competitive price. But its also just as important to provide the products in a fair way that’s better for animals, farmers, growers and workers involved. Sainsbury’s do this by forming partnerships with their suppliers in order to help them raise environmental and social standards, and move towards real sustainability. They are working closely with farmers and growers in order to work towards a better business ethic. Although sourcing their products in an ethical way is a difficult task, especially when Sainsbury’s stock over 30,000 different products, they do their best to make sure their suppliers aren’t harmful to the environment. They run a series of development group initiatives which were created to help farmers and produce more sustainably. They also employ specialists in agriculture, sustainability and health experts that set out to solve sourcing and sustainability issues. British farming is also heavily supported by Sainsbury’s; they aim to offer a range of British products when they are in season even if the profit margins aren’t as good as products shipped in from overseas. As well as all of these factors they are also the largest retailer of Fairtrade products, and by paying these Fairtrade premiums to farmers they can improve local schools, hospitals and general infrastructure. All of these factors have contributed towards the company’s reputation for helping the environment, which has attracted customers, which is obviously beneficial for the company.
• ·         Making a positive difference in the community – Retailing is about more than quality products and great service. Any reputable business who takes their CSR seriously needs to support and help the communities where it operates. Sainsbury’s say that they aim for their stores to be at the heart of the communities they serve. They do this through a range of different things, charitable aspects come into play with practical and economic considerations too. They provide jobs for local people and try to buy from local suppliers, which in turn supports local businesses and farms. They run ‘Local Charity of the Year’ and ‘Local Heroes’ schemes to help support good causes. They are the official supermarket partner of the London 2012 Paralympic games and they have a longstanding relationship with Comic Relief. From doing all of this it adds to Sainsbury’s reputation and gets local people involved with the various projects they run, as the local community gets more involved the likelihood of them changing their preferred supermarket to Sainsbury’s is more likely. This will help boost sales.

Week 10 - Personality

Week 10 – Personality

Nature vs Nurture -

Personalities are something that everyone has, and everyone’s personality is different. There are two approaches to personality, one suggests that we are born with certain personality traits (nature) and one suggests that we our personality reflects on how we are raised (nurture). Many studies and researches have been carried out on this topic and opinion is still strongly divided. To expand, nature is in your genes. Some believe that personality traits are determined by your genes, and that they will stay the same irrespective of where you were born or raised. The nurture argument refers to your childhood and how you were bought up. Some believe that if you were happy as a kid and well looked after, then the likelihood of you having a better personality than someone who was abused or neglected is more likely. 

Nomothetic and Idiographic –

There are two different views as to whether all traits exist in all people –

Idiographic suggests that everyone has unique personality structures and that some traits are only found in one person, this would mean that it’s impossible to compare one person to others. The idiographic approach also suggests that traits found in people differ for person to person. This approach to personality traits uses case studies, bibliographical info and diaries etc.

The nomothetic approach looks at comparability among individuals but also focuses on people as unique in regards to their different combination of traits. This approach states that traits have the same meaning to everyone, but that trait can differ in people and some can have more of one trait than others. This is how people are unique. This approach uses personality questionnaires and factor analysis etc.

My view on the nature vs nurture debate is that I do believe people are born with certain traits that are in their genes that have been passed down from their parents. However everyone can change and learn to develop their personality traits and thus wean out undesirable traits and work on more desirable traits. This could be done through there upbringing or even when they move out and start to work and live in different environments. 

I carried out a personality report in order to determine my strong and weak points of my personality. The results are as follows –

SHL Great 8 Competency areas
	1	2	3	4	5
Leading and Deciding
Supporting and Cooperating
Interacting and Presenting
Analysing and Interpreting
Creating and Conceptualising
Organising and Executing
Adapting and Coping
Enterprising and Performing

The results have clearly outlined two strong areas, leading and deciding and interacting and presenting. I have also scored poorly in three areas (Supporting and cooperating, organising and executing, enterprising and performing). And I scored moderately in three areas as well (highlighted in yellow on the table). I will now analyse my strong points and weak points.

Strong points -

Leading and deciding - I scored a 4 for this category which would mean that I am able to make difficult decisions and take responsibility for them. This type of personality trait could be associated with leadership and management.

Interacting and Presenting - Scoring highly in this trait means that I could be suited to a sales role, I can make good first impressions, I'm confident, convincing and have good presentation skills. Interacting with others is no problem for me and I can build relationship and appropriately deal with and disagreements or conflict.



Weak Points -

Supporting and cooperating - I think I scored lowly in this trait because I'm not the best at responding to peoples problems, if an employee came to me with a non-work related problem I would struggle to deal with it, I need to work on this trait if I want to be able to work well in a team. I could do this by being more patient with people that have problems.

Organising and executing - I scored lowly in this category because I tend to be quite unorganised, I occasionally miss deadlines due to either forgetting about them or getting distracted and carrying out other tasks instead of the important ones. I will need to improve in this category by getting more organised, I have already done so by inputting all important dates and events into my phone and setting reminders to make sure I don't forget about these important tasks. 


Enterprising and Performing - I know I scored badly in this category because I don't always perform to the best of my ability, occasionnaly I just get the task done so it's out of the way as opposed to doing my best at it. I need to motivate myself more, next year on my business studies course counts towards my final grade, so this will definitely be motivation for me to succeed and get a good grade by handing in assignments on time.

Conclusion - This blog has looked at personality in relatively great detail, from the nature to nurture discussion in which I believe both theories work together in conjunction to create someones personality, from both their genes and past experiences. The personality test has also helped me to idenitfy my flaws and has made me aware of areas in which I need to improve on.